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Jacki Weaver is a major star in her native Australia but has never performed on screen or stage in the States. That's odd, she says, in light of her love for everything Americana. She grew up with Mickey Mouse; her son was weaned on "Sesame Street." And during this interview—taking place after 11:30 p.m. in Adelaide, Australia—Weaver's husband, South African actor Sean Taylor, is sitting in front of the television watching "Late Night With David Letterman." Weaver has performed in dozens of American plays Down Under—from "Death of a Salesman" and "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers" to "A Streetcar Named Desire," "They're Playing Our Song," and "Steel Magnolias"—and has had no trouble mastering American accents, as long as the character is not from the South. New York speech is second nature to her; indeed, she says, "At heart I'm a New Yorker." The veteran actor,...