NEW YORK, NY – by Markos Papadatos [Photo Credit: Diana Ragland]
Academy Award nominee June Squibb (“Nebraska”) chatted with Markos Papadatos about starring in “Eleanor the Great” and in “Marjorie Prime” on Broadway. She also opened up about her Greek family, love for Greece and visiting Greece.
Helen Keller once said: “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” This quote applies to veteran actress June Squibb, 96.
Squibb on her connection to Greece
Squibb revealed that her second husband, Charles Kakatsakis, was Greek.
“My husband, Charles Kakatsakis, and his family were from Crete, and his mother was from Samos,” she said. “They were immigrants here in this country. He was the first generation born here.”
“I loved visiting Greece in the ’60s. It was great. I loved all the food. He wooed me by taking me to the Greek restaurants in New York City,” she said. “I enjoyed those tremendously.”
“We went over to Greece. I had just done ‘The Happy Time’ on Broadway, and I had been working for about a year with that. We took my husband’s mother. She had family in Piraeus. We took her over there, we were in Athens and then to Crete, and it was just a wonderful trip,” she recalled.
“We were there for about three weeks… This was in the late ’60s, so it has been quite a while. So, it was a lovely time, and I did love Greece dearly. I would love to go back,” she acknowledged.
“Our son, Harry, is very proud of his Greekness. He still goes by Kakatsakis; that’s his name,” she added.
‘Lost & Found in Cleveland’
Squibb stars as Gladys in “Lost & Found in Cleveland,” which was directed by Keith Gerchak and Marisa Guterman.
“That was great! We opened in theaters in November of 2025. It was great to reunite with Stacy Keach. It was so great to see him and to work with him again. We had a lot of fun doing that film.”
‘Thelma’
Squibb also played the titular role in the comedic film “Thelma.” “That was great! It was a wonderful experience. The whole shoot was so relaxed, and the people were wonderful.
“Richard Roundtree was so great, and Fred Hechinger played my grandson. This was all so new to writer and director Josh Margolin, but he was brilliant at it,” she noted.
“The movie ‘Thelma’ did very, very well. It really did. It played a lot longer than anyone ever expected it would,” she added.
‘Eleanor the Great’
On starring in “Eleanor the Great,” directed by Scarlett Johansson, she remarked, “That was lovely. It was a great experience working with Scarlett. The ‘Eleanor’ cast was great as well. We filmed it in New York, which was fun. Everything was shot there.”
Playing Eleanor
Squibb was drawn to her character (Eleanor) for several reasons. “Well, I think as Tory Kamen wrote the character, she just shows so many emotions,” Squibb said.
“Eleanor is just so open. Also, whatever she is thinking comes through, and I love that. I think it’s very unusual to get an older character as flushed out as Eleanor was,” she explained.
Lessons learned from the ‘Eleanor the Great’ screenplay
On the lessons learned from this screenplay, Squibb reflected, “Eleanor was her own woman, and I think that I appreciated that a lot. She took responsibility for herself, but she was her own woman, and she lived her life as she wanted to live it.”
“From ‘Eleanor the Great,’ I want people to get what friendship means,” Squibb said. “I think what Bessie meant to Eleanor is very important in that film. That’s why Eleanor does what she does because of her love for Bessie. Friendships means a great deal, and I think that’s what you see in Eleanor.”
Her portrayal of Eleanor has been generating Oscar buzz this awards season. “I don’t know if that will happen, but it’s lovely that people think that,” she said.
This marks back-to-back leading movie roles for Squibb. “Everybody laughingly says that I only do films now with my name, or the name of the character that I play,” she noted. “I’ve just continued that with ‘Marjorie Prime’ on Broadway.”
‘Marjorie Prime’ on Broadway
Presently, Squibb is starring in the Broadway show “Marjorie Prime” alongside Tony winner Danny Burstein, Emmy winner Cynthia Nixon, and SAG winner Christopher Lowell, which is being performed at the Hayes Theater in New York City.
“That has been great! It has been so much fun, really,” she exclaimed. “It fills an itch to get back to the theater because it has been a long time since I’ve done theater. I had done ‘Waitress,’ but then, I hadn’t done anything for a long time before that.”
“So, it just is great fun to be back doing theater,” she admitted. “Back in the late 50s, I played Electra in ‘Gypsy’ on Broadway, who was one of the Burlesque dancers.”
