Tony nominee Glenda Jackson on Broadway accolades: ‘You can only feel grateful’

Two-time Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson has returned to acting after she left Hollywood to work in Parliament. Now, Jackson is a Tony award nominee for her role in Edward Albee’s "Three Tall Women."

Critic Peter Travers calls Jackson’s role "one of the most extraordinary performances you’ll see in the theater today."

The British actress, who is celebrating her 82nd birthday today, talked to Peter Travers about her performances that have garnered thunderous applause and standing ovations.

"Well, we don’t do standing ovations in my country, so it’s always a surprise," Jackson said. "There’s something so generous and direct and immediate about it. You can only feel grateful."

Download the all new "Popcorn With Peter Travers" podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Tunein, Google Play Music and Stitcher.

Jackson praised her co-stars for helping to make her return to the stage a memorable experience.

"One of the really big plusses is that I’m working with two remarkable actresses, Laurie Metcalf and Alison Pill," she said. "They’re just amazing. And usually you don’t have that opportunity to work with actresses because there is still a marked dearth of contemporary writers finding women interesting."

Jackson added, "It’s been exactly the same all my professional life. There was a period where the woman was there to prove that the hero wasn’t gay. It was one of those bizarre things. But to work with actresses of this caliber is certainly one of the big plusses."

Jackson, Metcalf and Pill play three women of different ages talking about their lives and their relationships with their families. Gradually it’s revealed that they are all manifestations of Jackson’s character in different periods in her life.

Jackson told Travers that, outside of the acting world, she lives a "very ordinary, dull" life in a basement flat with a garden. Her son and her family, including a young grandson, live in the same house above her. She said her grandson once tried to teach her how to use a cell phone.

"I get a mobile phone and they teach me how to use it in the shop. And I come home and it rings and I don’t know how to connect it," Jackson said. "So I said to my grandson, 'Show me how it works.'

"So a couple of days later, the phone goes, and I said to him 'come on, I don’t know how to use it,'" she continued. "He was 8 at the time. He said to me, ‘I’ve shown you how to do this three times. I’ll do it once more!’ And that was it and I thought, 'fine, I will remain a luddite.'"

Be sure to watch the full interview with Peter Travers and Glenda Jackson in the video above.