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Review by: Jack Foley | Rating:
Two
Q: After Ray and now this,
is there a singer bursting to get out?
A: No, I’m just an actress who is willing to do
whatever she has to do to make it good. It was fun being Tina
Turner, the whole movie was fun. We had a blast.
Q: Doing Tina singing Proud Mary must get into
your bones?
A: It does. I’ve got it on my i-Pod. But it is
that serious with these female impersonators. Every black female
impersonator has a Tina in their repertoire of characters. I thought
it was brilliant when all these different Tina’s ran on
stage. Tina’s of the world unite! There was even a white
Tina Turner.
Q: Did you study videos of Tina to get her style?
A: Sandy brought in a choreographer for the Tina routine.
She gave us some of the staples that Tina does. But all of us
know Tina’s moves. If you didn’t know before when
you saw Angela Bassett in What’s Love Got To Do With
It you knew then.
Q: What was tougher, becoming Tina Turner or doing the
underwater sequence?
A: Doing the underwater stuff. It was an 18-hour day.
When I left for work the sun was up and when we finished the sun
was up. Sandra Bullock is superwoman. She was a producer too on
this movie and she was doing so much and then she had a head cold
that just hit her. So she was plugged up with this cold and we
were under the water for up to 50 seconds at a time, holding our
breath. For the three months on this movie we were like partners.
So I was worried about my friend and she was not feeling too good.
But we did the scene.
For both of us that was probably the biggest challenge. We both
wanted to do our stunts, we’d go to stunt rehearsals and
I was just amazed that she found the time to do all she did. I
asked if she ever slept. We were really kicking ass throughout
the movie and that 18 hour day was the last day of work!
Q: Do you work out?
A: I work out regularly. I have always been athletic.
I ran track, played volleyball and racquet ball. So this was a
welcome opportunity for me to show people that I can really handle
myself. And Sandy is the same way and at the same time she is
a cheerleader.
Her attitude is that it’s not just about her but if the
entire movie is good then it’s good for her. And a lot of
actors don’t look at it that way. But Sandy roots for the
underdog. If it was the Dodgers against the Yankees and even though
you know that the Dodgers aren’t going to win, Sandy would
root for the Dodgers. That’s her. So it is really good to
be day to day with someone who supports you like that.
Q: What did you think when you saw her in the old age
make-up?
A: I knew the voice because she had done that when we
did the read through. When I got to the set she was already there
and saw this cute little old lady. Then she started talking about
I said...’Get out of here!’ I asked to see her teeth
and touch her skin. She had age spots. It was good. I didn’t
recognise her till she started talking.
Q: You’ve done a lot as a supporting actress, do
you enjoy playing all those different characters?
A: I do. I’ve had acclaim because people say I’m
always so different and they never know what I’m going to
do next. I want to be different. It would be boring for people
to want me to always do the same thing. It allows be to be the
actress I dreamed of when I was a little girl impersonating people.
I have been blessed with doing a lot of different people and it’s
been fun. But having said that, soon you might see me on a TV
show and that’s because I just want to stay home. I don’t
want to travel unless it is for vacation.
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Q: So are you looking more
for stability than a star vehicle?
A: The vain part of me wants both. I would like a star
vehicle, a TV show and then do a movie in the summer. That would
be a perfect world. Having a child is a lot of work. I’m
still a mom who cooks and drops my son off at school every day.
I don’t have a nanny. It would be a little bit easier if
I had a 9 to 5 and a TV sit-com is a 9 to 5.
Q: During awards season what was the most thrilling gift
you received?
A: I know this sounds so corny but the most exciting
thing for me was when I got a life time membership to NetFlicks.
I got chills when they told me. A life time membership! I don’t
ever have to play for a movie again.
Q: Have the gifts got out of hand?
A: No the reality is that celebrities motivate so much
of what people do or think....the latest diet, the latest pair
of shoes or whatever. Companies have realised they could spend
thousands of dollars in a magazine advert or use that money to
give 30 celebrities gifts and probably get more coverage.
Q: In the movie you look like you really could slug a
guy. Have you ever done that?
A: Yeah I have. My husband said that that wasn’t
acting in the movie. (laughs) I’ve never slugged him. But
when I was at school - where my mother taught - this guy was doing
something mean. So I told him to stop and pushed him into all
these people who fell into their lockers and into my French teacher.
She told my mommy. I told my mom that I never hit him that hard,
he must have slipped. Every time I saw that teacher she’d
ask if I was still pushing guys around. When she sees this movie
she’ll probably think I still am doing that.
Q: What about hitting Regis Philbin?
A: I didn’t really hit him. We did two takes. One
where we went through the motions. Then the other when he went
Oh! Oh!. I said that people were going to think I really did hit
Regis. But it is the funniest thing in the trailer. Me hitting
Regis in the groin is cool comedy...but not for the guys. they
go...oooh! Since I work out three times a week I was ready for
the action in the movie. All I had to do was learn how to stretch
a whole lot more. Now I have realised the importance of stretching.
Q: Did you take classes to handle a gun?
A: No my husband knows about guns. He hates it when they
are wrongly held in movies. Since he started pointing it out I
can tell people in movies who don’t know how to handle guns.
So I did practicing how to hold it at home.
Q: In Vegas did you go to the tables?
A: I don’t gamble. I don’t get the concept
of losing money.
Q: They wanted you to audition for the part of Ray Charles’
wife but you wanted to play the mistress?
A: It was not because I had played the part of the wife
a lot. To me of all the female characters in the movie she was
the one with the most layers. She was the most complex. I have
been attracted to strong characters but she was submissive at
the same time.
To me, it felt like it would be a great challenge to make her
likeable because she’s cheating with a married man. How
could I make people not be mad at her for doing what she’s
doing?
That attracted me even more because I had places to go with her.
I thought if I didn’t take the challenge I would be punking
out as an actress.
Q: What draws you to a role?
A: I respond to the material. But I do take into account
that my son will see it. There are not as many roles for women
as there should be. Women are so much more interesting in real
life than how they are portrayed on screen.
A movie like is about two interesting chicks who are not typical
women. I think that’s why Sandy took Miss Congeniality in
the first place. How often do we get into the life of a female
FBI agent?
It’s always a man. Hopefully, this movie will make a lot
of money and opens doors for the next actress.
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