Kathleen Turner: Elizabeth Taylor’s voice was ‘awful’, she wasn’t ‘very skilled’

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New York Magazine’s Vulture section has been getting some great exclusive interviews this year. They talk to the older celebrities, the ones who have few f–ks to give and the ones who know everybody. This is one of those interviews. They chatted with Kathleen Turner, one of the biggest stars of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Body Heat, Romancing the Stone (my personal fave), Prizzi’s Honor, Peggy Sue Got Married and more, those are her most classic films. She’s also done a ton of stage work over the course of her career, although since her late 30s, she hasn’t been able to work as much as she would have liked, because she’s battled severe rheumatoid arthritis, which caused her to self-medicate and have issues (for years) with painkillers and alcohol. Sorry, I didn’t mean to be a downer, because I enjoyed the hell out of Turner’s sh-t-talking. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

Whether she based her performance of Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on Elizabeth Taylor: “God, no. Quite the opposite. For a while I felt like half my life was making her wrongs right….Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — you ever listen to her voice? It’s awful. No. She has a bad voice, badly used. In any case, people are after me all the time to do Sweet Bird of Youth, and I’m like, “Enough Taylor sh-t.” I don’t think she was very skilled.”

What happened right after Body Heat: “It took adjustment. You have to remember that my first big role was Body Heat, and after that I was a sexual target. I understood later, from Michael Douglas, that there was a competition between him and Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty about who would get me first. None of them did, by the by.

A story about Jack Nicholson: “I don’t like being thought of as a trophy. Let me tell you, when Jack and I were shooting Prizzi’s Honor, a bunch of us went to his place up on Mulholland [Drive]. Jack said, knowing Warren’s interest in me, “Why don’t you call Warren and tell him I don’t have a corkscrew.” “Why?” “You’ll see how fast he gets here.” There was an unspoken assumption that women were property to be claimed. Another time I was at a dinner party and there was an empty chair next to Jack. I sat down in it and had a delightful time. After a while — because I was shooting the next day — I said I had to leave and drove back to the Chateau Marmont. I get there and the phone rings. It was Jack: “How could you do that to me?” “Do what?” “You were my date and you left!” And I said, “I was your date? No one informed me.” Assumptions like that are why I’ve never lived in Los Angeles. Every time I go to that city I feel insecure.

A blind item about an actor who plays the same character over and over: “Certainly in terms of film, there is intense pressure to repeat successful characters. I’ll give you an example, but you mustn’t include her name. [Very famous Hollywood actress] has played the same role for 20 years. She even looks pretty much the same. She’s probably one of the richest women out there, but I would shoot myself if I were like that, only giving people what they expect.

On Nick Cage’s terrible voice in Peggy Sue Got Married: “It was tough to not say, “Cut it out.” But it wasn’t my job to say to another actor what he should or shouldn’t do. So I went to [director] Francis [Ford Coppola]. I asked him, “You approved this choice?” It was very touchy. He [Nicolas Cage] was very difficult on set…If anything, it [Cage’s portrayal] only further illustrated my character’s disillusionment with the past. The way I saw it was, yeah, he was that a–hole….Listen, I made it work, honey.

She hates Burt Reynolds too: “Working with Burt Reynolds was terrible. The first day Burt came in he made me cry. He said something about not taking second place to a woman. His behavior was shocking. It never occurred to me that I wasn’t someone’s equal. I left the room sobbing.”

Whether she’s met Donald Trump: “Yes. Yuck. He has this gross handshake. He goes to shake your hand and with his index finger kind of rubs the inside of your wrist. He’s trying to do some kind of seductive intimacy move. You pull your hand away and go yuck.

She hated her guest appearances on Friends too: “I didn’t feel very welcomed by the cast. I remember I was wearing this difficult sequined gown — and my high heels were absolutely killing me. I found it odd that none of the actors thought to offer me a seat. Finally it was one of the older crew members that said, “Get Miss Turner a chair.” The Friends actors were such a clique — but I don’t think my experience with them was unique. I think it was simply that they were such a tight little group that nobody from the outside mattered. I won’t comment on [whether I respected them as actors]. Maybe if I’d had months to work with them, I’d be in a better position to evaluate their skill. But I could only judge based on the period I worked on the show, which wasn’t long. I do respect the camaraderie they had. You can see camaraderie on the screen.”

[From Vulture]

Hecate and I were talking about the Jack Nicholson section and I tend to believe Turner when she says she didn’t bang any of them – I think she had Jack’s number from the get-go, and she knew that Beatty just saw her as another conquest. Even though she and Michael Douglas had some legal drama, she has very positive stuff to say about him now, and I think she feels like he always treated her like an equal. As for Trump’s handshake… EW. Imagine his little baby carrot fingers rubbing your wrist. I felt the bile coming up in my throat. UGH.

As for the blind item…at first I thought it could be Jennifer Aniston, but now I’m wondering if it’s Sandy Bullock?

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174 Responses to “Kathleen Turner: Elizabeth Taylor’s voice was ‘awful’, she wasn’t ‘very skilled’”

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  1. tracking says:

    Wait, I thought she copped to an affair with Michael Douglas in another interview. Anyway, the men are all gross, Trump above all needless to say. Wow, the Elizabeth Taylor comments are super bitchy. I think the actress she’s talking about is Aniston.

