A Life Beyond ‘Masquerade’

Meg Tilly, star of the critical hit romantic thriller “Masquerade,” arrives for an interview at her publicist’s office when the phone rings. It’s “Masquerade” director Bob Swaim calling with a small request. It seems that during a recent talk-show appearance, Tilly spent most of her time talking about her two children rather than promoting the film; could she please stick to “Masquerade” during today’s interview?

“It always seems to come back around to my babies,” the 28-year-old actress says with a laugh, “because for me family comes first. Don’t get me wrong--nothing made me happier than reading The Times’ review of ‘Masquerade,’ and I am ambitious--I wouldn’t be where I am if I weren’t. But I love being a full-time mother, and movies come in between. One a year is plenty for me.”

Previously known for her portrayal of Chloe, the spacey girlfriend in “The Big Chill,” and an ecstatically eccentric nun in “Agnes of God,” Tilly has been in six films, all of which found her portraying one variety of ethereal gamin or another. “Masquerade,” however, is entirely different. As Olivia Lawrence, a sinfully rich heiress preyed upon by a trio of greedy musketeers, Tilly turns in a grown-up performance that marks a turning point in her career.

Paired with Rob Lowe, who plays a Calvin Klein-perfect gigolo, Tilly does her first on-screen love scenes in “Masquerade,” and torrid scenes they are.

“I have nothing against nudity if it serves a purpose other than bringing in more dollars,” says Tilly, a doe-eyed beauty who glows with the same wholesome innocence in person that she brings to the screen. “But I’d never done a love scene before and I found it hard to do. We all feel sensitive about the way we behave in bed and it’s strange having someone watch and correct you--and Bob (Swaim) did give quite a bit of direction in those scenes,” she adds with a laugh. “He’d say things like ‘OK, now rub your leg up and down his leg,’ or ‘Meg, I want you to be a little more vocal.’ The only way we got through it was by laughing a lot.”

Born in Long Beach and raised in British Columbia, Tilly has made quite a mark in film, considering that she began acting just eight years ago and rarely even saw movies until she started appearing in them.

“I didn’t see many movies when I was growing up because we didn’t have a TV, and the only films we were allowed to see were ‘My Fair Lady’ and the things at the Shakespeare Film Festival,” she recalls. “I guess I grew up in a fairly cultured house. There were 12 of us, including stepbrothers and stepsisters, and we were poor because my mom supported us on her own. We were constantly moving--we moved 13 times in the 12 years I went to school--and I think all that moving had something to do with my becoming an actress. Always being in new environments, you learn to hide things and put on masks. It’s interesting that now that I am an actress I find I no longer need those masks in my real life.”

Tilly’s original dream was to be a ballet dancer, but a back injury at age 19 forced a change of plans.

“I thought my life was over because I’d been dancing since I was a kid and couldn’t imagine life without it,” she says. “I moved to L.A. when I had to stop dancing, because New York is where I’d danced and I didn’t want to fall back into it.”

Things happened quickly for Tilly following her 1981 move here.

“People say you need connections to get anywhere as an actress, but I came into town not knowing anyone and got a part in a play with Sean Penn called ‘The Girl in the Via Flamina.’ I only had 14 lines, but it was a real turning point for me. Sean was studying with (acting coach) Peggy Feury, so she came to see the play and agreed to take me as a student. Even if I’d never acted in my life, I’d be grateful for having had the chance to study with her. When I first came to Peggy’s, I was living a ballet dancer’s virginal fairy tale. I wore flowery dresses and talked in a soft, high voice, and Peggy helped me grow in so many ways. She died two years ago and I still feel lost without her.”

Tilly’s film debut came the following year with a small part in “Tex.” Directed by Tim Hunter, the film was produced by Tim Zinnemann, who wound up marrying the ingenue. Parts in “The Big Chill,” “Psycho II” and “Impulse” followed, but it wasn’t until Tilly starred in Norman Jewison’s 1985 film “Agnes of God” that her career began to take on heat--and she didn’t much like the attention at first.

“In the beginning, it really scared me,” she says. “I had nightmares of this big luxury cat on my shoulders, and it was like a snowball moving faster and faster. I kept finding ways to slow it down, though. After ‘The Big Chill,’ I got the female lead in ‘Amadeus,’ but I injured myself and couldn’t do it; then after ‘Agnes’ I got pregnant.

“When people first started staring at me, I felt very vulnerable. I figured if I wore yucky clothes and pinned my hair back nobody would recognize me, but what happened instead was people would come up and say, ‘Aren’t you Meg Tilly? Gee, you’re much uglier in person.’ One time I was in Bloomingdale’s and this clerk said, ‘You look a lot like Meg Tilly--are you related to her?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and she said, ‘Oh, are you her mother?’ I told her I was Meg Tilly and she didn’t believe me, so I showed her my driver’s license! I’ve never considered myself vain, but I don’t enjoy being mistaken for my own mother!

“People are usually very nice, though, and I’ve come to grips with the peripheral stuff that goes with being an actress. I know how lucky I am to get to do this work and don’t feel the need to hold myself back anymore.”

Tilly takes a sizable step forward in “Masquerade” and she shares the credit for her successful performance with her co-workers.

“I didn’t get to know Rob Lowe real well because I thought it important that he be able to maintain his fantasy of Olivia, but I found him to be real hard-working and professional. A lot of young guys who do well become caught up in themselves and throw temper tantrums, but Rob was always on time and knew his lines.

“And I learned so much from Bob Swaim. Most importantly, I learned that the camera is like an actor you must relate to. Bob is a very visual director; for instance, he’d tell me to do something and I’d argue, ‘But Bob, my character would stand still at this point.’ He’d reply, ‘Yes, perhaps, but I want the dramatic effect of you moving in and out of light.’ I learned to trust his visual sense, so instead of coming in with a fixed idea of what I was going to do, I’d come in with an understanding of the emotions involved and let him guide my movements.

“I’m thrilled that people seem to like ‘Masquerade,’ ” she says, “because if I do a few more films that have this kind of success, I’ll have a better shot at the projects I passionately want to do. I’ve been getting lots of calls since the film opened, but you can’t trust that. Everybody wants to have lunch and is developing this or that book for me, but I’m being cautious. This is an exciting time for me, but there’s still a big mountain to go up, and in the long run, careers come and go. Family’s always there.”