This year, Shirley MacLaine returns to the silver screen to mark a milestone anniversary in her career.
The 89-year-old actress stars opposite Peter Dinklage in the dark comedy “American Dreamer,” which was released in theaters on Friday ahead of the 96th Academy Awards. Four decades ago, MacLaine won her first Best Actress Oscar for her performance in “Terms of Endearment” in 1983, after four previous nominations.
McClain, who made her acting debut in 1955, recently told Extra’s Billy Bush that she still loves her profession as much as she did when she first started in the entertainment industry. But McClain said Hollywood has changed a lot over the years with the advent of streaming platforms, she said.
“Unfortunately, the charm is gone. I think it’s become something completely different,” McClain said. “That’s 100% different.”
Shirley MacLaine talks about confusion between President Trump and Oscars at Lumiere Awards ceremony
Shirley MacLaine shared her perspective on how Hollywood has changed over the years. (Getty)
President Bush noted that during Hollywood’s golden age, movie stars’ privacy was better protected by the studios, and asked whether McClain was troubled by today’s prevalence of “voyeurism.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I’m just very open, so I don’t have much to hide.”
“Sometimes there’s a lot of explaining to do,” McClain joked.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of MacLaine’s Oscar win. (Getty Images)
In “American Dreamer,” Dinklage, 54, plays Dr. Phil Loader, a college professor whose dreams of becoming a homeowner are thwarted by low wages that remain out of reach. According to the film’s logline, when elderly widow Astrid Fanelli (McLaine) offers to sell her vast estate “for pennies,” he seizes the opportunity, but “the deal is too good to be true.” It just became clear.
McClain said she was drawn to the role of Astrid because she “liked the way she dealt with her age.”
When asked how he plans to celebrate his 90th birthday in April, McClain explained that after years of steady work, he will be busy with his next project.
“I’m going to be on set,” McClain said. “I’m going to Atlantic City.”
Shirley MacLaine will turn 90 in April. (Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images)
The actress also offered her opinion on whether achieving the “American Dream” remains a reality for most people.
“I think we should care more about what American democracy means,” she responded. “We seem to have forgotten what that means. I think it’s time to get back to the real level of understanding American democracy.”
Dinklage said he found the “concept” of the American Dream “appealing.” “But I think the point of this movie is to be careful about what you get too attached to, because when you meet someone like Shirley and her character, everything you thought before is completely turned upside down.” “It gives you a whole new perspective on how,” he said.
The “Game of Thrones” star added that viewers will find “American Dreamer” a “fresh perspective on romance.”
Mr. McClain and Mr. Dinklage had never worked together before, but the two “really hit it off,” he told Mr. Bush.
Dinklage said that working with the acting icon was “one of the best experiences of my career.”
MacLaine made her screen debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 dark comedy Harry’s Trouble, for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best New Actress. She received her first Academy Award nomination for her role in Vincente Minnelli’s 1958 film Some Come Running opposite Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
Following his early career success, McClain shot to stardom when he played elevator operator Fran Kubelik in Billy Wilder’s 1960 romantic comedy-drama The Apartment. She was nominated for her second Oscar for her performance and was the favorite to win the trophy, but she lost to Elizabeth Taylor.
MacLaine received her third Oscar nomination for her role as a prostitute in Wilder’s 1963 film Irma La Douce.
Although her acting career languished for a time in the early to mid-1970s, MacLaine and co-director Claudia Wells won an Academy Award for Best Documentary for their 1976 film The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir. Nominated for an award.
McClain returned to attention after appearing in 1977’s The Turning Point. Originally aspiring to pursue a career in ballet, she earned her fourth Academy Award nomination for her performance as retired ballerina Dee Dee Rogers.
In 1984, McClain finally won her first Best Actress award for her role as widow Aurora Greenway in Jim Brooks’s “Terms of Endearment.” Her other nominees included co-star Debra Winger, who played her daughter Emma in the family comedy-drama.
MacLaine won the Best Actress Oscar in 1984 for her role in “Terms of Endearment.” (Image Press/Images/Getty Images)
Upon accepting the award, McClain joked about how long he waited to receive the award. “For 26 years, I’ve wondered what this would look like,” she said. “Thank you so much for stopping the suspense.”
In her acceptance speech, MacLaine said she was looking forward to working with co-star Jack Nicholson, quipping, “It was the pleasure of middle age to have him in my bed.”
McClain also stated that he would like to work with “Debra Winger’s rambunctious talent.” The pair reportedly continued to play characters throughout the film’s production, but their relationship on set was notoriously stormy.
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McClain said of Winger, “She literally lived the character so thoroughly that for four months she thought she had two daughters.”
“I’m not going to thank everyone I’ve ever met in my life, but given the state of my mind these days, I’m probably grateful for everyone I’ve ever met in my life, and I might have met in another life. I’m going to thank everyone who helped me.” There’s something to this,” McClain said.
She continued, “If “Terms of Endearment” had happened to me five years ago, I think I would have called it a thrilling commercial and artistic accident. I don’t think so.
“I believe that there is no such thing as coincidence. I believe that we all manifest what we want and need. What we feel we have to do in our hearts I don’t think there’s really any difference between success and success.” They are inseparable. ”
MacLaine’s Oscar speech is widely considered to be the most memorable for her last line. “Movies and life are like clay waiting for us to shape it,” she said.
“It seems to me that when you trust your inner self and it pays off, that’s some kind of principle that works for everyone,” McClain added. “May God bless those principles. May God bless us with the possibility that anything is possible if we all deem it worthy.”
“This is what I deserve. Thank you.”
The actress joked about how she waited 26 years to have the honor of winning an Oscar. (ABC Photo Archive/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Since winning the Oscar, McClain has continued to appear in major feature films and television projects. She recently appeared in two episodes of Hulu’s popular mystery comedy-drama series “Only Murders in the Building.”
One of McClain’s most beloved performances was her role in the 1989 classic romantic comedy-drama “Steel Magnolias.” In addition to MacLaine, the film featured an A-list ensemble cast, including Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, Sally Field, and Daryl Hannah.
The film will celebrate its 35th anniversary this November. In a 2019 interview with People to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Magnolia, McClain said he still keeps in touch with his co-stars.
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“We keep in touch with each other,” McClain said. “Not always, but we know what we’re doing.”
McClain told the media that Parton was the most “impressive” of her critically acclaimed castmates while filming the movie in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
“She was the only one who didn’t complain about the heat,” she recalled with a laugh. “And she was wearing 10-inch heels and an 18-inch waist cincher. And she never complained. And she was wearing a huge wig!”
“Steel Magnolias” starred McClain, Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Dolly Parton, and Daryl Hannah. (Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images)
The actress played Louisa “Whizzer” Boudreau, the town grump who is the best friend of Dukakis’ character Clerie Belcher. McClain said the late “Moonstruck” star, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 89, was the actress she was “closest to” on set.
“First of all, all of our scenes were pretty much the same,” McClain told People. “Julia was going through what she was going through when she was younger, and I think Dolly was writing songs in her bedroom or something.”
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Roberts, who was 23 at the time, had a career break playing the role of young diabetic Shelby Eatenton-Lachery. Roberts received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and she also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Although Roberts was a relative newcomer to the industry, MacLaine recalled seeing star potential in the young actress from the moment they met.
“We were rehearsing on a soundstage, I can’t remember where, and she came in,” McClain recalls. “And I saw her walk into the room and sit down and say hello…I got up from the table and called my agent before rehearsals even started.”
She continued, “I said to him, ‘Here’s a woman and she’s going to be a big star. You should treat her.’ She was amazing. Her energy just stepped onto the soundstage.”