    • Esmom says:

      I thought Julia Roberts for some reason. Tbh I could be a number of people, right?

    • Lightpurple says:

      I don’t think it’s Aniston. She said she wouldn’t comment on the skill of any of the Friends cast.

      • tealily says:

        The fact that she went on the talk about he Friends cast makes me think maybe it WASN’T Aniston, but she sure is the first one I thought of. I think it’s probably Julia Roberts. She’s more of a contemporary to Turner.

      • Alissa says:

        I immediately thought of Julia or Jennifer Aniston, and that we the only two that came to mind.

    • Raina says:

      I think it’s Aniston, too, since she mentioned disliking working on Friends.

      On another note, I want to sit next to her at a dinner party so badly. I can’t help it; I love this shyte.

      • Giddy says:

        Raina, Your comment makes me think of that famous needlepoint pillow belonging to Alice Roosevelt. It read: “If you have nothing good to say about anyone come sit by me”

      • tracking says:

        Ha, I think that line was used in Steel Magnolias!

      • Marianne says:

        Yes, I also thought JA because she went on to talk about Friends so i think it was on her mind.

        I doubt it’s Julia Roberts as her characters are not all the same. She’s a law student in Pelican Brief, serious and earnest, she’s a shallow silly person in My Best Friend’s Wedding, different again in Ocean’s 11 and different again in Mystic Pizza. Just don’t think it’s Julia.

    • KAT says:

      Maybe it’s Sharon Stone????

  2. Slowsnow says:

    The blind item must be a senior actress like Jane Fonda but I don’t think it’s her… Meryl Streep? I’d so love it to be her… I do find she always plays the same charming slightly lost adorable lady character and will never forgive her for that Thatcher film.

    • elimaeby says:

      My first thought was Meryl, too. I can imagine Miss Turner being salty at her success, with them being similar ages, and Streep being richer than Croesus. Especially because she does often play the flighty, quirky older gal who people find adorable.

      • Betsy says:

        She wasn’t especially adorable in August Osage County, or quirky. Unless you consider drug addiction “quirky.”

      • Slowsnow says:

        @Betsy I beg to differ. I was really surprised to see how Streep managed to make that lady seem likeable despite the horrors that spewed out of her mouth whereas Robert’s character stayed flat and only garnered little sympathy.

      • Jadedone says:

        @slowsnow interesting, i found her character totally unlikeable but thats just my opinion

      • Slowsnow says:

        @Jadedone It was a really weird one for me as she was objectively awful but witty and with the great power of repartee. Of course I wasn’t rooting for her but the Roberts character is so miserable and lightless that maybe it worked in a sort of energy kinda way for me? Also, you cannot forget it’s Streep, much like with Keaton. Actresses like Julianne Moore or Sarah Paulson on the other hand get immersed in their characters so you end up just seeing the character, if that makes sense?

    • whatWHAT? says:

      I thought older actress, too (see below) and I also thought Meryl, or Diane Keaton. (tho Keaton has been doing the same character for more like 50 years)

    • Abby says:

      Goldie hawn?

      • Rosalee says:

        Mr. Goodbar was released in 1977, far more than 20 years ago. Keaton was an excellent actress in Little Drummer Boy, Mrs. Soffel and The Good Mother, but she’s been playing the ditzy, torn, yet lovable mother for a couple of decades.

      • Nancy says:

        Rosalee: And not to mention the Godfather. I like watching old Diane Keaton movies, the dramas as opposed to the goofy silly Woody Allen sidekick. Eww, just realized she was with him. That changes everything. Damn.

    • perplexed says:

      Huh. I thought she was talking about Julia Roberts. She looks the same and people always complain she plays the same character over and over, and she’s richer than everybody else.

      • Christin says:

        JR is my first guess as well. She is the type actress who is “(actress name) playing (character name)”. She’s been in that mode for nearly 30 years, so it fits.

      • Esmom says:

        I said the same above.

      • Lady D says:

        The first person I thought of was Mariska Hargitay. She’s played the same SVU character for almost 20 years now. Not exactly a Hollywood star though.

    • deadnotsleeping says:

      Not Streep. I read the full article and she praises Streep’s stage acting and expresses how she’d love to see her act on stage more.

    • minx says:

      I really doubt it’s Meryl Streep, she’s always done a variety of roles and has earned the right to do whatever she wants by this point.
      At first I thought of older actresses, Hawk, Keaton, etc.
      But after reading her saltiness about the Friends cast, I do wonder if it is Aniston. JA doesn’t exactly have a wide range.

    • Myrtle says:

      I thought Sandy Bullock, who is usually pretty much the same in every role, although she branched out some in her role as that southern mom who adopted the African American football player.

    • Fleur says:

      I also assumed a senior actor, but my mind went immediately to Diane Keaton.

    • InquisitiveNewt says:

      Streep? Impossible, she’s chameleonic. She puts on characters like garments and inhabits them. Don’t know if you’ve seen her being interviewed, but she’s incredibly soft spoken, flat, almost sans personality. My money’s on Aniston. She only broke form with The Good Girl.

  3. Who ARE These People? says:

    Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts…who else, name names!

