When she accepted the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in "Pollock," Marcia Gay Harden was genuinely thrilled and just a bit surprised.

She thanked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for simply viewing the film, as if her role as Lee Krasner, wife of expressionist artist Jackson Pollock, was incidental. That was hardly the case.

Harden’s role in the 2000 film may have been a surprise to some, but it was a powerful depiction of the Brooklyn bohemian, thick with the accent and matter-of-factness, that marked her.

For Harden, a chameleon who has been in movies as diverse as "Flubber" and "Mystic River," the role of Krasner tops her list of parts. She calls it an actor’s dream.

If you’re curious about what she means, you can ask her yourself. Harden will introduce a special screening of "Pollock" and take questions afterward when the Hawai‘i International Film Festival presents the film Monday evening to kick off its 13th annual Spring Showcase.

The event will give Harden a welcome opportunity to talk about the film she enjoyed making with good friend Ed Harris, who served as director and starred as Pollock.

Harris, whose portrayal of the brilliant but troubled painter earned him a best-actor Oscar nomination, pushed Harden beyond her limits.

"He pushed me to places I had not gone before," Harden said by phone from Los Angeles. "I loved it. I want to be pushed. I consider it a gift of the director’s belief in you. They know you can do it and they have the ability to help you get there. And they have a vision of the character and a vision of the scene rather than accepting just what you bring to the table."

Like Pollock, Krasner was an influential American abstract expressionist painter. A major influence on Pollock’s career, Krasner was her husband’s unflagging champion no matter how dark or turbulent their relationship got.

When The praised the film, it pointed to the domestic clashes between the two artists and said they were a reminder of the chemistry between Marlon Brando and Kim Hunter in "A Streetcar Named Desire." Harden’s performance was as "uncompromisingly tough" as her co-star’s.

"She was a character of historic importance," said the 53-year-old Harden. "She was a real person so there was something in terms of creating her that I could use as a blueprint. It required a physical transformation — an accent and a look and study."

Managing Pollock, at times a volatile alcoholic, was emotionally draining for Krasner, which was something the actress had to tap.

"There was an awful lot to go on," Harden said.

Harden, a single mother, will be in Honolulu with her three children. They’ll spend part of their time surfing and learning about Hawaiian culture and nature; they do this whenever they vacation here. But when she returns to L.A., it will be off to work on her new part in "The Newsroom," the Aaron Sorkin series about TV journalism airing on HBO. She has a new recurring role as attorney Rebecca Halliday.

Her roles on film and TV, which date back to 1979, bring out a brutal honesty in Harden: Three or four of her film roles are "really interesting" and the rest "are OK," "crap" and essentially "pay the bills," she said.

A good project speaks to Harden. There has to be a connection, she said. It could be as simple as the way two words work in a sentence and as large as the entire script.

"But the connection has to be illuminative in some way of a real human being," Harden said. "Whether the character is a murderer or a grocery store clerk, it has to say something that I think is based in truth."

"Pollock" will screen at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Tickets are $10 and available at www.hiff.org or at the door.

AND that’s a wrap …

Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.