Sept. 17, 1996

Courtesy of Jackson R. Garland

 [Moira gets on the line and I ask her permission to record the interview.]

 - Recorder on -

Jackson: Okay, I'll jump right into this. I'll try to keep it relatively short I don't know how many of these you've done today.

 Moira: Quite a few [Laughs slightly.]

 Jackson: Well, we'll try to make it as interesting as possible for you.

 Moira: Okay.

 Jackson: First of all, let me ask you what attracted you to the role of Dorothy Day? Did you seek this role out or did it come to you?

 Moira: It came to me. Father Kieser (the priest-producer behind Paulist Pictures) sent it to my agent and what attracted me about it was her journey, the story of this woman's life, her struggles and her accomplishments. I think she's an incredible role model for women. She was an incredible spiritual hero for humankind. I think that she attacked and overcame the struggles and obstacles that most of us face even today. She's just an extraordinary figure. It's so alive, her cause and her fight is so alive today as it was then. It just seemed such a pinnacle film to make and to be a part of.

 Jackson: How do you see this role as different from the others you've done?

 Moira: Um, it's a lot more meatier than most of the scripts that are out there. Of course, her journey is as a female role in Hollywood, there's few quite like this. Plus the spiritual aspect there's very few films that hold such a spiritual event or a spiritual journey as being important.

 Again, her humanist struggles, her fights for injustice, they're great messages for today. It's a human story, it's a human story with lots of great messages and it's rare that you find a film like that today.

 Jackson: While I was reading some biography material on Dorothy Day, she seemed to have a gift for finding beauty in the midst of urban desolation.

 Moira: Right.

 Jackson: And, now you live in New York City, correct?

 Moira: Right.

 Jackson: Living there, do you find the same sorts of feelings when you walk down the street?

 Moira: Yes. Yes. Um, I've always thought that to pass the people on the street and not recognize them for what they are. Peter Maurin had been known to say the poor are the ambassadors of Christ and they really are.

 They're gifts to us to realize a) how fortunate we are and b) how we are called to reach out and help. It's in these people that you see the face of God, that you understand the love of God and I think too many people don't recognize that in the day to day. There's so many simple beauties in everyday life and I find people always trying to achieve happiness and beauty in things that can never really fulfill them the way these simple things can and they way these sort of non-pleasant things can. You know, when you see a homeless person on the street laughing, I know a lot of people think "Well, there's a beautiful person." But, yeah, there is a beautiful person. Think about the role they're playing in life. They're teaching us a lesson and maybe their life has been sacrificed to do so. To take that in vain would be a crime.

 Jackson: Right. I know a lot of people see them, you know, and they do what you said. They think it's a beautiful person and just keep on walking.

 Moira: Right. Even acknowledging. We're not all called to be Dorothy Day.

 We all can't sacrifice the way she did. Sometimes, when you pass someone on the street saying a prayer, sometimes saying hello, um, even just going and buying them a coffee rather than giving them money. There's little things that you can do to make them realize that you do acknowledge them, that you do see the beauty in them, that you do respect them. And it can be as simple as a smile and a "Good morning." You know, you're talking about people who probably don't get a sideward glance from most of the people that pass them and one smile, one "hello" could make their day.

 Jackson: What other similarities have you found between yourself and the character of Dorothy Day?

 Moira: There are a few, which I don't want to go into. Mostly I found a similarity in Dorothy that I do in most people - that struggle to find meaning in your life. Where do you focus your life? There are many people who do want to help but they don't know how. This is a great story. It shows you how to do it. It shows you that the meaning is right there in front of you, you just have to open your eyes and be aware of it. It's all around you in life and you just need to hear it. We keep looking for answers beyond what's out there and it's right there in front of your face.

 Jackson: One of the things while I was reading about Dorothy Day that initially surprised me was the Catholic Worker Houses she set up. They made no attempt at reforming those that came in. They simply provided what was needed without trying to convert one's faith. What do you think about that in contrast to the way it seems that most charitable centers attempt to do some sort of reformation?

 Moira: Well, Dorothy believed that she was there to help, and it was to help anybody. Communist, Jewish, black, white, you know, whatever they were. It didn't matter. She wasn't there to convert them. She was there to show through her own example Christ. They either accepted it or they didn't. And that's what she was. She was a living example of God's love and work. I think just by being that alone she did convert many people in some way - the people who worked with her, the people that she helped. They realized this woman for the greatness that she was, for the beauty that she was and the sacrifices that she made. She was a living example of Christ's love and she didn't need to take them into a church and convert them. That wasn't what she was there for.

 Jackson: If you had to sum up the movie in one paragraph, you know, what it's about, the underlying what the central meaning is. What would you say that would be?

 Moira: The human struggle to find meaning and love in the world. And the human struggle to change the human injustice that exists today. She is the Mother Theresa of the '90s.

