Dale Dickey on her Emmy nominated performance in ‘Widow’s Bay’

Episode notes

(Photo: Maximum Fun / Daniel Speer)

Dale Dickey always wanted to be an actor, but it took a while for Hollywood to figure out that it wanted her. 

Her career didn’t really take off until she was in her mid 40’s when she got a recurring role on the sitcom My Name is Earl. 

A few years after that, she was cast in a movie called Winters Bone – a neo noir set in Appalachia. She played the wife of a local drug dealer called Thump. When you see her in that film, she’s fending off a teenage Jennifer Lawrence. Dale Dickey’s performance is empathetic and warm – and at the same moment, absolutely terrifying.

Dale’s now in her mid-60s. She’s just been nominated for her first Emmy for her performance in Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay.

On the show, Dale plays Rosemary. Widow’s Bay is a sleepy New England town and island. Over the years, she’s seen a lot of weird stuff on the island. She’s the town’s leading genealogist and historian. The town is cursed and she has a keen insight into the why and how that happened. 

Dale joins us on Bullseye to talk about the lengthy monologue she gives in Widow’s Bay and how she prepared for the scene. Plus, we get into the time she played Shrek… at various kids parties in the greater Los Angeles area.