Kelly McGillis
Kelly
McGillis Biography: Kelly
McGillis was born July 9, 1957 in Newport Beach, California. Her first
appearance was in Reuben, Reuben in 83' as Geneva Spofford, but her first
appearance in a major movie came in 86' as Charlotte Blackwood in Top Gun. Since
then she has appeared in The Babe in 92', and more recently At First Sight in
99'.
Wednesday, December 4, 1996
Kelly McGillis' picture perfect life
REGINA (CP) -- Kelly McGillis is living a dream.
She leads an idyllic existence with her husband and two young daughters in Key
West, Fla., she does Shakespeare on the stage in Washington, D.C., a couple of
times a year, and every so often a feature film project comes along that she
finds irresistible.
"It's perfect for me," McGillis says with a smile.
"It's incredibly challenging, it's incredibly fulfilling -- and it keeps me
from going incredibly nuts.
"I've been very lucky in my career. I get to do things I love to do, yet I
still have my anonymity. I value those things very much."
McGillis, whose motion picture credits include Top Gun, The Accused and Witness,
portrays one of the principal characters in Prairie Doves, which was filmed in
Regina.
Set in the West, during the boom years of the 1870s, Prairie Doves tells the
story of six women who turn to prostitution as a means of survival.
In addition to McGillis, the film features Anna Mottram, Lisa Jakub, Meret
Baker, Bronagh Gallagher and Academy Award winner Brenda Fricker.
"I can't speak for any of the others," McGillis says, "but, from
the perspective of my character, I feel the film is about choices and not having
many choices.
"It's also about dealing with the choices one has made. How do people live
with them? How do people cope with them? Some people confront them and some
people run away from them."
McGillis's character is Nettie "is a latecomer to prostitution.
"She is married and she has a child. Her husband has had an accident and,
basically, he can't work. Nettie is a no-nonsense, practical woman. She has a
sense of humor, but she shoots pretty straight -- she is without guile. Her
journey in the film is coming to terms and eventually accepting the choices she
has made in life and carrying on."
McGillis clearly enjoys the role.
"For me, it's a character part, not a sexy-young-leading-woman part. The
story itself I find fascinating because of the things that are addressed in the
film -- choices and options and, shall we say, struggling with our sanities.
"Sometimes you do things sheerly for the fun of it and sometimes you do
things that are topical and relevant and because there are things you want to
say to people."
Preparing for the role was half the fun. McGillis was in the library every day
for a month and a half studying the history of the American West, separating
fact from fiction, weeding out the cliches.
She did medical research as well, familiarizing herself with personal hygiene,
the various treatments for venereal desease, and abortion practices of the time.
"Then I had to learn about being a prostitute in the 1870s, which was more
difficult because, being the puritanical society we are, there was very little
talk about sex, much less about how we have sex," McGillis said.
And since the script calls for Nettie to play two pieces on piano, McGillis had
to learn that as well. So every day for two weeks, she took lessons for 90
minutes, then practised on her own for three or four hours, "until the kids
came home from school and started to drive everybody crazy."