    This interview was wonderful – open, smart and full of dish. I hadn’t realized how much she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. The medicines have improved over the years but not soon enough for her.

    • Morning Coffee says:

      I thought of Roberts and Bullock too. I don’t think it’s Streep. Say what you will about her, but she has played a lot of variety over the years. Emma Thompson also came to mind.

    • ariel says:

      I second this, I was thinking Julia Roberts or maybe Sandra Bullock.

      I love this interview, and I love Kathleen Turner, and now I must re-watch Romancing the Stone for the hundredth time.

      • Masamf says:

        @Ariel, my best of all time KT movie was the war of the Roses. both her and MD were phenomenal.

      • Calliope says:

        I started rewatching “The War of the Roses” last night too! They were both SO good in that.

        Loved this story!

    • Lightpurple says:

      Roberts is who I thought of immediately

    • Anners says:

      My first thought was Julia Roberts, too. She’s the same in every. single. film. Also, she hasn’t really aged at all. And I dislike her a lot, so I kind of want it to be her. Sandra Bullock is another good guess, but I still 💛 her too much to pigeonhole her 🙂

    • lucy2 says:

      I feel like it’s Julia too.

    • Tigerlily says:

      I loved her in Body Heat….what an amazing movie. She and William Hurt were great & Ted Danson was a total scene stealer. I remember when she revealed she had RA I was being told by my eye doc to get screened for autoimmune diseases as I had severely dry eyes. Fast forward to now…..I was diagnosed with RA in 2009 & yes the treatments are better but it’s still rough. I see Kathleen’s body now (kudos to her for getting out there and moving forward with her career) and sympathize. I feel like such a bloated caricature of my old self. A little surprised that the Friends clique weren’t more friendly towards her. I suppose at the height of their fame they figured they were better than her. Ha! As if…

    • Yes Doubtful says:

      I was thinking Roberts, Aniston or Meg Ryan.

  4. Gail says:

    My guess is Julia Roberts!

    • Crumbs says:

      My thought was Julia Roberts too!

    • Jan90i067 says:

      That was my first thought, too! She NEVER changes her persona in any film: always “poor, wounded doe turns feisty to overcome!”. Anniston, (while I know a lot of you don’t like her) did break out in “The Good Girl” (definitely NOT Rachel in that role!) and in “Cake”. But she seems to be pigeon-holed in Rom-Coms, the same way Meg Ryan is.

      Anyway, my vote is Roberts.

  5. Jerusha says:

    Apart from Body Heat(a ripoff of one of my favorite movies-Double Indemnity)I never liked Kathleen Turner.

  6. Ctgirl says:

    Wow. This is how to burn bridges. Loving the candor.

    • minx says:

      I love it too. I can’t disagree with her about anything—Nicholson, Beatty, the Friends cast, even Elizabeth Taylor. KT sounds like she simply has no more fcks to give.

      • Nancy says:

        or get…..lol. Doesn’t sound like a happy women. After this, she will probably have less to be miserable about. I will give her Body Heat, but after that and her illness which kept her from working, she should be happy she had work at all, instead of dissing costars. She’s in her 60’s now, time to chill Mary Kathleen!!

      • A says:

        @Nancy, on the contrary, I think old people have simply gotten to a point where they stopped caring. She’s 60 now, she’s spent her whole life cozying up to these people. She’s earned her right to speak candidly I think.

      • Nancy says:

        You shouldn’t stop caring because of age. She could live another twenty years. I don’t see her as a happy, peppy person. But, having suffered through RA, it’s quite understandable. My mom, who isn’t much older than Kathleen, always told me people treat you how they feel. From reading about her over the years, and in this interview, it seems she hasn’t felt well in a long time. Can’t be easy.

      • Fleur says:

        I also can’t disagree with her Elizabeth Taylor comment. Elizabeth Taylor was a gorgeous woman, but she DID have a poor voice (by actors standards) as an adult. It a little strident, and her intonation was poor. She’s said she never had an acting lesson, and I think she would’ve benefited from them. Her best, most nuanced performance was National Velvet.

  7. M.A.F. says:

    Those blurs just made me love her more.

    And I agree on Cage’s voice in Peggy Sue. Love the movie but hate his voice.

    • Darla says:

      One of my favorite movies ever, and yeah, it’s a testament to Turner that Cage didn’t ruin that movie, because that voice, ugh.

    • Esmom says:

      I love how she said it actually fueled her performance. So funny!

    • Yup, Me says:

      I remember watching Peggy Sue as a kid and I HATED Cage’s voice. I turned it off a couple times and then finally watched it because it just kept coming on TV. Dude was definitely benefitting from being related to the director.

      • Moneypenny424 says:

        Ha! It was ALWAYS on TV and I had the same reaction–a gut, visceral hatred of the movie because of Cage’s voice.

      • Holly hobby says:

        Yep I remember the helium voice. It was annoying. I also remember this movie for giving us a pre famous Joan Allen, Jim Carrey and Helen Hunt!

    • tracking says:

      Yup, it was ridiculous.

  8. Neelyo says:

    This interview was awesome! I think the one note actress is Sandra Bullock. Burt Reynolds has always been the worst. And she’s not telling any lies about Elizabeth Taylor. Great star, subpar actress most of the time.

