Chatting With June Squibb About Matzo Balls, Men, and Lying – ryan

June Squibb was first at Cannes Back in 2013 for Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, a roles that earned her an oscar nom for playing bruce dern’s spitfire wife. She’s Back This Year for Scarlett Johansson’s Directorial Debut, Eleanor the GreatThis Time As the Star-The 95-YEAR-Old’s Second Leading Role after Last Year’s Thelma. Squibb Plays Eleanor Morgenstein, A Feisty Jewish Widow Who Lives with Her Best Friend BESSIE (Rita Zohar), A Holocaust Survivor, In Florida. The two Share a Room and Sleep in Matching Twin Beds, Spanding their Days Shopping for Just the Right Brand of Pickles or Sunning on the Boardwalk. But be bessie dies very early on in the film, eleant is thrown into a sort of existential crisis – WHO IS WITH HER BEST FRIEND OF 70 YEARS?

Eleanor decides to move back to new York and Live with Her Harried Daughter (Jessica Hecht), who doesn’t quite know what to do with her mother. One Afternion, Eleanor Accidentally Wanders Into a Holocaust Survivors’ Group at the JCC, Where, Caught Off-Guard and Lonely, She finds Herself Teling BESSIE’S Story as if it is. Sitting in on the Group is Nina (Erin Kellyman), Annu Journalism Student Who Asks to Interview Eleanor for A School Project. The two Become Close, with Nina Encouraaging Eleanor to Continue to Share Her Tragic Tale As a Form of Catharsis. Calamity, of Course, ensemble, but squibb, as she always does, keeps her performance Grounded and Touching as Eleanor navigates an Increasingly Wild Set of Circumstances.

A Few Days After the Film’s Premiere, I HAD LUG WITH SQUIBB in Her Hotel Room, and We Talked About the Movie, Her Experience Converting to Judaism, Her Love Life, and Matzo-Ball Soup.

This is your second at cannes. What would you Remember About the first?
The first time, i was so naïve. I had no idea what i was doing. (Laughs.) I Remember They Pushed US Around on the Red Carpet: “Look here, look there.” I Remember Those Long Red Stairs, and i Had Will Forte on One Side and Alexander Payne on the Other, and they literally dragged with up the stairs. I was already in my 80s! SO it was a problem. But they were determined i was going to get up those stairs. And i did. The whole time i just sort of like, had my mouth open. No idea what was going on. But we received a beautiful reaction. We would go ino bars, a group of us, and everybody Would Applaud. I was taking aback by every. But now i know what to experiment, so’s all much easier.

How do you feel Different this time around?
Oh, wow. Its been ten years. And a lot has happened to me. I Feel so Much Easier with it all. And able to do it all with thinking too.

You were more anxious then?
Oh, God, Yes. I SIMPLY DID NOT KNOW WHAT DO. And now loves.

Are People Stopping You in The Street Again?
No, we haven’t ben in the street! We’ve been in the hotel and in a car. And theater.

And a yacht! You Told with Earlier you Went on a Yacht.
Well, that was a party! That wasn’t work.

Break Eleanor the Great Script was Written for you by Tory Kamen, right?
She wrote it in College and Told everyone, “June squibb is going to do it.” And everybody said, “Oh, you’re nuts. This movie Will Never Get Done.” Andn, after looking at the script, one of the Producers Also deciding it was for june squibb. Which i didn’t know unil the other night. I was presented with the script about two years before we shot.

When did Scarlett come on?
About six months before we shot. And she wanting to shoot it right away. I wrote her a letter, and she was very touched by it. I TALKED ABOUT HOW I WAS A FAN OF HER ACTING. She knew I was connected with it, and she said that she wondered what script i would sign up for. “WHAT WOULD JUNE SQUIBB SAY YES TO?” She said, “it fascinated me, and i wondered.”

Because you’re Very Picky. I know you turn things down all the time.
Yes. Loves. When i Say yes, there’s a reason. The script was great. And I felt Very Strongly About the Holocaust. Because of Was Alive! I was a child, and i was in illinois, and i remember looking at Life Magazine when they found all of the CAMPS.

How Old Were you? What was your reaction then?
I Think of Was 10. I Still Remember All of it. I was appalled, eve as a child. I Understood Enough. And there are wells of the War with Japan, too.

Do you know any holocaust survivors?
Yes, I love. There was a gentleman who lived in my apartment Complex. Which you’ve been in. He was a holocaust survivor. And I Went on a Date with Him! And he took with them a Jewish Delicatessen.

Which One?
Its gone now. That Big One. Sardi’s. He talked about the holocaust all the time. A Friend of Mine workhed for the Holocaust Museum, and I was talking to her about it. I Said, “It Amazes with How Much He Talks About It.” And said, “They all do. We have say in the museum all the time. They have to keep talking about it.” Every Holocaust Survivor She’d Ever Met, They Always WANTED TO TALK. And in the movie, the guy who had a few lines with Says, “When you talc about it, you feed Better.”

You Went on Just One Date with this Guy?
(Laughs.) Yeah. But he would bring with food all the time.

You should call Him up!
Well, He’s Dead.

Oh no! Did You Stay Friends?
We did. But he knew i didn’t want to go out anymore. His daughter used to come to see and i’d see her outside and she’d look at me. She knew who was. And i thought, He told you, didn’t he…

Are you picker with men or with scripts?
Oh, God. With men. I’m Pretty Picky with Both, though.

