Mary Steenburgen moved to California to work with Jack Nicholson.
It was 1977 and Steenburgen, an Arkansas native, had been waiting tables in New York at night while studying acting with Sandy Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse during the day. She had been working the pavement for about seven years, she says, when “her moment came overnight” and she was called to read for a movie Nicholson was directing and starring in called “Goin' South.”
In Sunday Funday, the people of Los Angeles tell us step by step their ideal Sunday in the city. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Getting the role, Steenburgen says, changed his life in every way. “I flew away [to film] “And I had an incredible introduction to the city,” he explains. “I lived at Chateau Marmont and went to Paramount Studios every day, where [Nicholson] He would screen movies for me and then come at the end to give me a little film acting lecture about each one. “It really helped me prepare to dive into the big leagues.”
Although she spent a few years on an old Ojai farm in the 1980s raising her children with her ex-husband Malcolm McDowell, she has always had a home base here in Los Angeles. She now shares her Los Angeles abode with her husband Ted Danson, whom she married in 1995 and with whom she has starred in numerous projects, including the Netflix series “A Man on the Inside.” Los Angeles is also where he filmed his latest movie, “The Dink,” an Apple TV comedy centered around one of his favorite pastimes: pickleball.
That's how Steenburgen would spend his perfect pickleball-filled Sunday in Los Angeles.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
5:30 am: Early morning meditation and mental exercise.
We always get up early. After so many years of going to work at 5 in the morning, we now always get up between 5 and 6.
We are morning meditators, or have tried to be since then. our dog [Blue] just sits on our lap and stares at us until he has been fed. Then we have to watch all the New York Times games and then I'll try to find a pickleball game. We love the spelling bee. We have to get to Genius, at least. Every once in a while we'll get to Queen Bee, but if we don't get to at least Genius, then my day will be ruined.
If my husband and I are working that week, whoever is not working will have to wait in line with the one who is. We will usually spend a few hours doing this in the morning as well.
8:30 am: Light gardening
I love my garden. Much of it was planted by hand by me. Not the big trees (someone else planted them), but everything else, like ground cover and smaller plants, I did. So I'll spend a little time there too.
I like to go to Armstrong Garden Centers. They hire very knowledgeable people there. When I started planting my garden, I live on a hill and it was all dirt there and not everything grows well that way, so I was looking for a ground cover that would grow quickly but also wouldn't mind a hillside. The people at Armstrong knew the answer and they were great.
10 a.m.: Pickleball-palooza
I try to play pickleball at least two hours a day if I can. I try to find a game with friends or go play at different parks.
This morning I played at a friend's house. They have a beautiful tennis court and they taped it up so we can use it to play pickleball too. I played with his daughter and her friend.
I also have a pickleball coach and sometimes we go play at a place called pickle pop That's on Third Street. Other times, I will play in the Santa Monica Pickleball Center.
My son just brought eight members of [one of] London's largest pickleball club[s], Lemon Pickleand they all stayed with me. We played everywhere and had a lot of fun. They loved Southern California and seeing it through their eyes made me love it even more.
On their last night here, I called a wonderful family I know who cooks fantastic Mexican food, because I knew [the Brits] I had never really experienced good Mexican food. I met them because they set up shop every weekend in the parking lot of Rustic Cafe [in Santa Monica]. They are lovely people. So they came and cooked, and we had a wonderful British night, putting up all sorts of lights and decorations too.
12:30 p.m.: Magical brunch with the grandchildren
let's go creation a lot for lunch, simply because it is delicious and very healthy. I was there yesterday with my granddaughters, after we all played Pickleball.
Actually, this weekend we all went to the magic castle together too. I hadn't been for decades and two of my five grandchildren were here, and they had never been here either. Most of the time there are no kids at the Magic Castle, but on the weekends they do a brunch where kids can come, so we went to that. The last magician of the show even called my granddaughter up on stage to be an assistant of sorts, and it was really nice.
3:00 p.m.: Hiking with the dog
Because we work a lot and our days often belong to someone else from early in the morning until late at night, weekends are quieter.
We like to take walks and walks around Santa Monica. We have this big Australian Shepherd and we take him for long, slow walks. They are slow because he has to greet all the dogs and people on the way, especially the babies, who are his favorites.
I think there is something magical about my dog. People will say, “Oh, my dog hates all dogs” and then my dog stops me and the dog who hates all dogs just melts. It's like it calms other dogs. It even calms people who think they don't like dogs. I know I have many prejudices, but I am also very proud.
6 pm: Breakfast (or Goop) for dinner.
We really like breakfast for dinner, so maybe we'd have some poached eggs on toast or poached eggs on creamed spinach.
If we place an order, we may get food from Goop Kitchen. They have so many fantastic healthy options. Even their pizzas are quite healthy.
8:30 p.m.: TV in bed
Sometimes I read a book at night, but we also have a show that we love to go to sleep on, even if you're not supposed to. It's this British game show called “Would I lie to you?” and it always makes me laugh. I've seen every episode, some of them twice, and I like to go to sleep laughing.
I also just told Ted that I think we'll have to start “Cheers” again soon. We just lost our friend Jimmy Burrows, who was a wonderful human being and very important to Ted's entire career, and one of the best things about watching “Cheers” is that if you know Jimmy's laugh, you can make out it several times during each episode.
It's been a long time since we watched “Cheers” and honestly, it never gets old. I first saw her in Ojai when I was married with young children. We watched it with our best friends on Thursday nights, like everyone would go home in their pajamas and watch “Cheers” and then I would come home to put the kids to bed. Then when I was going through my divorce, I would watch him at 10 at night because I was feeling so alone and he was what cheered me up at the end of the day during a difficult time in my life. I didn't know that one day I would sleep with Sam Malone.
