mys for wildly diverse characters on Amer-
ican Horror Story and Grey Gardens. Soon
she’ll tackle the role of a smothering mom
with Munchausen syndrome by proxy in
Net f l i x ’s The Politician (due out Sept. 27). It’s
produced by Ryan Murphy, who’s been re-
sponsible for Jessica’s career renaissance by
casting her on AHS and as Joan Crawford in
Feud. “I like playing characters who are out
there on the edge,” she says. “They can ex-
plode any moment or fall off the precipice.”
It’s a mental state Jessica can sadly identi-fy with, as she’s long battled depression. “I’ve
never been a sunny personality,” she says.
“I’m a solitary person.” But she’s used it in
her art: “You draw on grief, sadness, rage —
those things in your own life,” she says.
SWEET DREAMS
In her later years, Jessica has learned to
lighten up, at least in her home life, if not on-
screen. Having children helped — Ilse and
Adah’s mom, Shura, 38 (with ex-boyfriend
Mikhail Baryshnikov), and daughterHannah,
33 , and son Samuel, 32 (with herlatelongtime
companion, playwright Sam Shepard).
“It opened my heart, mademeadifferent
person,” Jessica says. “I lovedbeinga mother
more than anything else in theworld.”
That is, until she becamea grandmother.
“It’s even more fun — there’sthechanceto
do it again,” she says. “It’s theperfectorderof
nature: You raise your children,andthenthe
next generation comes along.Theyarethe
redemptive force in nature. Plus,it’seasier!”
Even as she admits that “ageismis perva-
sive in this industry — it’s notalevelplay-
ing field for women,” Jessicahasmanagedto
suppress her rage. “You can choosenotto let
things affect you negatively,”shesays.“I’ve
always had such a quick temper.I realize
now it’s such a waste of energy.”
With that epiphany cameahard-earned
peace of mind: “In recent years,”shesays,
“I’ve come to grips with the ideathatyou can
actually choose to be happy.” —BruceFretts“The natural
state of
motherhood
is unselfish-
ness,” says
Jessica,
with
daughter
Shura
Baryshnikov
in 2010.
“ You a re
no longer
the center
of your own
universe.”“When they left home, Ifelt
a huge, empty black hole,”
says Jessica of her kids ,
in cluding the two she had
with Sam Shepard: Samuel
and Hannah.“When I first met Misha, there was
something so familiar about him,
physically, emotionally,” she says
of ex Mikhail Baryshnikov.“I wouldn’t call
Sammy easygo-
ing and funny, but
everybody has
their dark side,”
she’s said of ex
Sam Shepard.