 Jackson: Right, right and I've read several places that many consider she might be proclaimed as a saint.

 Moira: Canonized, yeah. It may take a while.

 Jackson: Kind of switching veins here In a business which doesn't seem to, you know, business being the filmmaking business, which doesn't seem to place nearly as strong of an emphasis on women's roles as it does men's, was it difficult to get this movie made, particularly since it incorporates certain touchy issues such as abortion and religion?

 Moira:. Right. No, we're doing it all on our own. We've been turned down by studios. We've been turned down by certain organizations. So we're doing this on our own. We're promoting it on our own. We're putting it out there and distributing it on our own. We made it on our own with donations, both financially as well as with work, with the costumes, with the Paramount lot. We got a lot of donations from people, people donating their time and their efforts, you know, their craft. This was a selfless film. Everyone was united in this. This was a story that needed to be told and everyone agreed that we needed to tell the story and that's what we worked towards.

 No one was looking to achieve more than getting the story made.

 Jackson: Do you forsee a day in the future when maybe you wouldn't have met with the rejection in mainstream Hollywood that you did in 1996?

 Moira: Would there be a day, um, no I love the rejection. I've dealt with it since day one in this industry and you get used to it after a while. It fortifies me and strengthens me in my path and how I want to go about being part of this industry. I've been told before, and I tend to believe it, I'm not like most actresses out there. I do have the freedom to choose what I want to do and I'll continue to do that. Nobody will tell me what I will do and what I won't do. If I'm rejected then I'm rejected, you know, and move onto the next thing.

 Jackson: Do you think the film business, whether it be mainstream Hollywood per se or the independent areas, are crying out for stronger women's roles along the lines of Dorothy Day. Do you think there needs to be more of those being done in film.

 Moira: I think there is a call for it and I think there are, especially in the independent films you find more of a gravitation towards character-driven stories with real characters that you can sink your teeth into. The beauty of Dorothy is that she lived. She's a real slice of life.

 If you were to write this as a fictional character they wouldn't believe it. That's the magnitude of this film, you know, this is real. This is a real woman who existed. This is a role model. And this is an incredible story and a great female role that the industry, I think, slowly they're getting to it. I think it's going to take the audience members to demand, either by not buying tickets or by having a voice and saying "We want better stories. We want to pay for better stories." And it's also up to the actors and actresses to say "You've got to give me something more to it. I can't continue to do these sort of T & A and fluff kind of films." It just doesn't pay anymore.

 Jackson: Right.

 Moira: Well, it pays, but it doesn't Jackson: It doesn't pay off.

 Moira: Right.

 Jackson: Now, you mention that. I know in a couple of previous films you've done nude, or semi-nude, scenes. Having been raised Catholic has this caused any sort of conflict of beliefs for you? Or has it garnered any criticism from others who may have said something like, you know, "Oh, that nice young Catholic girl shouldn't be doing that."

Moira: Right. I've gotten a lot of criticism for it, but everything I've done I've done for a reason. The characters I've portrayed, including those with nudity, I've found it necessary. To me there's necessary and non-necessary. The body is not a horrible thing. God made it and it's what you do with it. And I felt that anything I've done already in film has lent to the story. It's part of the story telling. It wasn't just filler to try and sell tickets, which, there is a difference. One major one that people get on is "Twin Peaks." I've always said, well, you know, they say "How can you do that one scene?" And I've said "Well, have you seen the whole film?" And they're ike, "Yeah." I go "Did you see the scene before it and the scene afterwards?" There's a whole story there so look at the whole story and not just the one scene. That scene lends to the story. Here's a girl who was drugged, who ended up doing something that she wouldn't necessarily do and the following day is in torment over it, trying to figure out what happened, how it could have happened. So there's a real moral issue there.

 To pick that one scene and focus on it is unfair. You're taking it out of context. And so anything I've done I've been proud of. I don't feel I've done anything wrong. Again, you know, people have their own opinion and they have every right to. There's been reasons for it and I feel quite gratified and satisfied that I've done the right thing.

 Jackson: You've worked with some pretty big names over the last few years including Attenborough, Lynch and not to mention working on one of the most successful Disney movies ever made.

 Moira: Right.

 Jackson: Do you see yourself as becoming a quote "big name" in Hollywood?

 Moira: [Laughs.] No, I don't think that's gonna happen, at least not too soon anyway.

 Jackson: Well, would you even want it to?

 Moira: Um, no. Actually, the way I want to obtain a status in Hollywood is, you know, when I'm dead and gone I want people to say "I want to be an actress just like Moira Kelly." I want to be a legend in that right as far as performance wise. I want people to look at my films and say "God, she really ran the gamut. She played everything, could play everything." Money's not important to me. Movie star acknowledgement is not important to me. I don't want to be a big studio actress. I don't want to be in the limelight. I just want the opportunity to continue to do great films, play great characters and work with great people.

