On May 2, Laura Linney received her fourth Tony nomination for her performance as Regina Giddens in Lillian Helman’s The Little Foxes. While Linney and her co-star Cynthia Nixon actually share the leading role—as well as the featured role of Birdie (playing in rep)—Linney was considered by the Tony Nominating Committee for her portrayal of Regina only and Nixon considered only for her portrayal of Birdie. The two both earned nods.

Linney stopped by The Today Show May 4 to discuss the play and her new movie The Dinner. As previously reported, it was Linney’s idea for the two actors to play both parts. “It was an idea that came to me; I had been cast as Regina, and I remembered that Cynthia always wanted to play Regina and I had always wanted to play Birdie, so I thought: Why don’t we switch off?”

“Men do it all the time,” she added, “but this is the first time women have ever done it.”

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