Christine Baranski knows 'the secret to a good slap' and she's not afraid to use it
Who knew there was an art to slapping?
— -- Who knew there was an art to slapping? Award-winning actress Christine Baranski says there is.
“Fortunately I’m a trained stage actor and I’ve slapped people and I know I have been slapped,” Baranski, 64, told ABC News’ “Popcorn with Peter Travers.” “And I know the secret to a good slap is you have to have a relaxed hand. And a lot of the slap you sell.
"But also the person being slapped has to react,” Baranski added, while walking Travers through the motions.
Baranski’s last series, “The Good Wife,” ended when her character, Diane Lockhart, dramatically slapped co-star Julianna Margulies, who played Alicia Flores.
“It had to be a real slap. She wanted to be slapped. And she needed to be slapped because the slap had to be the stunning moment that it was, because the camera immediately after that slap ... cut to her face,” Baranski said. “And the series ended on her reaction to the slap.”
Now, Baranski is returning to the world of "The Good Wife" with a spin-off centered on her character, "The Good Fight."
“I always thought it was an enormous contribution to the culture that the writers presented a woman like that,” Baranski told Travers of Diane Lockhart. “I have so many women come up to me and say, 'We love your character. We love that we can see that kind of character. Or, we know women like that.'"
She added, “Women are doing a lot in the world. They’re running institutions and governments. We have women senators. We have Elizabeth Warrens out there.”
At the same time, Baranski has also taken on a part-time role as the mother of Leonard on the hit series “The Big Bang Theory.” It’s a character she says has become recognized around the world.
“I cannot tell you, often I’m stopped because I’m Leonard’s mother. I’ve only done maybe six episodes of that show, maybe seven and three of them were Skyped because I couldn’t make it to LA,” Baranski said. “I went to Ireland on a visit to Dublin. I was stopped by more young people for being Leonard's mother. I’ve done a lot of work in my career, but I am Leonard’s mother."
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Baranski added that she’s in a good place now.
“How lucky am I? How many actresses at this point have a role like this, you’re on your own show. It shoots in New York. I have an offer to do a play this summer. I may or may not do it. Or I may take a course at Oxford. There’s no downside.”
Be sure to watch the video above for Peter Travers' full interview with Christine Baranski, including her rousing rendition of "I'm Still Here."
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