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Compiled by: Jack Foley
Q. Does tidiness go along with an obsession for shoes
in some women?
A. An anal shoe keeper? I think in Rose's case it really
represents the kind of fantasy life that she's hoping to partake
in at some point in the near future. I guess what I loved about
Rose is that she went from being a shoe-stroker by night to a
shoe-strutter by day in maybe only half a year.
Q. Did you ever coax Shirley MacLaine into giving you
any advice about how to enjoy a career as long-lived as hers?
A. I don't think she'd be so condescending, you know?
I think she was there to tell the story the same way that we were.
But she's a very strong woman and you can kind of sense certain
things without her being so direct. She told some great old stories.
And I think that the honesty that she lives her life with also
comes across in her work and that's probably what's given her
such longevity.
I mean you look at performances in films she's done decades ago
and they're such contemporary performances. Other people in the
films kind of seem wooden compared to her. You could take her
out of the film then and put her in a film now and it's completely
applicable.
I think just watching her, you absorb from everyone you encounter
in life.
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Q. What was it like working
with such an elderly cast in the retirement community? Was it
inspirational to see them still working?
A. I literally found it to be such a breath of fresh
air because I think our society is so obsessed with youth and
clearly people who have lived that long have more experience and
more knowledge and I actually laugh the most and get the most
out of watching them have a ball. When we were shooting down in
Florida at the retirement community for active seniors I was just
trying to find out how to check myself in in 30 years' time. They
have such full social lives, they're all bonking each other...
But you don't just fade out. I think there's this huge misconception
about life and the older we get you just kind of switch off and
fade out. That's so not true. We're still confronted with issues
in life and are able to experience great joy as well and I really
loved working with all of them.
Q. What did you do to establish the sisterly bonds between
you and did you discover that in real-life you had much in common?
A. We really had a great foundation. The script was so
incredibly brilliant. I heard that these guys wanted me for the
movie for about six months and I just thought that people were
lying. I expected someone else to get the part.
Eventually I came over to LA and met up in a room, read some scenes
and talked about the characters and life and things that were
important and things that weren't. There just seemed to be a real
ease and a sense that it was meant to be.
Cameron's a very easygoing, open-hearted, beautiful, genuine person
so it was very easy. We never felt we had to manipulate any kind
of sisterly appearance. We just get on really well. We're basically
the same age, we have the same kind of cultural references - even
though she grew up in California and I grew up in Australia.
Q. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
A. I don't know how many pairs of shoes I own which is
probably quite telling.
Related stories: Read
our review
Cameron Diaz interview
Curtis Hanson interview
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