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In a new interview with the Qatar Tribune, Mary McDonnell discusses her career, and the importance she finds in portraying a complicated, mature female character on TV.
“It’s such a revelation and so refreshing that she’s a female captain and a woman of power,’’ McDonnell says. “On The Closer she was an antagonist. We left the audience with all of these assumptions about Captain Raydor.
“When you police the police, your goal isn’t to make the police like you,’’ she continues. “As it turns out, she’s out there to protect the people and the police.’’ McDonnell thinks she knows why Raydor has hit such a nerve.
“This character celebrates smart women,’’ the actress says. “Like so many of us, she is very competent in her own skin, although there are dysfunctional things in her life. She also is having a good life and has a strong ethical code.
“There isn’t this crazy darkness that a lot of cops carry with them,’’ McDonnell continues. “This is a woman like many women I know. She gets the job done.’’ It isn’t easy to portray someone so competent, she adds.
“It’s a challenge,’’ McDonnell admits. “How do you write for someone who is just out there in a good way? It feels far more reckless than writing for someone who is bad. Bad is easier. It’s flashier. This is about playing strength.’’ The series, which premiered in 2012 on the heels of the final episode of The Closer, was a hit right out of the box.
“Without a doubt, it was such a success that we broke records,’’ McDonnell says. “The fans really backed the faith I had in this show. They gave us a strong start.’’ That came as a relief to McDonnell, who never before had been asked to carry a series – the closest she had come was playing President Laura Roslin in the ensemble cast of Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) – and admits to having had some jitters.
“I had a lot of fears born from an actor wanting to do well,’’ she says. “I didn’t have any fears about the quality of the show, but I had the normal fears of success. Could I pull it off?’’ McDonnell believes that women past 40 have particularly embraced the show.
“At this point in my life, I organically understand this woman that I play,’’ she says. “There are a lot of women like her and me in the world. We’re women who have varying degrees of power, dealing with sophisticated situations. After 40, it’s about how do you get clear and practice living a great life?’’
McDonnell is only the latest in a series of big-screen actresses who have turned to cable television for strong roles as they age, following in the footsteps of Glenn Close, Laura Dern, Holly Hunter and, of course, Sedgwick.
“TV watching is becoming more important than ever as the Baby Boomers age,’’ she says. “The world is changing so freaky fast around us. There are very unsettling feelings attached to the times we live in. I like to be able to turn on the TV in my house and see adults approaching the next 30 years of their lives.’