NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs鈥 new drama, in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night鈥檚 choice: with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in 鈥淲ho鈥檚 Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at Steppenwolf in 2010. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
鈥淚t sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the 鈥50s,鈥 Coon says. 鈥淚 just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did that all day. I thought how crazy you must go when you鈥檙e alone like that, when your sole purpose is to have a baby.鈥
Coon grew up outside working-class Akron, Ohio, and Honey reminded her of some of her relatives 鈥 women either trapped in gender roles like Honey or strong-willed exceptions who defied them. Ever since, Coon has brought to life a wide array of women on screen with acute perceptiveness and fierce intelligence. She may be a character-actor chameleon resistant to movie stardom, but she doesn鈥檛 blend in. A movie tends to stand up on its feet when Coon is on screen.
鈥淐elebrities are encouraged to be the star of the show, because that鈥檚 what they do. And I鈥檓 an actor. I鈥檓 not a celebrity,鈥 says Coon. 鈥淚鈥檓 always going to be part of the ensemble. The storytelling should happen between people. I don鈥檛 like the other thing. I鈥檓 not interested in selfishness. It鈥檚 not fun.鈥
A conversation with Coon, however, is. She skips easily between self-deprecation and sincere reflection, existential doom and creative belief, book recommendations and parenting laments. As much as she鈥檚 an actor head to toe, Coon didn鈥檛 do it until her senior year of high school. In between trying half a dozen majors, she performed in plays in college and was coaxed into applying to graduate programs for acting by a professor.
鈥淚t felt like a lark. It felt like: What a great way to spend your 20s,鈥 Coon says, smiling. 鈥淚 thought: If it doesn鈥檛 work out, the world is big and interesting and I鈥檒l just do something else. And it just kept working out. And it鈥檚 been really steady and slow and workmanlike.鈥
Like her character in 鈥淗is Three Daughters,鈥 Coon grew up with siblings. Her father ran the family auto parts store, and her mother was a nurse who often worked nights. Coon, the middle child of five, often with her older sister babysat the young boys. 鈥淭here was a lot of responsibility,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t was character building. It鈥檚 good to do laundry when you鈥檙e 8.鈥
In 鈥淗is Three Daughters,鈥 which begins streaming Friday on Netflix, three very different sisters are brought together in a small New York apartment and, with their ailing father in the next room, argue through some of their old divisions while wrestling with their developing grief. They start out a little like stereotypes 鈥 Lyonne is the stoner, Olsen the sweetly naive one and Coon the pushy, presumptuous older sister 鈥 but each character grows more nuanced. Coon is eager to praise Lyonne (鈥淎t the height of her powers鈥) and Olsen (鈥淓verything she does is luminous鈥), and together they form an indelible trio in one of the year鈥檚 most lived-in dramas.
Asked if Coon was thinking about her own family in filming 鈥淗is Three Daughters,鈥 she lets out a laugh. 鈥淚 mean, I was thinking of me!鈥 she says. Coon adds that, unlike her character Katie, she鈥檚 sensitive and communicative.
鈥淏ut I also act like an older sibling," she says. "I鈥檝e worked very hard in my life at things that have been challenging for me. I鈥檝e chosen to go to therapy. I鈥檝e chosen to work on myself. And I鈥檓 very successful. So I feel greatly entitled to give my siblings lots of advice whether they want it or not. (Laughs) And I have to say, my husband is so good at not giving unsolicited advice. He gives great advice, but you have to ask. And I find that shocking!鈥
Jacobs, the veteran indie filmmaker, delivered scripts for 鈥淗is Three Daughters鈥 simultaneously to his three stars. Actors are often valued by their box-office appeal, Jacobs notes, but Coon鈥檚 worth is harder to define.
鈥淢e telling Natasha and Lizzie that I鈥檓 also sending the script to Carrie was a huge, huge factor for them,鈥 Jacobs said. When shooting on 鈥淭he Gilded Age鈥 delayed Coon鈥檚 availability, Jacobs and the co-stars agreed they should all wait for her. Coon, whose films include and the recent 鈥淕hostbusters鈥 movies, is more accustomed to going after what she wants.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy to fight. I鈥檓 very scrappy. I鈥檓 an athlete. Bring it on!鈥 Coon, a former soccer player, says. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 nice to say: We both want this.鈥
鈥淚 always say: If I鈥檓 seeking something, I haven鈥檛 read it yet,鈥 Coon says. 鈥淏ecause of where I am in the Hollywood hierarchy, the 10 movies that get made for women don鈥檛 include me. I have to fight for that stuff still. So, if I have ambition, it鈥檚 in fighting for the things that are good and the filmmakers who are challenging.鈥
In Coon鈥檚 performance, Jacobs sees her subtly playing qualities in Katie that don鈥檛 explicitly manifest into well into the film, as her character鈥檚 fears and vulnerabilities grow more evident. 鈥淵ou realize there鈥檚 been a step into something else, something magical, something that is the soul that I believe Carrie Coon brought to this character,鈥 says Jacobs.
Death hovers over 鈥淗is Three Daughters,鈥 a subject that inevitably brings Coon to climate change. She worries deeply about its exponentially expanding impact and what it might mean for her children鈥檚 lives. Coon starts tearing up while she wonders: 鈥淪ome of the decisions like, 鈥榳here to go to college鈥 maybe don鈥檛 matter to them. Perhaps what we need to do is maximize our time together.鈥
Coon just spent six months in Thailand shooting the third season of 鈥淭he White Lotus鈥 where, she says, 鈥渢he ocean was a hot bath, with plastic from last summer washing up on the shore.鈥
For her, it casts a different light on her work.
鈥淥n one hand, I鈥檓 grateful that I get to provide some joy in the form of 鈥楾he Gilded Age鈥 for example. But I鈥檓 also complicit in the pacification machine that鈥檚 keeping people鈥檚 heads down. So I鈥檓 conflicted about that,鈥 Coon says. 鈥淩evolution is what鈥檚 called for. But I don鈥檛 think the human race is up for it. So I really wrestle with my own inaction in the face of that helplessness.鈥
Coon can鈥檛 stop from laughing at herself. 鈥淚鈥檓 basically a doomsday prepper without an insulated basement for my supplies or an AR-15 to protect them," she says.
Another way to look at Coon鈥檚 concern is as an extension of her interest, as an actor, in the human condition. The global community is maybe another ensemble that Coon would like to play a role in, and see through to the next act.
鈥淎s an artist, I don鈥檛 know how you can be ignorant about it," says Coon. "You have to engage with those questions. It鈥檚 life and death. It鈥檚 the full scope of human existence.鈥
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This story has been updated to correct that Coon is the middle child of five.
