{"id":10025,"date":"2014-08-29T09:49:18","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T13:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=10025"},"modified":"2017-03-02T09:46:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T14:46:47","slug":"fitzwonderful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/fitzwonderful\/","title":{"rendered":"FitzWonderful"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 2014 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Her grandfather almost smoked Fidel Castro. Her father smoked seafood as founder of Ducktrap River. Now Caitlin FitzGerald is smoking hot in front of the cameras.<\/h3>\n

From Staff & Wire Reports<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"FitzWonderful-Sept14\"<\/a>Desmond FitzGerald<\/strong> (1910-1967) was a senior official in the CIA during the John Fitzgerald Kennedy years, an insider to the intrigues following the Cuban Missile Crisis, with Fidel Castro reportedly on his hit list. Eventually, the Harvard graduate would become Deputy Director of the CIA.<\/p>\n

Frances FitzGerald<\/strong> (b.1940), his daughter, is journalism royalty, up there with Woodward and Bernstein. She won the Pulitzer Prize as well as a National Book Award for her masterpiece Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam<\/em> (1972).<\/p>\n

Desmond Sr.\u2019s son, Desmond FitzGerald Jr.<\/strong>, is a local hero in Maine. The beloved founder of Ducktrap River of Maine Smoked Seafood took his Cinderella firm from two employees in Lincolnville to over 100 in Belfast. Mainers take pride in the international reputation Ducktrap enjoys but may not realize FitzGerald sold the company years ago. Since 2012, he\u2019s been Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Maine Venture Fund. Still fewer could have guessed that his dad was in the War Room for many Earth-shaking decisions during Camelot and before.<\/p>\n

Even the IMDb bio of Caitlin FitzGerald<\/strong>, 31, the actress who first attracted raves as Meryl Streep\u2019s daughter in It\u2019s Complicated<\/em> (2009), likewise missed the Camelot connection. But with two films in post-production and a starring role in Showtime\u2019s Masters of Sex <\/em>wrapped up for the second season, this graduate of NYU\u2019s Tisch School of the Arts isn\u2019t just Maine\u2019s anymore but an emerging figure on the national stage.<\/p>\n

We guessed you might have been one of \u201cthose\u201d Fitzgeralds when we realized you went to Concord Academy, the same prep school Caroline Kennedy attended.<\/p>\n

No, we\u2019re different FitzGeralds, with an upper case \u201cG.\u201d It\u2019s confusing, because my grandfather was in the Kennedy administration.<\/p>\n

Even though you weren\u2019t yet born while your famous grandfather was alive, he must guide your spirit. He was an old Far East hand among diplomats and operatives. Are there any family heirloom mementos from China?<\/p>\n

Well, there\u2019s a photo of my dad as a little kid dressed in a kimono when they lived in Japan. But my grandfather died when my dad was only 15. He was deputy director of the CIA then, so my dad\u2019s memories are of life in DC. I don\u2019t know that much about family history. But I do know my grandfather\u2019s prized heirloom is a backgammon set. We\u2019re all backgammon players.<\/p>\n

What was it like working with Meryl Streep or Alec Baldwin or Steve Martin?<\/p>\n

It was surreal! And Meryl Streep is amazing. She\u2019s so professional and nice; she\u2019s everything you\u2019d want her to be. Shooting lasted about five months. I learned so much from just watching her. I tried hard to keep my fan-girl in check.<\/p>\n

What is location shooting like, living in hotels and just working, working?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s kind of fun, like summer camp with too much coffee. Masters of Sex<\/em> films in L.A.,\u00a0 though, which is unusual now. Everyone\u2019s leaving Hollywood to film.<\/p>\n

You sound so sweet. But sometimes you have to play the bad guy, right? Your character Kat in Adult Beginners<\/em> (2014) \u201cdumps Jake after his start-up fails.\u201d<\/p>\n

You never want to judge your characters. Nobody thinks they\u2019re a bad guy. But Kat just didn\u2019t want to be married to someone who wasn\u2019t successful.<\/p>\n

In Manhattan Romance<\/em> (2014), you\u2019re the \u201cunattainable\u201d Theresa whom Danny chases. Are there tricks to conveying\u2026unattainable?<\/p>\n

The key is not to play negative. She just wants to be free to do her own thing. She isn\u2019t rejecting him. It isn\u2019t about him. No one is just one type of person. We\u2019re all different people at different times. You have to tap into different parts of yourself.<\/p>\n

Do you know any of the other actors from Maine out there working now, like Anna Kendrick, or Greg Finley, or Tim Simons, who\u2019s on Veep<\/em>?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know Anna or Greg, but I have met Tim Simons. We were introduced at a party\u2013he\u2019s really fun and funny and kind. Out here, whenever there are two people from Maine at a party, everyone wants to make sure they meet each other.<\/p>\n

What acting insight did you learn at Stella Adler Studio that you still carry around?<\/p>\n

Discipline. If we weren\u2019t exactly on time for class, we were often not allowed in\u2013as a lesson on being punctual. \u2018You cannot be late to auditions or a job.\u2019 And I never, ever am. Being an actor requires being able to really structure your time and do a lot of work that you won\u2019t be paid for. [Laughs.] College really prepared me for that.<\/p>\n

What was it like being a Maine Yankee at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London?<\/p>\n

My dad\u2019s mother was English. She went to RADA, so it felt really good to be there. I never got to know her, and attending RADA felt like a nice full-circle moment.<\/p>\n

Tell us about your mom\u2019s, Pam Allen\u2019s, book, Knitting For Dummies.<\/em> Do you knit?<\/p>\n

I do. Not very well, but I do. My mother is currently running her own small business in Portland called Quince & Co. that sells beautiful, American-made wool yarns.<\/p>\n

Have your parents ever tried acting?<\/p>\n

Only in a very amateur way, and not for ages. I think my mother is still sort of amazed I can go to auditions, that I can get up on stages and face strangers.<\/p>\n

Considering your aunt Frances, did you ever consider journalism as a career?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always loved to write and would like to have more time for writing in my life, but no, I never considered journalism. I knew I wanted to act from my first school play. My parents were always supportive.<\/p>\n

How do you convince yourself you\u2019re in Maine when you come back for visits?<\/p>\n

All it takes is stepping out of the car and breathing the air.<\/p>\n

Can you walk around Camden without being recognized and asked for a photo?<\/p>\n

Ha! No one is asking for pictures! Walking around Camden can take a long time\u2013but only because it\u2019s a really small town and I grew up here and know a lot of people.<\/p>\n

What are your favorite restaurants here?<\/p>\n

The mid-coast has incredible food options. Probably my favorite restaurant is Shepherd\u2019s Pie in Rockport. The cheeseburger is not to be missed.<\/p>\n

My mother lives in Portland, so I always come through Portland when I come back. She has a warehouse and employs about 11 people. She lives in the West End. I like Local 188 a lot, and Aurora Provisions, Caiola\u2019s. If I could do my work in Portland I\u2019d move there in a heartbeat. It\u2019s the perfect-size city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September 2014
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