Life’s Work: An Interview with Robin Wright

A dancer at 10, a model at 14, and a soap opera actor at 18, Wright catapulted to stardom in the film The Princess Bride at age 21. Marriage and children followed, and although she prioritized family over films for many years, she still squeezed in several acclaimed performances. In 2013, she signed on to play Claire Underwood in Netflix’s show House of Cards, helping to launch the streaming TV era. Now she directs and acts and is a cofounder of Pour Les Femmes, a social enterprise that supports women in conflict zones around the world. HBR: What was it like to start your career at such a young age? Wright: I was a dancer first. I really believed that I was going to go be in the chorus line on Broadway. But I also couldn’t wait to get out of America and explore the world. I did some traveling, and when I got to Paris I thought, “I don’t want to leave,” so I did that modeling thing. It was the only way to pay rent. I got signed by a modeling agency, and I ended up staying nearly a year. I didn’t go to college. I grew up with beautiful strangers. Is there anything you wish you could tell your younger self? I wish everyone could have the confidence at that age to build a boundary bubble. You’ll inevitably get scars from other people—because you’re young, naive, vulnerable. So you really have to know: What is your direction? What is your purpose? What do you want to do? What did you learn early on that still serves you today? On Santa Barbara, we were sometimes doing 18-hour days, and it was an hour-plus drive home, so I often just slept in my dressing room at NBC Studios. You had to manage your time, your sanity, and your immune system. But what I really learned was the technical side of performing. We worked with three cameras at all times. How do you not only remember your lines but also when you need to turn a bit to the left to favor camera one or at which line you need to face camera three. At that age, I was also working with older, experienced actors and watching and learning from them. When you got your big break with The Princess Bride, some of your costars were legends of the stage and screen. Did that make you nervous? How did you prepare? I was very nervous. Thankfully I grew up with a British stepfather, so I could master the accent, otherwise it would have been really daunting. But I remember feeling the need to prepare for every scene—go into my quiet space, play music, get ready. You’re so worried about not achieving perfection. When you’ve done it for 30 years, you grow up and beyond that. It’s almost like you can flip a switch. The greatest gift is failing—failing in a scene, in front of the camera, and then tightening up your bootlaces, putting your head up, and going in and trying again. It was on that shoot that I got the bug. I loved doing film. It was so collaborative at the time. And working with these icons—legendary directors, producers, actors—I just kept taking it in like a sponge. What are the interpersonal dynamics on a film set like? How do you build trust and creative chemistry with cast and crew members whom you haven’t necessarily worked with before? I think it’s respectful to just sit back, observe, listen, and allow yourself to be accepted. When you’re entering a set where people have worked together in the past, you’re walking into a family unit. And when it’s a new group, it also takes some work. You need to have patience and humility. Hollywood’s not an industry known for patience and humility. How do you navigate that? The most important thing when you’re directing is to show kindness. It creates an energy on the set, where anyone can say, “I don’t know the answer to that question. Let’s have a discussion. Let’s collaborate. You bring your ideas to the table. I’ll bring mine. And let’s decide what’s best for the project.” Can an actor create that environment too? You can certainly try. I love working with people in that way because they show you things that you might never see. We’re all architects of the building. It’s curious to me that they say, “directed by.” A film or show isn’t directed by one person. It’s directed by everybody. After big hits like The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump, how did you think about next steps? There was some pressure: Stay in the game, or you will be forgotten. But I chose not to adhere to that, because I had a long-term vision. I knew I wanted to act until I couldn’t anymore, so I needed to be selective. Where are you in your life, spiritually and mentally, when projects come your way? Do you connect with material? I would see what resonated. Acting is such an emotional job. It’s almost like going to therapy every day, because you’re dissecting and embodying a character and getting to the depths of who that person is. There were some roles that I didn’t feel I was ready to take on. I knew somebody else would be so much better. But shouldn’t you challenge yourself sometimes? Say “I’m not ready, but I’ll try anyway”? That came very late, well into my 40s. You know, you’re typecast a lot in this industry, and for so many years, while I was raising my kids and choosing to do one project a year at most, I was always cast as the pained, soulful woman. But I did want to break out of that box, and House of Cards was the catalyst. Claire Underwood was the most venal character. She couldn’t have been more of a departure for me. Ages 20 to 40 are prime time for female actors. Why did you decide to prioritize family over work during that period? That was a no-brainer. I always wanted to be a mom, and my kids came first. Of course, I often got the message that I should do more. But I think it’s nice to keep people wanting. And then, when your children were grown, came House of Cards. David Fincher has said he had to beg you to take the role of Claire. Why was it a hard sell? And what finally convinced you? I didn’t want to do television. I’d been stuck on Santa Barbara for years and remembered how hard it was to do those long