Annie Starke
Photography: Frederic Auerbach
Creative director: Deborah Ferguson
Interview by Tim Greiving
You grew up in Bedford, New York?
I did, yeah. That was kind of my primary home base. My folks spent a lot of time in New York City, so I always kind of say I’m half and half. And my dad always lived in Brookhaven, Long Island, so in a way I kind of have three home bases. But most of my time as a kid was in Bedford, which was lovely.
What is Bedford like?
It’s great. It’s a little under an hour north of the city. Lots of country roads. Lots of barefoot time. It was awesome. It was a great place to be a kid, honestly. A lot of hanging out in fields catching tadpoles [laughs] and picking ticks out of your hair.
Was that stuff you’d do by yourself or with friends?
I was raised an only kid. I have a half-sister, but she’s ten years younger than me, and she grew up in Sag Harbor. So I constantly was just with a stream of friends and family friends that would come in. It was very rarely a quiet house [laughs]. Lots of activity at all given times. It didn’t feel like I was an only kid, to be honest. I had friends long enough to call them family.
So you didn’t spend an especially large amount of time alone growing up?
No, never. I think my parents made a very big effort, and I’m grateful for it, to constantly have friends and family around.
What is your dad like? We know a lot more about your mom, obviously.
Oh, he’s amazing. My dad, he’s a producer, but he’s an unbelievable presence. He has one of the most wicked senses of humor I’ve ever really come across, and very grateful to say that I have that kind of sense of humor in the family. He’s a very loud Long Islander. He’s a man that loves to fish, first and foremost. I think he absolutely would have been a fisherman if he was born a few generations earlier.
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Would you go fishing with him?
Oh, all the time. Yeah, I still do. I actually just saw him last night, and he was saying how big the striped bass are right now [laughs].
Are you good?
No. I’m awful. He is. I don’t really care, though. People get bored in fishing, I really don’t. I love it.
Was that a primary bonding time for you and him?
Yeah. He and I spent a lot of time on the water. He still lives to this day in a place called Brookhaven, Long Island, which is right on the beautiful Long Island Sound. So, still go fishing a lot, and the summer was always clamming and all kinds of stuff. Unfortunately, Hurricane Sandy really changed the Sound a lot, so the beach that we used to go to as a family unfortunately, literally doesn’t exist anymore—which is a big crisis, a big loss in the family.
What else were you into growing up? What kind of hobbies did you have besides fishing and barefoot adventures?
I used to be a horseback rider for years. My parents are horse people, so that was another big thing. I basically was just a feral kid, surrounded by animals [laughs].
Did you have a lot of pets?
I did. I always say I didn’t have siblings, I had pets [laughs].
Was there a particularly special one to you?
I had a dog named Jake, who actually died not too long ago. He lived until he was 17, believe it or not. Just this ancient little scrappy, snaggletooth rescue that we got in Montana. He was my soulmate.
When did you get started on the equestrian thing?
God. Competitively, when I was probably five or six. Started riding, though, extremely early—I would say four. I remember the helmet didn’t really fit my head. I had to stuff it with tissue paper so it wouldn’t go over my eyes. Probably not the safest protocol.
How do you feel like all this time with animals, and time in nature, shaped your personality?
Owning animals, I think, is really a beautiful thing for a little kid to experience. I think it teaches you a lot about responsibility, and empathy, and caring for another living creature. It’s also just a mutual, beneficial relationship that you have with a dog. I think anybody that is a dog lover will say that their life is literally made better. My dog that I have right now, he’s what you call a “release dog,” which is a really nice way of saying a reject [laughs]. He was supposed to be a service dog for a wounded war veteran, through an incredible program called Puppies Behind Bars. Just learning about that program, and seeing the unbelievable effects that dogs have, on a very deep level, on soldiers and people with very severe disability… Not only have I experienced firsthand, but I’ve seen with my own two eyes the power the animal kingdom has on one’s soul.
What subjects in school did you gravitate towards or thrive on?
I’m horrifically ADD. I struggled in math like you wouldn’t even believe. I would say I’m probably dyslexic. But I always excelled in the arts—you know, art and English and comprehensive writing and the humanities. I actually love science, for some reason, just because you can kind of teach physics if you have a good teacher in like a fun way. But I was just the worst at math. I struggled so much at it, and still to this day I use my fingers to count when I add up a tip [laughs].
Where did you go to high school?
I went to high school in New Canaan, Connecticut. In a school called St. Luke’s. I hated it [laughs].
Is it a Catholic school?
It sounds like it. No, it’s non-denominational. It was just a WASPy school in Connecticut, unfortunately.
Why did you hate it?
I just… I don’t know. High school’s weird. I had lovely friends. You know, I didn’t suffer like unfortunately I know some people do. But it just so seemed like a phase in my life, if that makes sense. I feel like people either love high school or they hated it. I would never go back.
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Did you spend a lot of time on set with your mom growing up?
I did. Especially when I was younger, and then as school became more intensive I didn’t much. But a lot of my childhood memories happened on a set—which is weird, and also kind of great.
Would you sit there and watch her as she performed?
Sometimes. I knew to be quiet. People would make it a fun game so I would actually be quiet. I would always watch. Gosh, it’s so interesting if you really just watch, about the goings-on in front of the camera and behind. So many kind of fun things to see as a kid.
What were some of the more memorable set visits?
