| 
Compiled by: Jack Foley
Q. When you came to this film, you spoke no English.
How tough was that?
A. Actually, in the beginning it was very good for the
character because I can relate with Flor. So it was good.
Q. You were also one of many people that James Brooks
saw. Were you aware that there was this massive search?
A. Yeah, I knew that. People talked to me about that;
they would say 'Jim saw, I don't know, a million or a hundred...
a lot of girls'.
Q. What appealed to you about the character?
A. Because when I read the script, I thought it was amazing.
The script is bigger than the movie. The movie is a small movie
in comparison with the script. And nobody says 'no' to Jim Brooks'.
He calls you and you have to say 'yes'.
Q. Did you have any other problems in making the move
to Hollywood other than the obvious language difficulties?
A. No, no, no, when I arrived everything was good. Even
though I didn't speak English that was good for the character.
The only thing is my thing. It's my first time that I've spent
so much time away from home and that for me was a problem. I needed
my family and my home, but apart from that everything was great.
Q. You've made several major movies in Spain, but most
that are familiar to UK audiences are major dramatic roles. Was
comedy a major step for you?
A. No, in Spain I made a lot of comedies. I alternate
between comedy and drama. I enjoy making drama and comedy but
this movie is not just a comedy; this movie is more complicated.
You can laugh but at the same time, one second later, you cry.
Q. Is a film set the same everywhere or is there a difference?
A. Well I had an opportunity to work in France and now
in Hollywood and in Spain, of course, and the work is the same.
It's the same around the world. I think it's universal, my profession
is very universal. But, it's true that in Hollywood the budget
is very big. I think that's the most important difference. Everything
that they do is bigger, but the work is the same.
Q. A bigger trailer?
A. For example, in Hollywood you have an assistant, you
know, and they treated me like a princess all the time... and
it's good!
Q. In the film, your character doesn't know how to react
to an emotional man, because it's not what she sees usually in
Latin men, how did Adam Sandler compare to Latin men?
A. Adam Sandler is a super-nice guy. He's very relaxed,
very calm, and very funny. All the time making jokes. In comparison
with Latin people, I don't know, my husband is from Venezuela,
both are very different, but I don't know how they compare.
Q. Do you encourage your husband to be more emotional
after doing this film?
A. [Laughs] My husband cries! He cries a lot. When he
needs to, why not? People put labels, it's very easy to put a
label, and Latin men is like a macho man, very strong, but I know
a lot of Latin men that cry a lot. They're very soft and very
sweet.
Q. Do you prefer Hollywood to Spain now that you've had
an experience of both?
A. No, it's not prefer. Now I have a possibility to work
there, in Hollywood, and it is good because it is good to make
movies, blockbuster movies, why not? But I'm very open to good
roles, good scripts, and it's good to work in Hollywood, but I
also have a lot of interest to work in Latin America because the
industry there is really good and growing.
Q. Who is your favourite Spanish actor and actress?
A. I like a lot Victoria Abril and, of course, Javier
Bardem. He is amazing.
Q. What did you do in your free time?
A. I make a lot of, for example, in LA the mentality
is very healthy; everybody works out, does sport. I didn't have
too much time free, actually, because we worked a lot - 8 months,
every day, but I loved, for example, Sunday, walking in Santa
Monica or Venice. It's very calm, very relaxed.
Q. And was it easy to interact with people?
A. It's easy because there are a lot of Spanish people.
Q. Did your learning of English coincide with Flor's
learning of English, or sometimes did you have to pretend to be
worse than you really were?
A. Not too much because I didn't have too much time to
have practice lessons. I learned every day with the crew, but
no lessons, just I memorised my lines, and afterwards I had to
learn English a bit better because all the press junkets are in
English. So I took classes.
Q. As a Spaniard, do you have a strong sense of identity
that resists one of the ideas of the movie - that Americans want
everybody to be American?
A. Yes, of course. I think it's important to say your
culture, your customs, your lifestyle is good. But it's good,
when you travel and live in another country, to enrich yourself
with another type of life, or people, or mentality, but I think
it's important to maintain your culture. I'm Spanish and I'm very
proud.
Q. I believe an alternative ending was filmed. Can you
tell us what and why maybe?
A. In the DVD, you can see the end. One has me and Adam
Sandler on the bed, because we make love, and another, we don't
make love. I think this end is much better for the movie, before
it's more dignified.
Q. What was the funniest thing that happened between
you and Adam Sandler while you were filming?
A. With Adam Sandler it's normal to all the time laugh.
I don't feel like it's a special thing because all the time he's
making jokes. Sometimes he makes a joke and people laugh but I
don't understand.
Q. Does Adam speak any Spanish?
A. Just give me a kiss [laughs].
|
 |
Q. Would you like to star
in an English film?
A. Here, of course! I have a meeting today! I want to
make a movie here.
Q. And if you could make a movie here with anybody, who
would you like to make one with?
