Continuing to 'sparkle'

In an image-conscious industry, two actresses shine again

By ABBI TOUSHIN
Staff Writer

Ithe nitty-gritty world of Hollywood, today's silver screen belongs to the likes of Jennifer Love Hewitt, Anne Heche and Julia Roberts.
This month, however, director Darren Stein has given two polished actresses the chance to shine in the newly released independent comedy "Sparkler."
Starring Park Overall and Veronica Cartwright, "Sparkler" has given these two experienced women the chance to lend their unique comedic influences in two leading roles, the types that are seldom offered to unknown actresses in their age group.
"I really feel lucky to have a movie with two roles for two old ladies," joked Overall over a cup of coffee at an intimate interview in Los Angeles.
Overall is perhaps best known for her role as Laverne, the outspoken nurse who played opposite Richard Mulligan on the popular long-running television series Empty Nest. Now 42, she contests that it is very difficult to get a role in this industry if you are a middle-aged woman.
"It's getting harder and harder for any woman in Hollywood to get a job," Overall said. "What's worrying me about Hollywood right now is the coupling of 20-year-old girls with 50-year-old men, and it's even started to be 20/70. I don't know why this is happening, but perhaps it has something to do with the trophy wife syndrome.
"Anyhow, something's wrong and it's hard on girls my age," Overall said. "That's why Veronica and I are so lucky to have these parts, to even have a movie with these parts available, let alone get them."
Cartwright, who has been a part of both the old and new Hollywood studio systems, agrees with Overall.
"If you're not the Meryl Streep and you're not the Susan Sarandon, the parts don't get offered to you as often because, if they're big budget movies, they're going to go with people that have a big box-office draw in order to assure themselves that they will get their money back," Cartwright said.
Cartwright, who was the focus of McDonald's first breakfast commercial when she was just a teenager, starred in such films as "The Witches of Eastwick" and Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1963 thriller "The Birds."
"When a really nice independent film such as ŒSparkler' comes along, I believe that they can make more interesting characters because they don't have all the studio pressures of big budget films," Cartwright said.
"Sparkler" is a gem, the two women say, and they feel fortunate they were considered for lead roles in Stein's eclectic new comedy.
Stein, who recently directed the eerie teen drama "Jawbreaker," starring Rebecca Gayheart and Rose McGowan, is particularly fond of "Sparkler" because he feels that it explores many important issues through the creation of some vibrant and exciting characters - the kind Cartwright feels can only be born in an independent film.
One of the most unusual characters in the film is Dottie Delgato, the washed up stripper-turned-lesbian played by Cartwright. The actress feels that her character is important because it graciously explores the issue of lesbianism as faced by middle-aged women.
Many middle-aged women turn to lesbianism in response to either a failed marriage or many years of torment and misunderstandings, Cartwright and Overall said. Just like Dottie, many women make the change in the latter part of their lives because they feel that, unlike men, women are more understanding and can clearly relate to what they have been through themselves.
"My character isn't directly based on anybody, but I did talk to Sandy Martin, who plays Ed, my better half in the film, because I didn't want that to come off as being fake," Cartwright said. "I'm not gay, but Sandy has put it in perspective for me that a lot of times when women get older they will pick up another woman because they are tired of being trodden on all of their life and they feel that other women are more understanding.
"By the end of the movie, the characters accept each other, partly because the relationship seems to be very real. I know a couple of women who have kids, who weren't always gay, (who) turn to lesbianism because they want to feel good. They form wonderful relationships where they really care for each other, and it's just two human beings that get together and understand each other. Sandy is gay, and for her to be able to explain that to me, it just really put things in perspective, and it made it a working, viable relationship."
Even though it does contain the talents of some of Hollywood's most popular young stars, including Freddie Prinze Jr., Jamie Kennedy and Steve Petrarca, "Sparkler" is clearly a film that has enabled the hilarious and complex personas of both Overall and Cartwright to once again shine.
Despite the fact that it is very difficult for middle-aged women to land roles in an industry that is consumed by hot young stars, this does not change the fact that Cartwright and Overall are sparkling actresses who are delightful to watch, and are helping to truly set the standard for many women just like them.
"My demographic is probably for 40 years old and up," Overall said, "and I think that because of films like ŒSparkler,' women will be able to live vicariously through these films without being insulted."

Copyright 1999 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 136, No. 53 (Tuesday, April 13, 1999), beginning on page 7 and ending on page 9.