  9. whatWHAT? says:

    Aniston or Bullock? you don’t think it might be an older actress?…Meryl or Diane Keaton?

    Keaton always plays the same general persona even when her characters are wildly different.

    anyway, I LOVE it when old-school h’wood spills tea like this.

    • Slowsnow says:

      Keaton, yes! I also thought senior and wildly successful so Streep perhaps, Fonda or Keaton could also be a good guess.

    • magnoliarose says:

      But is Keaton thought of as very rich? I don’t think it is an older actress.

  10. Nancy says:

    Lol. She with the voice of a women who smokes every meal, makes fun of Liz Taylor’s voice. Pretty ironic.

    • Betsy says:

      Taylor did have an atypical voice though. I know she grew up in England, but at the beginning of her career she had a kind of high pitched voice, like a 1930s radio star. That lingered for a while.

    • HK9 says:

      It’s also pretty pathetic. While I know Turner was always a very good actress, Taylor was always better, which is what I think accounts for the shade.

      • Nancy says:

        She sounds like a very bitter woman. Doesn’t have a good word to say about anybody. Like someone above said, burning down the bridges. *She was horrible as Chandler’s dad. So miscast. She looked miserable and that voice, she hates everyone’s voice and it’s like hers deepened with age. Very annoying.*

      • Bridget says:

        She has plenty of great things to say about other people, but that requires you to do the work and read more than just the excerpts.

      • HK9 says:

        @ Bridget-Like who? If I have to dig online to find the good things she said about people she can’t be doing it that often.

      • Nancy says:

        Elizabeth Taylor and Kathleen Turner are in two different leagues. Major and minor. Elizabeth had a life long career, while you can count Turner’s movies. I don’t know if she ever won an award for her work. Taylor had the voice of her generation, the kind of sultry/over the top acting tone that her movies called for. That’s how they did it then. Any movie buff who watched Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, knows that sweet little voice could get loud and vulgar. No comparison between these two women.

      • perplexed says:

        I think Turner could have gone on to have a very long career like Streep or at least someone like Susan Sarandon, but her career was affected by her illness. Once her appearance started changing due to the medications she was taking, I’m pretty certain directors would have stopped calling her up.

        I have seen clips of her when she was younger on Youtube, and it is kind of hard to think of a younger actress today who could match that sort of sultriness she had in Body Heat. Almost everyone today is kind of….girlish? The plot of Body Heat sounds like something out of a Lifetime movie, but in the clips of her in that movie she does have a certain maturity I can’t really see in the actresses today, even the ones that actually can act. I think someone like Jennifer Lawrence can act well, and yet even I can’t picture her playing that role in Body Heat, mainly because of the girlish quality she has.

        I think Kathleen Turner is very skilled (maybe because of her voice? it is distinct), and because of her skills and the gravitas she carried as a young woman, I can kind of see why she’d be more critical of other acting techniques.

        I don’t have a negative opinion of Elizabeth Taylor, but I do think she was able to succeed during a time when maybe actresses (ironically) were more valued. After reading about how gross Nicholson and Beatty were, I think Turner and others probably had the misfortune to come of age when women were probably treated in a highly sexualized manner and, that in turn, could have affected their career trajectories. (Is there any story involving Jack Nicholson or Warren Beatty that isn’t somehow kind of gross?) Their careers are at the mercy of men, and Meryl Streep, more than others, seems to have been more willing than others to put up with the nonsense of others, and her career seems to have thrived the most.

      • perplexed says:

        “@ Bridget-Like who? If I have to dig online to find the good things she said about people she can’t be doing it that often.”

        With the exception of Elizabeth Taylor and maybe the Friends cast, I thought everybody else she dissed were people most would agree were diss-able. She dissed Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Donald Trump, William Hurt, Dustin Hoffman, etc. She dissed mostly men, and all of them appear to deserve it. None of those men are admirable, so I didn’t think there was much to be offended by. I did laugh when she said “Yuck” about Donald Trump.

        I like the Friends cast a lot (and actually think Matt LeBlanc is playing the complete opposite of himself), but for some reason I wasn’t offended by her comments about them. People are more or less divided about Jennifer Aniston’s acting ability anyway (and Courtney Cox is generally seen as a non-entity), so I guess her comment didn’t strike me as extremely strange or anything. Maybe I just expect older people to be more blunt. One day when Julia Roberts and all the others are in their 60s and their careers no longer depend on being nice to people who control their careers, we’ll probably hear their true thoughts about the people they acted with. I can’t wait!!!!

      • Nancy says:

        perplexed, I think the comment was directed more at me than it was of Turner’s actual random words of kindness towards others. I did see a memoir from 2010, where she is younger and doesn’t seem as cold as she does to me in this interview. Her daughter was leaving for college and she was in a play. She was rather self-congratulatory. After today, I probably won’t think about her at all, unless Body Heat is on…..I loved when William Hurt threw the patio chair thru the glass to get to the ever seductive, elusive Kathleen/Mattie/Mary Ann.

      • Jerusha says:

        Liz was bawdy and I imagine she had plenty she could tell, but I don’t ever remember her being mean spirited or spiteful. She always came across as a big hearted good ol’ gal. And, yes, she had painful medical issues, too.

