Ann-Margret is reflecting on one of the most emotionally demanding performances of her career — and the lasting impact it had on her off-screen.
In a recent interview with Interview Magazine, the 84-year-old entertainer opened up about portraying Blanche DuBois in the 1984 TV adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ classic play “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Ann-Margret said the experience was difficult, describing the character as one she had to play with complete emotional honesty.
“Playing Blanche DuBois was a rough one,” she told the outlet. “I knew it had to be as honest as I could be, and that was it. I did the very best I could.”
Ann-Margret Says the Blanche DuBois Role Took an Emotional Toll
Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, first staged in 1947, remains one of the most celebrated works in American theater. Blanche, the tragic heroine at the center of the story, is frequently portrayed as a woman shaped by loss and trauma, gradually losing her grip on stability as her world closes in.
Ann-Margret said she was aware of the responsibility that came with taking on the part — and she also addressed long-standing reports that Williams had wanted her to play Blanche years before the TV film was ultimately produced.
Asked about rumors that the playwright pursued her for the role about a decade before the movie was made, Ann-Margret confirmed it meant a great deal to her.
“I was thrilled that he liked my work and he wanted me to do it,” she said. “I was thrilled! My goodness, Tennessee Williams. I admired him so much.”
Although Williams died in February 1983 — one year before the movie premiered — Ann-Margret said his interest in her work remained a meaningful part of the story behind her casting.
The Emmy Winner Says She Struggled to “Get Out” of Blanche’s Mindset
Ann-Margret also confirmed reports that she had trouble letting go of the role once filming wrapped. While discussing the emotional weight of the performance, she recalled the final day of filming, when director John Erman stepped in with a reminder she needed in the moment.
She said Erman told her it was “just a movie,” after people noticed she was crying when she was alone.
“Oh, yeah, because people saw me crying when I was all alone,” she told Interview Magazine. “And that’s when he came in and said that, because I had gotten to such a point that I was always sad, so that’s when he came in.”
She added that it took time to fully step away from the emotional mindset she carried while playing Blanche.
She confirmed it took her “a while” to “get out of that mindset as Blanche DuBois.”
Ann-Margret Says Bette Davis Looked Out for Her as a Young Actress
In the same Interview Magazine conversation, Ann-Margret also shared a memory from her early career involving late Hollywood legend Bette Davis.
Ann-Margret said her first film role left a lasting impression thanks to the two-time Oscar winner, who she worked with on the 1961 movie “Pocketful of Miracles.” Though Davis had a reputation for being tough,
Ann-Margret said she experienced a supportive side of the star on set.
“I played her daughter and I really felt like it,” Ann-Margret told the magazine.
She recalled one specific moment that stayed with her: Davis reportedly stopped production to ensure Ann-Margret looked her best before a close-up scene.
“I was about to have a close-up,” she said. “I didn’t know [about] close-shot, medium-shot, you know. She was there and she, at one point, stopped all the filming and said, ‘Ann-Margret, this is your close-up, I want you to look as good as you possibly can. Makeup! Hair!’”
After the crew touched her up, Ann-Margret said Davis gave the OK to continue.
“The makeup person and hair person came and when they finished she looked and said, ‘Okay, now we can go on,’” Ann-Margret continued. “Oh, she was lookin’ out for me.”
