From Variety.com
Sedgwick perfects Southern accent
‘The Closer’ lead character breaks stereotypes
By BETSY BOYD
Southern accents, like the Georgia twang that New York-raised Kyra Sedgwick drawls on “The Closer,” are rare for lead characters on TV. Critics and fans have been vocal about their love-it-or-hate-it relationship with Sedgwick’s thick delivery, but series creator James Duff says neither he nor TNT execs ever considered losing the accent.
“There was never any question at all, because the character of Brenda Johnson was complete with that accent,” Duff says. “TNT was interested in a complete character, and I think the accent was the finishing touch. I always felt like, ‘If people hear her authenticity, they’ll hang out more with the show.’”
Hang out they have, with improved ratings, according to Nielsen, over the course of four seasons. Not that Duff doesn’t still read accent bashing online.
“Most of the people who say it’s not quite right are definitely from the North,” says Duff, who sports his own distinctive Texas twang. “I’m like, ‘Really?’ Listen to Kyra now: You hear Texas and Georgia. You hear the actual mix — she’s gotten that specific. It’s hard!”
It’s the official ratings, of course, and not online gossip, that put ad money where Brenda’s mouth is. And a quick ratings review by region of the first four seasons reveals that Northerners are almost as supportive as Southerners, despite any misgivings about speech.
Auds in the Southeastern and East-Central U.S. screen “The Closer” most consistently.
In season four, 3.2 million East-Central and 3.2 million Southeastern viewers on average tuned in, while the Northeastern region came in third with 2.9 million. Average viewers in the Southwest: 2.5 million.
Sedgwick, who works regularly with a dialect coach, knows her accent so well, she sometimes dreams in Southern. She’s proud of her mastery of the accent. Furthermore, she considers it a vital part of her character’s power persona.
“Brenda’s accent is part of what she does to throw people off guard. You hear a Southern accent, and sometimes you underestimate somebody,” Sedgwick says. “She uses it and clings to it on purpose.”
Duff admires the accent for similar story-value reasons and personal ones as well.
“I grew up in the South with really smart people who had that accent, and every time I saw them on television, they seemed like the stupidest people on the face of the earth. Like the accent was a badge of inferiority,” he explains. “I thought, as long as we’re doing something different, how about if the woman lead with the Southern accent is the smartest person in the room instead of the most ignorant?”
‘Closer’ star Kyra Sedgwick opens up
Actress reflects on opportunities, aspirations
By BETSY BOYD
ince landing on “Another World” at 16, Kyra Sedgwick has been a versatile thesp who likes to stay working: a go-to supporting player in big-budget pictures and the recipient of meatier moments in critically acclaimed sleepers.
But not until her current starring role in TNT’s “The Closer” did Sedgwick get attention as the undeniable star of a project, illustrated by her Emmy noms and a 2007 Golden Globe.
Sedgwick admits she has high hopes that her high-profile turn as deputy police chief Brenda Johnson will pave the way for bigger parts in bigger films, as early as the next “Closer” hiatus. (She is currently filming season five.) A case study in how limited the opportunities for even the top actresses can be, Sedgwick speaks candidly about the necessity of career strategy, especially right now.
“I think as you get older, you become aware that you know you are part of the business — it’s show business, not show art,” says Sedgwick, whose next bigscreen appearance will be the futuristic sci-fi pic “Gamer” in September. “Being involved in something as fiscally and creatively successful as ‘The Closer’ has been very good. (It’s helpful) for people to know I can bring viewers. I can bring in people to buy tickets, hopefully.”
Sedgwick, whose noteworthy supporting roles in films include “Born on the Fourth of July” opposite Tom Cruise and “Something to Talk About” with Julia Roberts, hopes to build the staying power of the likes of Meryl Streep and Laura Linney.
“I look at Laura Linney, and I feel encouraged,” Sedgwick says. “Laura’s got a career that has spanned two decades, and she’s done so many different kinds of films. I would like to cultivate something like that for myself.”
Sedgwick has a plan mapped, though she’s practical enough to realize she has little script control over her career. Almost no actress does.
“My only real strength lies in my ability to do my art, because ultimately I can’t control whether or not people like it,” Sedgwick says. “I can’t control whether or not I get the part. But what I can do is go in and do the very best I can every time I’m at bat. As an artist … I’m at my absolute best, and getting better.”
In her view, female movie roles are slowly getting more interesting, whereas in the ’80s and ’90s, she got sick and tired of receiving scripts for a mild sideline character, “the girl.”
“They’re writing well for women now,” she says, but pauses to revise her thesis. “I think they could do better, frankly. Especially when we look at the summer releases, we go, ‘Oh, God, a bunch of boys’ movies again.’ I’m always so thrilled when something does well that has female characters, whether it’s ‘Sex and the City’ or ‘Doubt.’ When are we going to stop underestimating the power of women to drive movie sales up?”
Rebecca Miller, who directed Sedgwick in “Personal Velocity” (in which Sedgwick plays a
working-class woman who leaves her explosively violent husband), didn’t originally see Sedgwick as the hard-edged match.
