written by Julia Felsenthal, Vogue
There are plenty of reasons why you might find yourself, some cold winter weekend, scarfing down episodes of the new Hulu series Shut Eye. One, it’s set in the world of storefront psychics and tarot readers, and you’re lying if you say you aren’t a little bit curious about that. Two, it’s got a Breaking Bad alumnus for a producer, and a Walter White–esque antihero in Jeffrey Donovan’s Charlie Haverford, a con man psychic who becomes genuinely clairvoyant after sustaining a blow to the head.
And then there’s your biggest reason: the Italian model and actress Isabella Rossellini, in a role that may be her most over-the-top dramatic since she first made a name for herself—and inspired a generation of wannabes—as a femme fatale lounge singer in David Lynch’s 1986 classic, Blue Velvet. In Shut Eye she’s Rita Marks, the matriarch of a Romani-American crime dynasty that runs a robust Los Angeles fortune-telling racket. At first we clock Rita as warm but tough, a grandmother and a businesswoman, the good cop to her middle-aged son Fonzo’s bad. But soon enough (spoiler alert!), we’re watching her viciously carve a bloody M into the cheek of a woman who runs afoul of the family.
Rossellini, now 64, has been having a stellar few years, professionally speaking. First she surprised everyone by turning an interest in animal behavior (she lives on a farm and is pursuing a master’s degree in the subject) into Green Porno, a Web series for the Sundance channel that she later adapted into a stage show. After years of cameos, bit parts, and indie films, she landed a role in last year’s big Christmas movie, David O. Russell’s Joy.And in March, two decades after they ousted her as a face of the brand, Lancômeannounced that Rossellini received a new modeling contract. “I was very surprised,” she admitted when we spoke by phone. “They let me go because I was older. I was 43. Now I am 64. I was like, ‘What happened?’ ”
We chatted more about her unexpected career resurgence, why binge-watching isn’t really her thing, and what she learned about playing a mob boss from watching The Godfather.
The character you play, Rita, is pretty extreme. How would you describe her? I looked at the Godfather, at Marlon Brando. I was very intrigued by the fact that Marlon Brando is always holding a little cat. He is a patriarch, so I thought, oh, in order to be a sadist, and be very nasty, you have to have a mask. If you’re only nasty, you’re not going to be accepted. You’re going to be rejected.
I also play Rita with a great warmth. She’s a family woman, taking care of her grandchildren and the family. I think it’s even more devious, the fact that she’s beautifully dressed, the fact that she has these positive [qualities]. You think it’s positive. Even though she’s the Godmother.
Is Romani culture matriarchal, as depicted on the show? I really don’t know. I’m not that familiar with Romani culture in the United States. In Italy there is a Romani culture that I’m more familiar with. It’s an old tradition—like Italian culture. When you think of an Italian family, you think of men being the ones who rule, but the women have incredible power inside the family. When you look at Romani documentaries, or you read [about them], you see women as very extroverted, very expressive. They say what’s on their minds. I thought that could be also what’s in my character: someone who lets her son be the voice of the family, but in fact, she’s the one who makes the important decisions.
So having grown up in Italy, where there’s this big Romani population, did you have personal impressions to draw from? You know, in Shut Eye, it could have been Romani; it could have been Chinese; it could have been Italian. It’s a story of a family of criminals. It could have been an American family whose mother was a criminal and ran a racket. The Romani aspect was just to give it a tint, so when we have parties, we hear music, we have a connotation. But it has nothing to do with the Romani culture, per se.
But the show is about psychics, and there is that fortune-telling tradition within Romani culture. So it does play in? Yes it exists in the Romani tradition but it exists in others, too. Yesterday, a friend of mine said she went to Chinatown to have a photograph taken of her aura. I remember once I was in Japan, I was giving an interview and I was asked, “What blood type are you?” I thought it was a very strange question. They read your character through your blood type.
We’re all anxious, and wish to know the future.
You spent the past few years studying animal behavior and working toward a master’s degree. You’ve explored that interest in your Green Porno series for Sundance. Has that education changed the way you approach acting? I didn’t think I was going to work as an actress anymore. There is very little work for actresses my age. I decided to do something I was always very interested in, which is animal behavior. So I enrolled back in university, and then started making my short, little films.
Then all of a sudden a year ago Joy came out, and I think that film was successful enough to have the people at Hulu think of me for Rita. I didn’t expect it. It was outside my plan. I was organizing my life differently. I just didn’t think there was more work available. Recently, I’ve received more work. I’m going to do it because it’s interesting and fun. I hadn’t decided to leave [acting]. I felt that it had left me. Now it’s coming back, so I’ll do it.
I imagine your Green Porno videos have something to do with this career resurgence, though. They’re so delightful and unexpected, and you got so much attention for them. Do you think they exposed you to a new generation? Well, [I didn’t do it as] a corporation, the marketing research, how do I conquer the younger generation? I did it for fun. Sundance has an experimental program. I did it inside a completely different mentality than commercial mentality. It’s all about experimenting. Could it be a new format? How do you bring an environmental message that might be different? I think my little films, yes, were more successful than expected. I even did a monologue that I toured, went to wonderful theaters in America, in Australia, in Europe. But I think [my career renaissance] really had to do with Joy more than my [Green Porno] films. I don’t think that the studios looked at my films.
So now you’re a television star. Are you a TV watcher? Not really. I think it’s a habit. It’s part of your routine. I read a book before I go to sleep. I think you have to grow up with it. It’s almost like the computer. Some things are difficult to acquire when you’re older because you have different rituals.
I watch more movies than television series. I was hoping that by doing Shut Eye, it was also a way to participate more in this phenomenon. But I think I belong to that generation where I can’t get hooked. I tried binging! I like it, but then I don’t repeat it. I still like to go see films with friends, so I find the solitude of watching series [hard]. I know that people talk, but my generation doesn’t talk.
I don’t know what to say. I am who I am. I can’t be who you want me to be. I am old, so I read a book before I go to sleep.
You live on a farm. You’re passionate about animal conservation. I have to ask you at least one politics question: What’s your level of alarm about climate-change policy right now? High. Very high. I think the environment is going to be maybe the number one thing that’s going to be damaged by the new administration. I am concerned.
What’s next for you? This year was very busy. Joy came out last Christmas. Then it was followed by eight episodes for European television. Then I went to Vancouver to work on Shut Eye. This fall I asked not to work because I’d been gone for nine months. I like to work, but I also found I want to be home. I have my farm. I get homesick. And I’m old. It’s not like it’s an opportunity for my career. I’ve had a career.
I am doing another couple of films now. I have written a new monologue. I did an exhibit. I have rare breeds of chickens. We photographed them with a friend of mine, and those photos ended up in two galleries, so now a German publisher wants to do a book on my chickens, on these rare breeds of farm animals that are also endangered because of industrialization of food. And then I’m writing a new monologue. When all this happens? I don’t know.
What will be the subject of the monologue? It’s always the animal behavior that I’m studying for my master’s. This time, it’s cognition. Green Porno was sex. Then I did a series called Mammas about parenting. This one will be about intelligence. Are they intelligent, or are they not? Can they think, or can they not think?
Featuring Costume Design from Carla Hetland
