You've heard and seen a lot of Amy Irving lately, and she's sorry about that.
She attracted attention as a co-star in Barbra Streisand's "Yentl," and the spotlight's glare intensified when she alone among the movie's major contributors was nominated for an Academy Award. There were all those questions about how she felt about Streisand being snubbed.
Then there were more questions and whispers when she showed up at the awards ceremony at the arm of filmmaker Steven Spielberg--a very public showing for someone who wants her private life kept that way.
Now there is the burden of being the female lead in "The Far Pavilions," the most ambitious project yet to be commissioned by Home Box Office. Subscribers to that pay-TV service will be able to see the six-hour, $12- million adaptation of M.M. Kaye's best-seller from 8 to 10 p.m. tonight, Monday and Tuesday.
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With a starring role goes the not-too-welcome opportunity to talk about the filming of "Pavilions."
When "Yentl" opened, Irving recalled, "I went on a publicity blitz ... Then came the Oscar nomination. I said I'll ride this wave out, then get on with doing what I want to do." The interviews clearly are not what she wants to do. They're all right, she said, "as long as I don't get my feelings hurt. I don't read what's written about me." (A sure way to keep her sensitivities intact.)
There were obvious pleasures in doing a story about a full-grown woman--a 19th century Indian princess-- rather than an ine,nue, and the location shooting was an adventure in itself.
"The first thing I responded to in 'Pavilions' was the woman herself-- she is a woman and not a girl. That was my first joy," said Irving. "In films I seem to be playing the young, innocent woman or a girl."
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In addition to "Yentl," Irving has appeared in "Carrie," "Honeysuckle Rose," "Voices," "The Fury" and "The Competition." She recently played opposite Rex Harrison on Broadway in Shaw's "Heartbreak House" and is scheduled to star with Dudley Moore in a Blake Edwards movie, "Mickey and Maude." At 30, Irving is finally being identified with parts that are fully adult.
Share this articleShare"This woman, Anjuli, is calm, at peace with herself, a wise lady. She believes in karma and reincarnation --as I do. So I looked forward to doing her."
Anjuli is an Indian princess who finds herself involved in a tortuous romance with an English officer played by Ben Cross ("Chariots of Fire"). The show is full of soap opera twists and rich in Indian ustom as Cross, an orphan, first thinks himself to be of Indian origin, finds he's British, goes to England and returns to India as a member of the Corps of Guides. The cast includes Omar Sharif, John Gielgud, Rossano Brazzi and Christopher Lee.
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Her role required Irving to take on the look, manner and habits of Indian royalty. She was so heavily made up and elaborately costumed that "if the show hadn't gone well, I could say that it wasn't me."
She went to India before filming began. "Then they had a woman in," she recalled, "to talk about the decorum of an Indian princess--who you have eye contact with and who you don't, how to get off an elephant with 25 pounds of costume on and do it gracefully. I was there for 3 1/2 months, lived in a maharajah's palace and had time enough to go on an elephant safari."
She also learned to ride a horse, one of the role's requirements. "They put me on one and slapped its ass and off I went with tears in my eyes," she said. "Now I own one and keep it on my ranch in Santa Fe and ride every day."
Santa Fe. If home is where the heart is, then Santa Fe is where Irving is most at home.
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"Three and a half years ago I went to visit a friend there and bought a house the next day," she said. "I arrived there and a wave of relaxation swept over me. You can't be in the midst of a thunderstorm or chop wood for your stove so you can keep warm and worry about some little thing about your billing. I have normal friends there --painters, nurses, lawyers--they're like vitamins for me."
Hollywood, on the other hand, is a tonic she can do without. Her feeling is reflected in her reaction to the snubbing of Streisand in the Oscar derby. "I'm disappointed in the town for that," she said. "She's more talented than most of the people in Hollywood. I think they feel she's a threat to them. She deserved better."
Rather than try to solve the political mysteries of the movie colony, Irving stays in Santa Fe between excursions to film locations and theaters. "My home is like a closet I pack and unpack," she said. "I'm learning to oil paint. I go to movies. I have friends. My heart is in Santa Fe ...
"I was in Santa Fe recently," she recalled, "and some friends put together an impromptu dinner. I had never been in a room with 10 people that I felt so at ease with."
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