Tony, Oscar, and Emmy Award winner Jessica Lange is up for her second Tony this season for her performance as Phyllis in Mother Play on Broadway.
Lange's list of credits is extensive, having performed in the 1992 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire and 2005 revival of The Glass Menagerie, along with numerous film and TV roles—in Tootsie, Big Fish, and American Horror Story, to name a few. Her most recent film, The Great Lillian Hall, was released at the end of May.
For her performance in Long Day's Journey Into Night on Broadway, Lange won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, the same category in which she is currently nominated. As for Mother Play, at the official Tony Awards Meet the Nominees press event, Lange said there were several reasons why she chose to take on the project.
"For me, the main [draw] is that it's never been done before," Lange says. "It's a brand new play, never been seen—no Off-Broadway, or try-outs out of town or anything. We just landed there and started, not knowing, really. With something that's brand new, [you wonder] 'Does it work? Does it not work? What works? What doesn't work?' And then to create a character that's never been done before, I mean, that really was what enticed me to do it. And also just because this character is so big. [Mother Play] covers 40 years in this woman's life, and the emotional range goes from A to Z. And it's a very physical part, too."
And what has driven Lange throughout her admirable career? "Family has always been what's motivated me to do everything," she says.
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The 77th Annual Tony Awards are set for June 16 at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater. The evening will kick off with The Tony Awards: Act One, streaming for free on Pluto TV. Details are to be announced. The 77th Annual Tony Awards will follow beginning at 8 PM ET, broadcasting live on CBS (check local listings) and streaming live (for premium-level subscribers) via Paramount+. All Paramount+ subscribers will have on demand access to the broadcast beginning June 17. Stage and screen star Ariana DeBose will be back for the third consecutive year to host.
Visit Playbill.com/Tonys for more.
Linda Cho
Linda Cho
Adam Guettel
Adam Guettel
Peter Nigrini
Peter Nigrini
Kelli O'Hara and Brian d'Arcy James
Kelli O'Hara and Brian d'Arcy James
Kelli O'Hara and Brian d'Arcy James
Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara
Brian d'Arcy James
Brian d'Arcy James
Brian d'Arcy James
Daniel Aukin
Daniel Aukin
Eli Gelb
Eli Gelb
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer
Leslie Odom, Jr.
Leslie Odom, Jr.
Leslie Odom, Jr.
Kara Young
Kara Young
Kara Young
Kara Young
Kimie Nishikawa, Andrew Moerdyk, and Santiago Orjuela-Laverde of dots
Will Pickens
Kenny Leon
Will Butler
David Adjmi
David Adjmi
Joshua Boone
Joshua Boone
Joshua Boone
David Zinn
David Zinn
Justin Craig
Justin Craig
Danya Taymor
Danya Taymor
Tom Pecinka
Tom Pecinka
Justin Levine
Justin Levine
Amber Iman and Justin Levine
Amber Iman
Amber Iman
Amber Iman
Amber Iman
Eden Espinosa
Eden Espinosa
Eden Espinosa
Juliana Canfield
Juliana Canfield
Juliana Canfield
Sky Lakota-Lynch
Sky Lakota-Lynch
Sky Lakota-Lynch
Brody Grant
Brody Grant
Brody Grant
Jocelyn Bioh
Jocelyn Bioh
Jocelyn Bioh
Jocelyn Bioh
Whitney White
Whitney White
Eddie Redmayne
Eddie Redmayne
Eddie Redmayne
Eddie Redmayne
Lila Neugebauer
Lila Neugebauer and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Sarah Paulson
Sarah Paulson
Sarah Paulson
Corey Stoll
Will Brill
Will Brill
Will Brill
Sarah Pidgeon
Sarah Pidgeon
Sarah Pidgeon
William Jackson Harper
Roger Bart
Roger Bart
Maryann Plunkett and Dorian Harewood
Maryann Plunkett and Dorian Harewood
Maryann Plunkett
Dorian Harewood
Maryann Plunkett and Betsy Aidem
Betsy Aidem
Betsy Aidem
Dr. Jason Kindt
Kecia Lewis
Kecia Lewis
Kecia Lewis
Kecia Lewis
Kecia Lewis
Nikki M. James
Nikki M. James
Nikki M. James
Nikki M. James
Nikki M. James
Celia Keenan-Bolger
Celia Keenan-Bolger
Celia Keenan-Bolger
Celia Keenan-Bolger
David Korins
David Korins
Isabella Byrd
Maleah Joi Moon
Maleah Joi Moon
Maleah Joi Moon
Maleah Joi Moon
Camille A. Brown
Camille A. Brown
Jeff Kuperman and Rick Kuperman
Leigh silverman
Lynne Meadow and Chris Jennings
Michael Greif
Michael Greif
Michael Stuhlbarg
Michael Stuhlbarg
LaChanze and Jamie Forshaw
LaChanze
Jamie Forshaw
Nikiya Mathis
Nikiya Mathis
Joshua Harmon
Wendall K. Harrington
Dede Ayite
Dede Ayite
Dede Ayite
Bekah Brunstetter
Bekah Brunstetter
Bekah Brunstetter
Bekah Brunstetter
Quincy Tyler Bernstine
Quincy Tyler Bernstine
Steven Skybell
Steven Skybell
Steven Skybell
Maria Friedman
Maria Friedman
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe
Jonathan Groff
Jonathan Groff
Lindsay Mendez
Lindsay Mendez
Lindsay Mendez
Stefania Bulbarella
Stefania Bulbarella
Kristoffer Diaz
Shoshana Bean
Shoshana Bean
Shoshana Bean
Shoshana Bean
Shoshana Bean
Jessica Stone
Jessica Stone
Colleen Jennings-Roggensack
Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange
Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons
Jill Furman and Rachel Sussman
Jill Furman and Rachel Sussman
Adam Rapp
Adam Rapp
Ryan Rumery
Ryan Rumery
Enver Chakartash
Enver Chakartash
Zachary Chance and Jonathan Clay of Jamestown Revival
Zachary Chance and Jonathan Clay of Jamestown Revival
Will Brill
Will Brill