Messing watched “Real Housewives” and tried to play the ukulele during the pandemic lockdown. “Birthday Candles” script was also on her to-do list. With Ernestine’s passion and expansiveness in mind, she found it easy to relate to some parts of the story.
Ernestine’s marital breakdown and her personal loss resonated with the audience. However, Ernestine’s experience afterward is completely new. Messing said, “I haven’t experienced any of it yet.”
She spent hours on YouTube poring over videos of centenarians, observing how they walked and sat. While working with a voice coach, she discovered how women’s larynxes change over time. So there are no prosthetics or wigs for Ernestine. As a result, the body and voice, as well as subtle changes in hairstyle and eyewear, contribute to the ageing process.
When Messing said, “I’m not 107,” he was joking. Nobody I know is 107 years old. ” It’s part of trusting in the homework to keep me safe and secure.”
As far as I know, it’s working for Haidle. He described her actions as “like a magic trick.”
For one thing, Messing listens to the script as she drifts off to sleep every night. Intense, as Haidle put it. This, she believes, aids her ability to memorise lines. ” It also gives her a sense of accomplishment. “Working gives me a sense of calm,” she explained. “I don’t know if it’s helping or not, but I like to think that it’s getting embedded in a deeper way when I put it on and fall asleep to it.”
Her approach is anything but lighthearted. Actors are known to move through technical rehearsals with a laid-back attitude. A recent take showed that Messing seemed to give a full performance for each pass as she and co-star Enrico Colantoni worked through a scene. In fact, she expected him to give her a proper kiss.
She begged him to kiss her. “Come on, kiss me.” She was wearing a pain-relief patch under her blue sweater because hunching over as a 107-year-old, as she had done in rehearsal the previous day, had put a lot of strain on her lower back.
Baking has necessitated additional planning. It’s a science, and Messing admitted that she had never been interested in science in the past. Each stir, crack, and sprinkle is precisely timed to coincide with Ernestine’s milestone events, which only adds to the stress.
