IT's embarrassing enought to simply go through pubery, imagine having to do it on one of the most popular shows on TV.
That is itself could be the reason most child actors go felonious. Sara Gilbert, however, seems to have reached adulthood in a relatively normal fashion, even after nine seasons as Darlene Conner on "Roseanne"
Gilbert seems to have adriotly circumvented the child actors curse, and jumped to the big screen in several upcoming films:
The Big Tease, Hight Fidelity and a featured role in Light it Up. as a high school student caught up in a sudden outbreak of violence. She's also branched out behind the camera, directing Persona Non Grata, a short that screened at the Sundance File Festival.
SHOUT brutally interrogated Gilbert until she let out with the straight scoop. No more lies!
In Light it Up you play a student in an inner city school where a ciolent incident occurs. You didn't have a traditional high school background. What did you base your performance on?
I always feel like so much of my performances are informed by the writing and that you get such a sence of somebody just from the way that they talk. I also think some of the circumstances in the movie were so unusual that no matter what your background was it would've been a stretch to put yourself in that situation. And I did spend some time in high school, like a class a dat before work and when I was an hiatus I would go to school sometimes. I remember the feeling of being in high school and what that meant socially.
Not saying you're sheltered, but i can't imagine that experience was anything like the harsh inner city enviroment you're supposed to be experiencing in this film. Did filming Light It Up make you more aware of what it's like to be in that situation?
Yeah. We were actually working in an inner city school. I remember when we were gonna go there, it almost felt a little scary to me. I ghought, "God, I really am sheltered." How sad is it that we're scared to go to an inner city school? There's so much pubilicity about violence that we're now afraid to go to places that chould be shelters.
I realize Light It Up isn't about a couple of demented teens shooting up everbody, but were the producers afraid about the violence after the spare of school shootings?
There isn't a lot of violence or shooting. There are a couple of scenes where that happens, but the violence in the film makes sence, storywise. There's no real gratuitios violence. Thre's a lot of regret from the characters's point of view on the violence that does take place. It's not celebrated.
Light It Up has a pretty eclectic cast: you, Forest Whitaker, Usher and Judd Nelson, who's got to be weird because he carries all that 'brat pack' baggage with him everywhere.
Judd is so fun! He was awesome, funny and devilish. He's just this... troublemaker, but in a really great, sexy, fun cool way--he's just got that thing.
So, he's really just like his Breakfast Club character?
Yeah. but a little less acidic. And with Forest, I would just sit back and stare at him in scenes because he's so talented you can't take your eyes off him. You want to know what he's going to do next, what he's thinking between scenes. When you work with somebody who has that kind of experience-- I mean the buy never stops working-- there's something about that experience that just resonates when you watch an actor. He's also just fun an sweet and ready to hang out. He has more of a casual feeling than you would expect.
I understand you are doing more directing these days. Yous short film at the Sundance festival, Persona Non Grata was well received. Do you think you'll have a tougher time because some people remember you as Darlene from "Roseanne," instead of their grown up director?
No (laughs), I think I'm so assertive thay just know to listen. Seriously, when you know what you want and you have material that you connect to, I think that people want to help you achieve that. When you're excited by and idea or passionate about some kind of vision then it never really becomes about egos.
Conversely, do you think the fact that you were on TV helped you get dunded and have a shot at directing or do you think you did it by sheer force of will?
I think there's both. I decided to direct and I had the means to finance a short film, so that helped. Because of who I am, I got to have meetings I otherwise wouldn't have gotten, and I got actors I wouldn't have gotten. But, there are definitely other people who've become directors without having a TV Series.
Did you ever abuse your power when you were a kid? I imagine a 13 year old kid making a million dollars a year on a hit TV Show can sause some major havoc.
Me and Lecy (Goransen), who played my sister, were terrors on the lot, stealing golf carts, trying to stir things up a little bit. Everyone was so serious about working, but we thougth it should be a little more fun than that.
You and you sister Melissa Gilbert have both made the transistion from child to adult actor, so your family is two for two. Why do you think to many young actors have trouble making that leap?
I don't know, it's really hard for me to talk about other people's careers that way. I know I'm driven, and forunate enough to have a great support system. I can't imagine not acting or not directing and I think that for whatever reason, having that kind of resolve helped me to find a way to do it.
Do people in Hollywood think that all former child actors know how to do is act cute and precocious?
That kind of thinking is eroding. I think that's less the case now that it's ever been. The bar has been raised, too, in terms of talent of young actors. There is so much more product and so much more demand for quality product becasue it's more comptetitive now, er're really seeing some better actors who are younger and I think that will hepl the transition into adulthood. It's not just about looking cute or being sweet.
You're also featured in two other films?
I have a small part in The Big Tease, a movie about a hairstyling competition. I play this ditzy starstruck assistan. High Fidelity is with John Cusack and it's directed by Stephen Frears. It's from the book of the same name. Very interesting script...
Do you see yourself being more of an actor or more of a director for the foreseeable future?
I see myself being more of an actor because I haven't found the right project to direct. It's so much of a bigger commitment that I don't... I really just want to take my time. I feel as if I have a lot to say as a director, and it might take a couple of years. I don't want to be involved in anything I'm not 100 percent behind, whereas with acting, I'll compromise myself all over the place (laughing).
--- SHOUT Magazing : November 1999
--- Interview by : Dennis Brabham
--- Photograph by : Sye Williams