hours and memorize 10 to 15 pages of dialogue a day. I loved film. I loved that you got to travel and experience other cultures and play different characters instead of being stuck with one. But David said, “Trust me. This is going to be revolutionary. You will have 13 hours to tell your story, and people will have the choice to watch it whenever they choose.” I said, “But what about the part? She’s basically the governor’s arm candy, and it doesn’t really interest me to just be a politician’s wife.” And he said, “No. We’re going to build this character together. She’ll ultimately become Lady Macbeth to his Richard III.” I trust him so much. I love his taste, his movies, his mind. So I said, “OK, let’s go.” How did you start directing episodes? The producers and the showrunners asked me: “Would you like to do it?” I was scared out of my wits, of course, but I had an incredible crew. Our camera operator had been shooting movies for more than 37 years, and he was like, “I’ve got your back. You’re going to learn as you do it.” It was such a gift that I started directing on that show. I felt really safe. After the abuse allegations against Kevin Spacey and his departure, how did you and the rest of the team figure out your path forward? Because the climate was so hot at that time, we shut down. We took off almost two months and deliberated: “Should we resume or shut down permanently?” We decided that we wanted to give the fans a close to the show and, equally important, keep our crew and actors employed. We couldn’t just pull the rug out and say, “I know you were paying for your kid’s college tuition, but sorry.” To finish was the right thing to do. As you stepped in the lead role, what kind of pressure did you feel personally? It wasn’t really pressure. It was just more work. It flowed. It was like, “OK. Keep your strength, because you’re going to finish this puppy off.” And ironically, the storyline didn’t shift that much, because we were always going to be separate in that last season. She was going to go be president, and he was going to join the private sector. How did you decide what to do next? By the end I just loved directing, especially seeing actors evolve. You give them a note, and they just transform right in front of you. It’s so invigorating. And I really wanted to do more of that. You recently directed and acted in a feature film, Land. Did that larger-scale project feel scarier? Not really. I had such an incredible team of producers, who, again, have been in the business for 20 or 30 years. And when everybody knows their job so well, you’ve got them as a backbone. Especially when you’re directing yourself and can’t always be just behind the camera, you have to trust in those people around you and know that they have the same vision as you do for the project. There’s a big push for more diversity in Hollywood—not just in casting but also in assembling crews. The #MeToo movement has also made waves throughout the industry. As a female director, do you feel like the power dynamics are changing? I do. Is it because the industry was pressured to change? Of course. But the crack is in the ceiling, and we just have to keep pushing, amplifying our voices, staying in the game. Your other passion project is supporting women in the Congo and other conflict zones through your foundation and loungewear business, Pour Les Femmes. Why start a social enterprise? Over 10 years ago, I was informed about the crisis in the Congo and the fact that it’s connected to the minerals used in our technological devices. I was flabbergasted. In and around these mines, the militias take over. They recruit the men. They rape the women. They leave them for dead. I felt a civic responsibility. I’m on the cell phone all day, and it’s carrying coltan, which is what the militias are after. I finally went to visit some of these women who had been rescued to hear their stories and ask them what they needed. And they said, “We need a voice because no one hears us. Nobody knows what’s going on. Companies are buying these minerals, and it’s perpetuating this problem.” I was working on House of Cards at the time, very close to Washington, DC, so I would take the train up and try to get in to see Hillary Clinton, who was then Secretary of State. I wanted her to get protection on the ground for these women, enforce transparent sourcing for every electronics company, clean up other dirty trade, like blood diamonds, but I just wasn’t getting anywhere. So one of my oldest friends, Karen Fowler, who is a designer and has a clothing line, said, “Why don’t we do a sleepwear line”—because we love pajamas and couldn’t find our perfect ones on the market—“and make it a give-back company, where part of the proceeds go to these civil society groups that bring women in and give them vocational skill training and psychological help?” That’s how it began—as a way to amplify the voices of the Congolese women and give them work. We wanted every person who purchased our sleepwear to know that they were helping a woman in need. We also focused on being sustainable because fashion is one of the most wasteful industries. We’re doing biodegradable plastic garment bags and recyclable shipping packages. We practice fair trade. We have workshops, not huge factories, and we have quality control people on the ground making sure that there’s no corruption, no child labor, everything is clean. How involved do you get in the business? I design with Karen, every season. And then she’s on the workshop floor, and I’m out talking about it. How do you measure success? I think it’s always been to not buy into what society tells you—like “If you leave and don’t do a movie a year, you’re done.” Just no. If you have belief in yourself, that energy, you do it your way. And I just always felt that in my bones. Maybe having children at such a young age helped. I knew they were the priority, so everything else followed from there.

Life’s Work: An Interview with Robin Wright

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