The actor opens up about parenting, perfectionism, and her role in 'Fifty Shades of Grey.'
By Lauren Paige Kennedy
WebMD Magazine - Feature
1. The world is about to see you in the film version of the best-selling book Fifty Shades of Grey. Were you nervous to appear in it?
No. The film raises questions about eroticism and pleasure and things we really don’t talk about. I’m glad we don’t! I don’t want to discuss every single aspect of sexuality over the breakfast table. Yet, there is this fascinating world of what happens in the bedroom when [a couple] takes their journey one step further. And for me, the core of that journey is trust.
By Diane Umansky When many of us are peacefully slumbering, Paula McClure, the owner of a spa in Dallas, is often jolted awake by what she refers to as her sleep committee. "The committee meets in my head at 3 a.m., and we run down a list of problems: all the things I didn't get done that day, people I didn't call back, decisions I'm worried about," she says. The dark-of-the-night fretting may follow McClure into the daytime hours, often making her feel emotionally paralyzed. "My...
2. You play Christian Grey’s mother. Is it a good role?
I represent an extremely important archetype in the film’s explorations of women. My character is the educated working mom, a doctor. I love the examples she sets. I’ve been sending out a series of naughty tweets [in character] addressed to Christian. One of them said: “Just remember that a woman’s greatest sexual organ is her brain. Love, Mama Grey.”
3. Why do you think the book was such a sensation?
This book is written in the style of all great romances. And it’s made furry handcuffs more acceptable.
4. Do you think Hollywood promotes a healthy or unhealthy notion of sex?
I don’t like to make blanket statements about the media. The media is a group of individuals. A bigger issue for me is that young boys are learning about sex from [violent] porn. Boys learn this, girls accept it -- that disturbs me far more than some erotic movie where an actor shows a boob or a butt.
5. You have three kids. What’s your greatest 21st-century parenting challenge?
I’m a single mother. Traditions of family dissipated in divorce. I try to build upon things that keep us connected to history and to stay embedded in great culture with my kids. Sometimes it scares me that those classic, rich tapestries of history -- music and opera and art -- will all be replaced by Tumblr.
6. Many women battle the need to be perfect. Do you?
source : 10 Questions With Marcia Gay Harden
