Most celebrity contestants on “Dancing with the Stars” walk away with a fitter, leaner body and a better turn at a tango. But for hopeful hoofer Marlee Matlin, who joined CTV’s hit show in 2008, the dance bootcamp spawned something else: a new autobiography.
In “I’ll Scream Later,” Matlin, 43, chronicles her topsy-turvy life before and after “Children of a Lesser God,” the 1986 film that earned the deaf star a Best Actress Oscar at 21 for her debut performance.
Drug rehab, her rocky, abusive two-year relationship with actor William Hurt. … Matlin leaves nothing out, including her first public account of suffering sexual abuse as a child at the hands of baby sitter and teacher.
Matlin, the youngest actor to ever win an Oscar for Best Actress, says this memoir would never have happened if it weren’t for her six-week-stint on “Dancing with the Stars.”
“Doing ‘Dance’ really seemed to impact viewers. I got so many emails from all over the world telling me how my dancing really inspired them,” Matlin told Canada AM today from Los Angeles.
Their sense of inspiration compelled Matlin to pen her new autobiography. But as Matlin says, “I knew I’d have to tell people more about me than just being a woman who can’t hear music.”
The book’s title also holds double meaning, says Matlin.
“It has to do with two things,” she explains. “One, when I got nominated for the Oscar I was in rehab at the Betty Ford (clinic). When I got the news I got a phone call asking me how I felt about the nomination. The only thing I could think of was ‘I’ll scream later.’”
The title is also one many fans can relate to, says Matlin, especially those who have never talked openly about events in their own lives.
“It’s a metaphor, in this case one that applies to my own life,” says Matlin. “But it was absolutely imperative for to lift this weight from my shoulders. Not only for myself but others. I couldn’t think of any other better way than doing this book.”
William Hurt, Matlin’s “Children of a Lesser God” co-star, issued an apology for the pain he caused the actress. Hurt also went on to say that both he and Matlin have done a great deal of work to heal their lives.
Hurt’s apology, however, sparked no signs of joy from Matlin.
“I appreciate the fact that he stood up, was a man and apologized for whatever it’s worth. But we didn’t apologize to each other the way he said we did,” says Matlin.
“Using the ‘we’ word in that his statement wasn’t something I appreciated. It wasn’t exactly true,” she says.
“I’ll Scream Later” is not Matlin’s first book. In 2002, the Emmy nominee for such shows as “Seinfeld,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “The Practice” published her first novel, “Deaf Child Crossing.” It was loosely based on her own childhood.
Matlin has a new half-hour comedy in development with Showtime. The show features “Sex and the City’s” Mario Cantone and Carol Leifer who wrote “The Lip Reader,” the 1993 “Seinfeld” episode that scored Matlin an Emmy nomination.
As Matlin says, “The combination should be a good one.”
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