Julianna Margulies talks using Tweets to ‘open people’s eyes
Hunter & Gatti/The EditJulianna Margulies told The Edit how she won’t use Twitter to update fans on her personal life. “But, if I was just doing my philanthropic work, I would beyond doubt tweet.”
Forget about being “The Excellent Wife.” Julianna Margulies is a good woman and citizen who knows the value of paying it forward.
“There is a generation coming up that understands equal rights,” the 49-year-ancient actress told Net-A-Porter’s weekly digital fashion magazine, The Edit, about the importance of doing philanthropic work, which includes campaigning for marriage equality and against child abuse.
“People fight for what they believe in — equal pay, gay rights, all of these things that should have happened years ago,” she continued. “(But) we have a long way to go.”
Female leads in television shows also has a ways to go, but Margulies is satisfied with the progress and the increase in opportunities.
“Women are realizing that the most challenging and fascinating things written for them are now on TV,” she said. “In anticipation of five years ago, TV catered to male leads. I wouldn’t say it’s equal, but it’s getting there.”
Margulies’ starring role as Alicia Florrick on “The Excellent Wife” is proof of where TV is heading. The highly successful show’s cult following is a right testament that the formula is effective.
“Women like Alicia. She was an underdog, she was in a sink-or-swim situation, and she swam,” she clarified. “People like a flawed character they can relate to.”
Despite her character being relatable to fans, Margulies confessed the politician’s wife needs some help.
“Oh, she’s messed up! I tell the writers, ‘Seriously, she needs to be in therapy. She hasn’t gotten laid for a year and a half, the situation with her husband is so complicated, her children are leaving the nest, she has her own business and she’s completely overwhelmed,’” she said.
Hunter & Gatti/The EditJulianna Margulies is more about her philanthropic work than about fame. “I never think of myself as a well-known person.”
“And the writers are always like, ‘Well, she’ll work it out!’” Margulies added. “To be honest, when would she have the time to see a shrink anyway?”
Still, fans flock to the TV to catch the latest drama. In fact, 9 million viewers tuned in for the Season 6 end May 10.
“I never think of myself as a well-known person,” she said about production with the negative side of fame.
“I think of myself as a effective actor who happens to be in a show that everyone watches. I can’t control other people’s opinions of me; all I can control is my reaction to it,” Margulies continued. “Someone in Idaho may despise me, but I don’t have to know about it!”
That’s why she stays away from reading the opinions others have about her. whether positive or negative.
“I don’t read any of it — ‘Did I wear the right dress, did I not?’ — because it’s not going to help me as a human,” she clarified. “It will only make me feel terrible … or excellent. And if I believe the excellent, do I believe the terrible?”
One thing she is sure of is that while she may play a politician on TV, she’d never want to be one in real life.
“I would never and could never be a politician. But God, it’s fun to play one,” she said, explaining that her quick-to-answer emotions is why a political career wouldn’t work in her act of kindness.
Hunter & Gatti/The EditJulianna Margulies appears on the cover the latest edition of The Edit.
“I have to say things that I in person disagree with, but you have to look at things from two sides,” Margulies said. “I’ll get emotional at the snap of a finger, but my husband (who is a lawyer) will read the other argument. He’s very attractive at having an opinion, rather than having a gut reaction.”
She lets her gut lead her when it comes to fighting for causes she’s passionate about like Erin’s Law, a piece of landmark legislation which aims to ensure children have a voice to report sex abuse and demands that schools educate children about prevention, which was recently passed in all 50 states.
For her work, she was featured on Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World list.
“I feel honored to be among such incredible people and the focus it shone on Erin’s Law made it all sweeter,” said Margulies, who also recently got a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
“As for the Hollywood Star … it still feels surreal,” she told the mag. “I always plotting of it as something other people got; never in a million years did I think I would ever get one. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to do what I like and get paid for it. The rest is a bit overwhelming! Flattering, but overwhelming.”
The star of the hit CBS series, which returns for its 7th season Oct. 4, finds control in her crazy world by keeping her personal affairs off social media. But that’s not to say it’s all terrible.
“I’m (not going to) question 20 million people to believe my character, then go to a mall and Tweet, ‘Hey, it’s me! I’m buying shoes!’” she said of Twitter. “But, if I was just doing my philanthropic work, I would beyond doubt Tweet; it’s a splendid tool to open people’s eyes.”
zrivera@nydailynews.com
This access passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
Day after day News – Gossip
