Veteran actress Kathleen Chalfant chatted about starring in the movie “Familiar Touch,” which has been generating Oscar buzz for her in the “Best Actress” race.
At 81 years old, if Chalfant secures an Academy Award nomination, she would be the second-oldest “Best Actress” nominee in Oscar history, where she would surpass Jessica Tandy, who was 80 years old when she was nominated for “Driving Miss Daisy.”
The 2026 Academy Award nominations will officially be announced on Thursday, January 22nd, 2026.
Theater and TV projects
In other Kathleen Chalfant theater news, she recently starred in the Off-Broadway show of Michael Griffo’s “Pen Pals” opposite Ellen McLaughlin.
Chalfant will be starring in the Playwrights Horizons production of “The Dinosaurs” from February 4th to March 1st, which will be performed at The Judith O. Rubin Theater in New York. “The Dinosaurs” was written by Jacob Perkins and directed by Les Waters.
In the TV world, Chalfant stars as “St. George” in the new espionage thriller series “The Copenhagen Test” (opposite lead actor and executive producer Simu Liu), which steams on Peacock.
Chalfant on ‘Familiar Touch’
In the coming of old age film, “Familiar Touch” by Sarah Friedland, Chalfant stars as octogenarian Ruth, a retired cook, who prepares breakfast in her sunny and cozy kitchen — a dish she seems to have made many times before, although small and puzzling errors now punctuate her comfortable routine.
When her son (H. Jon Benjamin) arrives to dine with her, she mistakes him for a suitor. Their “date” takes them to an assisted living facility, which Ruth does not remember that she had previously selected for herself.
Among her fellow memory care residents, Ruth feels lost and adrift, certain she has found herself somewhere she does not belong.
As she slowly begins to accept the warmth and support of care workers Vanessa (Carolyn Michelle) and Brian (Andy McQueen), she finds new ways to ground herself in her body, even as her mind embarks on a journey all its own.
On starring in “Familiar Touch,” Chalfant remarked, “It was great! It has been such a wonderful ride with such an incredible company. I loved working with everybody who had anything to do with it. Of course, all the creators.”
“Then, there are all these partners we’ve had in the caregiving world,” she noted. “Our last event is going to happen at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival next weekend.”
‘Familiar Touch’ — A big winner at many award shows
“Familiar Touch” won big at the Venice Film Festival, where Chalfant garnered the “Best Actress” Award. Writer and director Sarah Friedland was recognized “Best Debut Film” and “Best Director.”
Most recently, on January 3rd, Chalfant won for “Best Actress” at the National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) Awards.
“Those wins were so great, and some of them were entirely unexpected,” she said.
“I just turned 81 on January 14th, so to say that I wasn’t expecting this to happen in my ninth decade is an understatement,” she admitted. “So, it has been a joy… all of it from the beginning to the end. There are no bad parts.”
Chalfant is also nominated for “Best Lead Performance” at the upcoming “Film Independent Spirit Awards,” which will be held on February 15th at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
Sarah Friedland is also nominated for the 2026 John Cassavetes Award at the forthcoming Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Chalfant on playing Ruth in ‘Familiar Touch’
Chalfant was drawn to playing her character Ruth for many reasons. “I loved playing Ruth,” she admitted. “
“Ruth, in a way, is a tribute to my best friend, Sybille Pearson, who at the time that I got the script was in in about the same place that Ruth is in the movie. She has now moved on in her dementia journey,” she elaborated.
“So, it felt like a way to pay tribute to Sybille. It was also a gift that Sybille gave me because I learned how to play Ruth in many ways from her,” she noted.
“There is a lot of Sybille in Ruth,” she reiterated.
Lessons learned from the ‘Familiar Touch’ screenplay
On the lessons learned from this screenplay, she reflected, “I don’t know. I knew that I wanted to do this movie from the first time I read the script.”
“It was a particularly exciting challenge as an actor because there wasn’t a lot of dialogue,” she noted. “So, you had to make the person emerge from her movements, which was important in general.”
Closing thoughts on ‘Familar Touch’
For fans and viewers, Chalfant expressed about “Familiar Touch,” “Again, I am just so proud of this film.”
“It’s really good to see it in the movie theaters because Gabe Elder is such a wonderful cinematographer. It is quite beautiful, isn’t it? ‘Familiar Touch’ is stunning to look at. Also, the future looks really bright for Sarah Friedland,” Chalfant concluded.
Read More: “Familiar Touch” starring Kathleen Chalfant review.
