Noted as one of Hollywood's most serious actresses - both on and off screen - five-time Oscar nominee Susan Sarandon lets her hair down in "The Banger Sisters".
Tell us about your character, Lavinia...
My character is raising two daughters and she's a complete hypocrite. She's doing what every parent does, and makes the mistake every parent can make. She thinks that now you're a parent you have to stop having fun and have to just say "No" a lot. And in the process, somehow you completely forget to have fun and you end up burying your past, your spirit, your joy. Lavinia's kind of gone a little bit too far down that road, whereas Suzette [Goldie Hawn's character] is a free spirit who's stayed in the past.
Did this kind of dilemma speak to you as a woman and as a mother?
Firstly, I just love doing comedy, but comedy that actually has some themes that are interesting. And I think it is a dilemma when you want to be a really good mum: how not to give up your sense of humour and your playfulness, because you think that means you're going to be good.
You have been playing quite of lot of mothers on the big screen recently...
There are not a lot of good scripts out there. Period. Now it's true there are fewer roles for women and certainly fewer as you get older. But the bulk of the stuff that's out there is just not good storytelling. You know, my kids said to me: "Why are you playing moms so much?" But there's so many different kinds of moms and so many questions... I don't think you should disqualify a part just because they're a mother.
Your daughter, Eva, plays your daughter in the film. How was that?
It was great to work with her. I think she did a great job. It's not easy for a 16-year-old to make fun of herself, but she was right there. She read this script and said to me that she could do a really good job with that. I knew she could. So she auditioned and after she did the read-through, they made the part bigger. I am really proud of her.