Oh man… [101] Dalmatians, for sure. Lots of puppies. It was pretty great. The craziest thing about that experience is the unbelievable training. I mean, so much of what happened—especially in the first one—those animals actually did. Obviously CGI was very advanced back then, but it wasn’t what it is now. So it was truly incredible to see what they were able to teach those dogs, and even squirrels were doing really advanced looking tricks.
Did the experience of being on set demystify the world of Hollywood for you, or even make it seem boring?
No, never boring. Never ever. I don’t know if “demystify” is the word for it. It just opened up to me. It was just the world that I was lucky enough to be a part of, and to love so much. I remember thinking to myself at an extremely young age that I always wanted to be a part of this world. I know this sounds really cheesy, but it’s just part of who you are.
Did you have your eye on acting from a really young age?
Yeah. It’s funny—I kept it as a secret. Obviously having grown up with it and seeing the good, the bad, and the extremely ugly [laughs], so even from a young age I was very hyper-aware of what it was, and I think it would give anybody pause. So I actively tried, I think, for a long time to deny what I wanted to do in this world. I’m glad that I accepted it.
Why were you hiding it?
Just because I certainly knew the craziness that comes with the profession. It’s interesting, because my mother does what she does, but also my dad was behind the camera. So in a real sense I have gotten a real education about what goes into this line of work. And even from a young age, I’ve been very hyper-aware of what it takes and what it can do to you, and what it can do to a family. So I guess I was hoping to talk myself out of it.
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In college you studied art history.
I did. Still a huge passion. I think if I wasn’t doing what I’m doing now, I would be some kind of visual artist, for sure.
When you picked that as your major, were you on a trajectory towards that career? Were you still suppressing the acting urge at that time?
Oh, absolutely. Full suppression.
When did you take the plunge?
When I graduated. Nothing came as a surprise to anyone. But when I graduated, I immediately went into doing off-Broadway. I think my parents probably regret me going to college [laughs], but it was certainly a journey, I think, to self-acceptance and realization.
Did your parents discourage you from you going into showbiz?
Not my mom. My dad was a bit worried. Bless him. I think he was hoping I went into fishing or boat-making. Of course being parents, and being parents that have been in this industry for years and years ever since they were extremely young, I’m sure it would freak anybody else out. I get it.
What advice did your mom give you when you first started to act?
Courage. I mean, this is something I already knew, but it’s full of rejection, it’s full of really trying times for the soul and for one’s self-confidence. I think if you work hard, if you have a very strong work ethic, if you give everything that you have into a role that you’re lucky enough to play, and if you are really happy with the work that you’ve done as a result… that’s really all you can do. And just to be proud of what you do, but to work hard for that pride. I’ve learned that not just from my mom, but extremely much so from my dad. In any profession you have to work extremely hard to stand on your own two feet, but some are more focused on the individual than others. But if you put in the hard work and you give your blood, so to speak, hopefully the universe will be kind in return.
Your mom obviously casts a shadow. What does her shadow mean to you?
I try not to look at it as a shadow. I just try to look at it as inspiration. We just are two souls that happen to be related, that love the same craft. Honestly, I think other people view it as a shadow. It’s just really lovely to be able to share something so strong and so powerful with somebody that you love. I certainly look to her for advice and inspiration when I need it, and vice versa. I also have a different last name, so I milk that [laughs].
Yes, but then you go and play her younger self!
Yeah, I know. The script was too good to pass up. I had do it.
What was most appealing about your character in The Wife?
That character, and a huge source of inspiration for both of us, was my grandmothers. They were both married quite young to men who had very strong, very engaging careers. And, on both sides of the family, it was a question of what could have been. My mom’s mom in particular. She was married when she was 18. She was a woman of literally limitless intelligence. I’ve never seen a person read so much as my grandma. Just had libraries of books, and she basically just had an unbelievable memory for all kinds of things. She never had a career, she never was encouraged to go to college, she never was really encouraged to do anything for herself. Meaning she was very much a product of the 1950s. She certainly felt the stereotypical pressures that we hear so much about pertaining to that era. I always had a lot of private conversations with my grandmothers about their past, about their interests, about their trajectories in life. And I really want to be careful in saying that, they never, ever told me—and I believe them—that they regretted the paths they took. They certainly accepted it, and loved their families and their lives that resulted. But I know that they wondered what could have been. My dad’s mom was an extraordinary woman—she actually was a chemist when she was young. She worked for GE, and she met my grandpa and married him, and his career kind of took over. She actually was part of the team that discovered fluorescent lighting. If she didn’t work for GE, she would have been able to file for some kind of patent, which was incredible. She also apparently worked on the Manhattan Project. She had a prolific career even when she was really young, and you can’t help but wonder what could have happened if she stuck with it. But she didn’t. And, again, if she were here she would say that that was her choice, and she made it. But, I mean, come on. You have to wonder, right?
I assume you’re not solely interested in playing young versions of your mom’s characters, so what are some types of roles you’d love to sink your teeth into?
I would love to do something exploring the darkness of the human condition. Would love to do some Fargos or something like that [laughs]. But at the same time, I would love to do some comedy. Rose Byrne is a dear friend of mine, and I love what she’s done with her career. She could do both extremely messed up stuff and be hilarious. So, you know, a girl can dream, I guess [laughs].
Credits
Photography: Frederic Auerbach
Creative director: Deborah Ferguson
Interview : Tim Greiving
Layout and art direction: Charlotte Lethbridge
Make up : Kai using Retrouve
Hair: Rick Caroto using Kenra
