MARCIA GAY HARDEN WHAT I KNOW NOW

THE OSCAR-WINNING ACTRESS OPENS UP ABOUT WHAT SHE'S LEARNED FROM SUCCESS, SETBACKS AND HER THREE 'BEAUTIFUL' KIDS

-  JP MANGALINDAN

Marcia Gay Harden booked her first major Hollywood role, as a hard-boiled gangster moll in Miller's Crossing, at 30, after years of unsuccessful auditions for roles, including girl-next-door parts. It's when the actress came to an important realization.

"I was trying to be that, but I'm not the girl next door. That's really not my MO. That's not who I am," she says. As time proved, Harden, 64, is so much more: a versatile performer whose acting chops have earned her plaudits including an Oscar for playing painter Lee Krasner in the 2000 Jackson Pollock biopic Pollock, a Tony for her role in the Broadway comedy God of Carnage and an Emmy nomination for her turn as an acerbic reporter on The Morning Show. Lately she's also winning raves as an uptight attorney who hires her directionless son in the CBS comedy-drama So Help Me Todd, back for its second season on Feb. 15.

The actress, who finds peace in her pottery studio in upstate New York when she's not working, shares three children-Eulala, 25, and twins Julitta and Hudson, 19-with ex-husband Thaddaeus Scheel. Inspired by her kids, who all identify as queer, Harden has become a proud LGBTQ+ advocate. "I want for each of them to be seen for the beauty in who they are, to be loved and to be appreciated for their talent," she says.

Here Harden shares more life lessons she's learned.

My parents gave me the gift of curiosity.