Interview: Karen Allen and the Kingdom of Her Crystal Life

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CHICAGO – Actress Karen Allen, who made a debut smash in the 1978 film ‘Animal House,’ is most likely to be remembered as Marion in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and 2008’s ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.’

But the versatile performer is more than just a companion for Indiana Jones, having a long career in movies and on stage, including the films ‘The Glass Menagerie,’ ‘Challenger’ (playing astronaut Christa McAuliffe) and ‘The Perfect Storm.’

HollywoodChicago.com caught up with Ms. Allen during her appearance at the new Hollywood Palms Cinema in Naperville, Illinois, as she signed autographs and introduced a special showing of Raiders. She talked about the two Indiana Jones movies, her connection to Paul Newman and how she barely kept her head above water while making ‘The Perfect Storm.’

Karen Allen at the Hollywood Palms Cinema in Naperville, IL, September 25th, 2009 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: In the midst of filming the last Indiana Jones epic, what made you stop and ponder about the differences between the ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ‘The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,’ besides being 27 years apart?

Karen Allen: Crystal Skull was more low tech than you might think, although we did do some green screen on it, but not that much. I guess that is the difference, there wasn’t that type of special effects in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ CGI [Computer Generated Imagery] didn’t exist.

In terms of the sets, they did a lot of similar things. They were very beautifully done and very authentic. Those kind of sets are phenomenal to work on, when they really create a whole world and moving into someone’s fantasy of what this world looks like. In both cases, I was in awe of the exceptional work of the production designers and set builders. They were fantastic.

HC: You began in films in a famous period where scripts seemed to be secondary – I’m thinking of ‘Animal House’ and ‘Cruising,’ What do your personally prefer on set, looser improvisation style or a solid following to a decent script?

KA: I probably prefer to go in having a really good script. And then improvise on top of that. If you start with a really fine script, then the actors and director can add to it and make it better. That is preferable than going in on a wing and a prayer (laughs).

Karen Allen with a Familiar Prop at the Hollywood Palms Cinema in Naperville, September 25th, 2009 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HC: Speaking of Cruising, I read where William Friedkin intentionally kept you in the dark regarding Pacino’s character and his gay underworld activities. In looking back on your performance and how it connects to the film – as when you tried on the hat and glasses, for example – do you think Friedkin made the right choice?

KA: Oh, I have no idea how to answer a question like that. That is what he wanted to do. It’s actually not that uncommon, especially these days. Woody Allen does that, where he only gives an actor their role, he doesn’t really want the actors to know what the whole film is about, he wants them to be focused on their role and their relationships.

In the case of ‘Cruising,’ certainly Al [Pacino] read the whole script, but I don’t think any of the other actors in the film were given the whole script to read, we were just given our role. Friedkin may have done it because there was some controversy surrounding the film already. There was an uproar starting with the gay community in New York. He may just have not wanted anymore people to have information then who already had it.

HC: Paul Newman recently passed away. Do you have any memories regarding your experience working with him and Joanne Woodward in the 1987 film version of ‘The Glass Menagerie?’

KA: They were both just absolutely sublime people. I just adored them both. I did the play twice with Joanne, and Paul was around a lot during that period. He was such a special person and you couldn’t ask for a better director to work with an actor.

And Joanne inspired me constantly. She is one of my all-time favorite people and actors. She is just breathtaking.

HC: You are one of those rare film performers whose passion is also on the stage. How does stage work prepare you for film work, and conversely what does acting in film give you when performing on stage?

KA: I think acting in the theater is a good place to start if you want to work as an actor at all. It’s the building blocks – the development of character, the collaboration with your fellow actors and directors, plus learning an entire piece that you’re going to do for 2-1/2 hours eight times a week. It is much more challenging in certain ways than working in film, even though film has its own challenges.

HC: The film ‘The Perfect Storm’ [2000] had an intense level of special effects. What is most irritating in terms of being an actor and getting a rhythm when doing the stop/start nature of these types of films?

Karen Allen and Patrick McDonald, September 25th, 2009. Photo credit: Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

KA: The Perfect Storm had some special effects, I suppose (laughs). However, I spent most of that film in the tank, in the water, so it didn’t feel that special to me.

That was a trip, doing that film. The director [Wolfgang Petersen] was hundreds of feet away talking through a loudspeaker, the cameras were on techno-cranes and swooping down on us. And we were in the biggest water tank in the world. Several times I thought I was going to drown and nobody would notice (laughs).

HC: In your film and TV performances, you’ve played obviously fictional characters but also of number of real people in biographies. Are there any different challenges for an actor when playing a real person, in deference to their humanity?

KA: Absolutely. It’s quite terrifying. I think it’s the thing that’s made me the most anxious in preparation to do a role, is that sense of responsibility. In all three cases, the women were no longer living.

With Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, who I both played, people now don’t remember them so well. But with Christa McAuliffe [’Challenger’], I felt very sensitive towards it, because it hadn’t been that long that she had been with us, after the tragedy of the Challenger. All of us playing those astronauts felt enormous responsibility to try to honor their memory in the way we were portraying them.

HC: It’s obvious by your appearance tonight that you will remembered for Raiders and Animal House. But what do you personally remember as your greatest performance or challenge as an actor, and what is ahead for you?

KA: My greatest performance challenge was portraying Helen Keller in ‘The Monday After the Miracle.’ She was deaf and blind, and to move into that world, stepping out on stage eight times a week, with the belief I was trying to convincingly play someone who was deaf and blind, was a huge challenge on many levels.

I wanted to weave the spell in such a way that the audience believed, in that two or three hours that they were there, that I was convincingly playing someone who was deaf and blind.

I am directing a play this summer that I’ve done before, ‘Moon Children’ by Michael Weller, a beautiful play. There is also a film I’d like to direct based on a play I also directed on stage called ‘Batting Cage’ by Joan Ackerman.

As far as acting in films, there is not much out there that is very interesting to do. The ones that are interesting to me are independent films and they have trouble raising money. With people putting their money into blockbusters, there is not much left for the independents.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com