‘Clipped’ Star Jacki Weaver on Donald Sterling’s Affairs, Finding Empathy for Shelly and Drinking Half-and-Half to Nail Her Voice
SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses the fourth episode of FX’s “Clipped,” “Winning Ugly,” now streaming on Hulu.
Jacki Weaver had always wanted to play Lady Macbeth. In an interview with The Guardian, the celebrated Australian actor shared her wishes to play the role, with the caveat that, being in her 70s, she may have aged out of the part. But now, with FX’s “Clipped,” Weaver gets an opportunity close to it: She plays Shelly Sterling, the wife of a modern-day Macbeth, in the power-obsessed, narcissistic land baron Donald Sterling (Ed O’Neill).
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Even so, the actor bristles at the comparison when it’s posed to her.
“I went into this thinking Shelly deserved everything she got — that she was just as bad as he was. … But she’s a bit of a victim in a way,” Weaver says in an interview. “Shelly really did love Donald somewhere deep down, and she put up with all this crap from him. I’d have killed him.”
This week’s episode of “Clipped” rewinds the timeline for several of its characters, examining their lives years before a viral TMZ tape revealed Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s racist beliefs to the world, and engulfed the NBA in scandal. As Shelly begins to distance herself from her husband in 2013, the series follows the Sterlings back to 2006 — a time when their marriage nearly collapsed.
The flashback begins as the two real estate moguls combat a housing discrimination lawsuit. That’s before Donald enters another legal dispute with a former mistress that closely resembles his later relationship with V. Stiviano (Cleopatra Coleman). Tensions between the Sterlings come to a head, and Shelly orders Donald to move out of their mansion.
“She was so embarrassed by that stage. And she wasn’t a person who was an extrovert that wanted to be the center of attention,” Weaver says. “She came from that generation where you were high school sweethearts and you stuck together no matter what. You can understand the humiliation. I would have died if it were me.”
The break-up comes at the behest of Shelly’s friend, Justine (Harriet Sansom Harris — “one of our best actresses,” per Weaver). Newly divorced herself, Justine appeals to Shelly’s conscience and offers an optimistic vision of a post-Donald life: “I ditched the bad guy, and I’m here to tell you, from the other side, life is much less stressful.”
“Justine was being a true friend getting her to leave,” Weaver says. Then she floats a more beguiling theory. “I think she had a bit of a crush on Shelly.”
Of course, Shelly did not end up going through with a divorce. “Clipped” finds her continuing to clean up after husband’s messes (with loyal Justine still by her side). Shelly’s become more shrewd about handling her husband’s infidelities, but her wealth and complacency can leave her blind to the gravity of some situations. After Donald emerges as a national villain in the media, Shelly eagerly attends a Clippers playoff game, where she is promptly recognized and booed out of the stands. After a blowout loss, the players are met with the unwelcome sight of the owner’s wife hitching a ride on the team bus, retreating from her husband. Shelly gives a clueless smile to each of the distraught athletes as they board.
“It was an entitled thing to do. But she was desperate,” Weaver says. “There’s something pathetic about it because her whole life is that team. … She’s genuinely shocked when someone yells that she’s racist. She’s genuinely hurt when none of the young men speak to her.”
Unlike her co-star Laurence Fishburne’s preparation to play Doc Rivers, Weaver didn’t meet with the person she’s playing ahead of filming “Clipped.” It’s understandable, considering the series’ often unflattering portrait of her. But Weaver still worked to nail her performance, listening and re-listening to tapes of the real Shelly.
“She saw herself as ladylike. She never swore — never did any swearing, unlike myself,” Weaver says. “And she had this slightly husky voice. My voice is usually very light. So I talked a bit more in my chest. Now and again, I’d drink some half-and-half to get the sound.”
“Clipped” has garnered some criticism for casting some roles, particularly basketball players, with actors who don’t bear enough of a resemblance to their real-life counterparts. In her own career, Weaver has learned that lesson about playing a figure that audiences may already be familiar with.
“I did play a real person once many, many years ago in Australia. She had been a friend, and she stopped speaking to me because she hated the way I played her,” Weaver says. “Her mother-in-law accosted me in the supermarket and said, ‘Why did you make her look so ugly?’ I didn’t think I did!”
A fellow Australian who Weaver does adore: her co-star, Cleopatra Coleman. Though their characters are at odds throughout “Clipped,” Weaver has nothing but praise for Coleman’s portrayal of V. Stiviano. It’s a performance that has stuck with her — and given her a new perspective on one of her neighbors.
“Cleo makes you feel empathy for her. That’s a credit to her reading of it. She knows she’s not all bad, either. She’s just this poor woman who’s come from nothing,” Weaver says. “I live in West Hollywood, and she still wanders around sometimes with her visor on. The real one, I mean. Not Cleo.”
The first four episodes of “Clipped” are now streaming on Hulu, with new episodes premiering each Tuesday.
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