Children Magazine: Maureen McCormick: Time To Change   

Maureen McCormick is practically a national icon. Almost three decades after she was cast as Marcia on “The Brady Bunch,” McCormick still flashes the bright blue eyes and quick smile that made her America’s sweetheart while the show topped the charts from 1969-1974. After Completing what she calls a “10-year hiatus,” during which time she recorded a country music album, starred in an independent feature film and managed to create an incredibly normal home life with her family in California, McCormick is back in stride and focusing her attention on a multi-faceted film, television, musical theater and recording career.

Q: You were 12 when you were cast as Marcia Brady, and 17 when “The Brady Bunch” went off the air. What was it like growing up on national television?

A: To me it was kind of normal because I really never knew any other way. A lot of opportunities came my way that never would have. I got to travel a lot and meet lots of interesting people. I loved what I was doing and it was also a great group of people to work with. We really had a lot of fun.

Q: By the time you were cast in the series, you had already sung and acted in countless commercials, guest-starred on several television shows, and even appeared in a feature film. How and when did your career actually begin?

A: It started when I was about six or seven. I grew up watching “I Love Lucy.” I was totally addicted to that show, I could never miss one. And all the musicals: “Oklahoma,” “Carousel,” “Mary Poppins,” “Sound of Music,” I was just really addicted to them. I loved all the singing and dancing.

I grew up in Woodland Hills and our next door neighbors saw this article about entering this beauty and talent contest. They gave it to my parents, and my parents asked me about it, and I was like, “Oh yes, I have to do this.” And I entered it and won and my picture was in the newspaper and an agent called. And that’s how it all happened.

I doubt that I ever would have gotten into the business otherwise. My father was a school teacher and my mom was a housewife-we knew absolutely nobody in show business.

Q: Do you remember a time when you weren’t performing? Was it an integral part of your character?

A: You know, it really was. There was a photographer who actually started taking my picture when I was 18 months old. And I remember I just loved it because I got to dress up in different costumes. And I also loved taking on these different personalities.

Q: Have your childhood experiences influenced the way you raise your nine-year old daughter, Natalie?

A: I’m sure that they have. I really think that our childhood and the way that we are brought up absolutely makes a huge impact on how we raise our kids.

Q: How do you maintain a normal home and school life for Natalie? Is she affected by your fame ?

A: I’m sure she is to a degree-you know, people at her school know that her mom was Marcia from “The Brady Bunch” and all that. So it’s all that Natalie’s ever known, too. But we really try to talk about it as little as possible. And I try to focus my energy on her. She knows what I do, and to her that’s just a normal job, just as her other friends have parents who are maybe teachers or doctors-I don’t think it’s anything that’s really out of the norm to her. We really try to focus on Natalie. I really don’t make what I do a big deal at all.

Q: Does she have any show-business aspirations?

A: Yeah. Oh yeah. She’s really, really creative. She loves singing, she loves dancing. She’s constantly taking on different things-we see it a lot. So, who knows. Right now she says that what she wants to do is be an actress and a doctor!

Q: Do you encourage or discourage her?

A: Both my husband and I really feel so lucky. Natalie has got such a great childhood. She’s really got a wonderful life. We live in an incredible neighborhood, I have the best friends in the entire world, and she’s just got so many friends who are always over here. She goes to a wonderful public school that I love. So she loves where she’s at right now. I don’t think she’d want to have anything change. She loves her little life and her lessons with her friends, and just her kind of weekly routines.

You know, she says that what she wants to do is be an actress, but I think my husband and I really just want her to kind of continue the way things are right now. If she decides that this is really what she wants to do one day, then that’s fine, I think we’ll absolutely support her. Because I think it’s really important that kids do follow their hearts, I really do. And if that’s what she wants to do, then great. We’ll support her totally.

Q: The character of Marcia was parodied as a permanently-perky teen in the recent “Brady Bunch” movies. Do you find that people still remember you as Marcia? Are they ever surprised to find you grown up?

A: I think people will always see me as Marcia. I think that is something that you kind of can’t get away from. It’s really nice thing-“I’m amazed that “The Brady Bunch” has become what it has. It amazes me. I never thought when we were doing the show that 25 years down the road people would still be talking about it. Or that they would base their whole childhoods around it. It amazes me.

Q: “ The Brady Bunch” has become something of a cultural icon-fan clubs and websites abound, and episodes still appear regularly on cable networks. Why do you think it is so appealing to the American public?

A: I have no idea. It amazes me. It really does. You know, I have people come up to me and say, “I love that show.” I think that there’s a part of us that loves to escape. Because, you know, it’s basically a very simple formula. And the problems, you know, today our problems in society are so different than they were when the “Brady Bunch” was on TV. There were fewer things that you could talk about on TV then. So, I don’t know, I think people like to just escape and go back to a simpler time. It’s funny because things have changed so much. But I think that different people of different age groups related to different characters on the show.

Q: You were the only former cast member who chose not to appear in a short-lived Brady sequel sitcom (The Brady’s). Why not?

A: I was actually under development with a TV production company at the time. And I just kind of thought that the direction that they were taking it in-it was a real different type of “Brady Bunch.” I just didn’t feel like there was a reason to do it. And I really wanted to move on and try new things.

Q: Do you ever feel like, “ I just want people to stop asking me about this?” Do you ever wish that people would focus more on your current projects?

A: You know, that’s what I’m doing. In my life I’m really challenged by finding new characters to play, and new roles. But I think that I’ll always be remembered for that and it’s a really nice thing. “The Brady Bunch” has been great for my career. It made me a household name, I had a huge amount of learning just being on that show, I was able to work with great people, lots of different directors, it was an amazing learning experience. And it’s really nice to be associated with something that is loved by everyone. I feel very lucky.

