Patricia Clarkson

If one were asked what the year 2003 meant for the world of cinema, many would bring up, for example, the definitive triumph of The Lord of the Rings , the consecration of Coppola’s daughter or the definitive recognition of that great actor named Sean Penn . But that year was also a glorious year for Patricia Clarkson: her brilliant performance in a handful of films put her in the spotlight of all the awards, including the Oscar, for which she received a nomination thanks to Portrait of April . She didn’t take it, but her work was more than praised at the prestigious Sundance Festival, which presented no less than four Clarkson films in competition, something never seen before. By the fantastic The Station Agent(mistranslated into Spanish as Vías cruzadas) was awarded the Grand Jury Prize. To this award we should also add another nine obtained in different places, as well as the Golden Globe nomination. It can be said, therefore, and without fear of being wrong, that the year 2003 was also the year of the coronation of Patricia Clarkson, who at over 40 years of age has managed to reach the top with small but very well chosen independent films. She has achieved it little by little – “one film calls for another”, she says –, embodying real women, with deep souls, roles that are as intense as they are brief most of the time. Believe me when I tell you that seeing it on the screen is always a delight for the viewer and almost proof that the film in question deserves perhaps more attentive, tender and complacent eyes. Take the test.

Born in New Orleans (Lousiana), on December 29, 1959, Patricia Davies Clarkson is the youngest of five sisters, daughters of a local university employee and a New Orleans councilwoman. She studied public speaking for two years at the University of Louisiana and later went to New York to study Drama at Fordham University, where she graduated summa cum laude . As a climax to her academic training, she did a master’s degree in acting at the prestigious Yale University.

Patty began her professional career on the Broadway stage ( Maiden’s Prayer ) and in 1985 appeared in the television series Spenser: For Hire and  Equalizer . Her film debut came in 1987, in Brian de Palma ‘s acclaimed film The Untouchables of Eliot Ness , where she played the wife of lead actor Kevin Costner . Since then, Patricia, who is not married, seems to have turned her life into work: she has participated in more than forty film and television productions, almost always choosing secondary roles that have allowed her to tackle several projects during the same year. On television we saw her in several episodes of the successfulFrasier (1993). In 1990 Jon Amiel chose her for his romantic comedy Tune in Tomorrow …, where she shared the bill with Barbara Hershey , Keanu Reeves and Peter Falk , and in 1995 she stood out with the role of her in Steven Spielberg ‘s funny Jumanji . Her face began to be noticed from the melodramas High Art and the most successful Playing with my heart , both from 1998. The following year we saw her playing the sick wife of James Cromwell in The Green Mile , and in 2000 she became under the orders of Stanley Tucci inThe Secret of Joe Gould , based on the best seller by Joseph Mitchell.

His best roles began in the new millennium. Sean Penn directed her in The Oath in 2001. That year she also shot the acclaimed ensemble drama The Safety of Objects and she also appeared in several episodes of 20 Feet Under . She later teamed up with the petty crooks in the indie Welcome to Collinwood , she played long-suffering best friend Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven , and was featured prominently in The Baroness and the Pig . Then came the year of her explosion, with secondary roles of enormous strength: with Lars von Trier she put our hearts in a fist in Dogville, moved us with Olivia from The Station Agent and moved our hearts with Joy from Portrait of April . After her coronation at Sundance, Patricia was very happy, aware of her well-done work: “I have worked with such great independent directors… and now I have added four more to the list. I always wanted to work with great independent filmmakers. And here I am”. The actress has just premiered El milagro , along with Kurt Russell and among her upcoming projects is her leading role in Conqueror , along with Chris Cooper , William H. Macy and Meryl Streep .