The Broadway legend brings the horror to Ari Asters latest smothering-mother fantasy.
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This piece was originally published in April.
We are recirculating it now thatBeau Is Afraidis available on digital.
People think it, and I say it.
They are concerned about LuPone leaking details about her upcoming Marvel show,Agatha: Coven of Chaos.
When I joke that Disney is famously litigious, she bursts into delighted laughter.
Uh-oh, she says.
Theres not enough money in the world.
Her son, 32-year-old Joshua Johnston, urged her to hop on a Zoom with Aster.
He said, Mom, this istheguy, recalls LuPone.
And so I watchedMidsommarandHereditary.
And I said, Why me?
Is he a musical-theater queen?
(It just flew out of my mouth, shrugs LuPone of that moment, which quickly went viral.
I saw the horror.
Well, I didnt think that wasfunny, she says.
I never saw it move, she adds.
But I tried to figure out how he penetrated Mona.
I said, Wait a minute.
I dont feel vaudeville at all.
What am I missing?
I said, Ari, who is that?
And he said, Thats Monas mother.
I went, What?
and I burst out laughing.
I said, Oh my God.
I wished Id known it was a comedy.
Fascinatingly, LuPone didnt play her character as a villain.
I see her as deeply concerned.
She structured her entire life around that child, says LuPone, poker faced.
The two did the scene a few times with LuPone taking her cues from Phoenix.
Joaquin took a very long pause.
And I went to myself,Am I still connected on the phone?
Are you wasting my life, basically, kid?
I told myself,Just be patient.
Just be patient.And then he finally said, What do I do?
And I thought,Wow.
I would bring out my French press and say, Does anyone want coffee?
And Ari and Joaquin and I would chat not about the movie but just What a day!
I think it helped Joaquin and I be able to go at it as we did.
LuPone similarly bonded with Zoe Lister-Jones, who plays young Mona in several flashbacks to Beaus childhood.
These are never going to be friendships that last forever, she says matter of factly.
Its show business, after all.
LuPone has always had a dramatic relationship with show business.
Gave up my Equity card; no longer part of that circus.
She launches into one of her favorite topics: the Las Vegasification of Broadway.
Its more like, Lets go seeMamma Mia!I wish thePhantomwould come back.
No, but yay!)
Shes not done with theater shes merely looking downtown.
I want to work on East 4th Street.
I want to go to the New York Theatre Workshop, she proclaims.
Lets get creative, she says.
The audience will find me.
Historically, audiences have found her.
Shes never had a starring, or even hefty supporting, role in a film until now.
Its definitely the nose, says LuPone, turning so I can see her profile.
I did 23andMe, and I am 12 percent Ashkenazi Jewish.
Italians and Jews, were the same.
Thats so dangerous, to talk about awards, because it only leads to disappointment, she says.
She will, however, emphatically request that A24 and Aster put her in more movies.
Put me in everything, Ari, she says.
I dont care if Im sneaking around a corner, just sticking my head in.
I think ultimately she does, and she regrets it at the very end, she says.
She pauses for a moment, then shakes her head, disagreeing with herself.
But he missed his flight to see her, goddamn it!
Now lets see whether he shows up when shes headless.
What the hell else does she have to do?
I think its understandable that a mother becomes irrational when its her child, she adds, laughing.
Ive never gotten as mad as Mona.
Ive never created a baby formula or an empire around my kid, LuPone says.
But I do love my son unconditionally.
And I worry about my son the same way that she worried about her son.
Im always worried that my son is going to die, and then I think,Am I projecting?
Am I going to create it?
I think we should call him and find out, she says, whipping out her phone.
LuPone dials Johnston, who picks up immediately, and briefs him on our conversation.
What do you mean that I am going to die, Mom?
he asks, vaguely frightened.
Oh, I always worry, Joshua, she says.
Im always worried that youre going to die.
Its my biggest fear besides falling onstage.
Which is more important, falling onstage or my kid dying?
Johnston quietly mulls the question.
Its terrifying when youre not in control of a situation, he says.
Thats probably what youre fearful of with me.
So what did he think of Mona, the mother he never had?
Brilliant, she says.
Hes a very smart boy.
