June Squibb interview: ‘Thelma’

WhenJune Squibbfirst connected with her “Thelma” co-starRichard Roundtree,she didn’t mince words about how she felt. “I said to him, ‘It’s about time!’ That’s what I said and no one knew what I was talking about, but he did. I just felt, my God, we should have known each other. We should have been introduced. We should have worked together,” she tells Gold Derby during our recent webchat (watch the video interview above). Roundtree’s generosity to Squibb even extended to days when he wasn’t on the call sheet. “My birthday happened while we were shooting and he wasn’t on call that day but he came in with two dozen red roses for me. Just coming in impressed me, let alone with the red roses.” The late actor died last October.

“Thelma” stars Squibb in her first leading performance. It centers on the titular character, a woman in her 90s who falls victim to a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson and gets swindled out of a large amount of money. When she realizes what’s happened she embarks on an epic journey (with the help of a friend’s motor scooter) to find the person responsible and get her money back. The story was inspired by a similar event that happened to writer/directorJosh Margolin’s real-life grandmother several years ago. The film also stars Roundtree,Fred Hechinger,Clark Gregg,Parker Posey,andMalcolm McDowell.

Building chemistry with Hechinger, who plays her grandson Danny, was incredibly easy right from the moment they first connected. “We really dug each other. We met each other at my apartment for lunch before we started shooting. I think we both were laughing because we were supposed to rehearse and I don’t think there was a bit of rehearsal done.” It’s a relationship that’s ended up extending beyond the shooting of the film. “We became very close. He’s one of my best friends now. He lives in New York and I live in L.A. and we see each other on the other coast all the time. If he’s out here, he always comes for lunch.”

Squibb was an Oscar nominee for her supporting role in the 2013 film “Nebraska” oppositeBruce Dern.That movie also brought her nominations at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Independent Spirit Awards and Critics’ Choice Awards. Her career has also included “Alice,” “The Age of Innocence,” “In & Out,” “Meet Joe Black,” “About Schmidt” and “Far from Heaven.”