Amy Landecker’s Huge Breakthrough Career: Transparent and Beyond
Amy Landecker is experiencing the kind of breakthrough that not only is rare in Hollywood, but goes against the logic we’ve come to believe. After working as a voice actor and doing theater throughout much of her 20s and into her 30s, then, when too many actresses in Hollywood talk of losing work, Amy emerged with roles in films like Dan in Real Life, A Serious Man, and Enough Said (not to mention a number of television roles and theatrical work). Today, she’s busier than ever before, having appeared in The Meddler earlier this year (with Rose Byrne and Susan Sarandon) and soon to be released Dreamland, Hunter’s Prayer, Beatriz at Dinner, and much anticipated Doctor Strange. All this this on top of her role on Transparent, as bi-curious oldest daughter Sarah Pfefferman. Funny and candid, it’s easy to see why she’s in the midst of a breakthrough.
The Interrobang: I should mention that I’m from the Chicago area too, and kind of grew up listening to your dad (John Records Landecker) every morning on the radio.
Amy Landecker: He would be so excited to hear that. I did an interview in DC and brought my dad. They didn’t want to take pictures with me at all, just my dad. But he’s so excited about all this. He’s my date for the Emmys.
The Interrobang: Did he introduce you to performing and get you comfortable with being in public?
Amy Landecker: I definitely felt like I had a famous dad growing up, at least in the city where I lived. Of course, when I moved to New York, no one knew his name or asked if we were related. But I feel like he kind of made it comfortable for me to be a part of this entertainment world. My sister hated it growing up, when people would ask him for autographs and stuff. But I loved it. I just ate it up.”
The Interrobang: Do you remember when you got the acting bug?
Amy Landecker: I would read the shampoo bottle in the shower like someone on the radio and my dad would take me to the station to read commercial copy. My entry into the professional world was really through voice over. I was primarily a commercial voice over actor my first years. And I was really good at it and it really was the best job ever. And I know that skill came from being around the radio station. But I always wanted to be an actor. My sister and I used to put on plays when we were little. Full on productions. Even then, she was more the writer and I was definitely the little performer. I would just ham it up. After college we had a theater company above the China Club. It was a filthy loft.
The Interrobang: Did your family encourage you to pursue acting professionally?
Amy Landecker: Oh yeah. I think acting, definitely performing, is kind of just in my blood. My great grandfather was Joseph N. Welch, and I found out years later that he was the one who said during the McCarthy hearings, “at long last, have you left no sense of decency” which kind of put an end to those hearings. He was on the cover of Life Magazine and it’s considered one of the great quotes in US history. And the one thing he did with that notoriety, the one thing he asked, was to play the judge in Anatomy of a Murder (he was nominated for a Golden Globe). And when I finally tracked down the testimony, you can tell there is a theatrical quality to being a trial attorney. That’s probably the reason we have so many legal dramas.
The Interrobang: The one thing I noticed right away when I first started to recognize you on screen is how confident you seem right away. You have great presence and stature on screen. Did it help you to start getting significant roles when you were a little older?
Amy Landecker: I was a very fearful young person, so it took some time to get comfortable enough to do the kind of work I’m doing now. And it’s ironic that most actors, work more when they’re younger, because we only become better actors overtime and the characters we get to play can be so much more complicated with life experience. But it’s rare for women to get to play those parts as often because they aren’t considered as marketable as the youngsters. That’s probably why so many young people get messed up. They’re overwhelmed by the attention they get when just starting out. I couldn’t have handled that kind of attention without hurting myself or others. So getting these opportunities now, I feel fully formed as a human being whose lived a life of her own and gone through some stuff. I’ve had a child, been divorced, and had those ups and downs. So I don’t feel my life will be altered experiencing the success I’m enjoying now. The best part of aging has to be losing that fear you have when you’re younger. Transparent is the perfect example of what happens when artists of a certain age are given the checkbook and the freedom to create. Starting with Jill and her sister Faith, who are both in their early 50s. Our lead actors, Jeffrey and Judith, are both in their 70s. And Kathryn Hahn and I are more successful now than we’ve ever been in. And we’re doing a sexy, funny show that younger people like too, but there is something that comes from that confidence we acquire with age.
The Interrobang: And it’s great that these projects acknowledging the sex lives of these characters are still active, if not more so.
Amy Landecker: I was just talking about that with Connie Britton. We are so lucky to get that opportunity to feel sexy and beautiful on screen as mature women. I kind of credit people like Madonna and Mick Jagger for staying sexually viable well into their 40s and 50s. I feel like rock stars kind of changed our perceptions about aging, because they just didn’t want to stop. And looking at women with a little maturity that are so sexually viable is a good thing. I’m just now comfortable with my body. I think we’re seeing female employment already increasing in Hollywood, alongside life expectancy, and I’m going to keep fighting the good fight.
The Interrobang: Speaking of sexy, you have a nice first episode (the second of the season) this season.
Amy Landecker: I had to see that on the big screen with my dad sitting right next to me at the premiere in Toronto. I had to cover his eyes and said “and there is my very large, very white butt on the screen.” And being slapped as I go on about Jewish guilt. Sarah pushes me to the limit. The BDSM was my scariest storyline so far, but I think it might be scarier to just do heterosexual sex on screen. I’ve never done that and I don’t think I ever want to. I didn’t even know what BDSM meant when I first saw it in the script. But Jill hired an actress from the queer BDSM porn community, which is a very specific area. I didn’t get any introduction to the heterosexual community. And I was very struck by their kindness and concern for my well-being, even though it’s all about pushing the edges of pain for pleasure. But because you have that safe word and the option to stop, you have a lot of control over the danger. It’s probably safer than so called regular sexual encounters, because no one really knows where the limits are. In this experience, there are rules and safe words, and you have the ability to just stop. It was way easier than I thought it would be. And Jill was very smart to have someone else in the scene that really knew what she was doing. Because I didn’t know the world, but neither did Sarah.
The Interrobang: Did you know anything about how Sarah would evolve when first signing on? Did Jill talk to you about the journey she envisioned for the character?
Amy Landecker: No. But Jill’s very collaborative in general, and we have a conversation each year. But she treats the show like an alive organism and lets the experiences she, the writers, and the actors are going through inspire her. But I feel very close to Sarah, and have since season one. We both have close relationships with our sisters and were going through marital problems at the time. There’s a lot I can pull from, and Jill and I talked about the character and just our lives all the time. And she’ll always ask for input even while we are filming. It’s probably the most collaborative experience I’ve had on a set. I kind of lobbied to play more with Kathryn Hahn, because I feel a natural connection to her and wanted more time with just the two of us. So this season we have a lot of scenes together.
Watch Transparent, season three exclusively on Amazon Prime.
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