Q: Now that you are a parent, do you think that the show portrayed a realistic model of parenting?

A: No. I mean the house that I grew up in was not like “The Brady Bunch.” We didn’t solve our problems in a half an hour. I think that there was a real sweetness in it, but it wasn’t realistic. Actually, I think that’s probably part of its charm.

Q: Tell me about your husband, Michael Cummings. How did the two of you meet?

A: We meet at a concert. It was love at first sight. It was very strange. I looked around at him, I saw him in this big auditorium. And I thought, “That’s the man that I’m going to marry” when our eyes met. And it’s so weird, he looked at me and he thought the same thing, he thought, “ That’s the kind of woman that I want to marry.” And he had no idea who I was. He had never seen “The Brady Bunch.”

Q: Are you kidding ?

A: I know! He was backpacking throughout Norway. He really never grew up on TV. He grew up in Minnesota, and he was constantly outside, he was really an outdoorsy type of guy. He read a lot. He just didn’t watch TV! So anyway, we were engaged within a month and then we got married a few years later.

Q: You have been married for 13 years. Has your fame ever placed a strain on your marriage?

A: I don’t think it has at all. Honestly, when I’m home, we have friends from every walk of life, which I love. And we don’t really hang out with a real showbizzy-type crowd. So no, I mean when we’re home it’s kind of our own little world.

Q: Why did you decide to slow down your career for the past 10 years to raise you daughter?

A: Ever since I was a little girl, I remember, one of my biggest desires was to have a child one day. And I just really wanted to be there all the time, and raise her myself. I felt very, very lucky that I was in a position that I could do that. You know, most people have to work two jobs. The women have to work and the men have to work. And it’s very difficult raising children today. I felt very, very lucky that my husband was working and I could stay home with Natalie. It was just the best. I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything in the world.

Q: During that time, you recorded a country music album, “When You Get A Little Lonely.” How did a girl from the Valley develop a love for country music?

A: I grew up listening to, I guess you would call it kind of “country rock.” You know, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, James Taylor, The Eagles, those were my favorite groups growing up. I loved the three-part harmonies and that kind of stuff. And it’s interesting, years ago, when I was singing with “The Brady Bunch,” people just kind of thought that I had a natural kind of country sound. I have no idea why, but I just kind of picked up on it. And so it was something that I loved.

Q: What was it like playing country music diva Barbara Mandrell in the CBS movie “Get to the Heart?”

A: It was great. It was a little bit intimidating just because she’s still alive, and whenever you portray somebody who’s a real person it’s scary, because, you know, people know that person. It’s a big responsibility. So I was nervous about it. But the greatest part of doing it was after it was all made Barbara called me up. She had tears in her voice and she just said that she loved it. It was really great. Because I know that she was really worried when we were making it about how it was going to turn out and how I was going to portray her.

Q: You played Rizzo in the long-running Broadway production of “Grease.” How did you end up in this quintessential “bad girl” role-rather than the more typical, “girl-next-door” role of Sandy?

A: I’ve always actually loved playing those kind of roles. It’s fun. It’s really fun to kind of draw on those parts of your personality-the more rebellious parts, you know. I was taking singing lessons in the Valley and Rosie O’ Donnell was taking there too, and Rosie and I met, and Rosie went off to do “Grease.” Then she called me not so long after that and she said, “Hey Maureen, how would you like to come and try out for it because they’re looking for someone to replace me.” So I went and Auditioned, and I got the role. And that’s how it happened.

Q: Last Year, you played Didi in the independent feature, “Dogtown.” What was it like working the “indie” circuit after concentrating on mainstream projects for most of your career?

A: It was incredible. Incredible ! I love working on independent movies. I absolutely love it. I loved working with George Hickenlooper, the director, and Mary Stuart Masterson, she’s a doll. All the actors in it were just wonderful. It was great because I was playing a very different character, we had time to really kind of develop the characters. You know, you have more time in a movie.

Q: Do you think that the prominence of independent films has changed the industry?

A: Yeah I do. I think it’s great that you can make movies on smaller budgets. And a lot of times they’ll really take the risks with these really kind of character-driven scripts, which was what “Dogtown” was. And those are the kind of pieces that I’ve always loved the most. I love the movies like “Tender Mercies,” “Fried Green Tomatoes,” where they’re really character driven.

Q: Do you ever find yourself drawling on experiences from “The Brady Bunch” as you create your own family life?

A: No. I think I base all of my parenting and life experience much more on how I was raised by my mom and dad. They are my most amazing people. They really are my heroes. My parents sacrificed so much for my brothers and I. My father was a school teacher and when we were growing up, teachers hardly made any money. My father was always delivering milk or delivering newspapers, he always had odd jobs to bring in more money. They really devoted their lives to us kids. And it wasn’t easy, but they were really great parents.

Q: That’s a really good model to have.

A: I am so lucky. I count my blessings every day. I have three incredible brothers, and that’s where you get it all from.

Q: Do you plan to have more children?

A: I’m not planning on it, but if I do it was to happen, you know…?

Q: If you could put your finger on one quality that makes you a good mom, what would it be ?

A: I think everyday I really kind of try to be a good mom. I try. And I really think that I love being a mom. It’s very hard. It’s such a huge responsibility. But I have a really incredible husband, I’m so lucky. And I try. I’m not perfect, I make tons of mistakes, but it’s kind of like each day’s a new day.