Marisa Tomei Was “Freaked Out,” Then Thrilled, to Revive Edith Bunker in All in the Family

That makes sense. I feel like I would kick myself if I didnt ask just what was it like working on this with Norman Lear?

Yeah. Oh my gosh. Well, he is the fountain of depth and humor and vision that we know him to be. Hes very easy going with it. But he came to every day, whether it was a run-through or just a short rehearsal, he was there to see at least the run-through, give feedback—he didnt give it really directly to us, hed give it through Jimmy. But his eyes were on it. And the grace that he carried, because its intimidating. He just was there to keep an eye on these beloved characters, the pacing, and how it was all coming together, but also he was a great support. He believed in us. And so there wasnt a tense atmosphere at all. It was very welcoming. He called me. Thats how I got involved, actually. I dont know how he got my cell number.

Hes Norman Lear, he has ways.

Yeah. He said, Marisa, remember we met 30 years ago. I told you Id call you 30 years ago. Im calling you now!

Did you remember this?

Oh yeah, I did. Thats what was amazing about it, that was an actual encounter we had had and he said hed call.

When Norman Lear says hes going to call you, I imagine that is a thing that you remember forever until you get the call.

I kind of feel like I was discovered by him, through this, in a way.

And whats it been like just to see the responses to it? There was so much, I mean joy and particularly I think for your performance in the way that you captured that character.

The joy, we all felt that joy. As soon as I stepped on the set, I cried. Im sure every one of those performers did as well. Its also so trippy, like you think youre going through the TV into this fantasy. Who in their wildest dreams would think Im going to be part of All in the Family and stand on that set and say any of those lines. Its just one of lifes surprises. I was feeling like, eh, whats going on? What is there? And then life just kind of brought this incredible surprise in. And so that there was that joy, and also the conversation around how topical that the episodes are and all the right, how solid the writing is, how the writing more than holds up is just, is so, so robust.

Its borderline eerie.

It can be sad if you think about it a lot. But the country had lived through 1968 at that time and that family was processing all those changes and just like were processing so many changes in the country now.

Over the years and even recently you have taken on just such a wide vRead More – Source