A Few Minutes with...Betty Jo Tucker and her new Susan Sarandon book

Betty Jo Tucker has a new book coming out very soon called "Susan Sarandon: A True Maverick" via Hats Off Books. It will be available on Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, Wheatmark.com and through special order at local bookstores by the first of April. We decided to spend a few minutes with Betty Jo to discuss Susan Sarandon's remarkable career in films.

Q: Susan Sarandon first became a major film star in the mid-1970s. Unlike many of her peers from that era, she still commands a high level of stardom. What do you attribute to her long-standing success?

BETTY JO TUCKER: I like to call it the Mona Lisa Factor – she's not getting older, just more valuable (okay, I stole that from a Hallmark birthday card). And, yes, Sarandon's certainly displayed a remarkable staying power in a business where glamour and youth seem necessary for success. In addition to her incredible talent, obvious sex appeal and physical beauty, she projects a comfort about her age. Remember how she began playing mother roles early on – way back in 1978 with "Pretty Baby"? Most actresses in their early thirties avoid appearing as someone's on-screen mother, but Sarandon followed that film with another mother role in "King of the Gypsies." She's portrayed all kinds of mothers – good ones, bad ones, outrageous ones. In fact, I'm convinced Sarandon is well on her way to becoming the "mother of all film moms." "Pretty Baby," "Little Women," "King of the Gypsies," "Lorenzo's Oil," "Safe Passage," "The Buddy System," "Anywhere but Here," "Stepmom," "Igby Goes Down," "The Banger Sisters," "Moonlight Mile" – that's quite a list. According to Sarandon, mothers have always been played in movies like there's one kind of mother. "I'm striving to make these roles more than just mothers – but also real women," she says.

Sarandon's willingness to take on unsympathetic, even obnoxious roles has also helped her maintain a longstanding film career. She reminds me of great actresses from the past who worked successfully after age 50. To me, Sarandon combines the charisma of Joan Crawford with Maureen O'Hara's feistiness and Bette Davis's on-screen authority. I can imagine her doing "Mildred Pierce," "The Little Foxes" and "The Quiet Man" with equal aplomb.

Q. Which performances do you feel are Sarandon's finest? And, at the risk of being catty, which performances are among her weakest?

BETTY JO TUCKER: Let's do risk being catty. Sarandon's weakest work can be seen in "Compromising Positions," a comic mystery based on Susan Isaac's novel. This is the one where Sarandon plays a bored suburban housewife turned amateur sleuth who joins forces with a detective to solve the murder of a philandering dentist. It's not an awful performance, just not up to her usual high standards. Perhaps Sarandon's turn as the aging actress in "Twilight" should also be mentioned here. Not much of her usual energy and charisma comes through in that role.

I think Sarandon gave her most unforgettable performances in "Atlantic City," "Bull Durham," "The Client," "Thelma & Louise," "Lorenzo's Oil," "Dead Man Walking" and "Moonlight Mile." My favorite? Her portrayal of a far-from-perfect lawyer in "The Client." I understand John Grisham wrote attorney Reggie Love with Sarandon in mind, and director Joel Schumacher actually got down on one knee pleading with her to join the cast. I'm so glad she agreed! Sarandon brought Reggie to life as a character magnificent to behold – intelligent, combative and vulnerable. Of course, her Oscar-winning performance as Sister Prejean in "Dead Man Walking" is in a class by itself.

Q. Sarandon was a target of intense criticism by conservative political pundits for her impassioned statements against the American war in Iraq. She was clearly not the only major entertainment figure to speak against the war, but she seemed to be singled out for conservative criticism. Why do you feel she was made to be the target of such attacks?

BETTY JO TUCKER: Because so many people listen to her. One person I interviewed said, "Susan Sarandon has an inner force." Our own Kamal "The Diva" Larsuel declared, "There are few people I would stand on in the front line with, and Susan is one of them. If I could afford it, all she would have to do is call me and I'd meet her anywhere in the world and stand in solidarity." Being the target of conservative political pundits – or of conservatives in general – is nothing new for Sarandon. Passionate and outspoken, she's often in the eye of the storm because of her causes and her unconventional lifestyle. It's a wonder she hasn't lost her sense of humor about all this. I absolutely loved her reaction to being named the Ten of Hearts in NewsMax's Deck of Weasels at the beginning of the Iraq war. "I am elated to know there were enough people to make a full deck," she told People Magazine.

Q. Where do you see Sarandon's career heading into the next decade? Hollywood has been notoriously stingy in giving quality roles to older women, so do you believe she can continue to receive the quality and quantity of roles we've come to expect from her?

BETTY JO TUCKER: I predict great things for Sarandon during the next decade. According to Chris Baker of The Susan Sarandon Site, his favorite actress is considering or has already agreed to the following projects: "Alfie," "Shall We Dance?", "Romance and Cigarettes," "Rialto," "Denial," "The Gold Coast," "Enchanted," "Quietus," "A Whale in Montana," "Hot Flashes," "A Class Divided and "Straight Man." And Brad Silberling, writer/director of "Moonlight Mile," told me he's writing something for Sarandon that will surprise her.

No matter how much her critics speak out – some even demanding a boycott of her movies – I think Sarandon will continue to be pursued for multiple film projects. And why not? As Nathaniel Rogers of FilmExperience.com explains: "Susan Sarandon makes aging seem ridiculously sexy. She's like fine wine. She subverted typecasting and went from a hot-blooded red hot actress to celebrity earth mother and didn't loose her sensuality in the process. It's all about longevity – Sarandon has outlasted them all."