Working with Danny Burstein
On working with Danny Burstein, Squibb said, “Danny is heaven! He is so great, and he is an excellent actor too. He is just lovely! Danny is great fun to be with on stage.”
Danny Burstein, who stars with her in “Marjorie Prime,” stated, “June Squibb is a brilliant, talented, funny, kind and loving friend. It is an honor to just be in her orbit.”
Lessons learned from ‘Marjorie Prime’
On the lessons learned from “Marjorie Prime,” she stated, “With all those lines, I feel that it’s a brilliant script. I keep finding things in the lines that I can relate to myself through them. A lot of it has to do with age, but sometimes, it is being human.”
“The play’s subject matter is timely and relevant, especially with AI. It’s kind of wonderful that everybody is talking about that, and what is going to happen with AI taking over,” she elaborated. “What will they be able to do and what can’t they do?”
Squibb offers her thoughts on AI in this digital age
The veteran actress offered her thoughts on AI (artificial intelligence_ in the digital age. “I feel it’s going to happen and there’s nothing we can do because it’s an innovation, something that’s going to be,” she said. “I think we have to learn how to deal with AI.”
“I think that the unions are going to have to be strong and we have to deal with it sort of realistically. You can’t just say ‘no’ to it. It’s not going to disappear,” she noted.
“Marjorie Prime” in its own right has been generating Tony buzz for June Squibb. “There are a lot of people talking about it in that respect,” she admitted.
Squibb on balancing eight Broadway shows a week
When asked how she handles doing eight stage shows a week, Squibb responded, “Well, I have been able to do that without any problem. I’m tired by the end, but it works. I am just able to do it.”
“The days when I have to do two shows is hard, but I always take a nap in between, so that helps,” she said.
On staying in physical shape to do these eight Broadway shows a week, Squibb remarked, “When I am back in Los Angeles, I have massages. I have a regular massage on my feet and legs, and then, I have a massager that works on my body. Also, I do Pilates once a week.”
“So, I physically sort of keep going. It’s a lot harder in New York. We haven’t been doing that. We’ll be glad to get back to LA to do that all again,” she said.
Squibb on her perfect attendance show record
Particularly impressive about Squibb is that she has never missed a live performance ever (so she never had to be understudied).
“I have never missed a show in my entire life,” she exclaimed. “My three co-stars and I were talking about this backstage the other night, and when they asked me if I had ever missed a show, I told them ‘no,’ and they couldn’t believe it.”
Stage of her life
On the title of the current chapter of her life, Squibb said with a sweet laugh, “New York, again.”
“I lived in New York for 65 years before I moved out to Los Angeles,” she said. “So, I love New York, and it’s just fun to be back!”
“I wish I had more time, but because of the Broadway show, I try to rest and everything,” she added.
Advice for young and emerging actors
For young and aspiring actors, Squibb said, “Oh, God. If this is what you have to do, I think you really have to do it.”
“There’s no other way for you. If that’s true, you just keep at it. You can’t say, ‘I’ll give it one year, I’ll give it two years.’ You can’t do that. You just have to say, this is what I’m doing,” she elaborated.
Key to longevity in entertainment
Regarding the key to longevity in entertainment, she said, “I guess to just keep going. I think studying helps a lot. Keep relevant with the world, that makes it easier when you are working.”
Her favorite motto to live by is to “just keep at it.” “That’s what I always say to people,” he admitted.
Best advice she has ever been given
On the best advice that she has ever been given, Squibb revealed, “Be yourself. I think that’s important for an actor. You have to find out who you are, and let the audience see that.”
She underscored that it is all about authenticity!
Best thing about being her age
On the best thing about being her age (96), at this stage of her life, she said, “I really don’t care what anybody else thinks. I just live my life!”
Superpower of choice
If she were to have any superpower, it would be “to fly.” “I think that would be great,” she admitted.
Success
On her definition of the word success, Squibb said, “Success means doing what you want to do. If you want to be a policeman, and you are doing that, then you are successful.”
Message for her fans
For her fans, she expressed, “I want to thank all of my fans because they’ve made my life good!”
Closing thoughts on ‘Marjorie Prime’
Squibb concluded about the Broadway play “Marjorie Prime,” “The message I want people to get out of ‘Marjorie Prime’ is to just age gracefully. Marjorie is fun. She just has some dementia going on, so she’s just letting it all out.”
