“I think the bucket list thing is a much more fun thing to think
about when you have time than when you don’t have time.
You know, the bucket list should happen in your 30s.”
Please explain why we are all in love with Mark
Ruffalo (Linney’s costar in You Can Count on Me).
For really good reasons we’re in love with Mark Ruffalo.
There is a goodness to him that is completely undeni-
able. You meet him and he comes at you like this. (She
extends arms, palms up.)
A genuinely nice guy?
Not nice. It’s … goodness. We’re forever bonded and I’m
so lucky for that.
Your role as Abigail Adams (in the HBO Miniseries
John Adams) …
I loved it. And I understood for the first time how people
become obsessed with American history—you read
about John Adams and then you become interested in
Franklin. Then you become interested in Jefferson and
then you become interested in Monroe.
Abigail Adams wasn’t perfect.
No, she got bit by the fame bug. To go from a woman who
was running a farm to being famous? That changes you.
I don’t care who you are. That changes you intensely.
How did it change her?
She sort of stepped into her own power, you know? She
was conscious of her own power.
If you were gonna play another first lady, who
would you play?
I don’t know a whole lot about her but I think Grace
Coolidge. Those paintings of her with the …
Those collies.
What’s going on there? I’m a little intrigued by her.
If you could go back in time to the Golden Age
of Hollywood and do any great film role, which
would it be?
I think I would want to watch the person do it who did
it. Can I say that? I think all those Katharine Hepburn
parts are pretty spectacular. If I could have watched her
and Spencer Tracy work.
Who would be your Spencer Tracy today?
So, I sat down and watched The Big C over one
weekend.
Wow.
Thirteen episodes. It really packs a wallop. You’re
probably aware that a lot of people watch these
shows like this now.
So do I.
Cathy [Linney’s character] is learning how to
have fun again.
Cathy’s trying to figure out who she is before she dies.
And I think there’s a big difference. You know, I think
everyone is guilty of this at one point or another: You
can become a function and not a person pretty easily.
You can function and not live.
What do you mean?
Well, you can be very efficient and you can do a lot and
you can get a lot done. But your life is thin, you know?
If it’s all about what you do.
Yeah. You don’t have relationships and you don’t
listen and your senses go dull. You don’t really know
what you think about something. What do I think
about that? Do I really like that person? Do I really
wanna continue putting time into that relationship?
Or is it just what I think I should do? And you’re not
living your life in the moment, you know? Cathy’s
done everything well because she’s kept it very safe.
But she hasn’t really done anything very deeply.
I wonder if Cathy before her diagnosis ate
steamed dumplings and now that she has a
terminal diagnosis she’s eating fried dumplings?
She’s eating jellybeans. She doesn’t have a lot of time.
She’s eating raw cake batter, you know, with a spoon.
That’s what she’s doing.
There’s a cliché in a lot of movies where the
person finds out that he or she is going to die,
then throws caution to the wind and that’s sort
of the key to a fulfilled life.
I often think if someone said to me, “You know, you
have half a year to live,” what would I want to do? I’d
want to be at home. I think the bucket list thing is a
much more fun thing to think about when you have
