By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — A record-breaking crowd, joined by actors, directors, a playwright and theater critic, gathered at the Westport Library’s “Booked for the Evening” fundraiser on Thursday to honor actress Laura Linney.

Linney, whose credits include the films, “You Can Count on Me, “Mystic River” and “Love Actually;” television series “Tales of the City” and “Ozark,” and numerous Broadway productions, was the twenty-fourth honoree of the library’s annual event.

Accolades for Linney’s work, presented both on video and in person, included remarks by former New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley, actor and director John Benjamin Hickey and playwright Donald Margulies, who recounted their experiences working with Linney to the 500 people attending the event. It was also broadcast to an online audience.

The program was not affected by the strike announced earlier in the day by television and film actors because the job action did not start until midnight Friday, hours after Booked for the Evening ended, according to E.J. Crawford, the library’s marketing and communications director.

“There’s only one Laura Linney, consummate actor … unafraid, intrepid, willing to try new things,” Hickey told the audience. He attended the Julliard School with Linney as a young student, then acted with her years later in “The Crucible.”

Margulies said that playwrights love the characters they create, and “I love the characters that Laura has brought to life.” Her performance in the production of his play, “Time Stands Still” on Broadway, he said, “crackled, it was so thrilling.”

And Brantley described Linney as an actor who “creates portraits of uncommon transparency … as much as any actor working today, she makes every thought visible.”

Linney’s work has been recognized with four primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe awards, and nominations for three Academy Awards and five Tony Awards.

Linney: “I figure out all the secret and hidden things in the character”

Linney described how she brings life to the characters she portrays during a conversation with Lynne Meadow, director of the Manhattan Theater Club, who interviewed the actress on the library stage. 

Meadow asked Linney to explain the process she uses to create memorable characters.

The actress responded that she reads a script carefully many times. “I let the script tell me what to do,” she said. Then she analyzes what the fictional character’s background might have been, where they may have lived in the past, attended school, what might have influenced them to be the kind of person they are now.

“It’s my job to go through and figure out all the secret and hidden things in the character,” she said.

Although Linney has acted in movies, which she said gives her more time to spend with her family, as well as television, she said her true love is theater. When working in live theater, an actor has the opportunity to play a character again and again and to grow in the role over time, she said.

“In theater, you have time,” Linney said. “Time affects your performance, the more you do it — it blooms … The theater is a demanding mistress, but a rewarding one.”

Linney also spoke about the importance of keeping arts alive in a community, especially for children.

“When the arts and a community intersect, it’s a very important part of our culture,” she said. “Arts are a profoundly important thing to keep alive. Time in the arts is never wasted time.”

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist and journalism teacher for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman newspaper for 10 years and teaches journalism at Southern Connecticut State University.