Conversations with Patricia Clarkson (2018)

Career Retrospective with Patricia Clarkson on November 28, 2018.  Moderated by Dave Karger.

Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress, Patricia Clarkson takes on roles as varied as the platforms for which she plays them. This multi-faceted approach makes her one of today's most respected actresses.

Clarkson's continuous innovative work in independent film most recently earned her the 2018 British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Sally Potter’s film “The Party.” In 2010 she received rave reviews for her starring role in the award winning romantic drama, “Cairo Time,” which put her career in the American spotlight. She won the Independent Award for Acting Excellence at the 2009 ShoWest Awards. In 2003, her role in “Pieces of April” earned her nominations for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG, Broadcast Film Critics and Independent Spirit awards. The National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics named her Best Supporting Actress of the Year for her work in “Pieces of April” and “The Station Agent.” 

Currently, Clarkson can be seen in the independent film drama “Jonathan,” opposite Ansel Elgort and in the sixth and final season of “House of Cards” on Netflix.  

She was most recently seen in Isabel Coixet’s “The Bookshop,” the HBO limited series “Sharp Objects” alongside Amy Adams, based on the novel by Gillian Flynn, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée; in the final installment of the Maze Runner trilogy, and Sally Potter’s film “The Party,” for which she won the 2018 British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. 

2019 will see Clarkson in the detective film “Out of Blue” based on the Martin Amis novel, in which she plays the lead character.  “Out of Blue” Premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in their Platform Series in 2018 and was also seen at the 2018 London Film Festival. She will next film “Light on Broken Glass” in the leading role.

In 2014 she starred alongside Sir Ben Kingsley in “Learning to Drive” directed by Isabel Coixet. The film won runner up honors for the People’s Choice Award at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in August 2015 and opened to critical acclaim. Other recent films include the timely thriller “The East,” opposite Brit Marling and Alexander Skarsgård, the comedy “Friends with Benefits,” in which she co-stars with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis and the Lone Scherfig directed drama, “One Day” with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. In 2010, she was seen in the box office hit “Easy A.”  

Clarkson and the cast of “Good Night, and Good Luck.” with George Clooney and David Straithairn, received both Screen Actors Guild and Gotham Award nominations for Best Ensemble. “Far From Heaven” won her a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Supporting Actress, “All The Real Girls” won her a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and “The Safety of Objects” earned her an Acting Prize at the Deauville Film Festival. “The Green Mile” earned Clarkson and cast (including Tom Hanks and James Cromwell) a Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble Award nomination, and “High Art” earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Supporting Actress. 

Other film credits include: Martin Scorsese's thriller “Shutter Island,” Woody Allen's “Whatever Works” and “Vicky Christina Barcelona,” “Blind Date” with Stanley Tucci, “Elegy,” “No Reservations,” “All The King’s Men,” “Lars and the Real Girl,” “Simply Irresistible,” “The Pledge,” “Jumanji,” “Rocket Gibraltar” and “The Untouchables.”