ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611010093
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: FRAZIER MOORE ASSOCIATED PRESS
``He does, he does,'' says Bergen, pleased to agree.
In the film, which airs at 9 tonight on WDBJ (Channel 7), McCarthy plays Tim, a husky, handsome young man with a heart of gold and a zest for life. Tim is also - well, mentally challenged. Sometimes scrambles simple information. Can't read. Still lives with his parents.
The child-like Tim strikes up a friendship with Mary, whose garden he tends. Then, when he falls in love with Mary, Tim challenges her carefully tended life of solitude ... just as he renews the garden once cared for by Mary's much-missed late husband.
Needless to say, the prospect of a relationship between a ``retarded'' man and a widow decades older shocks everyone around them.
As it tenderly unfolds, ``Mary & Tim'' invites its audience to take a new look at human connection, especially between people seemingly with nothing in common.
``I was unexpectedly moved by the script,'' says Bergen during a recent chat, ``and I thought the character of Tim - his vulnerability, his openness - had a wonderful, lyrical quality.
``But the real key was who played Tim. I thought, `If we don't find the right guy, this could really take on a seamy tone.' I was getting very nervous until Tom auditioned.''
``Mary & Tim'' was shot last spring during ``Murphy Brown's'' hiatus, a full year after Bergen had first read the script and been so touched by it.
But when the cameras finally rolled, real life for Bergen had cruelly caught up with the character she was about to portray. Her own long and happy marriage had been cut short six months earlier when her husband, the acclaimed director Louis Malle, died last November at 63.
Yes, the role of Mary had taken on ``an enormous amount of resonance,'' says Bergen, indulging a reporter by conceding the obvious.
Did her own loss make it tougher to do the film?
``It was - it was difficult, yes,'' she says, feeling her way. ``There were a couple of parts in the screenplay that were difficult.''
And was she able to draw on her personal suffering?
``I didn't,'' Bergen says with quiet finality. ``I didn't WANT to draw on it.''
It's clearly time to change the subject, and the conversation moves to ``Murphy Brown.'' Bergen has been widely quoted as saying this will be the long-running sitcom's final season.
As she looks toward life after ``Murphy,'' Bergen makes a point of how lucky she's been. ``I've worked on something that I really loved, that's been smart and wonderfully written, and so well-received for so many years, that I can't be greedy now.''
She has no illusions about her opportunities as an actress who is 50 years old and counting.
``I'm not going to look for the ingenue parts, or even the leading woman,'' she says with a wan smile - ``but maybe there are quirky comedies or dramatic parts where there's more flexibility in casting.''
Such as ``Mary & Tim,'' for instance, which permitted her to be someone who isn't glamorous or larger than life.
Still, wasn't it a little strange to play the older woman?
``Well, it was a first for me,'' Bergen says. ``You just never expect to find yourself playing the December part of a May-December romance.''
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB