It makes sense that the script for writer-director Josh Margolin’s feature debut, “Thelma,” ended up in June Squibb’s hands not through her agent but via her “The Humans” co-star Beanie Feldstein, who thought Squibb would be perfect for the role of a sweet-natured nonagenarian who, swindled out of $10,000 by a phone scammer, decides to get her money back. After 70-plus years in the performing arts, it seems like everyone who works with Squibb, now 95, walks away admiring her wry comic timing, naturalistic delivery and preparation. And why not? She’s been at it since her grandparents earned free beers in exchange for the young Squibb’s tap dancing on varnished-wood bars in Vandalia, Ill.
Squibb can regale you with tales of working on cruise ships, in regional theater and on film and TV. But it wasn’t until 2013, after her Oscar-nominated performance as a blunt-talking matriarch in Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska,” that Hollywood recognized her as a powerhouse. Since “Thelma,” her first starring role, Squibb can feel the increased attention as soon as she steps out her front door.
“There’s been a lot more hellos,” she says of the neighbors in her sprawling San Fernando Valley apartment complex. “Thelma” is loosely based on true events. Did you use Josh Margolin’s grandmother as source material? I did a bit.
Josh gave me short films of Thelma going to the supermarket, having a birthday party, being in the car. I saw her physically and began to.
