Elizabeth Perkins - Big Mistakes
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
Elizabeth Perkins has built one of the most quietly remarkable careers in American film and television — from her breakout in Big alongside Tom Hanks to her Emmy-nominated work in Weeds and her recent acclaimed turn in Minx. She is an actor who consistently elevates the material she’s given, bringing intelligence and specificity to every role. We sat down with Elizabeth to talk about her career, what draws her to a project, and what she’s working on next.
Elevated: You recently made a significant life decision — leaving Los Angeles after nearly four decades to return to Massachusetts and the Berkshires. What was the moment you knew it was time, and what has that return to your roots given you that life in LA couldn’t?
Elizabeth Perkins: Having been raised on the East Coast (I grew up on my Grand-Fathers 600 acre farm) I had always considered myself a temporary resident of Los Angeles, even though I lived there for over 30 years. Once our children were raised and off creating their own lives, and with most of my work being done out of town or remotely, it no longer made sense to stay where my heart never felt truly connected. I think the isolating nature of Covid added to the sense that I lacked community, nature, clean air, music, theater, farms and rivers, earthly beauty…things that aren’t as easily accessible in Los Angeles. I love being closer to Europe, the coast of Maine, Montreal…culturally, returning home offered me a return to the elements of life that I always felt were missing in Los Angeles. It’s an amazing city, but for what’s important to me now, the solace and comfort of the East Coast fills my heart.
You turned 65 last November and by every account you are at one of the most creatively prolific and fulfilling points of your career — Big Mistakes with Dan Levy, Cry Wolf alongside Olivia Colman and Brie Larson, and more. What does this chapter feel like from the inside compared to earlier seasons of your career?
Careers in our industry run in waves, with a guarantee that it’s always fleeting and never permanent and either you’re comfortable riding that wave or you’re not. I’ve been an actor for more than a third of my life and I’ve never had an expectation that anyone would ever hire me. Acting is just something I love to do. Starting out, I was, as I call it, “born under a lucky star” in terms of the opportunities I was given. And when you’re young, it’s all dazzling and dizzying and the world is your oyster. I’ve worked with amazing creators, incredible actors, true artists who are still as charmed by it all as I am, but what comes with a lengthy career is wisdom. I often wish I’d known what I know today and be able to go back and infuse all of that knowledge into my earlier work. Especially as a woman, having raised children, lost my parents, friends…all the deep experiences of living life gives you such insights you could never dream of when you are a young performer.
Celia Hodes on Weeds remains one of the most beloved and complex comedic characters in television history — three Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and still discussed passionately today. You’ve said she’s your favorite role. What was it about Celia that you connected with so deeply?
Celia Hodes was an enigma. Truly. The writing (by creator Jenji Kohan) was so off-beat, so outrageous, so dauntingly cruel in its nature, that it was an honest challenge to find her soul. Which as an actor is all you could ever want. How do I bring humanity and depth to this person when they’re so inherently unlikeable? For me it was about finding her vulnerability, where all that anger and sadness came from and what was her trauma? Obviously it played out as the perplexing person she was, as she could never truly hide her rage, but at the bottom of all of that, I believe, was just a scared, sad little girl who wanted to be loved. A deep mother-wound. She had built a wall around her, lost all trust in humanity and herself, and was just adrift. We as actors, can’t ask for a more complex character than Celia was. What a gift it was to play her.
Big with Tom Hanks is one of those rare films that has genuinely stood the test of time — still beloved nearly 40 years later. What does it mean to you to have been part of something that has touched so many generations of people?
No one who worked on the film Big, during the shooting, ever expected it to become the classic that it has. At the time, there was a rash of body morphing movies that all seemed to come out around the same time, and here we were. But the elements the other films didn’t have was the absolute genius of Tom Hanks and Penny Marshall. Watching them work together was like watching a maestro with their full orchestra. Tom received his first Oscar nomination and the film just took off. To this day, most people know who I am from the movie Big. I still have the dress I wore for the scenes where we go on a date and we jump on the trampoline. I don’t have much that I’ve saved from other films, but I will have that dress forever. It, and the experience of being a part of something so precious, I will never let go of.
You’ve worked across every format — stage, film, television, streaming — with some of the greatest actors and directors of our era. Who has surprised you most, and is there a collaboration that fundamentally changed how you approach your craft?
