Archive for the 'Actresses' Category

The sun is out, the birds are singing, it’s getting warmer here in NY and to me that means the summer movie season is coming.

This year the biggie is Sex and the City 2.  The women were feted at Showest with the best ensemble award.  Amanda Seyfried who is having a big year with Dear John, the upcoming Chloe and this summer’s Letters to Juliet got the breakthrough actress award.  High School Musical’s Vanessa Hudgen’s is the star of tomorrow, and Katherine Heigl is the female star of the year. She stars with Ashton Kutcher in Killers this summer.

Check out the Sex & The City Women.  This one kind of has a Mamma Mia (but with better clothes) feel.

Reese Witherspoon was in DC yesterday talking about the need to stop violence against women.  She represents Avon which came to town to give a $500,000 grant to the State Department’s Fund for Global leadership.

One of her quotes:

I think when you have strong powerful women standing up and speaking out about these issues, not to mention how many women represent us in the Senate and the House of Representatives, you’re going to start to see a major change in these areas,” stated the actress.

Here’s an interview she did with ET talking about the importance and the responsibility she has in doing this work.  She is in circus training getting ready to start her next film based on the best selling novel Water for Elephants, with Robert Pattinson and Christoph Waltz.

Aside from the historic Bigelow win there were several other moments during the Oscar show (which I still strongly feel was really bad, but I was tweeting the whole time) and the wrap up that are worthy of note.

Mo’Nique

The woman rocks.  She did everything this whole season on her own terms and every time people tried to bring her down and shame her for it, she said I am not playing by your bullshit rules.  The fact that she won proves that art triumphs over bullshit.  She took all the shit that was shoved at her and rose above it, big time.  I really hope Hollywood learns a lesson from how Mo’Nique was treated.  There were racist quips, sexist shit (you know the crap about her shaving her legs) and in general a whole lot of you need to kiss some Hollywood ass if you think you are going to win this award.

Yesterday, on Oprah she talked about dedicating her win to Hattie McDaniel, the first African American woman to win an Oscar which she did for the 1939 film Gone With the Wind.  McDaniel, as Kate Harding at Salon reminds us, was not able to attend the opening of Gone with the Wind because the theatre was segregated.

Here’s what Mo’Nique said about the moment before they announced her name:

They are going through the nominees and I know this woman Hattie McDaniel had to endure so much in this industry.  And because of her is why you sit (talking to Oprah) where you sit and I sit where I sit because she did so much for all of us.

Sandra Bullock

So she beat Meryl and poor Meryl has not won in some 25 years which is unbelievable to me.  Part of it is that everything she does is Oscar worthy so that people think they don’t need to vote for her because she will be back again and again.  News flash people.  She’s taking some time off.  She made two movies this past year, both directed by women directors.  Both made $100 million.

But the thing about this year and the Sandra Bullock factor is that we all know that not everything that Sandra Bullock does is Oscar worthy.  She’s the first to admit it.  The Blind Side hit a chord in the country.  As did Sandra Bullock.  Remember, things suck out there (out here).  No matter how much they tell us the recession is over.  Things are still really hard and The Blind Side gave people a moment to feel better about things and themselves.  That’s why it has made a fortune.

And Bullock rode those waves all the way to the Oscar win. She was so funny talking about her kiss with Meryl that people can’t let go.  She talked about how during the awards season the group of nominees became a sorority and that they all liked and respected each other.  And she tore down some more bullshit about how women hate each other.  Here’s what she said to Oprah:

They pit women against each other all the time.  They don’t do it to the men.  I am so sick of it.

Here’s her wonderful acceptance speech.  I loved how she gave tribute to her mom It is worth watching again:

Barbra Streisand

How poignant must it have been for Barbra to have the honor to announce the first female directing winner when she has been so visibly snubbed by the Academy in the past.  There are of course women who directed great films before Barbra.  One, Lina Wertmuller, was nominated before Barbra made Yentl and The Prince of Tides which was nominated for best picture and best actor for Nick Nolte but she was not nominated for best director.  Barbra chose to direct when she was a gigantic huge acting and recording star.  She chose to direct and got shit for it.  She is a trailblazer and let’s not forget it.  Here’s what she said after she gave the award to Bigelow:

I hope there will come a time when it will not be about a woman director or a man director but will just be about who the best director is.  When there is no regard for gender.  That it’s just about the talent.

