How Parents (1989) helped Mary Beth Hurt expand her horizons
Hurt said that playing the character was "fun."
Best known for her roles in movies like The World According to Harp (1982) and The Age of Innocence (1993), Mary Beth Hurt made a name for herself playing serious film characters. “People like to cast me as intelligent, shy, or distant in a kind of standard persona,” Hurt said during an interview with The Tarrytown Daily News. "A lawyer, a teacher, a mother. That’s fine, but it’s not much fun.”
Bob Balaban’s 1989 film, Parents, offered Hurt the rare opportunity to play a character well outside the norm. Hurt played Lily Laemle, a 1950s housewife who is suspected of cannibalism.
Despite the film’s more gruesome plot, the role was a breath of fresh air for Hurt. “That was one of the reasons I wanted to do this,” said the actor. “People tend to cast you as what they like you as. That’s a tendency you have to buck, if you hope to get the chance to play more characters.”
Hurt starred in the film alongside Randy Quaid, who played her equally unsettling husband. The film split audiences, with many viewers enjoying its upbeat and unsettling nature, while just as many turned their noses up at it. Still, Hurt saw value in the film, as it gave her the chance to grow beyond her comfort zone.
“It’s more fun to play someone like Lily (in Parents) who has big problems to keep her preoccupied,” said the actor.
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