Annette Bening Joins Anya Taylor-Joy in Lucky for a Mob Story With a Feminist Twist
Spoilers for episode 1 and 2 of Lucky ahead. If there’s one thing Annette Bening knows, it’s playing interesting — some might say unlikeable — women. The two-time Oscar nominee and award-winning actress has a career spanning over four decades and has tackled plenty of complex female characters in that time. First, it was as con artist Myra Langtry in 1990s The Grifters, then it was as a mother trying to connect with her teenage son in 2016’s 20th Century Women, more recently, Bening has graced the silver screen as Beula Jackson, a tough-as-nails rival ranch owner, in Yellowstone spin-off Dutton Ranch. And now, Bening is returning to screens once again as mob matriarch Priscilla Matheson in Apple TV+’s Lucky. The series, which premiered July 15 on Apple TV+, follows Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular heroine Lucky, a career con-woman from a family of conmen who wakes up in Las Vegas’s Caesars Palace one morning after being abandoned by her husband Cary Matheson (Drew Starkey). The catch? Cary and Lucky were heading out of the country in an attempt to get out of “the game,” with millions of dollars of stolen money in tow. Both the money and Cary are gone, and Lucky is now being hunted down simultaneously by the FBI and the mobsters they ripped off. The latter of which are helmed — in part — by Priscilla. Oh, and Priscilla just so happens to be Cary’s mom. What ensues is a classic game of cat and mouse, with Lucky as the down-on-her-luck protagonist being hunted by the big, bad Priscilla. But for Bening herself, it’s a bit more complex than that. I think [Priscilla] really is a sociopath and that’s fascinating to play.annette bening on her ‘lucky’ character “I don’t find [Beula and Priscilla] villainous, because from their point of view they’re just trying to get through the day,” Bening tells Refinery29. “I think [Priscilla] really is a sociopath and that’s fascinating to play but it’s well-written.” To be clear: on the surface, at least, Priscilla is the villain in Lucky’s very hectic life. Not only is she the mother-in-law from hell; a woman who has it out for her daughter-in-law, clearly under the impression Lucky isn’t good enough for her son, but also, hunting Lucky down at any cost in order to find the money. And she does it with such finesse. Because Bening’s Priscilla isn’t just any old crime boss we’ve come to expect from TV. For one, forget Tony Soprana’s marinara-stained, stretched out white tank tops. Priscilla first appears on our screens looking more like she stepped out of a COS ad, think: structured beige and plum trench coats, supple silk skirts, statement rings, tailored trousers and the mobster’s signature thick framed glasses. (FYI, in her designer handbag she’s carrying a pistol). Secondly, she owns a country home where she rides horses in the pasture while her henchmen conduct “business” in the stables. And, most importantly, she’s a mother. This latter facet of her identity is a defining factor and motivator for Bening’s Priscilla, who fluctuates between being frustrated by her son Cary, whose mess she has to clean up, and frantic to find him before the FBI or fellow mob boss Wayne does over the series’ first season. It’s not an easy task. Finding herself in Long Beach on her quest to track down her son, Priscilla tells a man about Cary: “No, he’s not necessarily a wonderful guy. In fact there are times when I think he’s an ungrateful little shit. And then I blame myself for raising him that way and then I get angry at him for hating me.” This intrinsic love for Cary is part of what motivates her ruthlessness. “I think that she’s justified in what she does from her point of view, and it’s all about that,” Bening adds. “So for me, it was a really intriguing challenge.” But in many ways, while Priscilla is presented as the boss, being a mother — and a woman over the age of 40— are also some of her weaknesses. Because it turns out that yes, the patriarchy does exist in the underworld of the mafia, too. We see it clearly with Lucky herself; who’s conned, screwed over and used by every man in her life — first her father (Timothy Olyphant), an incarcerated conman trying to live vicariously through her on the outside, then her husband, who uses her expertise to cash in. But it’s Priscilla who faces the most brutal version of this reality during an early negotiation with mob kingpin Wayne, who has tasked Priscilla with recouping the money Cary and Lucky stole from him. While trying to sway Wayne to not go after her son, Priscilla coyly tries to flirt with Wayne in a moment that first appears one way — as he affectionately caresses her face — before quickly turning. As Priscilla gazes up with admiration, Wayne puts his hands around her neck and starts to choke her. “There’s something pathetic about a woman at your age thinking sex still enters into the equation,” Wayne says in her ear. “Have some dignity.” As Wayne lets go of Priscilla’s
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Spoilers for episode 1 and 2 of Lucky ahead. If there’s one thing Annette Bening knows, it’s playing interesting — some might say unlikeable — women. The two-time Oscar nominee and award-winning actress has a career spanning over four decades and has tackled plenty of complex female characters in that time. First, it was as con artist Myra Langtry in 1990s The Grifters, then it was as a mother trying to connect with her teenage son in 2016’s 20th Century Women, more recently, Bening has graced the silver screen as Beula Jackson, a tough-as-nails rival ranch owner, in Yellowstone spin-off Dutton Ranch. And now, Bening is returning to screens once again as mob matriarch Priscilla Matheson in Apple TV+’s Lucky.
