Fans of the 1992 thrillerThe Hand That Rocks the Cradlemight have been surprised in recent years to learn that aremake is in the works. The hit film, about a devastated widow who seeks revenge after her deceased husband is exposed for past crimes, gave Rebecca De Mornay some of her most memorable screen moments when it was released in 1992; now, more than 30 years later, thecelebrated actoris still staying busy in Hollywood. The upcoming version starsMaika Monroe(Longlegs) andMary Elizabeth Winstead(Ahsoka), and MovieWeb recently caught up with De Mornay to gauge how she feels about her successful ’90s film being remade with new faces.
“I was quite perturbed when I heard that… sort of possessive, like, ‘Wait a second, that’smyrole!'” De Mornay told MovieWeb while she was promoting her new movieSaint Clare. “But, you know, I actually am flattered… that [The Hand That Rocks the Cradleis] considered, you know, a classic in that sense. I mean,A Star Is Bornwas remade like three times. It’s a great story. So I think I’m sort of flattered that the movie that we created — and to think that that was a spec script written by [Amanda Silver], I forget where she was in college, I think USC — that just was such a great structure that appealed to so many people. So I’m actually curious to see what they do with it, after I got over my initial possessiveness. And I hope they do it justice. I hope that, for their sake, it’s good, because ours really is pretty damn good.”
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An Actor Playing an Actor
Saint Clare
Decades later, De Mornay’s latest role — forSaint Clare, opposite Bella Thorne — sees her playing a former actor, interestingly enough. “I didn’t need to do tons of research about what that would be like,” De Mornay told MovieWeb, in terms of preparing to play the eccentric Gigi. “I know exactly where that’s going. It was more her life choices. I mean, she was definitely this pot smoker, drinker… There were a couple of lines cut where [Gigi’s granddaughter] Clare was saying, ‘You don’t eat right… You could have a heart attack… You eat red meat all the time!’ [Gigi’s] lifestyle was different from mine. But it was kind of nice to get to play an actress. Maybe there was something freeing about it.”
Looking ahead, De Mornay is excited about yet another starring vehicle that has provided a full-circle moment for her Hollywood career. “I just finished a movie starring opposite John Travolta. I’ve been a huge fan of his from the very, very beginning. So that was exciting. I did play his wife once before in a little movie calledI Am Wrath(2016). It was sort of a thriller, but I only had three days on that. And, you know, my character, unfortunately, is killed off quickly, and therefore [Travolta’s character was] avenging my death the whole movie. But I really liked him then, and we had more time together [this time]. We’re kind of high-end art thieves who are rekindling something together. That was really fun.”
From Quiver Distribution,Saint Clareis now available in theaters, on demand and on digital.
