Boxoffice-June.1995

SNEAK PREVIEW
A FAMILY "TIE"
Actress Moira Kelly Reveals Her
Maternal Side In ''The Tie That Binds "
By Kim Williamson
Moira Kelly with director Wesiey Stricif and co-star Julia Devin
on the set of Buena Vista 's "The Tie That Binds. "
Kelly believes that,
Moira
in real life, being a
mother is the "role of a
lifetime." At this point in her
career, the 26-year-old remains
single and childless but, with
her new role in "The Tie That
Binds" Kelly can live her dream
at least on the big screen.
In the thriller, which marks
the directorial debut of screenwriter
Wesley Strick ("Cape
Fear"), Kelly plays an adoptive
mother of a six-year-old girl
whose biological parents (Keith
Carradine and Daryl Hannah)
come calling for their progenywhile
they're on the run for
murder "It is my job to protect
this child," explains Kelly, sitting
in her trailer while taking a
noon break from a fall day's
shoot in Pasadena, Calif "And I
never thought that I would be
called upon so early in the relationship
with the child to protect
her this way. lb be tested."
Well known for her turns as
coming-of-age women in the
likes of "The Cutting Edge" and
"With Honors," Kelly sees her
role in this Interscope production
as a test of another sort— at
least in producers' eyes, who
might be unaccustomed to "th(!
idea of me playing a
motlier"
When Disney's Hollywood Pictures
releases "The Tie That
Binds" this August, Kelly hopes
that "Hollywood will look at me
and say, 'Okay, I can see it:
Moira Kelly can play a mom.' It's
been hard for me to prove to
them that I can play a 20-yearold
sometimes," she says,
chuckling. "They see me as the
young college girl, or even
back in high school."
For those that know
Kelly well, though, her
playing a mother must
seem like typecasting.
Growing up in a small Long
Island town, "I just wanted
to be married and to be
happy ever after," she recalls.
"I used to babysit a lot,
and I used to be a nanny.
So all those old tricks and
instinctual things that I had
when I was taking care of
kids back tlien are coming back
to me [on the set] and reminding
me of times I had working with
kids. Really .good, fun times.
Julia [Dcvin, who plays tlie little
girl] is amazing and so much
fun. Children are so creative
and imaginative that they just
bring you to life all over again. I
feel warming, maternal emotions
on this film."
Outside movie sets,
though,
her life is a different story. "Why
am I not a mom yet?" she asks
rhetorically, laughing. "It takes
another partner, actually, for
that to happen. This is something
I like a lot of people who
are looking to get into this business
to realize: It's not as easy a
life as you think. It means sacrificing
a lot of
things like timi
,
and a settled
place— especially
being in my position
and at my
age. Still kind of
starting,
getting
in fliere, proviny
myself. You're
always moving
here for three
months, then
here for three months. Tiying to
get someone to accept tliat—
that you're going to be away for
that amount of time— is hard. I
don't like being away from my
family and friends all the time.
I don't like not being able to plan
things months in advance because
you don't know where
you'll be. It takes a lot out ofyou
to be in this business."
When she's not at work, Kelly
is more than likely to be back
home with her parents. "Family
is everything," Kelly says.
"Tliey'll accept you for anything
you do. They'll love you through
everything, they'll support you
through everything. They'll al-
"Family is everything.
They 11 accept you for
anything you do. They'll
love you through everything
[and] they 7/ always
be there if you need them. "
ways be there if you need them.
And th(!y're the most honest
people that you'll ever come
across. They'll tell you exactly
what you need to know."
Those etlnics, of course, aren't
commonly regarded as tliose of
Hollywood, and Kelly's involvement
with the entertainment
industry strikes some as surprising
because she is a di'vout
Catholic— as if Holh^wood and
Catholicism were entirely
different
creeds. "Well, Hollj'wood
and anything are entirely different
creeds," she says, laughing.
"HoUy^vood is a world all its own."
Another frequent point of interest
in Kelly is how she balances
her religious beliefs ^sath
the nude scenes she's done—
and has since rethought
her position
on. "I find
nothing wrong
with the naked
body," Kelly says.
"I'm capable of
going to museums
and looking
at sculptures and
paintings and
being 'responsible'
for the beauty
of the piece, rather than
some perversion of the piece.
But in movies it's too easy for too
many people oftoo many different
backgrounds, too many beliefs,
to go and see what it is that
you are doing. I don't think a
majority of audience members
are 'responsible' to the actual
piece they're watching. Thej'
should say, 'I'm not here to get
my kicks from looking at a
naked body.' But all a lot of people
see is the naked body and
they go 'off So I look at it now
as mv responsibility not to give
them something to go 'off on."
(As fate would have it, Kelly's
next project is "Dorothy Day," a
tjiopic about a 1920s Catholic
relief worker/activist.
The film is being made by
Paulist Productions.)
As for what her own fixture
holds, Kelly says tlie
day may come when Hollywood
no longer entices
her "Everyone says, 'Don't
say that! Don't let anyone
know that!' But it's true. I'm
happy to be here, but tliis is
not If for me. Maybe one
day I w\\ be mairied \\'ith
kids, and I'd like that."
Which is no surprise. As Krll\-
says, "Family. That's it."
TIjc Tic Tliat Biiuis Stamng
'
Moira Kettij, Da>yl Hannah, Vincent
Spano and Keith Canadinc
Directed by Wesley Strick. Wntten
by Michael Anerbach An Interscope
pwditction A Buena Vista
release. August.
14 BOXOFFICE