Other Thoughts:

I did love Geoffrey Fletcher winning for Precious.  Now I know people are upset because he forgot to thank Sapphire.  In his defense he was beyond shocked.  You could see it on his face and hear it in his voice.  The fact that Precious got that award over the film everyone (including me) expected Up in the Air really shows how much that film resonated within the Hollywood community.

I loved Gabourey Sidibe’s awesomeness on the red carpet.  She showed no signs of nervousness and has come through this Oscar season as the most unexpected and  success.  Every single time I see her I smile.

Gotta love that in NY during fashion week when the skinny girls are running around the runways that the woman who makes the cover of NY Magazine’s fashion issue is a normal sized woman.  Let’s make this crystal clear.  Christina Hendricks is not big.  She is not fat.  She is beautiful.

Here’s what she said about the ridiculousness that was the tizzy at last month’s Golden Globes over the fact that there is a woman working in Hollywood that actually has with boobs, hips and a butt.  Newsflash Hollywood – most of us outside of your zip code actually do have these body parts.

It kind of hurt my feelings at first,” she says. “Anytime someone talks about your figure constantly, you get nervous, you get really self-conscious. I was working my butt off on the show, and then all anyone was talking about was my body!”

As for the body question, she’ll answer it when asked, but mostly it bores her. “It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth,” she says. “Back when I was modeling, if someone said ‘I’m fasting,’ I would say, ‘Can’t we talk about something else?

I love her.

Woman of the Hourglass (NY Magazine)

I have been waiting impatiently for about a decade now to see the spark in Claire Danes’ eyes that I saw way back when she played Angela Chase in My So Called Life. She’s been in a bunch of movies and has been lovely and usually very good, but no where near great.

Finally, she has a found a role where she is beyond great, she is stupendous.  Claire Danes is revelatory as Temple Grandin animal behaviorist, best-selling author, autistic and expert in autism.  This is a fascinating movie and I learned so much about this woman and about autism.  Temple did not speak until she was four and if not for her mother would have probably ended up spending her life in an institution.  What a loss that would have been.

I was riveted in many ways by the film especially the scenes about how Grandin related to animals, especially cows.  I couldn’t believe it when I learned that she has designed over 50% cattle slaughterhouses in the country and they are all designed to promote humane treatment of the animals.

But it is Danes who is a revelation, and I really hope that this will convince her and others that she has the range to dig into meaty roles in the future.

Temple Grandin spent a couple of minutes on the phone with me talking about the film, her work and her life.

W&H: First I want to talk a little bit about your mother. The film shows how your mother never gave up on you. And it’s almost a love story between the two of you.  What was your father’s role?

Temple Grandin: Mother was the one who kept me out of an institution. My father, like a lot of dads, had very little input. He would have gone along with the doctors. Back in the 50’s you sort of did what the doctors did. In a lot of families where they have a severely handicapped kid, it’s the mothers that take care of it. I go and do a talk and autism meeting and there are a few dads there. But for every dad there are ten mothers.

W&H: What was so magical for me was your relationship with animals.

TG: When I was in high school I thought everybody thought in pictures like I did. The movie showed how I thought in pictures brilliantly. The other thing that I really liked about the movie was that all my projects that were in the movie. They were all actually done and they were all made.  The squeeze machines were built off the drawing. Those were all built exactly the way I did them.

Continue reading ‘Claire Danes as Temple Grandin Tomorrow Night on HBO’

Marcia Gay Harden is starring in Joan Carr Wiggin’s latest writing and directing effort, If I Were You which started shooting last week in Toronto. Film costars Leonor Watling and Aidan Quinn as well as Valerie Mahaffey who co-starred in Carr-Wiggin’s film A Previous Engagement. Big fan of Marcia Gay Harden.  She was so good as Ellen Page’s mom in Whip It. She recently won a Tony Award for the Gods of Carnage on Broadway.

