Patricia Clarkson, Rising

Here’s the thing about Patricia Clarkson: She makes people happy.

To wit, when our team at The Mountains was mulling over possible cover options for this issue, we were hoping for a story with someone who makes us clap our hands together in delight. When acclaimed actor Patricia Clarkson said she was indeed available to sit down with Editor in Chief Richard Pérez-Feria and me, we were thrilled—quite literally—for we knew what a ‘get’ Clarkson is.

Pérez-Feria recalled the first time he met Clarkson they were in Los Angeles at the legendary Chateau Marmont on the day she received a staggering three SAG nominations for The Station Agent and Pieces Of April. 

When the New Orleans native walked in with co-star Peter Dinklage and spotted Pérez-Feria with Robert Downey, Jr., the actor proceeded to playfully bow at Clarkson’s feet because of her accomplishment at the SAGs. Even RDJ knows everything is more joyful when Clarkson’s around.

I’ve known the endlessly lauded and ridiculously talented Patricia Clarkson (everyone calls her Patti) for some time now, ever since she came into the orbit of our mutual darling pals Mark McGrath and Michael Mills. The story goes that McGrath was working with her on a charity benefit for a not-for-profit organization that they both were supporting and it was practically love at first sight. Soon after, Mills was equally ga-ga, and as their bestie, I asked, “So when do I get to meet The Lady?” The rest, as they say, is history.

Winner of a Golden Globe, two National Society of Film Critics Awards and three Emmys, Clarkson doesn’t disappoint. From the moment I locked eyes with her on a sultry summer day at Mark and Michael’s house in Shandaken, NY, in the wilds of the forest surrounding Panther Mountain in the Catskills, her star wattage was only dimmed by the holy moly ferocity of the strawberry blonde’s smile and outstretched arms. Wearing sneakers and slim-fitting jeans, she came bounding down her host’s deck staircase onto the grass, hugging me deeply and saying, “Well, I just know we’re going to have so much fun!”

One of five daughters raised in New Orleans by a mother who was both a state legislator and head of District C for the New Orleans City Council (representing the Algiers neighborhood which includes The French Quarter) and a father who was a beloved school administrator, Clarkson and her girl gang of siblings (and two female dogs!) knew how to have fun. But lest you think it was all Mardi Gras shenanigans, here comes the first surprise: the Academy Award- and Tony-nominated actor recalls some of her favorite childhood memories very much including her family’s time spent at an Air Force base in Newburgh, NY. 

“Oh, those years when my family was in Newburgh on the US Air Force base were beautiful times!,” Clarkson says. “It was the first time I saw the leaves change, saw mountains, saw snow! I learned to ride a bike there. My sisters and I loved to play in the woods, and we created this incredibly intricate imaginary life among the trees. We played spy; we made up whole worlds. This was so not New Orleans.”

Clarkson’s family had previously lived on Air Force bases in Biloxi, MS, and Hampton, VA, but coming north to Newburgh really made an impression on the six-year-old. “I saw my first Broadway play while we were living in Newburgh, Annie, Get Your Gun with Ethel Merman and Irving Berlin was in the audience,” Clarkson says. “My parents had no money, so we had nosebleed seats, but we went down to the city, and it was wonderful. It absolutely stayed with me. And in second grade, I had my first boyfriend. I’m laughing about it now but it really—it was my first date! He lived two doors down from me on the Air Force base and I remember he invited me to his parents’ house for dinner.”

Seems like after this, Clarkson was destined to discover a variety of sweet spots in and around the mountains that still thrill and delight her afresh. In addition to staying with our pals in Shandaken and joining friends on my porch for summer soirées with my pup, Frankie. Clarkson, a true dog lover, interrupted herself to blow Frankie kisses and continue their love story. My French Bulldog rescue only has eyes for Clarkson when she’s in the room. She went on to tell us how much she really loves small town life in these mountains. 

“I love going to Saugerties, NY, to antique, to stroll around, to eat at Miss Lucy’s and of course, it’s close by the Catskill Animal Sanctuary, which I adore. Likewise, Phoenicia, NY is one of my favorite small towns and I love The Shandaken Inn. It’s just so great to hop in the car, go for a drive and see what we uncover, tag sales, all of it. Sometimes we’ll end up at any number of wonderful places in Kingston or Woodstock—of course, I have to mention one of my all-time favs, Peekamoose Restaurant, because I love Marybeth and her team. I’ve had such great times at The Woodstock Film Festival, where we did a special screening of my latest film, Lilly (2024), the Lilly Ledbetter story [more on that in a minute]. All of this to say that I’m definitely more of a mountains person than a Hamptons person. I’m not a fan of sand [Laughs] and Upstate, well, it’s more my vibe. Connecticut, the Berkshires and Massachusetts, the Hudson Valley—it’s all beyond gorgeous to me. Likewise, I have lots of friends in the area who also think this part of the world is just paradise as well, so whenever I’m here, it’s always a good time.”

About Lilly…Clarkson said that when the call came in, asking if she wanted to play the iconic trailblazer, it indeed felt like the role of a lifetime, in a career with so many soaring highs. Lilly Ledbetter was a hard-working Alabama tire factory supervisor whose singular goal was to earn enough to comfortably support her family in middle-class rural America. Having grown up in poverty, Ledbetter endured a work environment plagued by constant harassment, for the sake of the best paycheck in her hometown. As retirement approached, she discovered that the system had been cheating her, paying her close to only half of what men with the same jobs were earning. Outraged, Ledbetter took this fight to the US Supreme Court, the corridors of Congress and eventually The White House, as the powers that be tried to shut her down. 

