BeatBoxBetty Interviews DEBRA WINGER about her return to Hollywood in BIG BAD LOVE!

Much like her infamous rough ride on Urban Cowboy's mechanical bull, DEBRA WINGER has been up, down and everywhere in between.

She first decided to become an actress after surviving an accident that left her paralyzed and blinded for months. So what would be her first big gig? As Lynda Carter's little sister on the popular "Wonder Woman" TV series.

Debra eventually landed the lead in "Urban Cowboy," mixing her throaty, no nonsense sex appeal with John Travolta - - thus a match was made in movie heaven. She then shared the screen with the likes of Richard Gere in "An Officer and a Gentleman" and she received an Oscar nom as Shirley MacLaine's cancer stricken daughter in "Terms of Endearment."

So what happened to the 80s "IT" girl? Winger made it painfully clear that she wasn't going to play the Hollywood game - - and so Hollywood bit back. If she'd rather stop making movies than appear in something she didn't feel good about, the wait would be long... FIVE years long.

But now Debra's back in the saddle again in BIG BAD LOVE, a film written, directed and co-starring her husband ARLISS HOWARD...

Debra Winger and hubby Arliss Howard on set in Big Bad Love.

Photo - IFC Films

BETTY: How does it feel to be back in this business we call show?
DEBRA: It didn't feel like I had been away. It's a very natural approach that I take. In other words, if you're the type of actress that is researching and preparing, the camera getting turned on should just be a coincidence. It can also act as an inspiration - to know that that moment in time is being recorded.... I always use the camera to wake me up.

BETTY: What was it about "Big Bad Love" that made you want to dive back in?
DEBRA: It seemed age appropriate and because it [divorce] is so prevalent in our culture. I'm an ex-wife as well as a wife and I loved investigating the whole idea of ex-dom. We don't hear too much about ex-husbands but we all hear about the ex-wife! That's why I loved what Arliss gave me... he wasn't spelling it out for everyone. He was asking the audience to figure a few things out.

BETTY: What sort of things do you see in movies today that irk you?
DEBRA: [Laughs] The youth thing is getting old. As with everything else in our culture, why does it take over? It's great if women want facial surgery, but for those of us who don't, let us be seen as well. Just look at the studios - the executives are always young too! But the one pet peeve I have is this soundtrack thing. Our soundtrack is an important part of telling of the story. There isn't some song tagged on there with a big artist to get a Grammy nomination.

BETTY: I understand that you were the film's producer as well as lead actress. Do you have the bug now or are you so over it?
DEBRA: All of those things. Because of the way that it happened... other producers couldn't fulfill all of the obligations... they wanted us to shut down. But Arliss and I had momentum and we had a crew and cast. It was also the time of the impending strike, so I had to do it. So I took it on and it worked but I can't say that I can calibrate what the experience would be like again. I do know that next time, I will have a staff!

BETTY: Your husband has described you as an "iconic" performer. Especially since so many of the films were so characteristic of that time period, does that make your job as an actress more difficult?
DEBRA: Certainly. Hopefully you don't let it bleed into your next choice. That's what I call "thingdom." Looking for the next big thing.... luckily, I never looked at it that way so the fear was not that great.

"Urban Cowboy" was just a part of Americana that was just waiting to be told. When they're ready to happen - like with "An Officer And A Gentleman" - for whatever reason, it was a reaction to the 60s and a love story about a girl who pulled herself up. I don't think the film caused it, but it propelled it. Maybe we can tell that story again. These independent films a really telling the stories of our lives.

BETTY: Under what circumstances would you want to continue working in films?
DEBRA: Show me the story. I just want to tell a story that pulls me forward. Granted there are only seven stories in the universe. And I agree with that. But give me a great variation of those stories. And literate. Give me a literate script. I got to do "Shadowlands" and "A Dangerous Woman" and that was a dream come true.

Debra and Arliss and friend in Big Bad Love.

Photo - IFC Films

BETTY: We've heard stories, but how did you really break it off with Hollywood?
DEBRA: I stopped reading the scripts. For the first two years I just needed to step away. I just never really stepped back, until now. And Hollywood has a very short memory. Nobody was really clambering for me. I don't have any illusions about that. But I hope it comes from the passion of a director. The desire for the right actress should always come from the director. Not some studio putting a package together.

BETTY: So what is Hollywood's problem?
DEBRA: We are so fixated on physical youth. But that's not my world. I see what women look like at my age and I don't see that on the screen. Some people will say that they want to see the "perfect" woman. That's why they can't go above a certain age - the ultimate scene stealer is gravity...

BETTY: That's why the great Blues artists - as old as they are - are so in tune with their craft. They write their own material and they don't have any middlemen mucking it all up.
DEBRA: That's right. There are no interruptions from the light, believe me. No separation between their life and their music and the appearances they make and the ones they cancel. It's wholesomeness; the whole person bringing all of what they are to what they're doing.

BETTY: In regards to to our country's problem with ageism, do you think we'll see a change anytime soon?
DEBRA: I happen to be interested in watching a face age. I like faces of women aging so it makes me personally quite sad. That's a beautiful gift from God. If people don't want to see that anymore then I won't be in anymore movies.

BETTY: Your husband says you're ferocious. Do you feel that way?
DEBRA: The ferocity is the fuel but I know not where it comes from. But it's my passion for life. I've had enough experiences in life - like my accident - and I have a healthy respect for elderly people - all these things have an impact. I just live in the truth and think that every moment counts.