Roles I

The grandmother in Fanny and Alexander:

“We all play our parts. Some play them negligently, others play with great care. I'm one of the latter.

The bishop to his pregnant wife:

“You once said you were always changing masks... until finally you didn't know who you were. I have only one mask. But it's branded into my flesh. If I tried to tear it off--
I always thought people liked me. I saw myself as wise, broad-minded, and fair. I had no idea... that anyone could hate me. (I don't hate you.) No, but your son does.

The grandmother with the ghost of her son:

“Yes, Oscar, that's how it is. One is old and a child at the same time. What became of those long years in between… that seemed so important at the time? May I take your hand? I remember your hand as a child. It was small and firm and dry. And your wrist was so awfully slender. I enjoyed being a mother. I enjoyed being an actress too but I preferred being a mother. I liked having a big belly, and I didn't give two shakes about the theatre then. It's all acting anyway. Some roles are nice, others not so nice. I played a mother. I played Juliet and Margareta. Then suddenly I played a widow or a grandmother. One role follows another. The thing is not to shrink from them. But what became of it all? Can you tell me that, my boy? You're a good boy to listen to your old mother's soliloquies, as Isak calls them. Yes, you're a good boy, Oscar,... and I grieved terribly when you past away. That was a strange role to play. My feelings came from deep in my body. Even though I could control them... they shattered reality, if you know what I mean. Reality has remain broken ever since, and oddly enough, it feels more real that way. So I don't bother to mend it. I just don't care anymore if nothing makes sense. Oscar, my dear boy? (Yes, Mama.) Are you sad?
(I'm worried.) About the children? Yes.