|
Compiled by: Jack Foley
Q. In the production notes, Miss Campion is quoted as saying
that one of the many qualities you brought to the characters was
having the courage to go to the edge and beyond. Did you feel
you had this courage and was it a quality you were called upon
to exhibit during the course of making this movie?
A. I felt like I was in such sure hands with Jane, I didn't
really feel that it required some extreme amount of bravery on
my part to trust Jane. I loved the script, and loved her sensibility,
and I knew Mark was going to be there. I do think that the character
is extremely brave; we talked about her often as a warrior, and
as somebody who is a very unlikely person to risk her heart for
a guy. I felt that this is the thing you need a lot of bravery
to do. And she is somebody who is so much of a remission, within
herself, and so broken-hearted, and so not anybody who is likely
to be able to connect with somebody as extremely and as beautifully
as she does with Detective Malloy.
Q. I found the depiction of modern women very interesting.
Was that another part of its allure? And did it give you the opportunity
to explore such themes?
A. It's interesting that this film can be a forum for that
kind of discussion, because if it's unexpressed, it's even more
frustrating, right? And I know a lot of my friends, who have seen
the movie, so deeply relate to that aspect of it - that these
romantic myths don't apply to them, and how heartbreaking that
can feel; especially if you feel alone with that idea.
Q. Having been a poster girl, if you like, for romantic comedies,
this is a completely different kind of role, so I was wondering
how it felt to be taking on this type of role for the first time?
Particularly in regard to the nudity and sex scenes, which are
very explicit...
A. Again, I felt very taken care of. It's not the day you
look forward to; you see it coming up on the schedule, and think
twice. But in the end, obviously, it was a really protected environment
and it was very choreographed; we knew every shot, and every angle,
and it was incredibly collaborative. It's interesting, so much
of the movie is so bound; it was, for me, a very untraditional
experience, in that Jane was finding shots all the time. There
was never any normal progression from master to over.
Q. Were you even remotely concerned for whatever screen image
you might have?
A. I'm not into reacting to whatever idea of me is out there,
I don't really think about it that much, truthfully.
|
 |
Q. What made you change your hair in the movie?
A. It was so organic. The first step in it was that Jane and
I were walking around the city one day and we saw Emily the Strange,
the nihilistic cartoon character. It started there. I always thought
she had brown eyes and brown hair, but how it got chopped up was,
basically, it started there.
It was kind of cool, though, because I dyed my hair and was able
to walk around New York and no one said 'hi' or anything; that
hadn't happened in quite a while. It was actually pretty liberating.
So I liked it.
She's also kind of an invisible woman, in a way; she's not a head
turner. She doesn't want attention.
Q. This wasn't the type of script you usually receive, did
you decide to do something different?
A. I've never read anything like it, so it wasn't at all like
anything I usually get sent. I had never done a thriller, this
kind of character is a really interior person, and I know that
Jane is interested in expressing interior life onscreen and finding
really different visual languages to do that in. It's so different
in all of her movies, so, yeah, it was a cool opportunity.
And I'd always loved movies from the Seventies, where there were
anti-heroes, and I felt she had really hooked into that.
Q. There is a moment when Mark's character uses really frank
language to sort of court you. What would your reaction be to
that type of language, if someone were to use it on you?
A. I think it would be a signal to walk away; I would take
it that way.
Jane: I don't think I'd walk away!
Q. How did you get on with Jennifer Jason Leigh, who plays
your sister? Did you have to hang out a lot to get the feeling
for the relationship they share?
A. We had a pretty instantaneous love of each other; it was
pretty quick. Jane encouraged it. We had little things for us
to do, like exchange gifts for one another's characters. We spent
time together, did yoga together.
Jane: I think both Jennifer and Meg have really close female
friends, so we understood what that type of relationship is. I
think it helped the movie if you felt that Jen and Meg had trust
for each other. So we decided that's what we were going to look
for and set up a couple of exercises to bring it together and
then jumped in there.
Everything was set up for it to be that way.
Q. What I thought was a really lovely moment in the film is
when Jennifer Jason Leigh's character asks Meg's character if
she was happy when she woke up? Are you happy when you wake up?
A. I am. I can't help it.
Q. What's more difficult? Simulating an orgasm in the context
of this film, or sat in a diner opposite Billy Crystal?
A. It's harder to fake it in a delhi, than in a controlled
environment with choreographed scenes... [laughs]
|
