Michelle Pfeiffer's hard-as-nails lawyer gives the audience a lesson in parenting

Michelle Pfeiffer and Sean Penn in "I Am Sam."

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(January 25, 2002) -- Playing the work-obsessed, fast-track lawyer Rita Harrison in I Am Sam frightened Michelle Pfeiffer.

She liked the prospect of working with Sean Penn, who plays a mentally disabled father fighting for custody of his child. And she certainly likes the message about what makes a good parent.

But she wasn't fond of her character.

"She's kind of vicious. Those around me recommended I don't do it because she's not very likable. It's true.

"I didn't know what to do with her," Pfeiffer says in a phone interview.

Still, she was up for the challenge. Now she knows it was all worthwhile.

"So many people identify with this story," she says. "My brother-in-law leaned over and whispered to me in the theater, 'It makes me want to go home and be a better parent.' "

The secret is in the film's two lead characters -- and their relationships with their children.

"A lot of people come away relating more to Rita. Sam's disabilities are obvious, and are less damaging, because you can deal with them and make compensations," Pfeiffer says. She thinks Rita's failings as a parent are more insidious, "because they're not as obvious. They can be denied."

In fact, Pfeiffer thinks her character is more disabled as a parent. "She's achieved what most people want and would associate with success. Yet, if any child should be removed from a home, it should be hers."

That's why the story affects so many viewers, says the 43-year-old actress.

"It says we're all emotionally disabled, in one way or other, and we deserve a support system in our lives."

Once she overcame her fears, the work on the film was a joy.

"Sean surprised me with what he did. The first day of shooting, he just showed up and started working. There was no easing his way into how he'd portray Sam. But it helped me."

Pfeiffer also acted opposite two mentally disabled men who play two of Sam's best friends.

"I didn't know what to expect, but they were incredibly professional and knew their lines. To Sean's credit, it was his idea," Pfeiffer says, pointing out that most actors in his role would not want disabled people on screen next to them because viewers could make comparisons.

I Am Sam is Pfeiffer's 40th film since breaking into the business in 1979.

Pfeiffer first decided to act on a frustrating day as a supermarket checker in her native southern California. She'd heard that talent scouts check out beauty pageants, so she entered and won the Miss Orange County title in 1978. And, yes, she also won an agent.

After knocking around a few TV films and B-movies, Pfeiffer attracted notice in Grease 2 in 1982 and then caught on opposite Al Pacino in Scarface.

Since then, she's remained an A-list star, with such films as Dangerous Liaisons, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Age of Innocence, One Fine Day and What Lies Beneath.

Pfeiffer has been married since 1993 to her second husband, red-hot TV producer David E. Kelley (of Ally McBeal, The Practice and more). They have two children.

Pfeiffer will next be seen in White Oleander, as the imprisoned mother of a troubled teenager.

For now, though, Pfeiffer is content with what I Am Sam says about being a better father or mother.

"If people who see it can say they want to go home and be a better parent, that's really something."