JoBeth Williams leans over to pour half of her giant Styrofoam container of coffee into a cup for the visiting reporter. Then she settles in on the sofa to talk about her latest film ”Stop or My Mom Will Shoot!”-a sweet comedy she made with Sylvester Stallone-and her concerted effort to land comedy roles.
She laughs at the observation that the sharing of her drink is a very mom-like thing to do. ”Gawd, isn`t it the tru-u-uth,” she says in her most fetching Texas accent.
It`s one of the few times in the course of a long conversation that she slips into the hard twang of her native Houston. It crops up periodically like one of those small towns on the plains of Texas to mark the occasion of a particularly vivid truth.
Williams` maternal behavior stands in stark contrast to her glamorous appearance. Reminiscent of a `40s vamp, the redhaired actress speaks with a sultry voice and exudes a saucy style. She looks the part she wants to play: a sexy comedian.
Audiences know the actress from her series of portrayals of mothers. Steven Spielberg cast Williams in her first leading film role as the housewife in ”Poltergeist.” That set the ball in motion.
Parts as a mother in ”Poltergeist II: The Other Side,” ”Desert Bloom,” and ”American Dreamer” and ”The Big Chill,” followed on the big screen. Both of her Emmy nominations are for memorable portrayals of mothers: one for playing the distraught parent of a missing child in ”Adam,” another for playing surrogate mother Mary Beth Whitehead in the mini-series ”Baby M.”
Williams is grateful for these demanding parts. They boosted her career and gave her the chance to participate in some socially significant films. But she needed to stretch professionally, she says; she knew that in the long run typecasting could be deadly.
”I felt I was being typecast as the `noble mom,` ” she says. ”I`ve made a deliberate effort over the last two years to do comedy. I really went after the role of the rich, glamorous bad woman in Blake Edwards` `Switch.`
Blake didn`t see me in the role. So I got all `glammed` up, strutted into his office, read the scene, and convinced him that I could do it.”
In ”Stop or My Mom Will Shoot” she plays a precinct supervisor who is romantically involved with one of the cops in the station house (Stallone).
”I like the fact that I`m his boss as well as his lover,” she says slyly. The black comedy ”Me, Myself and I”-due for release in late `92-features Williams as a character with multiple personalities.
”One is almost a bag lady, she is just way out there,” she says. ”The other is sane, polished, sophisticated, very together.”
Breaking the ”noble mom” spell and ensuring an acting career with longevity qualifies as a small miracle in Hollywood circles. But staying power is clearly one of Williams` strong suits. She showed her true mettle in her quest to conceive a child. For more than eight years the actress and her husband, television and theater director John Pasquin, tried to start a family. Williams endured seven laparoscopies (a surgical procedure to examine the fallopian tubes and uterus), four miscarriages, several complicated surgeries, hormonal treatments and every other technique fertility specialists could offer. All ended in heartbreak.
The years of frustration precipitated a depression and then a resolve to adopt a child. First they adopted Will, now 4, then Nick, now 16 months. Her face softens and tears fill her eyes as she reflects on the joy the children bring to her.
”I think I wasn`t prepared for the kind of fierce love that I would feel for my sons,” she says. ”It has opened me up emotionally. It`s an all-consuming love; it`s different than anything I`ve ever felt before.
”I was talking with my close friend Diane English (creator of `Murphy Brown`) recently about whether she could handle children on top of the tremendous demands of her job. I told her it is the most demanding, the most exhausting, the most infuriating, and the most exhilarating experience I`ve ever had. Don`t do it unless you are willing to find yourself stretched beyond any limit you ever imagined.”
Raising a family also influences the couple`s professional choices. Both are ambitious. Her work goes on and so does his. But they tip the balance in favor of the family when they make decisions.
Williams turned down an offer to be in Neil Simon`s play ”Jake`s Women” with Alan Alda. ”A Broadway play represents a nine-month commitment. I`d have to uproot my family. My husband is producing and directing the television series ”Home Improvement.” He`s committed here; I just couldn`t commit there (New York).”
When a script comes to her now, she accepts or rejects the role based in part on where and when it`s shooting. ”I`m trying to work around my husband`s schedule because he resents it if I say I`m going to pack up and take the boys away for three months,” she says.
Her husband`s choices changed too. A successful director whose credits include ”L.A. Law,” ”Roseanne,” and the Obie-winning off-Broadway play
”Moonchildren,” Pasquin wants to direct feature films. But he has turned down opportunities to do so because it would mean long stays on location.
Even with both parents working in Los Angeles, juggling is a problem. The couple must fight for time alone so that their relationship isn`t limited to parenting. Sometimes they sneak off to a local hotel for a day`s privacy.
A live-in nanny and a housekeeper help at home. ”I couldn`t function in both worlds if I didn`t have them,” Williams says emphatically. ”John helps some. He`s wonderful with the kids. But running the household is really all up to me.” Recently, their new nanny fell the second day on her job and injured her leg. Williams found herself taking care of the nanny, taking care of her children, shooting a movie and interviewing candidates for a temporary nanny on her lunch hour.
Does she resent those additions to her workload?
”Suuuure,” she replies in her best-spirited Texas manner. ”I say to myself, `I`m getting up at 6, going to work a 14-hour day, and I have to do all this? Something`s wrong.”`
Sitting on the edge of her seat, she analyzes the subject: ”But the fact is, it`s my responsibility. It`s the job I`ve chosen; I`m the mom. In the long run, I want to have control of that situation anyway.”
That control combined with an abiding faith in the value of family keep her going. Born Margaret JoBeth Williams to a large Texas clan, she grew up surrounded by all manner of relatives: grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. Many lived nearby. They routinely circulated in and out of one another`s houses and met weekly to schmooze and eat dinner.
In an interview with TV Guide, the actress` husband talked about the lingering influence of that way of life. ”I am only now beginning to realize that that was a tremendous influence on her. She grew up with a sense of herself as not just an individual, but as part of a larger family. She likes being in groups and she recognizes their strength.”
It`s one of the reasons she loves to make movies. ”I grew up learning to give and take. You learn to be considerate of other people`s feelings. You work on problems together. One of the things that I really enjoy about making a movie is that it is a collaborative effort. It feels very natural to me.”
She also expects people to listen to her and take her seriously. Williams has no qualms about telling a director how she thinks a scene should be shot. ”I`ve always been bossy,” she laughs, ”even when I was a child. But I`m very relaxed about it, so it usually works.”
