Jean Smart, who is all set to return to Broadway, has opened up about being blank on the stage.
For the unversed, the 73-year-old Hollywood icon will return to Broadway this spring in Jamie Wax’s new dark comedy play, Call Me Crazy, which is about a woman from Louisiana who holds a secret.
In her recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Smart admitted that she is anxious about learning all her lines.
The six-time Emmy-winning star for Hacks said, "It's like, 80 pages! I'm a little scared, because the longest speech I've ever done in a play was thirty minutes, like a fifteen-and-a-half page monologue. [I] just sat in a straight-backed chair and talked to the audience for a half an hour."
She jokingly added, "That was scary, and that was when I had a lot of brain cells — I was in my thirties!"
The Mare of Easttown star went on to note that "the problem is, if you get nervous on stage, your mind just goes blank. You couldn't tell somebody the name of the play, the plot, the day of the week it was. That rush of adrenaline just wipes everything else out of your brain!"
Notably, Smart, who will play eight characters in Call Me Izzy, will be the only character on stage for the show.
It is pertinent to mention that Call Me Izzy, directed by Sarna Lapine, will run for 12 weeks at the Rialto Theatre, from May 24 to August 17, 2025. However, the opening night will be on June 12.