Oscar-nominated actress Jill Clayburgh, 66, died on November 5, 2010, after a two-decade battle with leukemia that she kept secret from the public. Her passing comes less than a month before her film “Love and Other Drugs” opens in U.S. theaters on November 24.
At a “Love and Other Drugs” press conference that took place November 6 in New York City, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway expressed condolences and admiration when speaking about Clayburgh, who was one of their co-stars in “Love and Other Drugs.”
Clayburgh had a small role playing the mother Gyllenhaal’s character in “Love and Other Drugs,” a romantic dramedy about a womanizing pharmaceutical sales rep named Jamie Randall (played by Gyllenhaal), who has a complicated love affair with an aspiring painter named Maggie Murdock (played by Hathaway), who happens to have Parkinson’s disease.
Clayburgh’s last film role is in the comedy “Bridesmaids,” which has completed filming and is due out in 2011. She received two Oscar nominations for best actress: for 1978’s “An Unmarried Woman” and 1979’s “Starting Over.” Clayburgh is survived by her husband, playwright/screenwriter David Rabe, and their two children, Lily and Michael.
Here is what Gyllenhaal and Hathaway had to say about Clayburgh. The complete interview from the press conference will be published at a later date.
Can you share any thoughts about Jill Clayburgh?
Gyllenhaal: When I said before about people who live their life, some people have lived it shorter than others, but I think Jill is one of those people, unfortunately, who didn’t have as much time as some. But I think it’s a testament to the fact that we worked together for two days … I heard [that she passed away] this morning. She was just amazing.
I know my parents just recently went through a divorce, and my mother said to me that “An Unmarried Woman” was just such an incredible film for her to watch and helped her so much. I think the work that she [Jill Clayburgh] did, and the woman that she is and was, she was just incredible.
Did you know that she had leukemia before she died?
Gyllenhaal: No. I think that was maybe part of it about her. Her living with that for as long as she did made her appreciate all of the things that she had. Someone like her [in her medical condition], working for two days on a movie like this, it was insane. She was just loving and open and an incredible actor to watch — and giving, even with the few lines that she had, which is a great irony.
Hathaway: She and George [Segal, who plays Gyllenhaal’s father in “Love and Other Drugs”] set your character up so beautifully with their performances, because you understood the world from which [Jamie Randall] came, who he was raised by. I think both of their contributions to the film — I think I speak for all of us when I say our prayers and best wishes go out to Jill’s family.
