Mamie Gummer makes Long Island debut in Bay Street's 'Dial M for Murder' 

Mamie Gummer is never one to phone in a performance, not even in a show titled "Dial M for Murder," which is being presented at Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts from June 27 to July 23.

If anything, expect her to dial up the tension quotient in the classic thriller as she plays an unfaithful wife whose number may be up if her vengeful husband has his way. Like her mom, Oscar winner Meryl Streep, Gummer, 39, isn't one to shy away from a demanding part. Though her debut — playing Streep's daughter in the 1986 movie "Heartburn" — was tailor-made for her, Gummer has since taken on characters as diverse as the naive Cécile Volanges in "Les Liaisons Dangereuse" on Broadway; cunning lawyer Nancy Crozier on TV's "The Good Wife" and "The Good Fight"; and the fledgling title doctor of TV's "Emily Owens M.D."

These days, being mom to a 4-year-old son and her second child, a daughter — her children with husband Mehar Sethi — is the role that's her favorite. "I tend to prioritize the kids if there's a choice presented," she said. "It's hard to train your brain otherwise."

Gummer recently chatted via Zoom about her career, her mom and coming to Long Island.

Is this the first time you're performing on Long Island?

It is, and it's an absolute dream gig especially at the height of summer and with two little kids and with the writers’ strike. My husband is a TV comedy writer, so the timing, though terrible for what’s going on in most of the business, it’s carved out what will be a really lovely time for me artistically and for our family.

Looking at the title of the play, no one has a rotary phone anymore, and somehow, "Text M for Murder" doesn't have the same ring to it. How have you made the play relevant for modern audiences?

This play still has all the fun flourishes and narrative devices that make theatergoing really exciting and elements that we’re all a bit nostalgic for. With this adaptation we're modernizing it in a way and making it more relevant with the love triangle now being two women and a man. This adaptation is so good. It's really rich and layered and hot and interesting and really fun.

Your character, Margot, is so closely identified with Grace Kelly. How are you playing it different from what she did in the movie?

I think that no matter what I would do and how hard I tried, I don’t think I could pull off a Grace Kelly. … I saw the film years ago and I decided not to reexamine it because I didn’t want any of that to lodge itself into the life that I was trying to make for Margot.

You weren't even 2 when you made your film debut in "Heartburn" with your mom. Do you remember anything about that experience?

No. [Laughs.] I don’t think it was that much different from my real life. I wasn't really acting. But I now understand why my mom had me do it. It’s really hard having little kids and trying to do this work at the same time, especially in films and TV. The hours are tough. It think it was more that she wanted to hang out with her kid.

How did your parents react when you told them you wanted to become an actor?

To me, it was nothing but encouraging and supportive. Privately, It might have been different. I can say my son is showing signs of "the curse" and I totally understand why I was encouraged that way. It’s such a rich form of expression. I couldn’t imagine stifling that in him and I can only imagine they felt the same.

In your bio on IMDB, it says that you really want to learn how to cook and that you have a Martha Stewart cookbook that you take everywhere. Do you have the book with you and have you started learning how to cook?

[Laughs.} I think that must have been before I had kids, back when I didn’t know how to feed myself. I don't know how to feed myself, though I have figured out how to feed other people because you have to. It's the bare minimum of what’s expected. So yeah, I can throw something together. Now going out to the Hamptons, I might have to start getting into "The Barefoot Contessa."