The Gazette - December 31, 1995

"Megan Follows takes things one day at a time: Autistic role latest experiment for actress who won fame as spunky Anne"
John McKay

It's the same tilted head, wringing of hands, shuffling walk, middle-distance stare, and repetitive, monotone voice.

But Megan Follows isn't worried people will compare her performance as an autistic savant with Dustin Hoffman's famous Rain Man.

Follows is part of a powerhouse trio of actresses starring in Under the Piano, on CBC-TV next Sunday (Jan. 7) at 8 p.m. Along with Amanda Plummer and opera soprano Teresa Stratas, she tells the story of Rosetta, a handicapped girl torn between a domineering, poisonous mother who tries to inhibit her daughter's development, and a loving sister who wants to nurture the savant side of Rosetta's mind.

Studied Real Savants

Like Hoffman, Follows met and studied real autistic savants for her role, including an elderly woman from Boston who was the real-life inspiration for the script's character.

But she insisted that while the American actor did an ``amazing job'' in his 1988 film, her take on the disability was different.

``I wouldn't say I felt the need to embellish or change (the role) based on his performance as being the ultimate of something,'' she said.

The diminutive redheaded actress, known to most Canadians for her Anne of Green Gables miniseries a decade ago, concedes she had some misgivings about tackling the role at first.

For her, the challenge would be playing a character who could not express emotion.

``What I learned through the process wasn't that there was any less emotion,'' she said. ``It was just a different means of expressing the same things that you or I or anybody else might feel.''

Under the Piano is the latest in a string of performances after the Anne Shirley part gained Follows worldwide fame.

She did Romeo and Juliet at Stratford, made some unsuccessful stabs at series TV, and will be doing some theatre work in Toronto next month.

In 1991, she took on an even more challenging role when she married film-technician Christopher Porter. They have two children, Lyla, 4, and Russell, 18 months.

She's 27 now and the red tresses are shorter and darker. But in faded jeans and with a student book-bag slung over her shoulder, she still suggests the all-Canadian ingenue.

This is despite a hectic professional schedule that involves frequent travel between her Los Angeles home and Canada, with no imminent plans to settle in anywhere.

`My creative heart's up here'

``I feel my creative heart's up here and that's why I'm here right now,'' she said.

``I'm not projecting too far into the future. I'm basically taking things a day at a time in terms of where my goals are.''

Follows exudes complete happiness with her life, conceding children and career can lead to a sort of schizophrenia, a fracturing of the mind.

But she says she's the kind of parent who has to work because it brings satisfaction. And thus fulfilled, she can then bring that to her children.

``It's hard and I'm sure it will get harder soon because of their age. But right now it's still manageable.''

Follows's ability to juggle family and career is in ironic contrast to the subject matter of Under the Piano. In the film, set in Depression-era Montreal, Stratas turns in a remarkable performance as a faded opera diva embittered because she had to sacrifice her career to raise a family.

``Doctors said they would be a comfort in my old age,'' she laments, convinced her daughter's handicap is divine punishment for throwing away her talent.

Source: The Gazette