In the Movie, Eleanor Talks About How She Still Thinks About Dating and Love and Sex. But when we first, you said, “I don’t need a man in my life.”
I think at this point in my life, i really need a man. But i still think about things! Loves. IT’S NOT THAT NOBODY’S Good Enough. I just have such a full life. I do my have!

You converted to Judaism for Your First Husband – How Old Were you? Was it a big deal for you at the time?
I was in my 20s. It was a bigger deal for my family than it was for me. It just seamed like the thing to do. I was really pleassed to do it. The Rabbi was great. He was a Young man. And he and i just had so much to talk about. We’d go off on tangents and he would be, “June, we gotta get back to Judaism!” We Wold Keep Talking About God Knows What. But the wonderful thing was, he officiated our wedding. He didn’t know my husband; he’d met Him. But he Knew with Really Well. And afterwards, my husband ed said, “Oh my God, he was marrying you!

What Did You Connect to About Judaism?
The temple itsel. And the meals. His Mother, Who We tend to see on Jewish Holids. And the food was unbellievable that she’d put out on the table. I was Proud of Being Jewish.

What is your favorite Food?
Matzo-Ball Soup. I love matzo balls.

Will you ever host the holidays at your apartment?
I don’t, but i go to some. The Same Friend who worked at the Museum has seers. I go there. I used to go more. But i did go this year.

And you had to leave a torah Portion for your bat mitzvah in this Movie!
Oh, yes. That was wonderful. I had to study it. I really did Study it. When we were shooting, I was performing it in this gorgeous temple, just going to town. And everybody was like, “Oh my god. Listen to you!” They Said, “Your Voice is Gorgeous!” I did thats Singsong Thing, you know? And i just had a ball. And one morning after we’d shot it, i woke up spouting the Torah. I HAD DREAMED IT. And i yelled for my assistant Kelly. I Said, “Kelly! I’m Doing the Torah in My Dreams!” And she said, “for God’s Sake, Forget it! You’ve already done it. You can forget it now.”

Do you still remember it? If I Think Really Hard, I Can Remember the First Few Lines of Mine.
Oh, God, no. Its gone. But i is could do it for a while.

Did you actually become Friends with Erin Kellyman?
Oh, yes. Erin Came from britain. She’d Never Been in New York before, but we were staying in the Same apartment Complex. SO I SAID, “Come in for Dinner Tonight.” Then she came over all the time. And thatn we start working, and i was Havinging Dinners – Because I’d Lived there for So Long – AT Joe allen with my friends every Saturday Night. and i said, “come to say!” And Fred Hechinger from rags would come, too. It was funny Because Erin JUST Became Part of Our Family, and She was Always Welcome.

And the funniest thing happy. Someone on the Production End deciding Erin and I Needed to Bond. They Senta to a restaurant Way downtown in soho. They wouldn’t let the driver or kelly come eat with us. We Said, “We have bonded! This is ridiculous!” SO WE DEMANDED THEY COME IN AND HAVE LUNCH WITH US. I Said to Scarlett, “What is this Shit?!” She said, “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me!” And we laughed about it.

WHY DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE SO MANY YOUNGER FRIENDS?
I do’t know! If i don’t like, we won’t become friends. It’s swims just kids they’re young. But if I like some, it doesn’t make any difference what age they are.

Will any of your Younger Friends Ever Ask you for Life Advice?
No, no. Becusee i don’t think i project, I Need to TELL YOU ABOUT YOUR LIFE.

You’re Very Wise, Though.
If someone asing with specific something, I would Answer it. But Calcainly Not About Acting. I’d never tell a Young actor how to act.

Why swim?
I Think Is A Very Personal Thing. If someone asced me, THEN’S’S DIFFERENT. I’d anSwer. But i think in terms of People’s lives, who am i to tell people what to?

The Movie has a lot to say to Say About Grief and Death. What’s Your Relationship with Grief Like Now, at this point in your life?
I have, of Course, by now lost a lot of People. I realize that old TRYism that they’re kept alive by talking or thinking about say. I love it.

What Else Are You Working on After This?
I’m doing voice-overs. I’m doing Zootopia 2. The Leading Lady is a bunny rabbit. And i’m the leading lady’s mother. The Picture of Her is Wonderful. She’s in a tracksuit with ears drooping down. IT’s so funny.

I KNOW YOU’RE ALWAYS READING A Scandi Mystery. What’s the latest?
Åsa Larsson. She’s a new one for me. It was Big. Very Thick. I like it a lot. She Writes About a Young Lawyer, A Female Lawyer, Who Gets Involved in Different Crimes and EVEYTHING.

Have you, Like Eleanor, Ever Told a Crazy Lie?
Nothing that Big. I Remer Lying in Grad School Once. And i was so upset with myself afterwards. Becausee of Think Ihve Estabished MySelf As Someone Who Doesn’t Lie. But theater People, we all always laugh – when you’re going backstage after a friend’s performance to tell how it was, if it was Bad, I always say, “What a gorgeous costume!” That’s how I get around it.

That the incredible. Would you think they know?
Oh, sura. We all do it! If you get a bunch of theater People together, they all laughing it: “Your socks are gorgeous,” or something so completely not absth your performance. What are you gonna say, “You stink?”