The Vancouver Sun - September 30, 1989

"Follows dumps 'Anne' image"
Elizabeth Aird

ANNE of Green Gables doesn't live here anymore.

Megan Follows, the actress who at 17 made Anne world-famous (or maybe the other way around), lives in New York, shoots pool for fun, and loves the hurtin' music of hard-life country singer George Jones.

What's more, Follows' role in Termini Station (at the Pacific Cinematheque, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 2 at 2 p.m.) is as far from Anne as the actress could travel. She's Micheline Dushane, the chippy small-town daughter of an alcoholic mother played by Colleen Dewhurst.

"I like that she's got balls," Follows says of Micheline. "She's not a people pleaser, she goes to the other extreme almost. I like her because she's not obviously likable, and I can identify with her without feeling like she's manipulating my heartstrings."

Follows' estimation of Anne is equally clear-eyed. "People look at her as being this sweet nice person. I always thought she was quite neurotic."

Thanks to Anne, Follows has an official fan club, and gets letters from teenagers, priests, and grandparents, from Scandinavia to New Zealand.

At 21, the Toronto-born Follows has had more good fortune than most actors have in a lifetime. Aside from Colleen Dewhurst, she has worked with William Hurt ("dedicated"), Dianne Wiest ("wonderful, funny"), and Timothy Hutton ("very shy").

This most serious of young actresses has left L.A. (after almost five years of hating it), settled in New York, and loves it. She's a member of a young theatre group in Manhattan that is dedicated to writing and performing new works.

Follows has no screen roles signed right now, and says she intends to direct one day.

For the moment, the earnest Ms. Follows digests hours of movies every week in repertory cinemas. For those of you who may still harbor that warm feeling that Megan (Mee-gun) and Anne are one and the same (a common perception, Follows says), let it be known that Follows names Death in Venice, and sex, lies and videotape as two of her recent movie faves. Goodness.

Source: The Vancouver Sun