So, they knew what a great environment they were in, and they were just as excited about the movie as Clint was. These are men who know what they're doing. These are not adolescent boys who don't do their work. These are all men who know what they're doing. That said, she was happy to be a part of the male-dominated film. If you want to talk archetypally or anything, I can't." I think it's more, not just being women, but I think that when there's a tragic event, I think the repercussions of how it moves through an entire family is really what it's about. "Questions like that are so hard for me, the importance of women. And also, I think that she's, in that final scene, a true avenue of some of the pathos of loss." So she's a catalyst for a lot of the action and a lot of the drama and a lot of mistakes. But my character, Celeste, holds the secret and it's torture to hold that secret. A film without women isn't real and in this particular film, Laura's character plays such a very different role than my character does. Harden, who plays the wife of molestation victim Dave (Tim Robbins), said it was the same as "the importance of women in life. So, where is there room for women in this story? Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden had the task of finding that. One guy was molested as a child, one guy lost his daughter, one guy has a marriage in shambles as he's investigating the murder of his friend's daughter with his other friend as the lead suspect. Mystic River is a story about men and their psychological problems. The actresses discuss working with Clint Eastwood and their fellow cast members. Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden Talk 'Mystic River' - IGN By Fred Topel I think it’s one of the most beautiful films he’s made, from the color palette to… Well, I just think it’s beautiful: the direction, the performances by Sean and Tim, just beautiful. And I love that about Clint’s filmmaking. And in each case, the moral action came back to sting us. And in this case, Celeste didn’t believe the authority was the police, because she’d grown up always thinking that the police were the bad guys. If you think someone committed a crime, you should turn them in to whomever you perceive authority to be. If you hit somebody and you go on, that’s called a hit-and-run! It’s illegal! But she thinks she hit somebody, so she gets out. The second one is the girl who stops for the person she thinks she hit. So they’re doing what they think they should be doing, and they get hurt. They’d be like, "I don’t have to, read me my rights, I have a phone call to make first," whatever. In my day, if a car pulled up that looked like a police car and they said, "Get in," you got in.
And in that movie, all the people who make the moral choice to do "the right thing," they all get screwed. We were really lucky, because we had the script, but we also had the book to base deeper aspects of character on, and I just felt like there was a real fragility to her, that she was very, very moral. So I brought up my hair, the voice, the whole idea of her as fragile as she was. So I just wanted you to keep me in mind if you think I’m right for it when you do it." A couple of weeks later, I got the offer. Is Marcia there?" "Hold on! Can I say who’s calling?" "This is Clint Eastwood." "No, it’s not!" "Yes, it is." "No, it’s not!" "Yes, it is!" "It is?" "Oh, my GODDDD! Marcia! Clint Eastwood is calling the house!" So I get on the phone, trying to act all cool myself, "Oh, hi, Clint! Look, um, I know you’re casting that movie, and I really think there’s something I can do with the role. MGH: For Mystic River, Clint called my upstate home, and my niece from Texas answered the phone. Marcia Gay Harden talks her 'Mystic River' character 'Celeste Boyle' - AV Club Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated - Actor - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role - Sean Penn Nominated - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Tim Robbins Nominated - Best Screenplay - Motion Picture - Brian Helgeland Nominated - Best Director - Motion Picture - Clint Eastwood Nominated - Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay - Brian Helgelandīest Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - Sean Pennīest Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Tim Robbins Nominated - Best Director - Clint Eastwood Nominated - Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Marcia Gay Harden Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Tim Robbins