Jackie Hoffman got a little too acquainted with the plight of her character while shooting a certain scene from “Feud: Bette and Joan.”
The actress, who played Mamacita on the FX limited series from executive producer Ryan Murphy, told TheWrap that co-star Jessica Lange (Joan Crawford) inadvertently brought her to tears after they made contact during a tense scene for their characters.
“She did clip me in the shoulder blade really hard, and then after, I [walked] up the steps crying,” Hoffman said.
Perhaps it’s a testament to Hoffman’s acting that the show’s team didn’t immediately realize she was in physical pain.
“All I kept hearing from people after — they were like, ‘Cut. Great reaction, Jessica! That was great!’” Hoffman said.
Indeed, the Broadway veteran said that a challenging part about her role was preparing for the fact that Lange would be channeling a very angry Crawford during some of their scenes together.
“[The toughest part was] probably absorbing Jessica-slash-Joan’s rage because I knew I was dealing with a really brilliant, serious, committed actress, and I knew it would be coming at me, vase and all,” Hoffman said, referring to the flower vessel that a drunken Joan hurled at Mamacita’s head during one episode.
Check out the interview above.