A talent on the way up

A face familiar to fans of Woody Allen -- she endured what is perhaps the worst blind date ever in “Crimes and Misdemeanors” -- Caroline Aaron is the kind of actress who doesn’t necessarily go without work but too infrequently gets a chance to really shine.

As Bobby Darin’s sister-with-a-secret in Kevin Spacey’s labor-of-love biopic “Beyond The Sea,” Aaron makes the most of her role, bringing a poignant, tender sense of heartbreak to a woman who is also shrill and overbearing, embarrassing to those around her. The movie is due out Dec. 17.

Of her willingness to be seen in a deeply unflattering way, from her appearance to her behavior, Aaron says simply, “I think I got the message too late not to do that.”

However, in the notoriously age-sensitive world of acting, the veteran actress also sees an upside.

“I think when you get older, everybody is a character actor. There’s no such thing as a 40-year-old ingenue. So I feel like having youth and beauty off the table is good for me and actually allows me to do a lot more things. I know it sounds sort of ridiculous, but I think in some ways being a young and beautiful woman who really wants to act can be just as confining as not being that.”

Aaron is also aware of what a rare opportunity her meaty role in “Beyond the Sea” truly is.

“You can’t imagine,” she says excitedly. “It’s like a date I’ve been waiting on for a long time. I always say, ‘An actor makes a mountain out of a molehill.’ And I feel like I can climb a mountain, if somebody would just give me a mountain to climb.”