Q&A with Fav Actors Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland

Oct. 13, 2017

Today, I got to hear a Q&A with two of my favorite and most inspiring actors. This was after attending a screening of their latest movie Leisure Seeker at Harmony Gold Theater.

It's an extraordinary movie about an elderly couple taking a final vacation trip in their RV, the Leisure Seeker. A trip to their favorite spot of memories, because the husband has Alzheimer's. It's about that, but much more. And the ending is bittersweet, loving, and touching.

Having lived with a mother who suffered from Alzheimer's, this movie also got it right, unlike the movie Alice of a few years ago, in which Alzheimer's was unrecognizable and had me angry for the inaccurate portrayal. Of course, in the hands of these extraordinary actors, I'd expect nothing less.

I was first enchanted with Donald Sutherland when I saw him play Christ in Johnny Got His Gun. That image has held me spellbound to this day. And when I was young, started me on the path to attraction of the Jesus look -- namely, becoming a fan of Leon Russell. Sutherland's performance in Klute moved me so much that it is still one of my favorite movies.

And Helen Mirren. I was first inspired by her when I saw her British Prime Suspect. Pretty much an Anglophile back then with a PAL VCR and British friends that I worked out trade barters -- I'll tape American TV for you if you tape British TV for me. This was pre-Internet, when the only British TV was on PBS, and while I watched a lot of PBS, it just wasn't enough. Yes, Ms. Mirren pretty much blew me away in everything she did.

And what an awesome treat it was to listen to both of them.