“When they reached out to see if I was interested in the role, and my agent asked, ‘Do you know who Lilly Ledbetter is?’ I was almost incredulous with delight, ‘Darlin’, I grew up in a house with five girls and a mother who ran the city—are you kidding me?!’” Soon to be released on Netflix, Clarkson said that this was a woman-powered picture from the very beginning. “The reason it got made is because of women. Women opened their wallets and wrote checks to fund this very indie movie because they believed so deeply in what Lilly did—not just for herself, but for women everywhere in this country.”

Clarkson also speaks with great admiration and pride for the work she did in the recent 2022 film Monica, which stars Trace Lysette as a transgender woman who returns to the Midwest after two decades to care for her estranged, dying mother. The film leaves not a dry eye in the house, exploring themes of abandonment, aging, forgiveness and reconciliation. Clarkson, as Monica’s terminally ill mother Eugenia, initially doesn’t recognize her daughter, and their moment of reckoning as Monica bathes Eugenia in the film stands out as one of the most intimate reconnections on screens in recent years. Audiences gave the film an 11-minute standing ovation at the 79th Venice International Film Festival. Clarkson endeavored, and succeeded, in getting herself and Lysette (the first transgender woman in a leading role) on the cover of Variety. 

If I needed any more reasons to adore Clarkson, those two stories above exemplify why I think she’s one of the biggest hearts in any room, tough as nails when she wants something done, or when she thinks there’s good she can contribute to the cause, but soft and warm as a favorite cozy sweater when it’s time to enjoy a glass of wine with a friend and gossip about boys and love. Listen, I can do girl talk with the best of them. But, Clarkson? Well, you’ll never find a more mischievous but deeply loyal confidante.

So speaking of the boys… Clarkson agreed to play a speed-round of one-word answers regarding her best-known male A-list co-stars. Here’s what she had to say—adding that on her first feature film, The Untouchables in 1987, Clarkson was the only woman on the set, a lone female in a sea of men, including her dresser and makeup artist. She says her mom had a good laugh about that one!

Kevin Costner? “He’s lovely.” Stanley Tucci? “Absolutely divine!” Kelsey Grammer? “Fabulous.” Peter Dinklage? “Yummy.” Robert Downey, Jr.? “Scary talented.” Leo DiCaprio? “Brilliant.” Bradley Cooper? “Uber brilliant; you ask me, he’s a slow burn. In ten years, he’ll be considered one of the greatest actors of all time.” George Clooney? “Perfect, egalitarian; literally no one’s ever said a bad word about George Clooney.” Ryan Gosling? “Inspiring.” Sir Ben Kingsley? “Knightly!”

Clarkson next reveals what people say to her at the airport when they see her. “If it’s younger people, it’s Easy A,” Clarkson says. “For older people, it’s often Six Feet Under. For many, many people, it’s Sharper Objects, although I still laugh when I remember my mother ringing me up and saying, ‘Now I know there wasn’t any of me in that portrayal!’”

Clarkson adds that in addition to her always supportive parents, her namesake Aunt Patsy delivered one of the world’s greatest one-liners after viewing her in High Art. “My mother called and said, ‘Oh my God, we just saw High Art and we loved it and we brought Aunt Patsy and she’s going to call you tomorrow to discuss it.’ And I said, ‘You brought Aunt Patsy to that?’ and my mother said, ‘Yes, she loved it, but she’ll call you.’ And then Aunt Patsy called me up and said, “Patricia darling, you’re fabulous and a great actress but if a director told me I had to play a German, lesbian, heroin addict—I’d tell that director that I could play one of the three.’” Namesake indeed.

Naturally, our conversation circled back around to other women she loves and admires off screen, including a choice that might surprise some people: Joan Rivers. “Joan told me that at the end of the day, she saw the difference between herself and everyone else as this—she never quit,” Clarkson said. “I think about Joan all the time and how I got to spend some time with her, which was one of the greatest days of my life. She was absolutely amazing, and she really understood who she was and the privilege that she had in living life her way, on her terms, without hesitation. I think about that often—how I want to use my fame and money and position to do the most I can for others. ’Til the day I die, I’ll host the New York City Housing Works fundraisers; it’s one of the greatest organizations in the history of New York. And I’ll always step up and help raise money for legal defense funds that help poor women hold onto jobs when they’re fired or discriminated against. [Clarkson says she raised $175,000 for a fund that was in line with Lilly Ledbetter’s ideals as the film was released]. I’m planning to use my money and whatever fame I have to make a difference as long as I can, for all the causes and communities that I love and want to support.”

No wonder this dynamo loves to return again and again to the mountains, to rest and recharge and balance out not just her fast-moving professional passions and activism, but also as a gorgeous foil to her decades-long life in NYC’s buzzy West Village. Note: Clarkson has indeed mixed business with pleasure, filming a movie in the Catskills in 2001 (Wendigo, an independent psychological horror film written and directed by actor/director/writer Larry Fessenden, who also makes his home here and in New York City). “The life I like best in the country is very much like my favorite parts about living in the city, with all my favorite haunts, my usual spots which are cozy and familiar,” Clarkson says. “But, of course, in the country, I also love being in people’s homes, driving over to a friend’s house for dinner, spending time at home with people as opposed to being in a restaurant or even an apartment. I mean, what’s better than waking up and going outside in your pajamas to smell the morning air, see the sun, hear the birds? You do that in Manhattan, they’d pick you up and cart you away! One morning, at Mark’s and Michael’s house, we were watching robins hatching and it was absolutely amazing. And of course, there’s nothing better than relaxing on your sofa, Abbe, having eaten one of your amazing meals, and just sitting around and kissing on Frankie.”

What a lucky dog Frankie is.