Pamela Reed rips into the role of murderous queen Clytemnestra in Sophocles’ Elektra with gusto. She creates a character that reviewers have described as despicable, divalike, suave, snarky, and imperious—in short, a perfect and delicious villain.

In this video, Reed talks about working at the Getty Villa, describes her previous work with director Carey Perloff on Ezra Pound’s version of Elektra (which the disturbed poet produced as a patient at a mental institution), and reflects on the intersections between her career and that of Olympia Dukakis, who plays the Chorus. At 3:43 she also explains why, despite decades of success in film and television, theater is “her very first love.”