Emmy-nominated actress Jacqueline Bisset (“Joan of Arc”) chatted about starring in the new film “Long Shadows.” This western drama, directed by William Shockley, will be released to theaters on November 7th.
Aside from Bisset, the movie stars Dermot Mulroney, Dominic Monaghan, Grainger Hines, Blaine Maye, and Sarah Cortez.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” This quote applies to Jacqueline Bisset.
‘Long Shadows’ movie
The synopsis is: Dermot Mulroney stars as Dallas Garrett, a former outlaw living with a lifetime full of regrets, who takes a young man, “Marcus Dollar,” (Blaine Maye), under his wing, teaching him the hard lessons of life.
Jacqueline Bisset plays Vivian Villere while Dominic Monaghan portrays Ned Duxbury, Vivian’s long-time, conflicted, and ambitious assistant, who uses the Purgatory Saloon to hide in the shadows from societal norms of the time.
Sarah Cortez plays Dulce Flores, a young woman trapped at Villere’s Saloon, whom Marcus frees and shares his tormented past with.
In a rapidly modernizing American West, “Long Shadows” is the story of a broken young man, a survivor of tragic violence, torn between his thirst for vengeance and love’s redemption, his soul so fractured reality itself is questioned.
Bisset on being a part of ‘Long Shadows’
Jacqueline Bisset portrays Vivian Villere, the mercurial Madam and owner of the Purgatory Saloon, a woman who will stop at nothing to manipulate her power.
“It was fun, it wasn’t too long, even though it was a small part,” Bisset said. “I wanted to play a Cockney type of character; I’m very good at it when I get it right. I had been wanting to play that for a long time. I would have liked it to have been a bigger role, but I enjoyed it. I had so much fun with it! I made all my friends laugh.”
Playing Vivian Villere
On playing her character Vivian Villere, Bisset said, “Well, I enjoyed meeting the group, I enjoyed working with William Shockley, and the person who made my costumes was very talented.”
“We had a bit of fun with the costuming, and it was fun to go to Tucson, Arizona. It had lots and lots of different cacti. It was an interesting landscape,” she said.
“All the actors I worked with were very good,” she admitted.
Lessons learned from this screenplay
On the lessons learned from this screenplay, she said with a sweet laugh, “It taught me that I’m lucky, and that I don’t have to be in the Wild West living in a dusty village or town.”
“No, I enjoy being feminine, I enjoy being a woman, I enjoy the idea of my character being a little more out there than the average woman, not just, housebound, but the idea of being an independent person, who actually, underneath probably has a reasonable good heart despite what she has to do for business,” she clarified.
“Vivian is pretty vicious in a way too, but life was probably very hard,” she admitted.
“Just knowing those things, it’s just interesting to look at people where one makes an automatic judgment about certain jobs, and I don’t do that,” she added.
The digital age
On being an actress in the digital age, at a time with streaming, technology and social media are so prevalent, Bisset responded, “Oh, I just ignore it.”
“I don’t really do it at all,” she noted. “I think it was last year that I put a few photos up on Facebook because I had a birthday.”
“I’m actually really turned off by the whole idea of it,” Bisset said. “I think it’s just horrible how self-serving and how narcissistic a lot of it is. It just really puts me off.”
Advice for young and emerging actors
For young and aspiring actors, Bisset said, “I would tell them to do other things. I would tell them to be true to themselves but to learn and to study. Also, to visit art galleries, and go to the theater. Learn a new language and how learn to speak properly.”
“Learn good manners, learn how to eat, and learn how to be a person who is pleasant to be around. Also, I would tell them to stay off drugs,” she noted.
“It’s a very tough place to be, especially if you don’t have a pretty good education and just behave as a human who is kind, productive, it’s not easy to survive,” she acknowledged.
“I really do think this narcissism thing has really overtaken the world, and it’s horrendous. It teaches people disrespect towards themselves and over-belief in themselves,” she added.
‘Joan of Arc’
In the Emmy award-winning TV miniseries “Joan of Arc,” Bisset portrayed Joan of Arc’s (Leelee Sobieski’s) mother, Isabelle d’Arc, which earned her a Primetime Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.”
“Oh, it was bloody cold. It was so horribly cold and miserable,” Bisset admitted. “I was just going through a period in time when I was playing all these shrouded characters, and it was a funny time, I’m telling you.”
“I call it my ‘Islamic period.’ For 14 years, I was living with a Turkish man who never asked me to be shrouded in any way, shape, or form. In fact, he would have liked it if I was dressing more sexy,” she elaborated.
“I self-imposed myself into doing these various parts, so I played the mother of Joan of Arc,” she added.
‘The Greek Tycoon’
On being a part of the film “The Greek Tycoon,” Bisset said, “That was a while ago. That was not an easy film to make because Jacqueline Kennedy’s personality was hanging over it.”
“Also, the press was just raving to try and get at me, and I found that very difficult,” she noted.
“The press was trying to follow me and take pictures of me and stuff. They didn’t manage much, but it was pressure; however, I enjoyed working with Anthony Quinn very much,” she said.
“Anthony was a great, real man and he was generous. I liked the director too; he had a great sense of humor,” she recalled
“I enjoyed it. It was semi-glamorous even though we were not allowed on the boat… that was quite an interesting process,” she added.
Success
On her definition of the word success, Bisset said, “Well, being close to the people you love, and who hopefully love you. Being sufficiently healthy that you have energy. Having time to read a good book or magazine; whatever it is you want to read.”
“Having quiet around me. I like quiet and loving animals, as well as a degree of nature,” she noted.
“I need a degree of nature,” she underscored. “I’ve always lived in places where I had a garden or some trees and some nature. I can’t do too well in a city as much as I can enjoy it,” she elaborated.
Message for her fans
For her fans, she said, “Thank you for being my fans. I get a lot of really interesting mail from people.
“I can tell from the mail that I’ve done some things right. They’re not too glowy, and they talk about it in detail,” she observed.
Bisset continued, “One of the things that pleases me is that some of the people have talked about the way I’ve behaved in my life. They admire that and think I’m inspirational, and that I’ve behaved with dignity, and that pleases me.”
“I do feel that way. I do feel a sense of responsibility to people, especially to young women and to older women too,” she noted.
“As much as life can be complex and difficult, I try to face things that are difficult and not be coy about them,” she said.
“I try not to overdress, and I try not to be vulgar. I am in my best behavior; I don’t want to be vulgar. I think it’s awful and unnecessary. A lot of people choose to be vulgar now, and that makes me feel sad for them,” she concluded.
