Laurie Metcalf arrived on her first day of filming Netflix’s “Big Mistakes” with something she needed to get off her chest. She can’t remember where she said it, but it was probably in a hair and makeup trailer where she was sitting next to series co-creator and co-star Dan Levy.
“We had barely met at that point, but I told him, ‘I have a very big job to do, and I know that in my heart, because I play your second mom on TV,'” Metcalfe told Variety.
She was, of course, referring to Levy’s previous TV mom, played by the late comedy legend Catherine O’Hara on “Schitt’s Creek.” In O’Hara’s hands, the character of Moira Rose becomes an extraordinary figure in her son’s life, learning to love him even more than she loves the spotlight, or at least as much. In “The Big Mistake,” Metcalf is given a similarly big role on screen, and he wanted Levy to understand the weight of the responsibility.
“We never talked about comparisons or anything, and I think he wanted the dynamics to be different,” Metcalf says. “But I wanted to be there for his character, just like Moira Rose was there for him on Schitt’s Creek.”
Metcalf, as enthusiastic mayoral candidate Linda Morelli, is both a blessing and a curse to her son Nicky (Levy) and daughter Morgan (Taylor Ortega). The level of stress she brings is definitely not needed as the brothers unintentionally fall further into the world of organized crime. Linda is brash, carries her moral superiority as a badge of honor, and is fiercely protective of her children, whether she likes it or not. She’s a powerful presence in the Morelli family, but she’s not the only difficult mother to appear in Metcalf’s recent filmography.
Metcalfe plays a very different mother in Monster: The Ed Gein Story, co-starring Charlie Hunnam.
Provided by Netflix
Also on Netflix this year, the Emmy Award winner took on the role of Augusta Gein, the mother of notorious serial killer Ed Gein (Charlie Hunnam), in Monster: The Ed Gein Story. Augusta is a deeply religious woman, haunted by her son’s spirit even before his death, and “resurrects” him with the exhumed corpse of another woman. This is probably the darkest role Metcalf has ever played. At least since 1997’s Scream 2, Metcalf has been cast as the mother of another serial killer, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), who ends up in a terrible situation herself.
But in “Monster,” Metcalfe wasn’t interested in playing an evil mother who was just cruel to her child. She needed depth, she needed something more to grab onto.
“The challenge for me was that that darkness came from their dysfunctional relationship, and knowing that her influence on him was part of why his life went the way it did,” she says of playing Gein’s mother. “Knowing that your character is responsible for leading him into darkness is a huge responsibility to accept. And, of course, his mental disorder. Challenges can’t just be black and white. She can’t just be pure evil and he can’t be pure good.” , just to beat him up and break him down. So in each scene, Charlie and I tried to find a little bit of heart in there, a little bit of connection, and no matter how much she respected his mother.”
The Tony Award-winning actress, who was nominated again this year for her role in “Death of a Salesman,” always seeks the exhilaration of being on stage, no matter what role she chooses. She said both “Big Mistakes” and “Monster” gave her that opportunity.
In the case of Monster, the scenes between Metcalf and Hunnam are basically a two-person play. Their interactions are tied to the home, where he becomes haunted by the specter of her influence, criticism, and malice before and after her death. Director Max Winkler worked closely with the two actors to develop a trusting relationship that allowed him to convey a confrontation based on anger and fear.
“I really appreciate scenes of any length in film or television because I can find the charm in them,” Metcalfe says. “That’s where you can really build momentum as an actor and really work with your scene partners and start to pick up the pace. It was really just me, Charlie and Max on set. We explored a lot of things. Nothing was set in stone on the page, and everyone’s ideas were welcome. The best ideas won, and that’s a really comfortable way of working.”
Metcalf was a big believer in becoming Augusta Gane, but when the role came up, there was no script. “I didn’t know what to expect the moment I walked in the door,” she says.
“Big Mistakes” was a different kind of leap forward. Levy and co-creator Rachel Sennott’s fast-paced pilot script included long scenes and many moving parts, Metcalf says.
“I think the more we rehearsed, the more all the actors got into tune and found their rhythm,” she says. “We figured out where we could overlap, separate from each other, and have the camera cross in front of each other. It was very organic and very immersive, the way theater is. I’m scared of having cameras in the room, but working that way makes me less scared.”
Metcalfe said he quickly understood how Linda had come to intrude into the children’s lives. “Dan wrote my first line of the entire series in all caps,” she says with a laugh. “We knew what to do with it. We got buzzed right away and just built from there.”
Trusting the process paid off. Metcalfe’s entire “Big Miss” family came to see her on the opening night of “Death of a Salesman” on Broadway.
Navigating the darkness and light of both roles brought back memories of her “Scream 2” experience. As Debbie Salt, a fake journalist turned vengeful murderer, Metcalfe gets to play in director Kevin Williamson’s humorous horror meta-sandbox. Nearly 30 years later, she looks back on that work as even more challenging than the harrowing depths of “Monster.”
Laurie Metcalf and Courteney Cox in 1997’s Scream 2
©Miramax/Courtesy of Everett/Everett Collection
“The ‘Scream’ experience was a huge learning curve for me because I was very new to filmmaking at the time,” she says. “It was very intense. There were days when there was no so-called lightness around the set because we were doing something so heavy.”
After 30 years, Metcalf reprized the role briefly this year in Scream 7. And just like Mama Gein and Morelli, her “Scream” matriarch still has something to say.
“I think people who have strong opinions are really interesting and fun to play because they give 110 percent no matter what,” she says. “Right, wrong, you can’t read the atmosphere in the room, no matter what’s going on. They’re doing their best.”
Like Laurie Metcalf.
