Actor Patricia Clarkson (‘Sharp Objects’) Goes Her Own Way
Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Lemonada Media
4.8 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 27 July 2025
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After nearly four decades of working in Hollywood, actor Patricia Clarkson (The Station Agent, Pieces of April) says her portrayal of women’s rights activist Lilly Ledbetter is “the greatest privilege” in her storied career.
We sat with the legendary actress as part of this year’s Aspen Ideas Festival to discuss her powerful turn in Lilly (4:10), her colorful New Orleans upbringing (10:17), and the educator who first recognized Patricia’s talent (13:25). Then, she reflects on her life-changing move from Louisiana to New York City (18:40), years of training at the Yale School of Drama (22:08), and her early film roles opposite Kevin Costner in The Untouchables and Clint Eastwood in The Dead Pool (26:21).
On the back-half, we discuss her transformation in the groundbreaking 1998 film High Art (28:08), her process of “total immersion” on set (33:26), and how that commitment led to a call from director Martin Scorsese and a pivotal part in Shutter Island (39:33). To close, we talk through Patricia’s raucous role in Easy A (40:50), her ongoing fight for equal pay in Hollywood (42:30), and her lifelong love of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town (52:30).
Watch this conversation on our new YouTube channel.
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Lemonada |
| 0:02.0 | Lemonada |
| 0:04.0 | This is Talk Easy. I'm Sam Forgo, so welcome to the show. |
| 0:41.8 | Today, the initable, Patricia Clarkson. |
| 0:48.1 | You likely know her from the HBO limited series, Sharp Objects, or perhaps her Emmy-winning performance in six feet under, or maybe it's her Oscar-nominated turn in |
| 0:52.8 | Pieces of April from 2003. |
| 0:55.3 | Over four decades, she's moved seamlessly between stage and screen, comedy, and drama, |
| 1:01.6 | the highlight of just about everything she does. |
| 1:05.0 | This is true, I think, from the very beginning, mind you. |
| 1:07.8 | In one of the earliest pieces of press she did around her debut in The Untouchables |
| 1:12.1 | in 1987, Premier Magazine described her like this. Clarkson has the kind of attractive, expressive |
| 1:19.0 | face the camera loves. It boasts the innocent mischief of a Marie Sandack child. Wide, excited blue eyes, delicate cheekbones, and upward sloping nose |
| 1:30.5 | and chin with strawberry blonde hair. But her voice hasn't matched her face since she was five. Deep, |
| 1:38.2 | husky, and grainy, its timbre is that of a film noir dame. And it's true because to watch Clarkson, both then and even now, |
| 1:49.1 | is to see a performer that feels of a bygone era, |
| 1:53.0 | while somehow still remaining in feeling contemporary. |
| 1:57.5 | She's collaborated with a roster list of filmmakers |
| 2:00.5 | most other actors would envy. |
| 2:03.1 | Martin Scorsese in Shutter Island, Brian De Palma in The Untouchables, |
| 2:07.2 | Lisa Cholidenko in High Art, Todd Haynes in Far From Heaven, Lars von Trier in Dogville, |
| 2:13.8 | not to mention George Clooney in Good Night and Good Luck. |
| 2:17.0 | Her latest turn is in the new film Lily. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 22 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Lemonada Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Lemonada Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.