    • perplexed says:

      I thought Taylor sounded the way she did because she was in film at a different time period.

    • Bridget says:

      Kathleen Turner has one of the most iconic, sexy voices of all time.

      • Rocio says:

        Agree.

      • nb says:

        Yep, whenever I think of her I can actually hear her voice in my head and I’ve only seen a few of her movies.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        Yes. She’s an older woman now so her voice has changed, but for decades she was famous for her sexy voice. It’s why she voiced Jessica Rabbit.

  11. Adrien says:

    I’ve always admired her candor. I think I have seen Serial Mom a hundred times when I was young. We rented that movie a lot that the video rental owner gave the lone copy to us 😂.
    Jen was my first guess on the samey role actress but she does not appear in movies often so I am going for Sandra Bullock.

  12. Lightpurple says:

    Saw her in Nee York a few years ago playing Mrs Robinson in The Graduate. She had a scene when she stood in stage stark naked. This woman is fearless

  13. Smee says:

    I instantly thought J Anniston for the BI – the “played the same role for 20 years. She even looks pretty much the same. She’s probably one of the richest” fits. And she worked with her. All those Rom Coms…

  14. Rianic says:

    Blind Item – Jennifer Aniston. She knew her from Friends

  15. Darla says:

    I disagree with her about Liz Taylor, but I have to say, I LOVED this interview. What a great read!

  16. Sparkly says:

    My first guess was Aniston. I also thought Julia Roberts, but I don’t think she’s been in many films these past few years, and it sounds like someone more actively working.

    Tom Selleck said the same thing about the Friends cast. If I had a chance to work with Tom Selleck and Kathleen Turner, you can bet I’d be gracious and friendly. It’s great that they were all really friends, but you need to be pleasant and professional to your guest stars.

    • perplexed says:

      Weren’t they older and esteemed as stars compared to them at the time? I could see myself talking to them only when they talked to me first. Otherwise, I wouldn’t presume they’d have any interest in me as a younger, less respectable person/actor. I tend to think they weren’t rude on purpose, but probably assumed the older actors wouldn’t have an interest in them. But I might be projecting how I behave in the same situations — awkwardly.

    • minx says:

      Yeah, that’s the only thing holding me back from thinking it’s Julia Roberts—JR hasn’t worked all that much recently. Turner worked with Aniston twice, JA always looks and acts the same, and she’s quite rich from movies but more so all those Friends residuals.

    • xena says:

      Julia Roberts or Jennifer Aniston, but somehow I think it s JR because she was so successful at her height, the first woman to charge 20 Mio ec. Plus she always plays the same character.

      • perplexed says:

        That’s why I think it’s Julia Roberts too. She was the first one to really make bank or ask for what she thought she deserved as an individual female. She does kind of play a variation of herself, but I also think she paved the way for more female actresses to find their way into higher salaries. I also think she’s more likely to incite heated opinions from other actresses because of the way she broke through for herself and FOR others.

        Aniston has made a lot of money from Friends residuals, but that was a group effort on the part of the Friends cast to get that huge money.

    • magnoliarose says:

      I agree. Same hair. Same style. She has been playing Rachel since the late 90s. No one else fits so well. In fact, JA is the only actress I think of as virtually the exact same in every role. Even her ventures away were still Rachel being this or Rachel doing that. She is indeed rich off of playing Rachel in various modes for 20 years and always looks the same in every movie.
      I have nothing against JA. She “samed” her way into a substantial fortune but I think this is her.

  17. Escaped Convent says:

    Miss Turner has some nerve criticizing Dame Elizabeth! I’ve heard her do this before, in interviews—apparently she’s very sensitive regarding the voices of others. She gets offended by them.

    Elizabeth Taylor did have quite a high-pitched voice at the start of her career, but it never struck me as “awful.” I’ve noticed that voices often deepen with age. Also, Elizabeth Taylor blew the doors off Virginia Woolf. Her voice was perfect for Martha.

    • InquisitiveNewt says:

      Agreed! Liz Taylor’s voice was unique – started off lilting and bell-like, deepened over the years but maintained that haunting quality.

  18. smcollins says:

    Kathleen Turner: National Treasure. I was obsessed with Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile as a kid (I thought her & MD were a real couple!), and I watch War of the Roses any time it’s on. I love her candor here and would give anything to hang out with her for a night, just listening to all her stories.
    As far as the blind item my money is on Anniston, since KT worked with her on Friends and also Marley & Me.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      I think they had an affair at one point, thou not sure! MD was hot during that time period, then the drugs and lifestyle took their toll.

    • Holly hobby says:

      I did read that they had An affair during filming. Maybe from his memoirs? Anyway they are all still on friendly terms

  19. Christin says:

    Whether one agrees with her candor, it’s her story to tell.

    She’s endured an absolutely rotten disease (RA), which is far more destructive than regular forms of arthritis. In addition to severe pain and joint damage, organs can be affected. The medicines are quite risky, too.

    My mother had RA from her 20s, and it bugs me when people assume RA is same as “just” arthritis. It’s like saying Alzheimer’s is same as occasional forgetfulness.

