Marsha Mason on Starring in Little Gem, Her Race Car Driver Days and More

Four-time Oscar nominee Marsha Mason is back on stage appearing in Little Gem at the Irish Repertory Theatre, and she recently stopped by Broadway.com's #LiveAtFive to talk all about it. "The play is about three generations of women in a single family," Mason said to Ryan Lee Gilbert. "I play the grandmother, then there's a mother and a granddaughter. It's a series of monologues. It's funny, it's sad, it's moving. I wanted to be in the play because first, the writing was wonderful. I'm desperate to see more women on the stage after listening to all the men that are in these plays. I wanted the personal challenge because it's very hard, it's a series of six monologues that are pages long. You're out there without a net and that's hard."

Being without a net is not new to Mason. Her extensive resume includes turns as movie star, director, race car driver, business owner, contractor and more, and all of those things have informed her work as an actor: "I think the fact that I was able to work as often as I did helped me to become a real professional at my job and to be able to deliver, what I hope, are more complex performances," she said. "Doing all those things, they've made me a better and a fuller person. Especially the race car driving, I did it for seven years. I met fear and terror head on, just like this play that I'm doing. I've never been so terrified of an audience in my life when you have to look them in the eye and talk to them."

Between 1974 and 1982, Mason earned four Oscar nominations for her work in Hollywood, a place that she says has drastically changed. "Oh, it was fabulous working in that 'golden era,'" Mason said. "It was a relatively small community. What I really liked was that nobody asked me the label of my dress and that I didn't have to worry about it or have 18 zillion people fix me up. That red carpet is as hard of a job as anything you've ever seen. To take that constant criticism is ridiculous."

Although Mason has many screen roles to choose from, she keeps returning to the stage. "I started in the theater and I want to die in the theater," she said. "It's really mystical and magical and there's this energy and connection you experience that you can't really experience anywhere else."

See Mason in Little Gem, now playing at the Irish Rep.

Watch the full #LiveAtFive episode below!