The only role Anjelica Huston regrets turning down: “I don’t think about them so much”
Following in the footsteps of some very successful family members, Anjelica Huston entered the industry in the late 1960s, initially hesitant to place herself in the spotlight. But with the encouragement of her father, the legendary director John Huston, she soon found that she was actually a very talented star, and she has since lent herself to a variety of productions, but most notable of all, The Addams Family.
While The Addams Family existed in the form of cartoons and a television series before Huston took on the role of Morticia Addams in the film version, it’s the actor who most of us immediately think of when we hear the name of the family matriarch, with her long black hair and distinctive makeup. For me, however, she’ll always be The Grand High Witch from The Witches, which terrified me as a child – her character peeling off her face to reveal a hideous monster beneath.
Like the child that secretly watches this transformation in the film, I would sit in horror on the sofa, clutching a cushion in front of my face as I tried to hide from the grotesque image in front of me, which is actually very proto-The Substance when you think about it.
Huston has had a long and successful career that hasn’t just involved gothic or scary characters though. Who can forget her turn in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums as Etheline Tenenbaum? And what about her Oscar-winning performance in Prizzi’s Honor? Despite the acclaim she has received over the years, she still has some regrets, as all actors seem to do, regarding turning down certain roles.
For Huston, it’s an Oscar-winning leading part in a classic feminist ‘90s film that she regrets turning down the most, although she feels as though she can hardly complain. “I’m sure there have been roles I’ve refused, but I don’t really think about them so much. I’m quite happy with the state of my career. Maybe The Piano for Jane Campion,” she told Mastermind.
Campion’s film is one of the greatest pieces of cinema to emerge from the ‘90s, although it was Holly Hunter who triumphed as the movie’s leading star, delivering an incredible performance alongside a young Anna Paquin (who also won an Oscar for her role), Harvey Keitel, and Sam Neill.
Set in the mid-1800s, the film sees Hunter’s Ada McGrath, a pianist from Scotland, relocate to New Zealand for an arranged marriage, although she soon embarks on an affair with Keitel’s George Baines, a neighbour. She has refused to talk for most of her life, instead using her piano as her voice, but when she becomes involved with George, she finds her whole life thrown into chaos.
It’s a sensual and intense study of identity, sex, femininity, and autonomy, and Campion earned significant acclaim for her direction, including an Academy Award for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ and a nomination for ‘Best Director’. Considering how incredible Hunter’s performance is, it’s hard to imagine Huston in the role instead, although she certainly has the skill to embody such a complex character.
