Changing Her ‘Image’

Kathy Baker’s worked up close and personal with the De Niros, Shepards, Lemmons and Keatons of the world, so a little wee hours snuggling with the great Albert Finney didn’t seem to faze her one bit.

“He’s so down to earth. So incredibly . . . it’s just hard to describe,” says Baker of the highly revered British actor. “You know what Albert does? He directs, he sets up the lights, he changes the words, he’s in everybody’s face and we all love it. He’s magical.”

Baker stars with Finney, John Mahoney and Marsha Mason in HBO’s “The Image,” which premieres tonight. In the made-for-cable movie, Finney portrays a TV muckraker a bit like “60 Minutes’ ” Mike Wallace with a splash of Walter Cronkite. America trusts this man implicitly. When a high-level banker commits suicide after an S&L; scam is exposed on Finney’s segment, however, the shattered Finney compels himself to get the whole story.

Baker plays the director of research in the film, but had zero time to actually research the role herself. “I finished ‘Dad’ on a Wednesday and started this on Friday,” says Baker. “I remember the very first night shoot, like 10 at night. I shot this scene and when I saw the movie I could see that I was uncomfortable. No rehearsal, one day of costuming, hardly getting to meet anybody; it’s very hard.”

But Baker survived and now plans to take some off-screen time to perfect her real-life role of mother. Down the road, Baker says she would love to be offered “a good comedy,” but she admits to some nagging fears that invariably haunt actors. Will she ever work again?

“I still feel like every actor,” shudders Baker. “And I keep telling myself, ‘I don’t want to work, I have a little baby.’ But at least if there was something in April that was signed on the dotted line. . . .”