Film synopsis (from press release):

Two women who meet by chance make a pact to fix their troubled lives: they will each do what the other one says. But one of them has a secret. She knows her husband is sleeping with the other woman. The wife’s plan backfires when the mistress an aspiring actress, orders her to play King Lear with the mistress playing the Fool in a hilariously amateur production. The wife’s life is transformed in unexpected ways as she, like Lear, struggles with matters of mortality and betrayal, loyalty and love.

Film will be shooting for five weeks.

Marcia Gay Harden, Aidan Quinn join ‘You’ (Hollywood Reporter)

Here’s a quote that Helen Mirren gave to the NYTimes’ Carpetbagger (who is now a woman- Melena Ryzik) getting on the bandwagon for Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker and also for Avatar:

“I think they’re both spectacular films, from either end of the spectrum of what is possible to do with film,” she said. “I guess because ‘The Hurt Locker’ was directed by a woman; I’m a big supporter of that. It’s a fantastic film — visceral, fabulous filmmaking. Proper filmmaking.”

Rock on Helen.

I am very excited to see her playing a Mossad agent in The Debt. Anyone have an idea on a release for that film.

According to an LA Times piece, Can Julia Roberts Come Back on Her Own Terms? the person who benefited most from Julia Roberts taking several years off to have and raise her kids is Sandra Bullock who got some of the key roles that Roberts passed on.  Meaning The Proposal and The Blind Side.

My first thought is that maybe Roberts knew that neither of those roles were for her. Having seen both films they seem tailor made for Bullock’s type of talent.

But really what the article is saying is, Julia you took some time off and now you’re going to have to pay your dues all over again because we really don’t love you as much as we did.  And by the way your first movie back (Duplicity) was a flop so now it’s going to be even harder for you.

I think we have to be careful how we talk about this situation. Clive Owen, Roberts’ co-star in Duplicity had three flops last year (The International and The Boys are Back), and he doesn’t get the Julia Roberts treatment. Granted, he was never a big a star as Roberts.   I’ve also been thinking about Harrison Ford who has a new film coming out tomorrow Extraordinary Measures that looks like some kind of medical thriller. He’s been a bit out of the loop lately i.e. Crossing Over (which I don’t even know if it was released in theatres), and if he hadn’t made an Indiana Jones movie a couple of years ago his career would be in the toilet. But nobody ever talks about him being able to come back on his own terms (which I’ve heard are pretty much about money.)

It has been documented ad nauseum that women who get off the career track in many different businesses have a harder time getting back into the game in terms of money and prestige.  Hollywood is even more problematic with neanderthals still believing that a woman can’t (or shouldn’t) direct a film if she has kids to raise because they will be a distraction.  And for female actors it’s incredibly hard because they have such a short shelf life to begin with, and taking out a couple of years to have a family while it seems perfectly logical and reasonable the message is that it could really potentially damage your future.  Of course nobody talks about the lack of scripts for women as to why many actresses aren’t working.  Women get punished for having families.  Men have kids and the conversation of their career never, ever revolves around their family unless they inject it.

Maybe Julia Roberts should have waited to come back with Eat, Pray, Love which I think will be a monstrous movie this summer.   Who knows?  But while we want her to make another Pretty Woman type film or even a Notting Hill, she is not interested in that.

“I can’t play those parts anymore,” she said. “It just doesn’t work for me at 41, with three kids and happily married.”

Good for her.  I think that if she finds something that will connect with audiences and not just critics like D, she’ll be right back on top.  I know I am pulling for her.

Can Julia Roberts Come Back on Her Own Terms? (LA Times)

If NBC hadn’t been such a bone headed network last year in wanting to put Jay Leno in the 10pm slot (we know how that worked out) virtually eliminating all the cutting edge dramas.  One show that got caught up in the disaster was Southland created by Ann Biderman.

The show made its debut last night on TNT.  It’s starting with the couple of shows that ran on NBC last spring and will soon air new episodes.

I’m a big fan of Southland.  I love that a woman created a cop show that is more than just the shooting, it’s about the people.  I was able to have a conversation yesterday with the amazing Regina King who co-stars on the show as Detective Lydia Adams.  Regina started her career on 227 and is probably best known for her great work in Jerry Maguire.  She has a long resume of great work which you can see here.