A. I'm very open. Now there are many young directors
who are debuting and are very interesting. So I'm interested in
working with those kinds of people.
Q. You began your career in TV, but were movies always
an ambition?
A. Yes, of course. I did a lot of theatre in Seville,
because I'm from there. When I was young, I did a lot of plays.
But I always wanted to make movies because it's magic. So when
I started in TV I felt that this was a first step and now that
makes it easier. The most difficult thing is your first opportunity
- when you get that, afterwards everything is easy.
Q. Was your relationship with Shelby very similar to
what we saw on screen?
A. Yes, all the time. When you work with kids, it's important
to maintain the relationship all the time, not just when the director
says 'action'. It's important all the time to act like a mother
with her. And sometimes, of course, she translates for me.
But sometimes, on a long day, the kids start to get a little bit
tired and they move a lot, so I was like 'Shelby, shut up, because
people now are working and you're like, aargh' [laughs]. You're
not professional'.
And I love the mother, because all the time her mother is 'oh,
I'm sorry', but I kept saying 'no, it was good, it was good, you
have to do that all the time'. It was good because the relationship
was very real.
Q. How long did the scene when she interprets everything,
including the actions, take to shoot?
A. Two days. The main thing in that scene is that Shelby,
every scene, every take, was like a first take. And it was amazing,
because she was very, very professional and that's not normal
in a kid in a scene like that. Every take was perfect.
Q. Did you in particular like working with Cloris Leachman?
A. Of course, she is the best in the movie. She is like
a hundred years or something.... [laughs] but at the same time,
she has more energy than anybody else. She has a very singular
sense of humour, very ironic, very, very funny. People laugh,
laugh, laugh with her all the time. Even in the press junket,
it was a joke, like a show.
Q. When you do a heavy dramatic role like Mine Alone
(Solo Mia), where you play the battered wife, is it easy to let
go of that?
A. I'm very proud of that role because it was the first
movie in Spain that tackled the problem of domestic violence.
Everybody was scared when they saw that movie. To prepare for
that role, I had to live with women with that problem in a refuge
for two days. It was a horrible experience but at the same time
great and amazing. I became close to these women and feel I did
what I could to help them through making this film.
Q. Some people think that there haven't been enough mainstream
films in America with big Spanish stars. Do you feel that you're
part of maybe Hollywood history, that you're beginning to make
big mainstream films that are for Spanish-American viewers as
well?
A. Now, in America, the majority of the minority are
Spanish - people from Latin America. I think it is important that
Hollywood is now going to start making more films for Latin American
people because the audience is very important now. And I think
I feel like an event, because I'm from Spain, and if I can lose
the accent, I can make another kind of role, not only Latin.
Q. But do you feel part of the history of changing?
A. Yes, it's good, because this movie has a big director,
whose made only five movies, and one movie is about Latin women,
which is important.
Q. Talking of accents, for English audiences we perhaps
don't understand the difference between playing a Mexican woman
and a Spanish woman? Did you work hard to be authentic for Mexican-American
audiences, to keep it real?
A. Yeah. For me, the opinion of Mexican audiences was
very important and when I travelled to Mexico for the premiere,
I was scared because, for me, it was important - I made a role
for Mexico. But people say 'oh, it's good, it's enough' and they
can believe in the story. But it's very different, it's like a
British accent with an American accent, it's very different. You
can understand everything, but at the same time it's different.
Q. But did you have a following in Mexico already for
your Spanish films?
A. Ah yes!
Q. When you were in Hollywood, were you ever mistaken
for anyone else famous, such as Penelope Cruz?
A. Yes, a lot! Even here, and in Australia, because we
worked on the promotion in Melbourne. I entered the shop and a
sales girl said 'oh, are you a model', and I'd say 'no'; and she'd
suddenly go 'wow, you're Penelope Cruz!' [laughs] And when you
explained no, she'd say that I seemed like her. It's a good comparison.
Q. And do you have any other Hollywood projects in the
pipeline?
A. I'm reading. I'm reading a lot of scripts but I have
to be careful of what to do next. I need rest a little bit and
I also have some projects in Spain that I'm very interested in.
So I don't know what to do, I have to decide.
Q. The scene where Adam Sandler says 'you're drop-dead
gorgeous', is that odd when someone pays you a compliment like
that?
A. Yes, I think so, but it's good.
Q. But does it make you feel embarrassed or uncomfortable
slightly - like blushing?
A. Yes, it's the same when people say you are very sexy,
or refer to you as a sex symbol. I have a lot of questions like
that, 'do you feel like a sex symbol? Or something like that.
But look at me, I'm not a sex symbol. People look at you, but
you never feel that. So sometimes I'm very embarrassed, but it's
good at the same time. I'm a woman, so when people say 'you're
pretty' it's good.
Q. Is your husband also an actor and how did you meet
him?
A. No, he's a businessman in Spain and he helps me with
my career. We were on vacation on the beach and we met and fell
in love right away. In five months we were married and now I'm
three years married.
|
