Patricia Clarkson is in distress. She's standing in the kitchen, hands clasped, her blue-green eyes opened wide. She has asked this question several times already, as well as offered scones, volunteered to go get sandwiches and salads, and suggested that she brew coffee or make green tea. It's a hospitality fixation that the New Orleans native attributes to her "Southern thing" -- never mind that she's been living in New York for more than two decades.