Jessica Lange thinks her film adaptation of Long Day’s Journey Into Night could be a fitting place to finish a career that began with 1976’s King Kong. At 77, she’s calling the Eugene O’Neill drama “not a bad way to end,” while leaving open the possibility of more work.
“I actually feel like I’m coming to an end,” Lange said. “There are a couple projects that have been in the works forever that may or may not happen. I don’t know.”
Her uncertainty also reflects how hard it’s become to make the films she wants to do. “It doesn’t seem easy to get things made anymore. At least not the kind of films that interest me.”
The role brings her back to a work that already holds a major place in her career: she won a Tony for the 2016 Broadway revival of Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Alongside her 2 Oscars, for Tootsie and Blue Sky, and 3 Emmys, that award gave her the Triple Crown of Acting.
Looking back, Lange described working with directors including Bob Fosse, Bob Rafelson, Costa-Gavras, Tony Richardson, Karel Reisz and Martin Scorsese, and actors including Dustin Hoffman, Kim Stanley and Jack Nicholson.
“What I assumed was it was always going to be that exciting and thrilling, and the work was always going to be on that caliber,” she said. “But then, the business changes.”
She also misses having directors close to the camera. Lange believes video playback has created distance between actors and directors, weakening the exchange that helped her work.
“Oftentimes, you don’t even see the director on the set, which I think is very detrimental.”
Still, she speaks about her decades of acting with gratitude, including the challenges of raising 3 children while working on location.
“Difficult at times, balancing family and career and locations and dragging my kids here and there. But it all was a great adventure. I’m so grateful that [it] came my way,” she said.
Asked how she’d like to be remembered, Lange chose 2 words: “honest actor.”