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Rebecca Parker is not a woman to be crossed.
Rebecca Parkers got these big statement frames that really define the character.
They hadnt had them made into my prescription and so I couldnt see a hundred percent.
I learned from Rachel about wearing contacts, so I hadnt ever yet done contacts.
I was right on the cusp of needing to have something all the time.
Things were a little blurry.
They work really well for Rebecca and I cant believe I didnt take them with me at the end.
How familiar were you with Alice Birchs work before this show?I knew her plays.
I knewAnatomy of a Suicide.
Its like shes a composer.
Rebecca, for instance, communicates with a lot offucks, swearing a lot to really establish her power.
But yet, she cares about whatshethinks and she enjoys giving herself pleasure.
She sometimes gets off, ego-wise, on being shocking.
She says such audacious, shocking things that are also sometimes right.
Its not like Rebeccas an insane villain or something.
She has a point of view that, thankfully, is not one that anybody Ive ever met has.
Its like she was raised as a monarch or something.
Did you think of any real-life models for her?
The Parker family feels very similar to the Sackers.
I thought more about an Ayn Rand hero.
Obviously its super conservative, but as a teenager, I just found them addictive for a while.
She has that voracious appetite to entertain herself.
The world is full of her play things.
I think I saw that youposted about iton Instagram!
It was really, really fun.
It was her first job right out of drama school.
You wouldnt be on camera when you were miming.
It would just be Rachel speaking.
I mean, its already extraordinary.
Had you ever worked with Rachel before?We were in the same thing but our characters didnt meet.
Rachel was Ralphs wife in the part of the film when my mother played Valerie.
You dont realize how rare it is until you meet somebody with such intelligence and warmth.
She has it all.
Did you meet her then?
No, Im not sure when I first met her.
We went backstage afterwards and Mom introduced me to her then.
Rachel had just discovered yoga and was talking about how amazing it was.
I think thats one of the main things Rebeccas most intrigued by.
But theyre going to lose everything.
Because Rebecca thinks she could more easily control an Elliot pretending to be Beverly?Yeah.
I mean, it wouldnt have been much fun if it was Beverly left.
It was interesting to seeDead Ringersafter your performance inShe Said, where you played a victim of Weinsteins abuse.
These are womens on completely opposite ends of institutional power.
Did you think about the roles in relation to each other?
I didnt, but I did film them at the same time.
But they found a way.
I played both parts in the same month.
Theyre such different pieces and the writing is extraordinary in both.
Im impressed by the ability to film those scenes as Laura and then go back to Rebecca.
The normal rules dont apply to her.
Do you knowthe Desiderata?
I dont.Max Ehrmann wrote it in the 20s.
I had it on my wall when I was a teenager.
Its lovely and its probably cliched now, but Ive always loved it.
For somebody like Rebecca, theres not one thing in the Desiderata that would make any sense.
Its not relevant to her in any way, shape, or form.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
