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HBO
What attracted you to this role and to the show?
SW
It was one of the boldest, most unadorned scripts I'd seen in years. It looks like a Pinter play -- deceptively simple. There were no generic descriptions like "This is Carolyn, a high-powered lawyer, successful, blonde highlights, doesn't like her dad." It was up to you to fill out the role and I loved that prospect. It's a very revealing part in more than the obvious ways. It demands that you bring all of you to it which is the kind of part you hope to get as an actor.
HBO
What about Carolyn could you relate to or not relate to?
SW
I relate to a lot of her. And for the rest, you pull certain things out that are latent in you. So I'm determined, but not as determined as she is. I can be secretive but I try not to be. There's a lot of passive aggression in her relationship that I found very WASPy and English, actually. Again, a part of me I try not to lean on, but is very much there if I'm not careful.
HBO
Have you seen relationship issues like infertility treated like this on television or film before?
SW
I know I haven't. And one of the great benefits of doing it on television is that if you were to reduce the couple's story to film, it would be trite and sensational. You'd have the peak where they think they're pregnant, the trough where they discover they're not, and then the possibility of they are, again. It would be a predictable path. The benefit of having ten episodes to examine the minutia, or just the sheer daily grind of being obsessed with pursuing it to the exclusion of all else, what she's prepared to give up to have this baby – you would be shortchanging that entire arc if you tried to compress it into an hour and a half movie. And I think that Tim and Ally's storyline about intimacy with your partner after twenty years of marriage is the kind you read in a novel. I don't think you've seen it on TV before.
HBO
What are some of the most naked moments on the show for you – and not just literally?
SW
One that comes to mind is the one where I take about ten different pregnancy tests in front of Adam with this desperate hope that one will say yes. But I think the hardest scenes come towards the end of the season. There's a therapy scene that was pretty devastating. I remember coming home and just going to bed for the rest of the day. I think we all had at least one day like that where it just hit such a nerve.
HBO
Did you have any qualms or concerns about the explicit nature of the show?
SW
I've turned down very good work before because of explicit scenes. So I sat down with Carolyn [Strauss, HBO President of Entertainment] and Cindy [show creator Cynthia Mort] to find out what the intention was...if it was just a shockfest I wasn't in on it. I basically knew that was not what was going on, that you can't tell the story of my couple and not show the toll it's taking on the sex life, but I had to be assured. So intellectually and morally I made my peace with it very quickly. But when it comes to actually showing up on set and taking your dress off – [LAUGHS] it's a big pill to swallow, I've got to tell you!
HBO
Was there any sort of preparation you had with Adam [Scott, who plays Palek], or the crew, or anybody?
SW
No. It was a minimal crew and they were enormously respectful. Luckily Adam and I make each other laugh which helps enormously. We would figure out what we thought the scene needed and show the director and then we'd bring in the choreographer. They'd get as many cameras going at once as they could so we didn't have to do millions of takes. At the end of the day, the scenes are really scenes that don't have dialogue, but they're certainly moving the plot forward.
HBO
Were you prepared for all of the press about the sex in the show?
SW
I think I was. I love that Cynthia said she was taken aback with what was going on in the press. And what planet are you on right now? [LAUGHS] I think it's sort of adorable that she really thinks that. And she does. That's not Cynthia being disingenuous. She is so at ease with that part of her writing that she was genuinely taken aback. I am more cynical and worldly wise to it. Would I rather be talking about the caliber of the work? Who wouldn't. But honestly, if it makes people start watching the show...I hope that by episode two or three people are at least seeing the sex scenes as part of a whole.
HBO
Have you watched the show with anybody yet?
SW
I've watched it alone. My boyfriend's desperate to see it, he's been incredibly supportive and proud, but he's on three different writing jobs right now.
HBO
Sometimes a cast gets together when a show airs to watch it...
SW
I'm not in a rush to have pizza parties for this show. I'm happy to take calls from friends afterwards.
HBO
Cynthia has said that this is a show about people who want to stay together.
SW
I loved hearing that from her. Because it wasn't immediately clear from the pilot script where each of the characters was going. And when we sat down to meet for the first time, I found that incredibly moving that she was interested in a portrayal of fidelity...not f**king the nanny, or lusting after the assistant. She was interested in a portrait of stability, people trying to work it out. Because there might be a fifty percent divorce rate in this country, but there's still fifty percent who are weathering the storm. I think it's great that there will be a show that represents that in a truthful way.
HBO
Are there any things about any of the other characters' storylines that you relate to?
SW
I think I've been in all of those relationships! [LAUGHS] They transcend age. I've certainly been where Michelle's character is, looking for validation in the arms of every guy and blaming it all on them -- refusing to accept that any of it is my stuff. I've been in that stagnant place where you can't move forward or wind back. I've been in a version of all of these.
HBO
How often do you get to work with Jane Alexander?
SW
Probably about as often as if I were in therapy with Jane Alexander. Although to be fair, she's based in New York so the poor lady comes in and does a day of therapy for all of us about every ten days. I just love that lady. She is a shining example of how to age with courage and grace in this profession, and still be taking risks and making brave great choices. I just had a play on Broadway and she and her husband came to see me and I wrote her an email afterwards saying: "You are my new pin-up couple. The pair of you are what I hope, pray my boyfriend and I can be one day."
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