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All Photos: Alan Mercer
Libby Villari is best known for her recurring role as Mayor Lucy Rodell on the TV show, ‘Friday Night Lights.’ Her film appearances include ‘Infamous,’ ‘What's Eating Gilbert Grape,’ ‘Boy's Don't Cry,’ ‘The Faculty’ and the Academy Award nominated ‘Boyhood.’
She was born Margaret Elizabeth Webb in North Carolina where she lived until she was 11. The family moved to California, later moving to Texas. She graduated from University of North Texas with a B.A in Theatre. An active performer in the Texas theatre community, she often acts in productions that film in Texas.
Libby made her television debut in the 1985 television movie ‘Stormin' Home’ and followed this with ‘Adam: His Song Continues’ and the Emmy-nominated television film ‘Little Girl Lost’ with Tess Harper. In 1986 she played Mrs. Pritchard in ‘Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story.’
She made her film debut in 1993 as Camille McCloud in ‘My Boyfriend's Back,’ also Matthew McConaughey's first film. She next appeared in ‘Flesh and Bone,’ and as a reporter in Clint Eastwood's ‘A Perfect World,’ and in the 1994 television film ‘Without Consent.’
In 1995, she appeared in ‘The Big Green’ and in 1996 in ‘Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering’ and ‘The Whole Wide World’ as the mother of Renée Zellweger. She has also appeared on the series ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ and in Robert Altman's ‘Dr. T & the Women.’
In 2014, Libby Villari's film ‘Boyhood’ by Richard Linklater opened at the Sundance Film Festival. She plays the mother of Patricia Arquette's character in the film.
Libby is also an acting coach and works with children's literacy programs. I met with Libby in Sundance Square in the heart of downtown Fort Worth for a quick photo session and a chat before she was off to Los Angeles for pilot season and to go to the Vanity Fair Oscar party!
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AM: Hi Libby! I think it’s so exciting that you are going to the Vanity Fair Academy Awards Party this year. Did you ever imagine going to them?
LV: No, I wasn’t sure I would ever go but when Rick Linkletter asked, I couldn’t say no.
AM: That is such a big deal! Did you think that ‘Boyhood’ would get a lot of nominations?
LV: We didn’t know what to expect, but now I expect the biggest and the best for everything.
AM: It’s already been several years since you filmed it, right?
LV: I started 13 years ago. I’m in one of the very first scenes.
AM: What did you think about the movie 13 years ago when you started filming?
LV: We knew it would be special because what we were doing had never been done. It’s the most critically acclaimed film since ‘The Godfather.’ I always knew it would be good because I was there and I could see that really terrific work was happening. I’m a huge fan of Rick Linkletter so I felt that no matter what, it would be a good movie. I was so fascinated and envious that he was documenting his own child’s life from first grade to twelfth grade. I have a granddaughter who is 2 years younger than Mason (the lead actor in the film) and that is what got me the role.
AM: You must be close to your granddaughter.
LV: We are tremendously close. I helped raise her.
AM: Can you tell me a little about your audition?
LV: I went in and it was not a first round audition. Ethan Hawke and Rick Linkletter were there in the room. We ended up doing a very long improv. First though we sat and talked about our relationships to our children and our grandchildren and what experience we’d had with divorce and what that does to a family. It just so happened that my son was going through a very hard divorce at the time. My granddaughter was four years old so the feelings I had about the subject were right on the surface. Ethan had just gone through his divorce with Uma Thurman, so his feelings were also on the surface.
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AM: So it was all very real for you.
LV: I’m certain that is what got me the role. I think it really helped Ethan to play that role. So thirteen years later here we are. My granddaughter is all grown and the kids in the movie are all grown. I think the characters evolve in such interesting ways that you couldn’t possibly have in a three month shoot. Since we shot over a period of years, we all brought new experiences to it every year. You just can’t beat that. The more experiences you have, the better actor you are.
AM: Are you working more these days?
LV: I have been working but I think it has to do with my age. ‘Boyhood’ was a secret until this past October. There was a bit of talk in the film industry but nobody knew how terrific it was until it was released.
AM: This is the most high profile film you’ve ever done isn’t it?
LV: Absolutely and I’ve done some huge films and worked with some terrific directors.
AM: Your list of directors is amazing!
LV: I know, Clint Eastwood, Alan Parker, Robert Altman, Robert Rodriguez. It’s real unusual to live on Eagle Mountain Lake, hide from the public and be able to say you’ve done that.
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AM: You are more than an actress, right? You do other things as well?
LV: I have a landscape business.
AM: Is that a lifelong interest?
LV: Yes, absolutely, I’m a fanatic organic gardener. I never intended to have a landscape business but I had reached an age where I was too young to play a grandmother and too old to play a young mother and I needed a job. I went back to college and got my horticulture degree because it was something I wanted to know more about. I already had two other degrees. I’m passionate about gardens and plants. It keeps me really earthbound too.
AM: I’ve also enjoyed your performances as the mayor in the TV show ‘Friday Night Lights.”
LV: I did 21 episodes.
AM: Are you anything like that character?
LV: I can be kind of bitchy. I am like her in the sense that I am tenacious and go after what I want but I’m a lot kinder.
AM: She is pretty firm.
LV: That’s a nice way of saying it. Also I’m not a lesbian. I had already filmed two seasons when they decided to go that direction. She’s pretty clearly a Republican. So when they wrote that in I was just stunned. I did think it would be fun to play. The director asked me what did I think of this character development and I told him it would be a real stretch playing a Republican! (Laughter) I knew a lot of lesbians, but Republicans are pretty rare in my life.
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