Laurie Metcalf began filming Netflix’s “Big Mistakes” with a personal revelation. Although unsure of the exact location, she likely expressed it in the hair and makeup trailer beside series co-creator and co-star Dan Levy.
“We had only just met, but I told him, ‘I have extremely big shoes to fill, and I know that in my heart because I’m playing your second TV mom,'” Metcalf shared with Variety.
Metcalf was referring to Levy’s earlier TV mom, the late comedic icon Catherine O’Hara from “Schitt’s Creek.” O’Hara’s portrayal of Moira Rose was a grandiose presence in her son’s life, balancing her love for him and the spotlight. In “Big Mistakes,” Metcalf takes on a similarly significant role and wanted Levy to know she grasped the magnitude of her task.
“We never discussed comparisons, and I think he wanted the dynamics to be different,” Metcalf noted. “But I wanted to be there for his character, just as Moira Rose was for him in ‘Schitt’s Creek.'”
Playing the energetic mayoral candidate Linda Morelli, Metcalf is both a blessing and a challenge to her children, Nicky (Levy) and Morgan (Taylor Ortega). The siblings are drawn into organized crime, adding stress they don’t need. Linda is outspoken, morally confident, and protective of her children, for better or worse. This is not the only complex maternal role Metcalf has recently undertaken.
Courtesy of Netflix
In another Netflix project this year, the Emmy winner took on the role of Augusta Gein, mother to the infamous serial killer Ed Gein (Charlie Hunnam), in “Monster: The Ed Gein Story.” Augusta is deeply religious and haunts her son’s mind even before her death, after which he “resurrects” her using another woman’s exhumed body. This may be Metcalf’s darkest role since playing Billy Loomis’s mother in 1997’s “Scream 2,” where she also turned to crime.
However, Metcalf was not interested in portraying an evil mother just for the sake of it in “Monster.” She sought depth in the character.
“The challenge for me was that the darkness came from their dysfunctional relationship, and knowing that her influence on him is part of the reason why his life went in a certain direction,” she says of playing Gein’s mother. “That’s a huge responsibility to accept, to know that your character is responsible for steering him into the darkness. That, and, of course, his mental disorder. The challenges can’t just be black and white. She can’t just be pure evil and he’s pure good, and she just beats him down and beats him down. So Charlie and I tried to find, in each scene, a little bit of heart in there, a little connection, and a little bit of how he did look up to his mother, no matter how she treated him.”
When choosing roles, the Tony-winning actress, who was nominated again this year for “Death of a Salesman,” always seeks the thrill of performing on stage. She mentioned that both “Big Mistakes” and “Monster” offered her that chance.
In “Monster,” Metcalf’s scenes with Hunnam resemble a two-person play. Their interactions occur within the home, where he is haunted by her influence and criticism, both before and after her death. Director Max Winkler worked closely with them to develop a rapport that fueled their intense exchanges, driven by rage and fear.
“Any scene in film or TV that has any kind of length to it, I really appreciate because that’s where you can find some traction,” Metcalf says. “That’s where you can, as an actor, get some momentum going and really lock in with your scene partners and start to find a pace. It was really just me, Charlie and Max on set. We explored a lot. Nothing was set in stone on the page, and anybody’s idea was welcome. The best idea wins, and that’s a really comforting way to work.”
Portraying Augusta Gein was a leap of faith for Metcalf, who had no scripts when the role was first offered. “I didn’t know what to expect walking in the door,” she says.
“Big Mistakes” presented a different challenge. Levy and co-creator Rachel Sennott’s fast-paced pilot script featured lengthy scenes and numerous elements, Metcalf explains.
“I think the more we rehearsed them, the more all the actors got into the groove and found our own rhythms,” she says. “We found where we could overlap, and cut each other off and cross the camera in front of each other. It was very organic, very present like theater is. I am intimidated by cameras being in the room, but less so in working that way.”
Metcalf quickly understood how Linda should enter her children’s lives. “Dan wrote my first line of the whole series in all caps,” she says, laughing. “I knew what to do with that. It immediately got loud, and we just built from there.”
Her trust in the process paid off, as Metcalf’s entire “Big Mistakes” family attended the opening night of her Broadway show “Death of a Salesman.”
Reflecting on the contrasts of both roles brought back memories of her “Scream 2” experience. As Debbie Salt, a fake journalist-turned-vengeful killer, Metcalf engaged with the humor-infused horror of Kevin Williamson. Nearly 30 years later, she considers that production even more challenging than the somber tone of “Monster.”
©Miramax/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection
“I was very new to film back then, so the ‘Scream’ experience, for me, was a huge learning curve,” she says. “It was intense, and there were days where there wasn’t really what I would call a lightness around the set because we’re doing such heavy stuff.”
After three decades, Metcalf briefly reprised her role this year in “Scream 7.” And just like mamas Gein and Morelli, her “Scream” matriarch still has something to say.
“I find super opinionated people really funny and fun to play, because they are giving 110 percent no matter what,” she says. “Right, wrong, can’t read the room, whatever’s happening. They are giving their all.”
Just like Laurie Metcalf.
