PRESS ARCHIVE
Good Morning America: Ally McBeal Reunion - Part 2
Host: It was inventive and it was a defining television show of it's time. We're talking Ally McBeal, the lawyer with the fantasy life, dealing with the struggles of being a single woman everyday. Twelve years after it's debut, five seasons are out on DVD and this morning, Tom Bergeron continues his conversation with the star Calista Flockhart and the shows creator David E Kelley.

Host: Calista, what did it feel like for you as an actress who's portraying a character. At one point Ally McBeal is on the cover of Time magazine next to Betty Friedan , Gloria Steinem, and Susan Anthony with the headline "Is Feminism Dead?" How did that feel?

Calista: I think that the point that they were trying to make, there was a modern feminist woman to look towards and in some way it was oddly flattering that Ally McBeal was who were are now looking at. However, I also thought that this was a fictional television character and to compare her with Susan Anthony is slightly ludicrous and not really a fair comparison.

Host: To have a hit show I think you have to have, in most cases anyway, a strong anchor and certainly Calista, as Ally, was that. What was the quality, as the person casting the role, that she brought to it that made it a slam dunk to you?

David: Well she had to have an emotional depth obviously. Had to be funny and had to be dramatic.

Host: After Billy dies, of course, then you're faced David, with bringing in somebody else as a love interest and did it I think, masterfully with Robert Downey Jr. At a time, in all candor, in his career and personal life, when it was a bit of a risk I think it's safe to say, right?
We have a clip of Ally and Robert Downey Jr's character....

Calista: I was just looking at my hair...

Host: What? You don't like your hair during this period?

Calista: Good God!

Calista: Ally was, she was , you know she was criticized for being self absorbed and unabashedly self absorbed actually, and she was, but I always found her to be so authentic and imaginative and you know, she didn't really have a sensor. And I think people liked that about her and wished that they could be more like Ally because she was sort of outspoken and said what she felt and she did have a lot of good friends and she was a good friend and it was just like this great world to live in. Anything could kind of go.

Host: There's a wonderful scene where Georgia says "what makes your problems bigger"...

Host: The way it was.
Date of this item added :
2009-12-09