“I thought of Kyra as (too) beautiful and elegant, really,” Miller says. “Then my casting director, Cindy Tolan, said, ‘I knew her in theater — she’s a tough girl, you should meet her.’
“I met her and became convinced immediately: She does have a kind of toughness. Kyra is very upfront; she has an amazing technical ability. She can summon different emotions probably faster than any actress I’ve seen.”
Miller says she expects to see Sedgwick continue to work well into the future and would like to hire her again.
“Potentially, Kyra has enormous staying power,” Miller notes. “It really depends on the chances she gets that lead to other chances.”
Kyra Sedgwick’s rockin’ roles
A sample of her strong-as-steel characters
By BETSY BOYD
Lemon Sky (1988)
Role: Foster kid Carol, a pill-popping, promiscuous teen, preternaturally wise.
Look: Pedal pushers, ponytail, bomber jacket.
Onscreen gem: “Don’t make excuses for me, for God’s sake — you’re supposed to be bawling me out!”
In Sedgwick’s words: “Carol got tits early. Just because you have a hot body and good tits, men will think, ‘Of course, you want it,’ and I think sometimes women fall into that role.”
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Role: Demure Donna, love interest to Tom Cruise’s Ron Kovic, grows into a powerful anti-Vietnam War activist.
Look: In high school, dainty skirts and blouses, prim prom gown. Later, long hippie skirts and flowing hair.
Onscreen gem: “All the boys who sacrificed their minds and their bodies … War is so wrong, Ronny. It’s so wrong. I just had to do something.”
In Sedgwick’s words: “Donna defined the era for so many girls. So many girls were innocent; the country was innocent and wanting to do the right thing. Then it became embittered and embroiled in a war that didn’t feel right.”
Singles ( 1992)
Role: Linda Powell, a spirited but vulnerable single twentysomething trying to find love and save the world.
Look: Jeans, blazer, antique blouse, sweet smile, big curls.
Onscreen gem: “How long have I been saying there are no guys? I met one when I was least expecting it. He’s like a comet.”
In Sedgwick’s words: “It was the early ’90s, and I kept getting these scripts where it was the girl part, and there was nothing substantive. This role was wonderful because I knew this girl. I loved her.”
Miss Rose White (1992)
Role: Rose White — a conflicted young woman in 1940s New York — hides her Jewish identity. When her estranged sister returns from the concentration camps, Rose boldly confronts her past.
Look: Authentic ’40s skirts and fitted jackets, hats, pearls, gloves, plus perfectly coiffed hair.
Onscreen gem: “Everything was so simple before you came here — I knew who I was, and I knew where I belonged. It was simple!”
In Sedgwick’s words: “Rose was a fascinating character to get inside. I needed to do a lot of research on what it is to really be a semi-Orthodox Jew. While my mother’s Jewish and I’m Jewish, I was never a real practicing Jew. I learned to say the Sabbath prayer, and learned a lot about the candles. This (ritual) was something I had to study.”
Something to Talk About (1995)
Role: Emma Rae King, family-business-devoted daughter, the son her father never had and dogged sidekick to scorned sister Julia Roberts.
Look: Tight black knit miniskirt, black tights, plus oversize sweater for easy angst-ridden movement.
Onscreen gem: “Are you addressing me? Well, lick it, put a stamp on it and mail it to someone who gives a shit.”
In Sedgwick’s words: “The part was so killer! The lines were so great. Everyone tells me I look like Julia, so for that reason also I was like, ‘I have to get this part.’
Personal Velocity (2002)
Role: Thirty-four-year-old Delia Shunt, longtime victim of domestic abuse who finally leaves her high school-sweetheart husband with kids in tow.
Look: Levi’s, low-cut tops, hair tied back carelessly.
Onscreen gem (from narrator): “Delia was tough: She beat up a guy in a bar once just for grabbing her ass. He hit her back, and she broke a chair over his head.”
In Sedgwick’s words: “I had never played any really working-class person. The way Delia’s described in the book, it wouldn’t have been your first thought: ‘Kyra Sedgwick for this part.’ I felt blessed and blown away by the fact that (director) Rebecca Miller wanted me.”
Sedgwick crusades against plastic
Actress takes action to reduce waste
By BETSY BOYD
For most of her adult life, Kyra Sedgwick has been an anti-plastic crusader. Here are the hard facts that worry her most:
“Less than 20% of plastic bottles are recycled in this country,” she says. “Less than 7% of all plastic is recycled.
“Each month, 42 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. Where will they end up? … Plastic does not biodegrade. It fills landfills and, when it ends up in the ocean, breaks into little pieces, is ingested by birds and fish, and ultimately ends up in our food chain.”
What kind of action can we take to reduce plastic waste?
“We need to stop buying bottled water. Buy a cool-looking stainless steel, dishwasher-safe bottle. Fill up your water from the tap — it’s better for you. Get a few cool, reusable (shopping bags) for groceries, knowing these bags can be used hundreds of times. … We need to make bottles and plastic bags socially unacceptable.”
Sedgwick’s Brenda began the cavalcade of award-winning actresses of