Some talents are simply volcanic | Tennessee Williams on Gena Rowlands, 1982

Gena Rowlands, 1958

“Some talents are simply volcanic; epic. Of course, nothing could possibly be simply volcanic or epic, but I will face the scorn of grammarians and continue to state this about Gena, because she possess a titanic talent, with its attendant extraordinary effects, but she is eminently approachable—she walks right up to you, lets you see, feel, and touch her talent, and then retreats. She is unerringly polite in offering volatility—she’s violent yet sweet; manic yet lucid; beautiful yet plain; accessible yet unknowable.

I think she is what we call great, although that word is bandied about much too often. I think she deserves it.

No one accepts a statement quite like she does. Watch her in films when a harsh truth is lobbed at her, or a compliment, or a retort: Her response is so visceral you want to turn away—you have seen a woman in a state of acute vulnerability. Her toughness is majestic because it is applied to this vulnerability, so you are aware of both the bravado and the risk.

Ms. Rowlands in the 1980 film Gloria directed by Mr. Cassavetes

Gena Rowlands, Gloria, 1980, dir. John Cassavetes

Did you see her in Gloria? That incredible scene with the mob boss, where she asserts that she’s leaving and she’s protecting the boy? I could watch that over and over. I sat through that film three times, exhausting the patience and the spine of a good friend, who does not understand that Gena—that several actresses—are works of art you place yourself in front of as if they were paintings in a museum, or sunsets, or mountains, or lovers walking slowly away from you.

Gena Rowlands by Sam Shaw, 1960

Beauty is not merely a natural gift, an accident of birth: There is beauty that can be imprinted upon a person by virtue of their character and their actions: I believe that Gena has this earned beauty; I believe that she deepens in beauty and talent and spirit with each role and with each assignment. In her best films you can watch both her character and her spirit blossom in front of your eyes. If you can sit through the film several times in a row, you will be amazed. It’s a good way to spend a day.”

Tennessee Williams on Gena Rowlands, 1982