Charmed kind of life: Susan Sarandon on Ray Donovan 

Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon joins the drama Ray Donovan’s Season Five as Samantha Winslow, the feisty head of a motion picture studio. Sarandon, who recently starred alongside Jessica Lange in FX’s Feud: Bette and Joan, is known for winning the best actress Oscar for Dead Man Walking, along with four other Oscar nominations, eight Golden Globe and five Screen Actors Guild nominations. She received her fourth Emmy nomination in 2010, for her work in Barry Levinson’s You Don’t Know Jack with Al Pacino, following a lead actress nomination in the film Bernard and Doris, and two previous guest actress nominations in a comedy series (Friends, Malcolm in the Middle).
In Ray Donovan, she co-stars with Jon Voight, Paula Malcomson, Eddie Marsan, Dash Mihok, Steven Bauer, Katherine Moennig, Pooch Hall, Kerris Dorsey and Devon Bagby, as Liev Schreiber playing LA’s best professional fixer – one who makes the city’s celebrities, superstar athletes and business moguls’ most complicated and combustible situations go away. Excerpts from an interaction — 

You look gorgeous in Feud. And now we’re looking forward to seeing you in Ray Donovan. How do you stay so energetic? 
I keep thinking I’m younger, and I feel that inside! The secret — I mean, honestly, I think staying engaged, curious and having a good time, is really a lot of it. Also, not smoking is really important. I think that staying hydrated and not doing anything too extreme, too…Also I’m not really a drinker. I think a little bit of wine in moderation is probably good, but if you drink heavily it’s not great. But I guess it also depends on good genes, and for that, I would like to thank my mother.

You’ve been having a lot of fun on television over the last few years — in dramas, and even as voice cast. Do you find the small-screen roles to be as fulfilling and enjoyable as the big screen work?
It all depends on who the director and the cast is. In a film, you are given the script and you don’t have to worry about what happens next. While in a show, sometimes you don’t have a script and you make it up as you go along. But then, eventually, you just have to have fun. 

In particular, what drives you to strong characters? And how satisfying are these roles to you? 
I think I have always had a need for justice that was inexplicable, that started back in the 1960s and 70s, when you actually saw on TV what was going on with Vietnam and with the integration of the South (America) and it became cloudier for people as news changed or operations became more important. But I think I have the ability to connect people with information they aren’t getting. 

What considerations go into your choice of scripts? What are the things that put you off?
I liked the fact that I can work on various subjects. Throughout my career, I have worked in comedy, drama, thrillers… I like dabbling in them all.

What interested you about the character of Samantha Winslow? Importantly, how does this fit in with your personal concerns about the media, and ongoing present-day political goings-on in America?
A lot of good actors are part of Ray Donovan... so I just jumped. There is no similarity between the character and me, which is why it becomes exciting to play. I very rarely get to play characters that are powerful, so it’s interesting.

In the new season, how much of a threat to Ray Donovan is Winslow going to be? If we joined forces, we would be a major threat to everyone. How was it to be sharing screen space with Liev Schrieber?
I think he’s brilliant. He is an actor who thinks of the whole, and not just his part. He thinks of the director and he does more with fewer words than anybody I have ever worked with in my life.The expression, “Find the thing you love the most and let it kill you”, has caught on since the release of the show’s trailer. 

How would you deal with such a sentiment in real life? 
It’s a quote by (the late German-American writer) Charles Bukowski. I guess it means engaging in the things you love to the extreme – to surrender to your passion. But really, Sam is just being threatening.

Ray Donovan Season Five airs every Sunday at 11 pm only on AXN.