(Major thanks goes to W&H reader Stephanie Webster for volunteering her transcription services.  I guarantee you there is no way I would have had this done as fast as she did.)

Women &Hollywood: Tell me why you wanted to do this show?

Regina King: A number of reasons. First, I wanted to do TV because I wanted to do something where I wouldn’t have to travel. Two, it was a John Wells production. And three because Ann Biderman created an incredible show and even more specifically a great role for an actress to sink her teeth into. As actresses we are always wanting to play roles that are complex and have many dimensions. They’re hard to come by and Lydia Adams represents so many women that I know in the thirty-five, forty, age range. Women who are successful but have probably gone through bad relationships. She’s gun shy and hasn’t really allowed herself to be available to be in a relationship let alone foster a relationship. And she’s kind of in a position where something’s missing in her life and so many women today are like that.

W&H: You spoke of Ann creating the show. Do you know if the character was written as an African American?

RK: No, she was not. She was just written as a woman.

W&H: There aren’t many shows that women create, especially ones that seem out of type like this. Is there a notable difference to you in terms of scripts you read and the things that you’ve experienced and that made this standout maybe because there was a female creator and also from John Wells who is so good on the girl stuff too.

RK: Ann is a smart woman and she is a brilliant screenwriter who’s done awesome characters for both men and women. The first that comes to mind is the one she did for Sigourney Weaver in Copycat. When you watch that movie, it was a woman that could have easily been a one dimensional character and she put layers on that.  She made her have to overcome something and force her to have to come out of this box.  I don’t know.  I just think that when you have a woman that is a champion of women… There are some women who don’t really call themselves lovers of other women. They’ll say, ‘All I have is male friends I don’t have any female friends.’  So when you have a women as a friend and likes being a woman, your lucky as an actress because get someone who’s  not going to write on the surface. Every episode is not about Lydia. You see other sides and personality characteristics in Lydia in every episode. The one similar thing in every episode is that Lydia is a smart cop.  You can believe that when you watch this show that Lydia has not decided to be a cop because there was nothing left for her to do. Sometimes those are the reasons why a lot of people delve into law enforcement because it was either this or down another alley.

W&H: Lydia feels like the heart of the show. She just seems to be a life force in that show. Do you feel that?

RK: Now that you’re saying it maybe you could regard that character as the heart of the show because she has the most emotional weight. But I think just as the show unfolds you’ll start to see more of the emotion in all of the characters, the men included. I know Arija has a really great episode that comes up. I think it’s like episode ten or eleven where she’s really challenged with whether or not she’s still a good cop. And she has a really awesome moment where she makes a discovery. I don’t want to give it away.  I think every single one of the characters have emotional weight but it just so happens that so far we’ve gotten an opportunity to see Lydia’s more. I think you have a character like Cooper, Michael Cudlitz’s character.  You know I think we’re going to see him crack. He’s trying to hide behind this tough guy character because he’s a training officer.   But he’s emotionally deep and emotionally damaged as well and you’re going to see that as well. And that’s what’s so great about being an ensemble piece. We’re not going to run out of stories. It’s not going to all be out there on the table in the first week. We get to peel these layers away. We get to see people in and out of their elements. You get a wonderful opportunity to see C. Thomas Howell. He is totally a broken man. It’s refreshing to see him in a character we don’t normally see.

W&H: How have you avoided getting into some of the things that happen with actresses today getting pigeonholed or playing roles that are not as necessarily as fulfilling as some of the parts that you’ve played? How have you avoided that pitfall?

RK: You know, I think luck. And they say luck is where preparation meets opportunity.  I’ve always regarded what I do as an art form.  I’ve never gravitated to the roles that were based on how you look.  For example in Ray, I think all the women were great characters and I was asked to audition for any of the roles. My agent thought I would immediately go for the wife because obviously she has more screen time. But for me I just felt like there was more to Margie.  I just think that I have been lucky enough to be able to pass on some things and still pay the bills. It’s not always people are making choices that are really shallow. I think it’s sometimes they’ve got to pay the bills.

W&H: I was devastated when the show was canceled. I think you would still be on NBC had they not gone into the whole Jay Leno thing. Is the TNT the right place for this show?