    • Elizabeth says:

      Christin you are spot on about RA. I was diagnosed at 20, I’m 47 now so I’ve been fighting it for years. The “you’re too young to have arthritis” or “oh I get it I have arthritis in my knee & it’s awful” comments can be really hard to take. I know those comments don’t come from malice but people don’t realize how destructive of a disease this is & people’s remarks often belittle what this disease is & what it has done to my health & life. Fortunately I have an amazing supportive family, husband, boss & coworkers so I’ve been able to have a wonderful full life despite my illness & all the advances in treatments & medications has been amazing. When I was diagnosed in 1991 the options were very limited & none of them were good. The steroid roller coaster was hell.

      • Christin says:

        Elizabeth, I admire your resolve and attitude. My dental hygienist has RA and says that there are certain personalities that seem to correlate with RA. Easygoing, kind hearted and brave would certainly describe the small number of people I’ve personally known who have lived with it. You sound like you fit that mold, too.

        I felt like my mother’s advocate since I was a child, and I have only become more vocal about what a misunderstood, difficult disease it is. I’m glad you are surrounded by people who get it. Take care!

      • Erinn says:

        I’m 27 now, was diagnosed with a chronic pain condition a month after I turned 25. But I had been in pain of varying levels since I was about 13. I just finally accepted that the way I was feeling was *not* normal at 25.

        The “oh you’re too young to be this tired!” “you’re too young to have pain like that!” kinds of comments are absolutely gutting. It’s awful. I’m lucky that my organs aren’t being damaged… but some days are such hell. And to hear people say that – as if I haven’t EARNED the right to be miserable is so infuriating. It’s just like “oh, I’m sorry, I guess I must be mistaken”.

      • Nancy says:

        Erinn, I’m so sorry to hear of your chronic pain. I read your posts and imagine you as a young pretty lady with smart opinions. I hate to think of anyone in pain constantly. You are strong. There is no such thing as normal, just a word people kick around. I wish you nothing but the best and hope some day something will be discovered to ease your pain.

    • Cass says:

      Absolutely right. RA is a horrendous disease. I was diagnosed a year ago at 34 and while my form is very mild and I’m being treated aggressively, I look to Kathleen Turner as an inspiration. I can only hope that I’ll still be up and working by the time I’m her age.
      I think it’s great when celebrities talk about this stuff, even if she doesn’t go into huge detail. More people need to realise that diseases like RA are serious, life altering diagnoses, not just a sore knuckle her and there.

  20. Darla says:

    I think the blind is Julia Roberts, 60%. 20% Sandra B, 20% Jen A. But if I had to bet, my money would be on Roberts.

    • perplexed says:

      I think of Julia Roberts too, because I think both Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Aniston have tried to play different characters. Whether they succeed is a different story altogether. Sandra Bullock tried playing the white mom who takes in a black football player. She won an Oscar for it, but unfortunately you couldn’t forget she was Sandra Bullock. Jennifer Aniston played the alcoholic in Cake, but, again, same problem. They tried to do something different — they just didn’t succeed in making us forget who they are. To be fair, I think the same could be said for Roberts — that she tries to mix things up. But Julia Roberts has such a distinct laugh and smile that infects every role, even when she’s playing Erin Brockovich. And she gets paid a ton to bring out the laugh.

      I think every actress on some level tries or wants to do different things. But some have very distinct personality traits that overwhelm the role, and I think Julia Roberts has the most easily discernible personality with mannerisms you can easily recognize (i.e smile, laugh, twinkly eyes…) Heck, she basically played herself in Notting Hill….at the same time, I do think she’s really good at this. Some people can’t even do that well (i.e Selena Gomez or whoever). It’s a different kind of skill set, but I do think she’s good at it in a way that someone like Selena Gomez or Nina Dobrev could never duplicate. Would I pay to see Nina Dobrev play herself? Heck no. But I would be willing to do this for Roberts. So I don’t know if it’s necessarily a bad thing that she can play herself so well. I mean, I think she’s a terrible person in real life, but on screen she does have charisma that’s rare to see from actresses much younger than her….

      • Jayna says:

        Julia was excellent playing an abused wife in Sleeping with the Enemy. I truly felt her fear.

      • Christin says:

        @Jayna, very true. That was the one role that stood out. Well, that and Mary Reilly, which I found comedic due to her wavering accent.

  21. Alexandria says:

    As much as I loved watching her, I think it’s Sandra Bullock.

    If it’s Julia Roberts, wouldn’t disagree lol.

  22. Ellie says:

    She strikes me as rude. If your work is good enough it will shine on its own merits without slinging mud. The comments about the vulturous men are warranted, but the blind item about the actress and the Liz Taylor comments were low blows, esp. given Liz can’t fight back!

    • tealily says:

      I get that, but I can also see how infuriating it must be from her perspective that Taylor is held up as a Hollywood megastar goddess when she doesn’t feel it is deserving. I guess she eventually hit the point where she just didn’t get a f- anymore.

    • Christin says:

      Liz would have probably had a funny, half-agreeing response. She knew the game and I don’t think she took herself too seriously.

      I remember reading years ago that Liz illnesses/tragedies preceded her Oscar win(s). Definitely matched up to Butterfield 8.

    • Harryg says:

      Taylor was actually a very good actor.

      • Christin says:

        I thought she was a great child actor and her performance (especially the fainting scene) in A Place in the Sun was highly memorable.

