Margo Martindale talks maple syrup, 'The Sticky' and new JonBenét Ramsey series

                                          

NEW YORK — Even after more than thirty years in the business, Margo Martindale continues to provide the actress the chance to try new things. For instance, she keeps maple syrup in her kitchen cabinet because of her involvement on Amazon's "The Sticky" (which is currently streaming).

"Am I a fan" of products manufactured from maple tree sap? "I am now," the 78-year-old actress quips. "Had to say goodbye to Log Cabin and the sugar-free syrups that were in my cabinet."

"The Sticky" is based in part on the actual Canadian maple syrup theft. Nearly 3,000 tons of the syrup, worth $18.7 million, were taken from a Quebec Maple Syrup Producers facility in 2011 and 2012, according to CBC Canada.

Ruth Landry, played by Martindale, and her husband operate a maple syrup farm. Ruth loses her mind after he goes into a coma, endangering the farm's future.

When we first meet her, Martindale's character is cursing out a Canadian official. "I loved that she started hot and went hotter," she explains. It's a strange location to begin a series. Seeing how heated you can get and then how far you can fall when you fall apart, however, was difficult. I find it enjoyable because of all of that.

Working with Jamie Lee Curtis: Another first: Regarding the starring role, executive producer Jamie Lee Curtis, who worked on "The Sticky," called Martindale. Due to schedule issues, Curtis was unable to play Ruth as planned. The two actresses were strangers.


"Who do I believe would most closely resemble me? Martindale remembers Curtis calling to inquire. "Curtis then said, 'Margo Martindale.' 'In what world?' I asked myself.

Because Curtis was "pushy," according to Martindale, she consented to read the script. She then developed a deep affection for the project. Playing Ruth, who Martindale describes as being at "the end of her rope," was a familiar place for her.

"It started happening after 'Million Dollar Baby' that people realized that I could be mean, because I'd been so nice most of my career," adds the actress. "After that, 'Justified' kind of blew everything away. Then 'The Americans': cutting someone's throat, letting him bleed to death, and explaining your hatred for him. It was enjoyable.


Martindale also mentions a particularly noteworthy sequence from the 2023 movie "Cocaine Bear."

"What am I doing?" I asked Elizabeth Banks, the director. I'm being snatched off in a tree while crawling around on the ground? I assumed someone else would take care of things for me. "You read the script?" she asked. "You will be doing it."


In "The Sticky," Martindale cuts down a tree, then hooks it to the back of her truck and drives to Montreal, slamming it into the glass door of her adversary's workplace. With the exception of pointing the tree at the entrance, she claims to have completed all of the driving in roughly "three or four takes."