 Jackson: Right. I have to ask this one for personal reasons. I'm a huge David Lynch, "Twin Peaks" fan. I was wondering what it was like working with him.

 Moira: I loved it. David is before his time as far as a filmmaker. I think he has a vision that is way ahead of a lot of filmmakers out there and it's very different. The beauty of Hollywood is that it was built on risk and here's a director who lives that way. He makes films that are risky. His vision in "Twin Peaks" is, I found, brilliant. He was telling it from the point of view from a girl who was a drug addict, who was abused by her father, who was tormented by major demons and it was how she saw her life and how she saw the world. Most people couldn't tap into that and they didn't understand what the film was about. You have to view it from the point of view of this girl and not from the point of view of the director or the point of view of yourself. This is this girl's tormented life and this is what it's like to her. Can you imagine what that must be like? Just watch it and you get the sense of it. The confusion, I mean the terror and the abstract surreal events about this life. I thought it was fantstic.

 Jackson: Yeah, it's one of my personal favorite movies of all time, I think.

 Moira: Yeah, it's fantastic.

 Jackson: Now, not only have you become increasingly recognizable over the past few years because of your screen time, your films, but your voice alone has kind of gained a sense of popularity because of "The Lion King" and, I believe, you also did an audio book reading for Harper.

 Moira: Right.

 Jackson: Are there any plans to pursue that sort of avenue further?

 Moira: Yeah, I'd love another shot at Disney. I'd love to have the opportunity to sing in a Disney movie. I'd also love to play a character that's a real caricature. You know, I like playing around with my voice and trying all different types of kooky voices. Nala, of course, being the love interest, she had to be played straight. I'm hoping that they'll come to me with a film later on in the year where they want me to play the aunt, the magpie or something strange.

 Jackson: Or maybe you get to play the bad guy, you know, the villain.

 Moira: [Laughs.] Or I could make up a funny voice and really play with it.

 Jackson: Yeah, definitely.

 Moira: "The Lion King" was sort of straight forward.

 Jackson: Do you have any idea where you might see yourself five or 10 years from now? I mean, what sorts of roles do you see yourself going after if, in fact, you're even acting at all then.

 Moira: I have no idea. I tend to like to believe that I'll be married and maybe raising a family. I've always had dreams of opening a children's theater so that's in the future, but as far as when it's all going to come down, I don't know. I may direct, I'm not sure. Right now I'm just taking it day by day.

 Jackson: So you've had aspirations of possibly directing in the future?

 Moira: I do. I never did before and recently I've worked with the first director I ever worked with, Juan Campanella. After doing the second film with him he approached me and said "I really think you should look into directing. You've got what it takes. You've got a great vision." And I've never really seen it. I don't know the first thing about directing to be honest with you. But he said he'd be willing to help me through it and, you know, maybe if I find a project I'm really interested in I'll give it a shot. But that's down the road, that's going to take some thinking.

 Jackson: Something on the horizon

 Moira: Yeah.

 Jackson: Well, I'll wrap this up soon but I wanted to say that I kind of know you through a mutual acquaintence. Tiffany Payne?

 Moira: [Excited.] Oh yeah! How do you know Tiffany?

 Jackson: Well, I've gone to school with her sister for the past couple of years.

 Moira: Oh wow

 Jackson: I met Tiffany, whose sister Vanessa graduated. We're up at Humboldt State, up in the northern part of California.

 Moira: Right.

 Jackson: Vanessa graduated in May and Tiffany came up so I got to meet with her and speak with her.

 Moira: She was my double on this film and was also my double on "The Tie That Binds."

 Jackson: Right. I think I remember hearing that was the first one you worked together on.

 Moira: Yep.

 Jackson: Do you keep an acquaintence with her? Do you

 Moira: Yeah, I do. I haven't actually talked to her in a while. I've been in Rome and kind of out of the country. But I get in touch with her, she's a she's spitfire.

 Jackson: She is.

 Moira: She is quite a character.

 Jackson: In the hour-and-a-half I spent with her I definitely got that impression.

 Moira: [Laughs.] Yeah She's a great character.

 Jackson: Okay, that's pretty much all I have for you.

 Moira: Excellent, Jackson. Thank you for a nice interview.

 Jackson: Well, thank you and I hope things go well Um, is there a specific release date for the film?

 Moira: September 27 in L.A., New York and Toronto and then in October/November we'll be releasing it throughout the rest of the country in different theaters.

 Jackson: Okay, so kind of a relatively small run?

 Moira: Right, and we'll just sort of be platforming it and then depending on how well it goes we'll start releasing it in more theaters in more cities.

 Jackson:Well, thank you and good luck in all future endeavors.

 Moira: Thank you very much.

 Jackson: Okay, take care.

 Moira: Take care.

 Jackson: Bye.