  23. launicaangelina says:

    My guess is Diane Keaton. She has looked the same and played the same character for decades.

    • Biting Panda says:

      She also will have the same meltdown hysterical woman cry in every movie. (Like Anne Hathaway always has to have scene where she’s eating/drinking while talking.) She is a blatant WA apologists too. I have nothing nice to say about her or her choices.

    • minx says:

      Is Keaton really that rich, though? That’s my hesitation about pegging her.

    • Jayna says:

      But she’s not one of the wealthiest actresses around, not even close.

  24. Bridget says:

    Honestly, who cares what actress she’s talking about?

  25. Jayna says:

    “[Very famous Hollywood actress] has played the same role for 20 years. She even looks pretty much the same. She’s probably one of the richest women out there, but I would shoot myself if I were like that, only giving people what they expect.”

    An actress famous for 20 years and one of the richest women out there. So I would put the actress’ age between 45 to 55 most likely

    One of the richest actresses out there narrows it down even more. I would say Sandy Bullock or Jennifer Aniston or Cameron Diaz. Some mentioned Julia Roberts. But Julia has branched out a little over the years, not so much Sandy or Cameron. Jen tried a couple of times. Other than that Rom-Coms. Also, Sandy and Cameron and Jennifer are very, very wealthy. All three are worth over $150 million. Even if that’s exaggerated, they are worth over $100 million at the least. It’s one of those three. Sandra is my guess, though.

    • perplexed says:

      I do think Julia Roberts is more skilled than Bullock. Like, I think she would have done a better job as the white lady who took in the football player in the movie (can’t remember the name) Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for.

      I think Bullock tries to branch out, but I just can’t forget I’m watching Sandra Bullock. I think she just may not be good at playing anyone other than herself. Someone else playing the same roles as her probably would have made the roles different from each other. That said, I do think she has a certain lightness of touch that makes her pleasant to watch in her romantically-themed movies.

  26. Lightpurple says:

    I’m laughing at how she says she won’t comment on the skill of any of the Friends cast and then so many think the blind is Aniston. She’s very frank, so “not going to comment” means just that. The blind isn’t about Aniston, she already disposed of her. It isn’t Streep either because she says positive things about her stage work. It probably isn’t Fonda either because she still takes roles that show range like Our Souls at Night, which she did with Redford.,

    Hawn and Keaton are good possibilities, especially as Keaton has long since abandoned roles like Mr Goodbar or The Godfather. Bullock and Roberts are also strong possibilities for the next generation down.

    • minx says:

      I took “not going to comment” as a diss, because if she thought they were all talented she would have said so. My feeling is that she might have thought some of the actors were better than others and she didn’t want to get into it.

      • Lightpurple says:

        I took it as a very strong diss of all of them and that not one of them was worthy of being singled out for more

      • Nancy says:

        She took the job when there weren’t many being offered to her. Prime role, playing Chandler’s dad, and not doing it well. I saw it in reruns the other night and it was embarrassing, she wasn’t good. Morgan Fairfield as the mother was perfect. I’m not into kiss and tell games, or guess who it is. She’s a strange one, to me anyway. I didn’t realize how old she was, but she seemed old twenty years ago on Friends, so I should have known. Bless her heart.

    • Sparkly says:

      I immediately thought Aniston, and it read like her comments about Friends came later in the interview. When I read that no comment thing, I did start to wonder about other actresses…or she could have made that comment *because* she’d mentioned Aniston but asked not to name her.

  27. Jamie says:

    I’d like to throw Gwyneth Paltrow’s name in the mix for the blind item.

  28. Harryg says:

    I love Kathleen Turner but she’s wrong, Taylor was really skilled and often got labeled just as “just a star” because of her beauty. Taylor was awesome.

    • InquisitiveNewt says:

      I particularly loved Elizabeth Taylor in The Taming of the Shrew. Just the way she delivered that line – “very ill” – in response to Burton’s jovial, sardonic comment: incredibly memorable.

  29. When did KT stop caring abouut her hair?? She has really let herself go..

    • perplexed says:

      I think she’s just chosen to age naturally while taking her medications for her illness.

    • marjiscott says:

      I’m tellin ya.. THANK YOU! KT is a overweight , bitter has-been mess. Don’t blame it on the RA.

      • babypeanut says:

        She is overweight from the RA medication.

      • Anastasia says:

        Well, this is a super rude comment. She’s been struggling with RA for THIRTY years. Not only that, but a lot of the meds and treatments have their own shitty side effects.

      • Nancy says:

        She probably takes steroids for the arthritis. At one point, she was in very bad shape and lost all work. I guess to me that explains her what I keep referring to as “bitter” attitude. She was a lovely young women, especially in Body Heat. Then to lose it all to illness had to be horrific for an actress. As I said before, don’t drop names or names are going to be dropped on you too. Karma, it always comes back to smack you in the face.

      • Jaded says:

        What a dreadful thing to say about someone who’s suffering from a debilitating, painful and potentially life-shortening condition. She’s chugging along as best she can while undergoing a brutal regime of medications that have dreadful side-effects, not least of which is uncontrollable weight gain, fatigue and organ damage. Maybe you should look up the degenerative horrors that come with RA before making any more insulting comments like this.

