Smart Cookie
By: Joanne Kaufman
If you phoned Jean Smart to congratulate her for the Emmy award she won for her guest appearance last season on Frasier, and she didn't call back, there is a perfectly good explanation. "Our house sitter accidentally erased the messages. I feel terrible. I don't know who called," says Smart, relaxing in her dressing room at the American Airlines Theater, where, earlier this month, she was starring as Lorraine Sheldon, a conniving siren, in the Broadway revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner. "I'm sure fans are thinking, 'Oh, Charlene is playing the bad girl now,'" says the former Designing Women star in a tone that is a blend of moonlight and mischief. During the Emmy festivities, Smart, 49, had a distinct advantage over the many nominees who sat fretting, hoping to hear their names announced and wondering if they'd hired the limo, borrowed the diamonds and bought the fancy clothes for nothing. Smart had won her award at the Creative Arts Emmys, a ceremony held prior to the televised show, at which she appeared as a presenter in a sexy red gown by Escada. Her husband, actor Richard Gilliland, thought the dress was too low-cut. "Funny," Smart says with a giggle. "He was the only one who thought that." These days, especially since the Emmys, a lot of people seem to be saying "Get Smart." "Getting the award and being a presenter put me back in the public eye. There are so many performers, you occasionally need to remind people of your existence," says the tall, deep-voiced actress, who's been invited to some meetings and contacted by a production company interested in creating a series for her. "There are things brewing," she says. Among them may be another series, her third since exiting Designing Women in 1991; her last two, 1995's High Society and 1998's Style and Substance, were short-lived. "Jean's desperately needed because she has the goods," says Peter Tolan, creator of Style and Substance and former executive producer of The Larry Sanders Show. "With Jean I had the unique experience of someone who never failed to make the material better," Tolan says. "She's not as appreciated as she should be. She's a real comedic actress, and that's something that has been undervalued the last few years." If someone were to offer Smart another series, she has no intention of following the example of Designing Women colleagues Dixie Carter, now costarring on the CBS hit Family Law, or Annie Potts, now of Lifetime's Any Day Now. "I've been offered some drama series, but because of the schedules, which are brutal, brutal, I've always said no. I don't see how it could be worth it if you're never going to see your child, never going to be able to sit and do homework and drive him to school," says Smart, whose son, Connor, is 10. "I've turned down things that made me think, 'Oh, maybe in another life that would have been nice.' But it just would have been hard on the family." Clearly, Smart has zero difficulty saying the word no even if uttering it can be a costly decision. For example, she said no when it was time to renew her contract on Designing Women. She had had enough of playing sweet, loopy Charlene. "Everyone said that took spunk. I wish I could pat myself on the back, but it didn't seem to be a difficult decision," she recalls. "You know, as an actor you want to do different things. But people would say, 'The money, the money. Are you insane? You're walking away from all that money???' And the money is amazing on sitcoms. I don't know. As far as I was concerned, the contract was up. It was time to move on." But Smart, who moved on with several TV-movies and specials (The Yearling, Scarlett), feature films (Snow Day, Guinevere) and plays, would like it clearly understood that she loved being on the show and still sees her costars, "though not as often as I should. It was an instant comfort and real affection and no egos," she recalls of her fellow Designing Women, Delta Burke, Carter and Potts. "We were crazy about each other and respected each other's differences. And let us not forget that it was on Designing Women that Smart met Gilliland, who appeared as a guest on the show. She was definitely intrigued and asked Delta Burke to scope out the situation. Burke agreed, then marched right up to Gilliland. "Jean wants to know if you're married," she asked. "Miss Subtle," deadpans Smart, who dealt with her mortification by explaining that each week one of the women was charged with befriending the guest star. "I said, 'So that's the only reason I'm being really nice to you and inviting you into my trailer for cookies.'" Smart, the second of four children of a teacher and homemaker, grew up in Seattle. "My sister and I would put on plays in the next door neighbor's garage, and we would charge admission, or we would put on paradies or weddings. I was the bride. How we go the boys to participate I don't know." At 13, Smart learned she was diabetic, a diagnosis that briefly shook her ("I didn't feel as strong physically," she says) and occasionally provided a handy out during her cheerleading days ("Oh, guys, I have to sit this one out. I need a Coke"). She was, she says, always a ham but didn't think seriously about a performing career -- "I was going to be a veterinarian" -- until senior high school when her ambition was sparked by a teacher and ignited by admission to a selective theater program at the University of Washington. In those days, Hollywood was certainly not the goal; Smart was too busy doing Shakespeare at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. "I can't regret that," she says. "It gave me a lot of self-confidence. Maybe if I had come to Los Angeles at 22, I would have ended up just destroyed. I'm very impressionable. I might have gotten into a lot of trouble." Now, she's got the best of all worlds. When Smart heads back west after the limited run of The Man Who Came to Dinner, she'll be coming home with happy memories. First off, she was as crazy about her costar Nathan Lane as he was about her. "She's a doll and great to be onstage with," Lane says. Then there was that incredible parade of visitors backstage: Martin Short, Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft -- and Alec Baldwin, "who is so adorable. It's shocking how good-looking her is. We talked about how much fun it would be to do something together. And," Smart gasps, "Gene Hackman. Be still my heart. And Sean Connery asked to meet me. We talked about golfing in Scotland because I had taken my dad there to golf. Next time he's doing something, I'm going to beg to be in it." The smart money is on Jean. |