Maria Dizzia
Q & A with Maria Dizzia, who starred in Manhattan Theatre Club's production of Daniel Goldfarb's Cradle and All, which played at NY City Center Stage I from 10 May - 19 Jun 2011.
Birthday?
December 29, 1974.
Place of birth?
Belleville, NJ.
You now live in?
Brooklyn, NY.
Did you go to training school, if so which one?
UCSD.
As an actor, do you have a preference for stage, tv or film?
Stage.
Your first stage performance was?
Fairgoer #2 in Charlotte's Web at the Westfield Summer Arts Workshop: "Is this the Zuckerman Pig?" "So do I."
What roles would you most like to play?
Winnie in Happy Days. I always wanted to play Laura in The Glass Menagerie.
What's the best advice you have ever received?
"You don't have to go when they say action"--I think it's a good metaphor for all acting.
What has been your most embarrassing moment on stage?
Entering half-clothed and late in Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Briefly tell us how you become involved with Cradle and All?
I participated in readings of the play for Daniel Goldfarb and MTC.
Briefly tell us about the characters you play in Cradle and All?
I play Claire and Annie. Claire is an actress in a stalled relationship who longs to be a mother. Annie is a recruiter on extended maternity leave, trying to sleep-train her 11-month-old daughter with her husband.
If you had not become a performer, what might you have done instead?
I always liked biology and I recently emailed one of those amateur labs in Brooklyn to find out about joining. I'm always talking about how I want to keep bees.
Who are your favorite actors/actresses?
Eileen Atkins, Sissy Spacek, Kate Valk, Lois Smith, Elaine Stritch. Alan Bates made a huge impression on me. Donna Reed in From Here to Eternity.
Favorite after-show haunts?
Benoit and the 24-hour diner on my street.
What was the last Broadway show you saw?
Born Yesterday--it is amazing!
What was the last book you read, and name some of your favorite authors?
And Furthermore by Judi Dench, Bossypants by Tina Fey; George Eliot, Joseph O'Neill.
What was the last film you saw, and name some of your favorite movies?
Bridesmaids; Network, A Room with a View, Je Tu Il Elle, Rear Window, Storytelling.
Do you have any hobbies?
Collaging, decoupage.
Do you have any superstitions?
I'm into horoscopes 110 percent. I tuck things into my costumes for luck.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you take with you?
Rubber cement, the Bible because I've never read it and a sulfur drug (I'm allergic to penicillin).
Questions by Alan Bird
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