Karen Allen on Harrison Ford, John Belushi, Steven Spielberg and Williamstown
Karen Allen operates her fiber arts and clothing store in Great Barrington when she's not making movies or performing in plays. Below, Allen with Harrison Ford during the shooting of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.' She's appeared in three of the five Raiders movies.
It was 1979, a year after the release of her first major film, "National Lampoon's Animal House." She and a group of the movie's alum got together on a Sunday afternoon and threw a party, "to play music, hang out and sing." A day later, "the painful symptoms" began. Allen learned that she had contracted keratoconjunctivitis, a dangerous and rare eye disease that created "terrible, terrible, terrible pain. It caused me to go blind for a while ... my eye muscles started to deteriorate. I had to stay in my apartment to make sure — God forbid! — I didn't give it to anyone. It took about two months for me to recover."
That was then. Today, 47 years after the sightless saga, Allen can see clearly. And the choices she had made in her 50-plus year career remain sharply in focus: "The Wanderers," "Cruising," Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Shoot the Moon," "Starman," "Scrooged" — the list is longer than her bit role in Woody Allen's Manhattan.
And that is just her film work. (Ironically, Allen played a 20-year-old Helen Keller in "Monday After the Miracle," the sequel to "The Miracle Worker." The 1982 drama flopped and played only 16 performances, marking Allen's only Broadway performance.)
This season, Allen returned to the Berkshire Theatre Group's Unicorn Theatre in Abi Morgan's "LoveSong," a play about how love changes people over time. Allen fell in love with the work when she saw it on closing night in Ireland last summer. She sent the script to BTG's Artistic Director and CEO Kate Maguire who "loved it" and green-lighted the project.
"LoveSong" runs through Aug. 29. For tickets or more information, call 413-997-4444 or visit BerkshireTheatreGroup.org.
Next up for Allen: The October release of the film "Other Mommy," "a psychological horror film."
We spoke to the 74-year-old actress while she was eating, between her Wednesday matinee and evening performances. She was also feeding her two cats, Bella ("whose face is half black and half ginger"), and Skye, who has folded ears, and is pronounced "Sky"; the added "e" is because "she is of Scottish descent.")
In this exclusive interview, Allen, who laughs when she says "I've had a long journey," chats about her first nude scene, Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford and John Belushi, the problem with Williamstown and the 6,000 slithering co-stars in "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
Your first major film role, as sweet Katy in "Animal House," launched your career. It was also your first nude scene.
Yes, and it was not in the script. [Director John] Landis said, 'We are going to start with the camera on your naked butt.' I said, 'No. I didn't agree to it.' I felt I was being taken advantage of. I glanced at [co-star] Donald Sutherland who was very amused at the conversation. He looked at me sympathetically and said to John, 'I don't think Karen needs to show her naked butt.' He then put on his sweater, covered his privates, leaned against the refrigerator, reached up and exposed his bare butt. I felt relaxed and at ease when I saw his naked butt. I thought, 'If Donald Sutherland can do it, so can I.'
Why has "Animal House" become such a cultural touchstone?
It's really hard to pinpoint. It was John Belushi's first film and his career, as an actor and comedian, was rocketing. He was very, very beloved on 'Saturday Night Live.' John Landis had written a strong script and put together an extraordinary cast. It seemed to be the kind of film that was needed at that time. The film is as fresh in people's minds as when it came out, but today it is so wildly politically incorrect.
In three of the Indiana Jones films you play the feisty and fierce Marion Ravenwood. And you star opposite Harrison Ford who you get to slug!
Many top names wanted to play Indiana Jones. I auditioned with Tim Matheson, but he didn't get it. Jeff Bridges, Sam Elliott, John Shea also wanted the role. But it was Tom Selleck who really wanted it, but 'Magnum, P.I.' was renewed and Tom couldn't get out of his contract. As for the slug, it had to be carefully choreographed so I didn't break Harrison's jaw or put the film on hiatus for a month! We worked on it very carefully. There was one take where I didn't know where my fist was going and I nicked him a little.
How was Spielberg as a director?
He was the captain of a ship that held 140 people. He was a good captain because he knew what kind of film he was making. It was not his job to be easy to get along with. I had a great relationship with Steven. I was learning as I went because I never had made a film like Indiana Jones. He was a good teacher. So was Harrison.
Let's talk about the 6,000 snakes you worked with. Were you frightened?
Snakes don't bother me. I grew up in the countryside and been around snakes my whole life. We worked with them for two weeks, and you can get used to anything when you work that long. The pythons did bite some people. If one was coming toward me, I would just walk away. But for the most part, they were glass snakes which are reptiles. You could stick your finger in their mouth and they wouldn't hurt you. Cobras are poisonous and had to be handled in a particular way. There was an ambulance on the set and venom extractor kits, and there was a Plexiglas partition between Harrison Ford and the cobras. We couldn't expose Harrison or Steven or me or any of the crew to them.
Do you have snakes on your property? Your house in Monterey is surrounded by 28 acres of woods.
I sold that house almost two years ago. It was built in 1792, a beam-and-post barn that had been converted into a house. It was beautiful and very large with a very large property. If you want to live with a long list of maintenance tasks for the rest of your life, the house was ideal. I'm not crazy about telling where I live, but I am not in Monterey anymore.
When was the first time you came to the Berkshires?
I was living in New York City, and in 1981, I came to do 'Two for the Seesaw' in Stockbridge. I stayed at the Red Lion Inn for two months and walked to the theater every day. I also did work in Williamstown Theater Festival. It's gorgeous, but it adds an extra hour driving time to get back to New York. That's not a great commuting time if you're living in New York City. I moved to the Berkshires full-time in 1993 so my son Nicholas could go to school there. I sold my apartment in Manhattan; now, if I need to get to New York, and I don't need to often because I can always talk to a producer over Zoom, I stay in a hotel. It's cheaper.
Besides acting and after running Berkshire Mountain Yoga for five years, you opened Karen Allen Fiber Arts in 2005, where you and others show another side of your creativity.
My grandmother taught me how to knit. It was my first love. I love to make all kinds of things. My line of knitwear and weaving has a place go instead of having to go to New York. Textiles are my passion — I call them my first ecstasy. If I give up acting, I can still be creative and make money.
Tags: Berkshire Theatre Group, plays, Q&A,
