Watson Will Rock

Monday November 30, 1998 12:00 AM EST

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Yahoo Buzz
• E-mail

At another New York movie premiere last night, the stars turned out for director Tim Robbins' "The Cradle Will Rock," with an attendance roster that included cast members Susan Sarandon (Robbins' longtime love), Emily Watson, Rubén Blades, Hank Azaria, John Turturro and John Cusack, as well as Tim Robbins' sister, Mary Robbins, and his brother, David, who scored the picture. (The film, a '30s period piece based on a true incident, has to do with the mounting of a controversial, red-tainted musical.) Emily Watson, who will also be seen this Christmas as the mother in the eagerly awaited movie version of "Angela's Ashes," talked to PEOPLE Online about her role in "Cradle Will Rock." Of playing a homeless, Depression-era waif, she said, "It was quite easy to envy the role of John Cusack, who had the 'challenge' of researching Nelson Rockefeller -- while I was trying to figure out if I wanted to go with one dirt steak across my face or two."