I feel bad because I gave up on Ann Dowd.
A pat on the head for correctly predicting who might get a trophy?
Shes one of those longtime working actors whose face you know even if her name isnt a household one.
Credit: Michel Spingler/AP
I suppose I was trying to guess right, and for better or worse prioritized that above advocacy.
Though still a longshot, awards possibilities began to seem more legit.
If you dont believe in yourself, why should anyone else?
Ann Dowd in ‘Compliance’
Why not push back against the pack, even if its late in the game?
Im back on board.
Im rooting for you.
Whenever I saw something that said Oscar worthy performance, I almost fainted.
I thought, This is just heaven!
My lifes going to change, career-wise, and so on.
Then everything went silent and I thought, Oh … but I thought that was going tohappen.
Theres a lot of campaigning that goes into it.
But the National Board of Review award really rejuvenated things.
And suddenly it rose up again!
It was very exciting, Ill tell you.
But that has really disturbed for some moviegoers.
What kind of reactions have you gotten?
And probably a lot of them hadnt thought it through, so they were angry.
The hope is that it doesnt require having to repeat several times thatthis is in fact a true story.
You hope people get the connection that, slow but sure, this is how it happened.
You play a woman who does what she is told to do without questioning it.
Its very easy to sit in the audience and say, I would behave differently.
There was a premiere that Psychology Today hosted for us and that was bizarre.
you might imagine a roomful of psychoanalysts looking at it.
One woman in the back said, Its simply an IQ issue.
That womanhasto be so stupid, because we would not do that in this room.
Were all capable of it.
Its a part of who we are, and thats not a comfortable thing to live with.
We all follow the pack, sometimes against our own judgment.
Another person said, Do you think of this as an American phenomenon?
I thought, Uh, I beg your pardon?
I mean, where do you go with that except Nazi Germany?
Human beings have a long history of obeying, even if it is something abhorrent to us.
And it happens because the change comes in degree.
And inch by inch, much more terrible things start to happen.
What we learn is to defer to authority.
Do as your told.
Speak when youre spoken to.
Youre short-circuited from a very early age to abandon your compass.
I hope I would have said, That is just bullsh-t. She was not wired that way.
How did it feel playing Sandra, since we all would like to think: Im not her.
Someone asked, what was your first response when you read the script?
I said, Shame.
That was the central character of Sandra.
She strikes me as very lonely.
Shes very accustomed to being humiliated.
She lives with her father.
Shes going to marry this guy she can barely stand, just so she can be a married person.
And thats the catalysts for everything that happens, isnt it?
She lives externally, for sure, to like.
Imagine this is a police officer and hes saying, Are you sure you didnt do this work before?
Youre like a deputy!
And to her its just like, Ah, say more!
Shes thinking, See, I always knew I was smart.
But he gets it he sees that in me!
I came to understand and really love this woman.
I had deep sympathy for her.
I cant even imagine what her life is.
You feel fortunate to have gotten the part.
Talk about no ego, very collaborative, the whole thing.
I thought I was a safety.
Youre called in to audition, and realize something else is at going on.
Yeah, sometimes filmmakers just want a read to hear how the role sounds as they refine the script.
But then I realized: This is for real.
Were really working on these scenes.
And the next thing I knew I had it!
I was like, What?
Compliancedebuts on DVD and VOD Jan. 8.
For more on Oscar season
Read More:
National Boardof Review highlights Compliance actress Ann Dowd
