Christine Baranski

And I'll never forget when I arrived home at the airport, I called my mother and she said, I'm so proud of you.

Yes.

It was in that it was a solid gold hit.

By that time, when I left Juilliard, as I said, I did Stratford and then I...

did quite a few years, like English actors do, of going to regional theaters and playing wonderful roles for four weeks rehearsal, four weeks of playing, stay in inexpensive accommodations, but I did Moliere, I did Shaw, I did Shakespeare, I did Tom Stoppard, I did Billy Dawn in Born Yesterday, I did...

Cherry Orchard.

I loved, I got to utilize my Juilliard training, and it was wonderful.

I had no great desire to commodify my youth and like, oh, I have to get on a television show, or I want to be a movie star.

I didn't think those thoughts at all.

In fact, I didn't really want a television career, and I didn't think a movie career was available to me.

I didn't think I was that kind of person.

had those looks to be a movie star.

But I spent years doing the regional theater and then made my way by my late 20s to New York, did some off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway.

And then Mike Nichols saw me.

I did a production of Midsummer Night's Dream in the park, and it was quite successful for me.

I played Helena.

It remains probably my favorite stage performance ever.

It was directed by James Lapine, who was about to do a workshop of Sunday in the Park with George.

Nobody knew anything about Sunday in the Park with George.

Sondheim only had one act written.