An Interview With Cicely Tyson

Charles Michael Smith: How did you come to get the role of Miss Moffat in The Corn Is Green?
Cicely Tyson: It was offered to me by Elizabeth Taylor. I assume it was done primarily because she had this company that they put together and they had three plays to do. They made three choices, one was for Miss Moffat. She called me. I don't know if she called me specifically with this play in mind or not. She did say to me that she wanted me to be a part of the company and that I could make any choice I wanted but that she felt that The Corn Is Green would be a good vehicle for me to do. It had been offered to me several years prior to Elizabeth's offer before Katharine Hepburn  did [it]. Another set of producers were going to do it for Broadway and I rejected it at the time. I rejected it primarily because they adapted it for a black cast. I felt they were doing it to accommodate my color. I did not like the final results of the script. So I just assumed that when it came around again for the second time that there had to be something there or otherwise it wouldn't keep coming my way.

CMS: How do you perceive the character you play?
CT: I perceive the character [Miss Moffat] first as a human being whose primary interest is in the salvation of the minds of those children who are buried in a [Welsh] coalmine by the power structure. I consider it as timely now as it was then. [Author's note: The play, originally done on Broadway in 1940, is set in late 19th-century Wales.] She [Miss Moffat] is really no different than Marva Collins [the black Chicago schoolteacher]. The only difference between these two women is the color of their skin. Marva went after the children in the ghettos that were considered incorrigibles, retards, delinquents, et cetera. Miss Moffat goes after the children in the mines who never even had a chance or an opportunity to realize that they can develop a talent if in fact they have one.

CMS: Then the race of this character is totally irrelevant to you?
CT: As far as I'm concerned, absolutely. Because I'm dealing with the humanity of the person which comes first regardless of race, creed, or color. That's what I went after. My parents are from the British West Indies and just like slaves were taken from Africa to America and other parts of the world, they were also taken to Britain. So it is not inconceivable to me that the woman could have been black.
My main objective actually, and I think I have achieved it, is to get people to come to the theatre and after the first few minutes having seen this black woman who is Cicely Tyson, who is an actress, they completely forget about color and they deal with the piece. That's what's important to me. In addition to doing that, if that is successful and that has been successful, it will open the door for other black actresses to get work in plays that are not specifically written [for a]black.

CMS: What criteria do you use to select a role?
CT: Either my skin tingles or my stomach churns.

CMS: Do you read critics's reviews?
CT: I do not read reviews. I [don't] do that because I think I'm a better judge of where I am in relation to where I want to go when I'm working on a role and I don't let anything, anyone upset that judgment. It's mine. I think I am my staunchest critic.

CMS: Do you see yourself as a role model in the black community?
CT: Judging from the pile of mail that I receive, it's a tremendous responsibility. It's a responsibility I really respect and cherish.

CMS: Do you prefer to work in film or on the stage?
CT: It's the role that determines where I work. I go after the role. I get tremendous gratification from creating a role that's challenging and that determines where I go. I would have done any character that I've played during my career anywhere. I'd [have] done it off off off Broadway just to have the experience. I would not have turned down a role like Jane Pittman if it were done in a basement. Of course, being in front of a live audience is very stimulating. A live audience let's you know immediately whether you're accomplishing your goal. The response or the gratification is immediate. When you do film or television or for feature film, you have to wait until it airs which is sometimes a whole year.


This is an excerpt from an interview that was originally published on the Inquiry Page of USA Today in 1983. The interview with Cicely Tyson was done via telephone.