Working with the director Barry Levinson on his deeply personal film, Avalon, was truly a lesson on the most creatively inspiring way to film a movie. It was the first time that film felt like theater to me, where the cast became a true ensemble, where we rehearsed like a stage production and it changed the way I felt about filmmaking. Coming from the stage, movies had always felt slightly hollow for me as an actor, until that amazing experience. As it was one of his Baltimore films (it was part of a trilogy with Diner and Tin Men; later he added Liberty Heights) and I was playing the mother to a young Barry Levinson (played by Elijah Wood) it was all incredibly intimate and special. I havent had an experience like it since.
You’ve spoken about falling in love with people’s talent — including your husband Julio Macat, whom you met on the set of Miracle on 34th Street. How has sharing your life with someone who works behind the camera shaped how you see the work of acting from the front of it?
I’ve always been inspired by cameramen and crews. I’m not an actor who hides in their trailer, but instead am honestly interested in how each shot and scene are created. I love watching the set-up and have learned a great deal from participating in how all of the craft of filmmaking comes together as a whole. With Julio, it was just love at first sight, although it took us quite some time before we actually acknowledged that. Funnily, it was him spending time back at base camp in the hair and makeup trailer with me, (where a DP rarely goes), that flipped the script. He was in awe watching the makeup artists, the hairdresser, the actors rehearsing their lines, and actually had no idea of what that whole other part of the set looked like. We both have gained new found respect for each others profession.
The conversation around women in Hollywood and age has shifted significantly — and you are living proof that the most interesting, complex roles can arrive at 60 and beyond. What would you tell younger women in the industry who are anxious about what comes next as they get older?
I guess I never got anxious about aging in Hollywood because no matter what, we are all going to age and yes, we all die. Fact. I guess I’ve just embraced that fact and am working with creators who understand that: older women are a part of society no matter how much the Hollywood industry wants to pretend they’re not. The roles may have gotten smaller as I’ve gotten older, which is testament to the industry I am in, but for me it’s the experience of working with other women, particularly women of my same age that is the most fulfilling. Being anxious about growing older will never change the fact it’s going to happen. Embrace it. Wisdom comes with age.
You were diagnosed with latent autoimmune diabetes at 44 — a diagnosis that came as a significant surprise. How has managing that condition shaped your relationship with your body, your health, and how you live day to day?
Type 1 Diabetes nearly killed me. I had been sick for quite some time, and was struggling with any doctor believing that I was, indeed, ill…an experience that many women go through. And ultimately all it took was a simple blood glucose test you can do with a finger stick. And bam, my blood sugars were off the charts and I was rushed to the hospital in serious condition. Type 1. Autoimmune. That was 22 years ago. And what it taught me was to always be a self-advocate in all of my healthcare. I had always lived a very healthy lifestyle and exercised, so the limits of my disease weren’t the struggle. It was navigating the healthcare system and the fight that is daily to receive medication, the necessary equipment to manage my disease and the support I need. Luckily there is an enormous grass roots support system for a lot of us Type 1 Autoimmune people with diabetes and I am so thankful for their reinforcement in knowing I am not alone.
You recently moved into the Berkshires — a place with deep personal history for you. What does your ideal day look like there, and how has slowing down in certain ways actually accelerated your creativity?
I am a Massachusetts girl through and through. Having grown up in the area, it’s just my home. There’s a saying…”First New England punishes you (winter) and then it rewards you (spring”) and that’s exactly what I love about the environment here. My days change like the seasons. Winter is snow and ice with cosy days inside. I get an enormous amount of reading done! And when spring arrives, its time for planting vegetables and pruning and watching the grounds explode. I hike, and in the summers I swim, I breathe, I explore. There’s music and theater and a bustling arts community here. We have Mass MOCA, Shakespeare and Co, The Williamstown Theater Festival and Tanglewood. There’s so much to do here you couldn’t possibly fit in everything. I’ve put more miles on my car traveling to events, concerts, local fairs and farmers markets than I ever did living in Los Angeles. And that’s saying a lot.
Elevated Women’s Lifestyle is all about living at the highest possible level across every dimension — work, relationships, wellness, style, and joy. What does living an elevated life mean to you right now, at this exact moment in your story?
Living elevated means being at peace. With yourself and your surroundings. Of knowing what brings peace and working toward making those changes in the journey of your life, so it happens. We can be stuck in the grind of work schedules, we can be stuck in traffic on some freeway, all of it, but if we know what journey we’re on, and where we’re heading, it all makes sense. My goal has always been serenity. To be at peace. It’s really all there is to life. It’s the joy in the small stuff, the cucumbers you’ve grown in the garden, the peonies that have burst open in the flower bed, a soft summer rain. Truly, what else is there?
