Margo Martindale is still surprised by her casting in “Cocaine Bear”.
The 71-year-old actress – who has won a Primetime Emmy Award for her role as Mags Bennett in “Justified” and appeared in the likes of “Orphan”, “August: Osage County” and more over the years – never expected to land such a blockbuster role at this stage in her career.
She told Entertainment Weekly: “I never thought at age 70 I would be doing an action movie, but I guess I did!”
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She has been cast in the movie – which has been directed by Elizabeth Banks – as forest ranger Liz, who crosses paths with a giant bear who has taken a huge amount of cocaine.
Describing her character, she said: “She’s no-nonsense.
“She’s devoted to her craft, wanting to go up in the ranger world, does everything by the book, and has her heart set on (a character played by) Jesse Tyler Ferguson.”
Although she previously played a trigger-happy take on herself for “Bojack Horseman”, the animated role was a vocal performance whereas this shoot was an altogether different beast.
She explained: “I thought when I read the script, well, I’m sure there’ll be somebody to do all (the stunts) for me.
“And when I get there, I said, ‘Are you kidding? You mean, I have to get down there and do that?’
“(Elizabeth) said, ‘You read the script!’ (laughs) I did have a stunt double, who was wonderful,” she said.
And when she did have to really throw herself into the role, Martindale had plenty of people there to help her out.
She added: “It was like people being so kind to me.
“When I would have to crawl around on the ground, or through the bushes, or be dragged by my feet, there’d be two very strong men waiting to help me up off the ground. It was fine. I was very well taken care of.”