    • Jenn says:

      Really? I think her hair looks great actually. Lush and thick.

    • themummy says:

      Wow. That is so judgy and rude. She has severe RA and has for many, many years. She takes steroids for that which make you gain weight and retain water so you look extra plumped up, which is also very uncomfortable to live with. RA also causes chronic and constant inflammation in the body. As to her hair–it’s actually amazing. RA is an autoimmune condition and those conditions are known for causing MAJOR thinning hair and also hair loss. And FINALLY, if you had any idea how much pain severe RA causes pretty much all the time, you’d probably understand that THAT is the focus of your life–not getting prettied up and looking like a movie star. I know of what I speak. I take care of my mother who suffers terribly from this awful disease.

      Maybe try a little empathy? Or, alternatively, you could just go eat a bag of d*cks. I think the empathy option would do you more good.

      • Christin says:

        @themummy, I knew before the end of your post that you had an up close understanding of RA’s many effects. Dressing up and getting one’s hair done is not a top priority with such a life-altering illness.

  30. KEEKS says:

    I’m guessing the blind item: same role, same look (cough cough) is Julia Roberts.

  31. sid says:

    This is one of those cases where things come across better when they are read within their context. The interview is terrific and needs to be read in full.

  32. Miss Gloss says:

    I love her and all of her glory! I thought Sandy Bullock and Aniston too! Leaning toward Bullock.

    It made me sad that she went from ultimate sex symbol to playing Chandler’s dad (as she was so unrecognizable from her old self during her prime, that’s all, absolutely nothing against trans).

    And, PS, guys are gross.

  33. Anastasia says:

    I have to agree with her about ET’s voice. Never could stand it.

  34. themummy says:

    I think the blind item person is Julia Roberts.

    Also, I felt like I actually wanted to dry heave when I read about Trump’s gross handshake. ::GAG::

  35. Digital Unicorn says:

    The blind could be any number of actresses but am with others that its either Roberts or Anniston. Bullock, while good at comedy, has had a few different roles that she’s done well with – but am bias as i love her.

  36. A says:

    I don’t disagree with her shade on Elizabeth Taylor. Not the shade itself, but the fact is that there are plenty of Old Hollywood actors and actresses whose legacies, I feel, are furnished out of a degree of nostalgia on the part of the viewer.

    I can’t tell who that actress might be. I came for the Friends cast shade. She’s by far not the only person to feel that way, Tom Selleck said as much too.

  37. FuefinaWG says:

    This makes me want to read an autobiography on Turner and the people she’s worked with. She has a book that came out about 10 years ago but it’s more suited to someone studying acting. Maybe she’ll write something in 20 years.

    • Christin says:

      Hopefully sooner than that. Those with her disease often have a shorter life span (organ damage effects and/or medication making it hard if not impossible to fight infections —- sufferers like Glenn Frey and my mom passed from a combination of the two).

  38. Veronica S. says:

    Honestly, I kind of enjoy her bluntness. Women don’t usually get to be that direct, but you can tell she’s at the age where she doesn’t care anymore. #goals

  39. Tiffany says:

    I just have to say, I loved her in VI Warshawski. That movie really did not get it’s due.

  40. Liv says:

    I was thinking it may be Angelina Jolie? She usually has the same kind of roles and there is often talks about her wealth.

    • Melba says:

      I was thinking Angelina Jolie as well. There’s no joy in her acting… mind you she does drama and not comedy.

  41. Lisa says:

    The first time I watched Liz act, I was underwhelmed. She was boring. That was BUtterfield 8, and then I gave her another chance in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof because I liked Paul Newman, and I thought if anyone could coax a passionate performance out of her, it would be him. But nope! As a model, she’s stunning. I’ve never seen anyone photograph as well as she does. It was impossible to take a bad picture of her. As an actor, she didn’t do it for me.

    • Stella Alpina says:

      Lisa: Elizabeth often played similar characters in her adult roles. She won the Oscar for BUtterfield 8 as a result of sympathy votes, because she was near death at the time. She didn’t have the best performance that year. That movie (and her acting in it) was actually mediocre. The film that showed her range was Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf.

      I agree with Kathleen Turner. ET’s voice tended to get shrill and unpleasant sounding. She had the face, but no one can have “perfection” in EVERYTHING.

      I disagree with you about ET as a great model. Of course she’s photogenic and lovely to look at, but she rested on her beauty. As a result, her photos invariably show one of 2 looks: serious Liz or smiling Liz. I think Marilyn was the superior model over other actresses. If you see enough of MM’s photos, you realize she could convey many different expressions. Most of the top photographers of her time have said as much.

      • Stella Alpina says:

        Adding my 2 cents: I think the blind is about Julia Roberts. She’s worth about $140 million and her personality overshadows all her roles. You can’t forget she’s Julia in any of her movies

  42. Mattie says:

    BLIND ITEM !!!! I’m going with Diane Keaton ….she has basically played the same character since her Woody Allen days

  43. Shelley says:

    I immediately thought Julia Roberts.

  44. Winechampion says:

    Did you guys even read the article, or just the blurbs here? She praises Meryl Streep in the article.

    Julia Roberts is my guess.

  45. Holly hobby says:

    I read the entire article yesterday and it was great! It has no shits to give all right and some of the things she said were true!