‘Wonder Woman’ Actress Connie Nielsen Plays Matriarch Of Another Powerful Clan In ‘Inheritance’

Danish actress Connie Nielsen recalls nodding in agreement with Tom Hanks as he collected his Cecil B. DeMille honorary prize at the Golden Globes earlier this year and spoke about learning an invaluable lesson early in his career about an actor’s obligation to his work.

 “First of all, the head full of ideas—bring anything, try anything,” Hanks said of the lesson he learned in his first professional acting gig at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival. “They might not use it. If it stinks, they won’t use it.”

Nielsen, who has graced the big and small screen for three decades, agreed with the sentiment as she watched, aware that she too has chimed in with her two cents to directors and producers over the years. In an interview earlier this month with Variety, she spoke about offering script ideas about her role to none other than Gladiator director Ridley Scott when she starred in that Oscar winning film two decades ago.

“I pointed out there were some serious inaccuracies in the structure,” she told the entertainment news outlet. “I had a line where it just said ‘the police state’ and it’s like, ‘Um, police state? Do you want me to actually use that phrase?’ or the phrase ‘put it in a museum?’

She successfully argued that the terms were anachronistic, and they were subsequently deleted from the script.

Nielsen, a divorced mother of two, isn’t afraid to speak up and finds that some of the finest filmmakers she’s worked with are the ones who are the most collaborative. She reprises her role as Hyppolita, queen of the Amazons, in Wonder Woman 1984, due out Aug. 14, under the direction of acclaimed filmmaker Patty Jenkins. Audiences can see Nielsen now in the action adventure Sea Fever, available On Demand and Digital.

She also stars in the Vertical Entertainment thriller Inheritance, in which she plays the matriarch of a factional New York family, trying to keep them together. The reading of her late husband’s will exposes some dark secrets that have been buried for years. Lily Collins (Rules Don’t Apply) and Chace Crawford (CW’s Gossip Girl) play her successful adult children and Simon Pegg (the Star Trek movies), in a rare, dark turn, plays a mysterious individual that has a surprising and disturbing connection with the recently deceased head of the family. The film is directed by Vaughn Stein (2018’s Terminal) from a screenplay by Matthew Kennedy. Inheritance can be viewed on DirecTV and will be available Friday May 22 on Digital and On Demand

Speaking from her home where she has been meticulously cleaning and hanging out with her children, Nielsen cheerfully spoke about her newest projects and how she’s honed some invaluable skills while being temporarily sidelined from her acting career.

Angela Dawson: In Inheritance, you play the matriarch of a very wealthy and powerful family. What attracted you to the part?

Connie Nielsen: I wanted to work with Lily Collins. She’s so driven and hard-working. And I also liked the idea of exploring behind this perfect façade is this secret. How do we deal with these secrets as a family? It reminded me of those thrillers from the 1980s and 1990s that look into the dark side of wealth. It had that kind of vibe to me. The fact is that some people get this idea about themselves and they’re willing to do a lot to maintain those ideas that protect the image of themselves.

Dawson: I’m not going to reveal too much about your scene with Simon Pegg, but it’s pretty intense and physical. Did you relish having that interaction with him?

Nielsen: It was kind of my idea to really go with the physical aspect of that scene. I wanted to be realistic about what would have happened to my character as a consequence of what she goes through. I wanted to have a physical way of expressing the trauma that she was reliving. I felt that was a way I could do that by playing the scene the way I did.

Dawson: So that wasn’t necessarily scripted but something you had a hand in creating for the scene, right?

Nielsen: Yes.

Dawson: I was just reading an interview with you about your input into the script for Gladiator, this being the 20th anniversary of that film. So, do you regard having a dialogue with your directors as part of the acting process? You’re not shy about sharing your ideas with them?

Nielsen: Yeah, and to my own detriment at times. (She laughs.) Tom Hanks said it best when he was the recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille award at the Golden Globes this year. He said it’s an actor’s job to bring your best ideas to the movie. It’s up to the director to tell you that 80 percent of what you just said is a bunch of crap but you can probably use 20 percent of it. I was nodding in agreement with Tom Hanks on that because I really do feel that that’s our job—to bring a bunch of ideas. At the same time, you have to be humble and to know that it may work, but it may not. You may have an idea that you think is great but you may be deluded. It’s up to the director to decide. I feel like I’m able to be completely humble in that regard and offer it knowing that they may decide to just throw it away.

Dawson: The theatrical release of Wonder Woman 1984 has gotten pushed from June to August 14. How excited were you to reprise Queen Hyppolita? And what can you say about what happens with her in the film?

Nielsen: I can’t say a lot about any of it; the film will come out and audiences will be able to see for themselves. One of the things that has been amazing to see how these Amazon characters and Wonder Woman have proven that young kids—young male kids—have no problem (watching) female superheroes at all.

During the quarantine, I’ve seen how my kids in playing Fortnite are choosing—with relish—female avatars, and so are their friends. It’s not a problem at all. In fact, they’re the coolest ones.  I believe we’ve had, along with the whole manga generation, a hand in changing that really tired idea of just a male superhero. I’ve been so heartened by the success of that and the outpouring of love and affection for the whole Amazon culture, that Patty (Jenkins, the director) and all of us really sired with just a lot of love for this story.

Dawson: What have you gotten really good at while staying safe at home with your children?

Nielsen: I’ve always been really good at organization. I didn’t realize that I could actually keep a big house sparkling clean by myself with my kids, but we have. I’m actually proud of that. That may continue (after the quarantine) because there’s something really honest about doing your own cleaning that I really like. And it removes that nagging guilt that I’ve always had about putting my housework onto the shoulders of another woman. I feel like that’s going to stay, to the sorrow of my wonderful children. They’re going to continue to clean their own bathrooms. I think that’s been super-beneficial for us all.

I’ve also brushed up on sewing. I’ve been repairing all of the clothes that were hanging in my closet that needed repair. I’ve discovered that it’s really hard to twist a piece of fabric under a needle and thread.

I’ve taken a break from watching the news to read books. In the past four years, I’ve been so anguished by the news, almost an obsession, switching between 10 different news organizations online to the detriment of my book reading. I was finding it hard to go into the long form (of reading). But there’s been calm here for so long that I’m able to stay with a book and let go of the incessant news feed and have a moment of sanity.

Dawson: Have you binge-watched anything?

Nielsen: We’ve been watching the Mad Max films. We’ve done ‘90s youth films like Orange County. We then started watching Stranger Things with my 13-year-old. I’ve been watching My Brilliant Friend, an Italian series. It’s such a beautiful document of a time in Italy’s history that’s very special. The relationship between men and women, and women’s stories.

I saw (the Netflix crime series) Unbelievable, which is just magnificent—wonderful acting, great writing, and just superb. And (Hulu’s) Mrs. America.

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