She pretty much jumped out of the car, and she seemed just a shade invigorated.
she told me later.
you’re able to do a U-turn here in the middle of the road.
This dame, her name is Helen.
We shook hands right there on the street.
The Dame walks into a speakeasy
Next, we were in a lobby in the hotel basement.
Back when furs were worth something, Dame Helen says.
We sit by the fire, which is really this sort of newfangled electronic deal.
Not a fire at all.
Not even all that warm.
I give her my coat, and she puts it over her knees.
Well, it starts with a trip as a young actor in 1968.
I was inSan Franciscowith the Royal Shakespeare Company, and our next gig was in Detroit four days later.
So a handful of us took the train.
The train went through slowly.
It didnt whiz through.
That gave me a view and a vision of America which I had never seen.
The train would stop in the middle of a town with no train station or anything.
Brassy at times, but ever gentle.
She looks you dead in the eye and really listens.
She laughs when she feels like it, louder than youd expect.
You feel like you know her, and learn mostly that you want to know her better.
No surprise there, I suppose.
In fact, shes The Dame.
Fury of the Gods, a role that comes with an action figure to be sold in stores.
Have you seen it?
she exclaims when I mention the Hespera doll.
Sadly not, and neither has she, not yet.
Its a second prequel to the popular hitYellowstone, which starsKevin Costneras Montana ranch owner John Dutton.
Dame Helen, who plays Cara Dutton, his ancestor, gladly joined the endeavor.
I grew up watchingWagon Trainon my neighbors television.
But one thing that has always annoyed me aboutWesternsis that the people were all simply American.
There were no immigrants.
She raises a finger and spins it in the air in front of us.
Shes done her research.
it’s possible for you to imagine the cacophony of accents that you must have had.
So I thought it would be good if Cara were an immigrant.
I had an accent coming to America, and Ive never lost it.