The series, which premiered July 15 on Apple TV+, follows Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular heroine Lucky, a career con-woman from a family of conmen who wakes up in Las Vegas’s Caesars Palace one morning after being abandoned by her husband Cary Matheson (Drew Starkey). The catch? Cary and Lucky were heading out of the country in an attempt to get out of “the game,” with millions of dollars of stolen money in tow. Both the money and Cary are gone, and Lucky is now being hunted down simultaneously by the FBI and the mobsters they ripped off. The latter of which are helmed — in part — by Priscilla. Oh, and Priscilla just so happens to be Cary’s mom.
What ensues is a classic game of cat and mouse, with Lucky as the down-on-her-luck protagonist being hunted by the big, bad Priscilla. But for Bening herself, it’s a bit more complex than that.
I think [Priscilla] really is a sociopath and that’s fascinating to play.
annette bening on her ‘lucky’ character
“I don’t find [Beula and Priscilla] villainous, because from their point of view they’re just trying to get through the day,” Bening tells Refinery29. “I think [Priscilla] really is a sociopath and that’s fascinating to play but it’s well-written.”
To be clear: on the surface, at least, Priscilla is the villain in Lucky’s very hectic life.
Not only is she the mother-in-law from hell; a woman who has it out for her daughter-in-law, clearly under the impression Lucky isn’t good enough for her son, but also, hunting Lucky down at any cost in order to find the money.
And she does it with such finesse. Because Bening’s Priscilla isn’t just any old crime boss we’ve come to expect from TV. For one, forget Tony Soprana’s marinara-stained, stretched out white tank tops. Priscilla first appears on our screens looking more like she stepped out of a COS ad, think: structured beige and plum trench coats, supple silk skirts, statement rings, tailored trousers and the mobster’s signature thick framed glasses. (FYI, in her designer handbag she’s carrying a pistol).
Secondly, she owns a country home where she rides horses in the pasture while her henchmen conduct “business” in the stables. And, most importantly, she’s a mother.
This latter facet of her identity is a defining factor and motivator for Bening’s Priscilla, who fluctuates between being frustrated by her son Cary, whose mess she has to clean up, and frantic to find him before the FBI or fellow mob boss Wayne does over the series’ first season. It’s not an easy task. Finding herself in Long Beach on her quest to track down her son, Priscilla tells a man about Cary: “No, he’s not necessarily a wonderful guy. In fact there are times when I think he’s an ungrateful little shit. And then I blame myself for raising him that way and then I get angry at him for hating me.”
This intrinsic love for Cary is part of what motivates her ruthlessness. “I think that she’s justified in what she does from her point of view, and it’s all about that,” Bening adds. “So for me, it was a really intriguing challenge.”
But in many ways, while Priscilla is presented as the boss, being a mother — and a woman over the age of 40— are also some of her weaknesses. Because it turns out that yes, the patriarchy does exist in the underworld of the mafia, too. We see it clearly with Lucky herself; who’s conned, screwed over and used by every man in her life — first her father (Timothy Olyphant), an incarcerated conman trying to live vicariously through her on the outside, then her husband, who uses her expertise to cash in.
But it’s Priscilla who faces the most brutal version of this reality during an early negotiation with mob kingpin Wayne, who has tasked Priscilla with recouping the money Cary and Lucky stole from him. While trying to sway Wayne to not go after her son, Priscilla coyly tries to flirt with Wayne in a moment that first appears one way — as he affectionately caresses her face — before quickly turning. As Priscilla gazes up with admiration, Wayne puts his hands around her neck and starts to choke her.
“There’s something pathetic about a woman at your age thinking sex still enters into the equation,” Wayne says in her ear. “Have some dignity.” As Wayne lets go of Priscilla’s neck and turns his back to her, viewers are left with the image of a distraught Priscilla, her mask of power crumbled, crying and begging this man not to threaten and harm her son.
“A lot of women, unfortunately, can relate to that kind of idea,” Bening says of that moment between Wayne and Priscilla. While Bening emphasizes the idea of women not being worthwhile after a certain age is complete nonsense, “Priscilla believes that, she says. “At least in that moment, she feels humiliated by him.” Not to mention, completely entrapped and under his thumb thanks to the choices she’s made.
“It was fun to try and see what might happen between us, and could I crack her?”
annette bening on working with anya taylor-joy
It’s a poignant moment in the series, and one that reframes the Priscilla we’ve so far come to know as well as her place in the greater scheme of things. It quickly becomes clear that — for all her bravado — she’s not the person in-charge; meaning her actions aren’t necessarily those of a villainous, vindictive woman, but rather a woman who — like Bening said — is just trying to get through the day and survive.
In many ways, that puts Lucky and Priscilla on the same playing field — as much as they themselves might not see or be willing to acknowledge.
And it’s this dynamic, between the two women, as well as working so closely with Taylor-Joy on-screen for the first time, that Bening found the most enjoyable. “The cat and the mouse of it, that Priscilla, who I play, admires [Lucky] and also needs something from her,” Bening says. “It was fun to try and see what might happen between us, and could I crack her? Could I get her to give me what I want? That was really enjoyable.”
Lucky is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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