Theater News

Flashback Friday: Laura Linney and Anna Gunn Have a Shared Role in Their Past

Before they shared the Emmy stage, these actresses portrayed the same character in a Donald Margulies play.

Tyler Martins
New York City
Anna Gunn and Laura Linney in Time Stands Still.
Anna Gunn and Laura Linney in Time Stands Still.

Last Sunday, theater vets Laura Linney and Anna Gunn took home Emmy Awards for their work on The Big C: Hereafter and Breaking Bad, respectively. TheaterMania decided to flashback to a time before Laura Linney was portraying a woman with cancer in the last stages of her life, and before Anna Gunn was dealing with her meth-making husband — when they both played a photojournalist onstage in Donald Marguiles' play Time Stands Still, albeit on different coasts.

Anna Gunn originated the role of Sarah at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, where the play received its world premiere in February 2009. Laura Linney portrayed the character opposite Brian D'Arcy James when the play opened on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in 2010.

With Emmys in hand, we implore these two actresses to come tread the boards in New York — just not in the same role.

Anna Gunn in Breaking Bad and Larua Linney in The Big C: Hereafter.
Anna Gunn in Breaking Bad and Laura Linney in The Big C: Hereafter.