Mary-Louise Parker doesn’t care for nudity or sentimentality

hedda gabler afterparty 260109
Mary-Louise Parker is the June cover girl for More Magazine (story via People), and she’s got a lot to say about a recent episode of Weeds where she was naked. In one scene, Mary-Louise’s character is naked in the bathtub, and Parker now claims that the director “goaded” her into it. She felt that her character didn’t need to be naked, and she fought with the director over it. The result? She did the scene in the nude, and her attitude is now “bitter”. She feared her boobs would become the talk of the internet, or as Mary-Louise suggests a headline: “’Mary-Louise shows off her big nipples.” Yikes. She also talks about the direction she wants Weeds to go in – less sentimental, less crude, and more extreme dramatically. She also talks straight about plastic surgery – she says she hasn’t had any, and I believe her:

Mary-Louise Parker has always been fine with the sex scenes in her role as Nancy Botwin, a marijuana-selling suburban mom in the Showtime series Weeds, but she thinks that a recent nude scene of her in the bathtub took things a little too far.

“I didn’t think I needed to be naked,” she tells More Magazine in its June issue. “I fought with the director about it, and now I am bitter. I knew it was going to be on the Internet: ‘Mary Louise shows off her big nipples.’ I wish I hadn’t done that. I was goaded into it.”

The show’s co-executive producer, Roberto Benabib, defended the moment, stating that the nudity was necessary to convey the character’s vulnerability. “We felt at that point in her life, defenses had been so thoroughly stripped away,” he says. “There was a nonchalance to the nudity that informed the scene … I thought it was wonderful, one of the five best scenes Mary-Louise has ever done [on Weeds].”

Despite being bitter over the nude scene, Parker still very much enjoys playing her character on the show. “I like it the more extreme it is,” she says. “But I don’t like it when it’s crass and crude for humor’s sake, and I don’t like when it’s sentimental, when she’s a sweet mother. To me, she’s not that.”

Parker also talks about the pressures to look young in Hollywood, but she’s not giving in to the knife anytime soon. “Somebody told me that they’d read I had all this work done, and showed me a picture and it was totally airbrushed … it made me so mad,” she says. “I don’t like what that says to other women. I’m 44 and I look okay for 44. I’m not trying to look 34.”

[From People]

She does look really good for 44, or for 34. She’s one of those actresses who can do no wrong in my book, and I love her attitude about aging and about her work. It seems like she and Roberto Benabib really did have some kind of hardcore disagreement over the nudity, but I doubt the controversy will cause anyone to loose their job. The worst part of this interview is that Mary-Louise doesn’t address any questions about Jeffrey Dean Morgan, that gorgeous beefcake that she is rumored to be back together with.

Mary Louise Parker is shown on 1/25/09. Credit: WENN.com

hedda gabler afterparty 260109

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

22 Responses to “Mary-Louise Parker doesn’t care for nudity or sentimentality”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Ggirl says:

    I read an article about Parker’s broadway role as Hedda Gabler. Anyway, the article was a little critical of the production and of Ms. Parker. I wonder if she has a reputation for being temperamental but at least she isn’t afraid to speak her mind.

  2. danielle says:

    I have loved Mary-Louise Parker since Fried Green Tomatoes. But when I saw that top picture my first thought was “oh no – she’s had work done!” Hopefully it’s just a bad picture.

  3. rbsesq says:

    I don’t watch Weeds, but I don’t really think nudity is ever necessary to convey vulnerability. If the actor is any good, they should be able to convey his/her character’s vulnerability without stripping down. Now I do think sometimes, it can be an intergral part fo the story. But I think nudity is used more these days to increase ratings.

    And Kaiser, she didn’t address rumors about JDM because he’s mine, mine, mine!!!

  4. stewie says:

    to danielle…

    that was the FIRST thing I thought too! Her nose looks different, and on a second look, her eyes look a little “pulled”, like bad face-lift victims usually look.

  5. NYCshoegal says:

    i have heard that she is BATSHIT crazy and difficult to work with.

    but i still love her. that kind of talent allows for a bit of insanity.

  6. Gloaming says:

    I think she’s a superb actress and i always thought of her as a formidable woman, im surprised she could be ‘goaded’ into anything.

    But she is lying her ass off about not having plastic surgery imo.

  7. lio says:

    @danielle: exactly what i thought (unfortunatly …)

  8. Amy says:

    She said she hasn’t had “surgery,” but she’s surely had a few injections.

  9. Gerinda says:

    Mary louise has had botox for sure!

  10. Ophelia says:

    She’s amazing, I totally agree Kaiser, she can do no wrong!

  11. missy says:

    I LOVE her dress!

  12. kiki says:

    she has a thyroid condition, hence the bug eyes.

  13. steph says:

    She’s been nude in Weeds quite a few times now and she’s only upset about it now?

    Don’t like her at all cause I’ve heard she’s nuts and is terrible to work with

  14. Ursula says:

    I love her sass and spunk. I also love the fact that she adopted a child from Africa and does not parade her around for show.

  15. Mrs.Darcy says:

    Sorry but I think her face is botoxed to high heaven. I do like her in Weeds though.

  16. Anna says:

    I love her. I wanna look like that when I’m 40 something and even if she had some work done she still looks natural, not like Lisa freakin Rinna

  17. deejay says:

    She was completely nude as Harper in the HBO mini-series of Tony Kushner’s ANGELS IN AMERICA as well, so i’m not really sure what the problem is with this nudity and not before…weird

  18. hmm says:

    That was an amazing episode…She may not have enjoyed doing it, but she played the part well. I cried so much during that scene. Bravo~

  19. karenty says:

    Take a good look….she has definitely had a nose job at the very least.. go watch “The Client”, “Fried Green Tomatoes”.. this is not the same Mary Louise Parker… sheesh in this day and age that someone could say that they haven’t had surgery as if we could not see with our own eyes. honestly.

  20. Selina says:

    I’ve heard many more times and form much more credible sources that she’s really sweet and great to work with. I’ve listened to numerous interviews with actors who have worked wither her have talked about her spontaneity and her great dedication. I’ve heard she’s sweet and easy to work with as an actress…and for goodness sakes, have ever seen her act like a bitch? That’s why I don’t believe any of the crap that she’s not a good person…I’ve heard that 3 times and never from actors or anyone who’s really spent much time with her. I wouldn’t go with that. Anyway,s everyone’s an ass sometimes.

  21. Lissa says:

    I liked her very much at frid green tomatoes, but her face full of expression is now a clown face and she looks like any other one who have lifted her face and make her nose smaller for no reason,
    Im a a bit tired of seeing women at that age being cloned by plastic surgery instead of show and let us enjoy their real faces, that I love much more…
    🙂

  22. anonymous says:

    she’s definitely had work. I remember the first season she was starting to get a little jowly…now, not so much. her nose has definitely been done…. between seasons…you can see a difference…from looking back at early pics she may have had more than one… not that I care…noses and ears are the two body parts that grow all your life. they dont get smaller, only bigger.