Cynthia Nixon on Emily Dickinson's Sexuality & Her Own

Cynthia Nixon is superb as 19th Century poet Emily Dickinson in Terence Davies' new film, A Quiet Passion. That's no surprise to those who know her work--she radiated sophistication as lawyer Miranda in Sex and the City, from 1998 to 2004, as well as shining in Broadway plays, like Rabbit Hole and Wit. Cynthia has two children with her ex, Danny Mozes, and in 2012, she married education activist Christine Marinoni, whom she'd been dating for 8 years. And that's not the end of her connectivity. In 2013, Cynthia (with the help of performer Nora Burns) got me aboard the bandwagon to help elect Bill de Blasio as Mayor of New York, and she told me she and Christine think "he's doing an amazing job." So did she in this interview:

Hello, Cynthia and congrats on the great movie. I had no idea Emily Dickinson was so feisty. I pictured her as just a recluse.

That's one of the first things Terence Davies said: "This is not going to be an austere, solemn Masterpiece Theatre. I want her to be fierce and ferocious."

She also comes off very witty--not just in her work, but in person.

I think so. You get a little sense of this at the beginning, and I think she's sort of a social butterfly in her earlier parts. [Later on], she's still a social butterfly, but written down, not in person.

Would she feel more connected today, in the world of social networks?

This is a really weird thing to say and maybe a little sacrilegious, but I actually think Emily Dickinson would have done very well in the world of Twitter and email and all of that stuff because I feel like she was so eager to connect but didn't want to be out in the world all the time. I think she would have still needed her alone time and lots of it, but I do think she would fare well in this world today.

When you got into the period costumes and decor, did that help you immerse yourself into her world?

Yes, and of course having her poems around and all of us reading them and sharing them and reading different biographies. And the recreation of the house--they did such a beautiful job replicating all that.

I always thought Emily must have been a lesbian.

I think she was kind of equal opportunity. I really do. I think she had these very passionate attachments to men and to women, and with her sister-in-law Susan, it seems very much like a love story, whether it had a physical component or not, if you read the letters. It's hard to go back 110 years and get the tone of what people were thinking. But before Susan even met Emily's brother, she and Emily wrote romantic letters, with lots of fighting and breaking up. And Emily had a desire to spend her life with Susan.

But that's not so much in the movie.

No.

We need a sequel--Emily 2! Do you personally get discriminated against for being bisexual?

I think it's more that people don't really get bisexuality. And they also don't really believe in it.

Is that frustrating?

Yeah, whatever. There are worse problems out there in the world than whether people get the exact shade of my sexuality. [We laugh]

Speaking of the best of both worlds: On Broadway, you and Laura Linney are alternating the roles of Regina and Birdie in the revival of Lillian Hellman's familial drama The Little Foxes. How is that working out?

I think it's pretty great. In order to get us up and launched, we did a number of shows in a row playing one character. That's a long time to be away from the character you're not doing. We're now at the point where we're starting to alternate. It's a very exciting thing and I think Laura Linney is a genius to have thought of it. It was completely her idea, and she wanted a partner in crime. It's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me in my career.

Maybe you should both stand there and recite both parts at the same time.

When my oldest kid was little, they had something like the 500th performance of Beauty and the Beast, and I took Sam. They had five different Belles. One from Spain, one from Italy... It was like the Axis Power Belles doing them simultaneously. It was pretty trippy, but great.

Will you be eligible for both Best Actress and Best Featured Actress at the Tonys, or will they just go with the opening night credits and you'll just be up for Featured?

I don't honestly know. I'm sure they know, but luckily it's not my thing to try and figure that out.

You've won a Tony, Grammy, and two Emmys. All you need is an Oscar to be an EGOT.

Just one tiny, little easy-to-get Oscar. [laughs]

We have to work on that.

HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS

Which brings me to my review of A Quiet Passion.In the beautifully appointed film, Dickinson is a self-admitted plain Jane who feels unloved, especially when she obsesses on a man who happens to be married. But she has a burning sense of righteousness, as she refuses to filter her inner rebel to create the placid exterior society expects. She's open about her contempt for stupidity and hypocrisy, and adamantly won't tailor her psyche to fit the norm. Alas, this evolves into an ungodly rage that sometimes seems misguided, and even Dickinson catches herself being horrible and disruptive. Through it all, Dickinson's wry and knowing poetry--which was unrecognized until after her death--is a catharsis for her, an expression of truth that helps her cope with bouts of loneliness and lovelessness.

DOORWAY TO NORWAY

The uptown hit of the year is the Broadway transfer of Oslo, J.T. Rogers' play about the little known story of a Norwegian couple--a diplomat and a social scientist--who were key figures behind the 1993 Oslo accords, having organized hush-hush meetings between the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. A sprawling 3 hours, the play is talky but full of history, observation, and entertainment, as heated arguments are peppered with occasional jokes and wisecracks, all on the road to a historic handshake (one whose value is still debated). Tony winners Jennifer Ehle and Jefferson Mays are terrific as the Norwegian couple, and in the showiest role--Israeli diplomat Uri Savir--Michael Aronov is sexy, angry and full of sass. Bartlett Sher's direction is lively, and Michael Yeargan's set has spare furniture at the center of an expanse, to make things intimate yet make it clear that these discussions were affecting a large sphere around them. An imposing door looms symbolically, and projections and films are flashed onto the wall, but for once, this sort of thing seems inventive and apt, not purposely scaled down. And having gone all the way from Finland to Norway, let me now quit and go back to Chelsea.