That lifelong devotion to performing has rubbed off on her co-star Amy Morton, who plays Barbara, the daughter who takes on Violet. "Estelle has so much stamina and so much energy, and she has stayed working and never retired," Morton said. "She's quite the opposite of Violet, but let's hope everyone is the opposite of that character."
Morton, who has portrayed Barbara since August: Osage County had its premiere at the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago last summer and is onstage longer than any other character, understands a thing or two about how grueling the play can be to perform.
"I don't know that I'll be able to do this play at 80," Morton said. "And Estelle didn't have the luxury of the rehearsal process that the original cast had. Most of her rehearsals for three weeks was blocking with the understudies. She was just sort of thrown onstage."
Being in shape took on a new meaning for Parsons after she won a supporting-actress Oscar in 1968 for Bonnie and Clyde, playing Clyde's sister-in-law.
"I started doing a lot of hiking after Bonnie and Clyde because I just had to run away," she said. "It's very hard when you're in a movie that big. You become notorious, and people often bothered me in public."
This led her to the Appalachian Mountain Club, an outdoors group. "Those people I hiked with hardly ever knew who I was," she said. "Maybe they didn't go to the movies. It was just a completely different orientation."
She and her husband, the lawyer Peter Zimroth, have been fitness enthusiasts for years now. This commitment is part of a lifelong routine handed down from her self-proclaimed "Swedish peasant" roots. It has also led to a balance of city and country living.
"The outdoor activity is great fun, and it's such a change from urban life," she said. "But listen, I'm a theater person. I'm not going to give up my life to go sit in the woods."
When her fellow Steppenwolf alumnae Laurie Metcalf and Rondi Reed (who also won a Tony for August: Osage County) suggested the role of Violet to her over lunch one day, Parsons said she hesitated but was thrilled with the idea of returning to Broadway.
"After meeting Deanna backstage after I signed on, I called my agent and asked, 'Listen, am I a lamb being led to the slaughter?'" Parsons recalled. "Deanna seemed to think that doing eight shows a week was nearly impossible."
But after more than a month in the role, Parsons says she's up for the challenge.
"Estelle doesn't even consider this role daunting," Morton said. "She considers it fun. She's always amazed that people say that she should be exhausted."
Parsons doesn't want to dwell on the physical demands of the role, however, and shrugs off the notion that it is a feat for an octogenarian.
"I don't like to feel like a freak," she said. "I don't want people coming to the show just to see what an 80-year-old looks like onstage. Isn't that what actresses do? They just keep on working."
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