Chances are that if you went to the movies in the last 50 years, you’ve encountered Barbara Hershey. She was Mary Magdalene for Martin Scorsese, made women cry their eyes out in “Beaches” and played Natalie Portman’s crazy mother in the macabre ballet movie “Black Swan.” Hershey explains her longevity this way: “It’s my love of acting that’s been a golden thread,” she says. “It sees you through the hard times and the good times and the inevitable struggle of getting roles.” Her newest role, as Ann Rutledge — a stylishly sinister mentor to the Antichrist (Bradley James) on the A&E series “Damien” — is a far cry from early parts that showed off her fresh-scrubbed California good looks. Ann is a woman cloaked in mystery with full knowledge of Damien’s childhood. (Some episodes feature scenes from the 1976 film “The Omen,” which Hershey watched before production started.) “It was fantastic to use the [original] footage,” says Hershey, 68. “And the scripts were really, really good. Ann has been Damien’s protector and guide his whole life.” Everett Collection It may seem like a shock to see Hershey working on TV, but she got her start on the 1966 ABC series “The Monroes.” “I was 17 when I did the pilot. We shot the first half in Wyoming. I’d never been away from home,” she says. “I was young for my age, but it was a great experience.” She also had a recurring role as Cora, mother of the Evil Queen, on the ABC fantasy series “Once Upon a Time.” She insists her choices are motivated by the role, not the medium. “It’s where a lot of the juicy roles are,” she says. “It’s harder and harder to make good films.” Even a cursory glance at Hershey’s resume reveals more highs than lows. Among them was working with Woody Allen on “Hannah and Her Sisters,” a film she calls her “welcome mat to New York.” “I moved there and I didn’t know anybody. I had no money,” she says. “Then I had a meeting with Woody. After all these years of auditioning, I was handed this role. A few weeks later, I was standing on the streets of the city and I remember looking from Mia [Farrow] to Woody to Michael Caine and Max von Sydow, thinking, ‘How did I get here?’” Hershey lived here for a few years but moved back to California. “My son wanted to come back and my parents were here.” The son is Free Carradine, a child she had with the late David Carradine from the time when she called herself, in a hippie hiccup, Barbara Seagull.Free is 43 now and a martial artist. (His dad played one in the famed ABC series “Kung Fu.”) “When I turned 40, I didn’t blink. When he turned 40, I blinked,” Hershey says of Free. With all of her success, she would advise people not to go into the business. “I never encourage anyone to be an actor if they can be happy doing something else,” she says. “It’s such a difficult profession and there’s a lot of injustice. I’m one of the lucky ones.” “Damien” airs at 10 p.m. Monday on A&E
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