Although Jessica Lange does not turn 60 until sometime in 2009, she recently took on the challenging role of a woman who ages from 39 to 79. “Grey Gardens” is a fictionalized riches-to-rags story based on the Maysles brothers’ film documentary about a mother and daughter who managed to slip from grace and their own lofty position in American aristocracy all the way down to their squalid existence living as “cat ladies” in a ramshackle house in the Long Island Hamptons. The story of the oddball relationship between Edie Bouvier Beale and her daughter (played by Drew Barrymore here) was previously turned into a musical.

Lange was particularly thrilled to be playing a woman who ages 30 years over the course of the story. The role called on her to sing and dance and wear four hours’ worth of prosthetic makeup in certain scenes. It was a particular challenge to find the voice of this 79-year old woman, and to integrate her physical characteristics into the part. Every morning before shooting, in order to get centered in Beale’s character, Lange religiously watched bits and pieces of the documentary—listening to her voice, watching her movements, anticipating her reactions.   

Jessica Lange lives in New York with her longtime partner, actor/writer Sam Shepard.