Viva les Divas
Delta Burke and Olivia Newton-John on their 'Sordid Lives'
By Gil Kaan
Genre could not pass up the unique opportunity to eaves-drop on two of the talented co-stars of the ensemble-driven Sordid Lives, Del Shores cinematic take on a dysfunctional Texas family, Delta Burke’s character Noleta Nethercott and Olivia Newton-John’s character Bitsy Mae Haring both skewer their respective images of glamour and sweetness. (Olivia sings a line “Ain’t it a Bitch?” repeated in the title song and she had a ‘thing’ with the deceased woman).
Delta Burke: I had to love my character in the first part of the movie I look terrible. No make-up on and hair-curlers. Stuffing my face and my white trash arms were hanging out in a sleeveless thing. I never show my arms.
Olivia Newton-John: You still looked pretty.
DB: (teasingly) That’s because you like me, Olivia
ONJ: (laughing) That’s true. Oh, god! I had such a fun time It was so contradictory to me, so it was really a blast. I bleached my hair, cut it off. I stuck tattoos all over me
DB: You liked it a lot
Genre: How would you as the character and as the person react to Brother Boy (a family relation locked up in a nut house because of his very convincing symbiosis and portrayal of Tammy Wynette)?
ONJ: That’s a hard question. I think I would enjoy him either way.
DB: Personally, I would enjoy him and might want to borrow some of his wigs, I don’t know what Nokita would do with him.
ONJ: She might not be so keen.
DB: My character might be more pissed off cause she’s having her own troubles looking very feminine. It was very interesting going to some of the film festivals. We were worried down there at Palm Beach about the little blue-haired ladies. They loved it and came up and said what a wonderful story it was. It needed to be told. Made them laugh, made them cry.
Genre: Delta, does Noleta bring any memories of Suzanne Sugarbaker to you?
DB: Suzanne is always with me. She pops up all the time. Of course, I felt perfectly at home with the big hair and lots of make-up. I felt more like myself. I still like big hair.
Genre: Olivia, tell us about your first talent contest.
ONJ: I was 15 and there was a talent contest The Gong Show. Thank god, I got three gongs. I sang Summertime with a guitar with my boyfriend. I was still in school then and had to finish the year out
DB: Never heard that story before
ONJ: Noooo Drop-out!
Genre: Delta, what was your talent in your beauty pageants?
DB: I did a dramatic soliloquy of Queen Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London just before she was beheaded. We designed my costume. Actually, that is how I graduated high school because all my grades were so bad.
ONJ: Me, too!
Genre: Do you still have all your tiaras?
DB: I have everything! I still get tiaras just for the fun of it. When I did Popular, my character was getting married, she had a hot pink wedding dress and a crown. I still have that crown. I said, “I’ll just keep this for you until I come back.”
Genre: Olivia, tell us about your daughter Chloe.
ONJ: Chloe is wonderful, just turned 15 and knows she wants to be an actress and a singer. I feel that she’s very talented. If she wasn’t talented, I’d be worried about it. But I think she’s got it. So I’m very encouraging and helping her anyway I can.
Genre: Is she listening to you?
ONJ: No, she’s not.
DB: See, I don’t have any babies, that’s why I have six dogs. Actually, I have the rest of my family with me though. I have my mother and my sister with me. So wherever we moved, the whole family moved. Mac [husband Gerald MacRaney] goes back and forth between LA and our farm in Mississippi ‘cause he likes all that macho stuff.
Genre: Would either of you want to switch places to live in Mississippi or Malibu?
DB: I’d live in Malibu but I don’t live in Mississippi, honey. And I don’t think Olivia would be wanting to
ONJ: What city are you in?
DB: Well, in Mississippi, it isn’t a city. We don’t even have a 7-11. It’s in the middle of nowhere, so I don’t live there. I go visit it.
ONJ: I’m sure I’ve been there. I’ve been so many places, I can’t remember.
DB: We were living in New Orleans for five years. And then we moved back to LA
ONJ: Oh, good. I have a farm in Australia. Not an animal farm, but fruit on about 300 acres with a little river. I just planted 10,000 rain forest trees to re-forest
DB: That’s fabulous. I love that! Mac calls his place a farm. But it’s not. He doesn’t grow stuff on it. He likes to go hunting and I don’t like hunting.
ONJ: I don’t like hunting either. See, that’s another thing we have in common.
Genre: Tell us about your current projects:
DB: We’re shooting 17 episodes of Dag. Didn’t get a full 22. After that just trying to get work
ONJ: Dag in Australia is such a… (laughs)
DB: (laughing) I know!
ONJ: You know what it is?
DB: Yes, I have been told
ONJ: You call someone a Dag if you want to call them a… you know
DB: Yeah, it’s not a good thing in Australia.
ONJ: (laughing) It’s not very pleasant, It’s what hangs off the back of a sheep that’s… that’s attached to the wool.
DB: Back on their butt, isn’t it?
ONJ: On their butt, yeah, exactly!
DB: You know what’s funny? Apparently they sold Dag to Australia with that name
ONJ: You’re kidding me?
DB: (laughing) Can you imagine the promotion for that?
ONJ: (laughing) I can’t believe it’s been 30 year since I had my first hit record. So we’re going to do an anniversary boxed set to be released after summer.
DB: Nice to hear your voice again, Olivia
ONJ: You, too. Hope I see you soon!