RK: I think that TNT is the perfect place for it. Sometimes when things are happening you’re like why is this happening? What’s going on? And then you get on the other side you realize wow I’m so glad that it happened.  Not every situation is like that but we’ve all been in situations that have played out that way. And I just feel like that.  It’s so unfortunate what is going on over there (at NBC). They were such an iconic network. And I have a special connection because I started out there.  And I started out there in a time when they were doing things. When people were planning there nights around TV. Must See TV. Saturday night was not like a huge TV night. But it was for NBC with 227, Golden Girls, Amen. People stayed home to watch that. Now people don’t do that anymore unless it’s a cable network.  NBC coined the phrase “Must See TV,” TNT coined the phrase, “We know drama.”  Southland is a dramatic show.  It is gritty. It’s not forgiving and I think people want to see that. People want to see stories that aren’t candy coated or scared to push the envelope. And that’s the show that we are. And that is what NBC signed on for.  But we ended up someplace that is marketing us well. It’s just unfortunate.

W&H: Any advice you could give to women, specifically African American women, who are thinking about getting into the business?

RK: I would say that if it’s something that you truly want to do – then go for it.  Especially since you’re saying be specific to black women. We so often in our community are taught to have a dream but you’ve got to be able to fall back on something.  What happens with us is we’re so busy working on the fall back plan that we don’t nurse the dream. And if this is your dream and it really is what you want to do – make a real solid plan to execute your dream.  And if you’re focusing a hundred percent on that – it’s going to happen. The universe will allow it to happen if all the energy your putting towards it is to that goal – it will happen. But have a plan. You need a plan. The plan can change but start out with a plan.

Southland airs on TNT, Tuesday nights at 10.

Transcription by Stephanie Webster

One of the ongoing narratives of this awards season has been about Mo’Nique.  About how great her performance is, and also about how supposedly ungrateful she is because she hasn’t been criss-crossing the country to gather all her accolades.

In the this Sunday’s NY Times, David Carr talks to Mo’Nique about the issue.  She rightfully says: “the performance is on the screen. So at what point am I still trying to prove something?”

All this campaigning and kissing babies (so to speak) has gotten out of control and is like an inside baseball circle jerk.

I’m not a part of all the Oscar lunches and events — I get invited to a couple of things — but I’m mostly an outsider looking in reading the blogs and trying to understand all the ins and outs.

The thing about the whole Mo’Nique situation that has bothered me is the relentlessness in trying to bully her to play the game more.  I love that she won’t be bullied.  In that way she’s like her character.

She a working mom with young kids and a show that recently premiered and tapes 6 episodes a week.  That’s a tremendous amount of work.  She’s got her priorities straight and should actually be applauded for that, not made to feel that “her behavior” and “snubs” will cause people to deny her a nomination.

What grade are we in people?  Third, fourth?

The whole conversation has smelled bad from day one.  I never heard her say a single word against any of the awards she received, she just couldn’t attend the ceremonies.  I’m no historical expert but I remember when Sean Penn wouldn’t show up anywhere and no one ever said that should preclude him from receiving a nomination.

The conversation is also sexist.  She has a full time job.  I follow the twitter feed of Jason Reitman, director of Up in the Air and he is on a flight every day.  He is all over the place talking about his movie, saying the same thing to audience after audience that even though I heard his speech only a couple of times, it felt like a boring stump speech.  I don’t begrudge him for working the system, his movie is good and worthy of consideration.  Mr. Reitman also had a young child, but, still here he is on flights all over talking up the film.  I don’t know if his wife and child travel with him but we know there is still a different standard for women.  If Mo’Nique were traveling all over the country we’d find a way to berate her for leaving her kids for months to “campaign” for her Oscar.  It’s a lose, lose situation.

From all we’ve read about Precious it was supposed to be a small movie.  Nobody, especially the people who worked on it, expected (I’m sure somewhere in the back of their minds they hoped) that the film would get the recognition it has.  What’s impressive about the film is that since it’s premiere last January in Sundance it has kept the buzz going.  That positive buzz even with tons of money is hard to sustain.  Mo’Nique’s performance has been THE performance of the year.  She’s stayed on every list and won most awards.  Her closest competition is Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air, and I think for her the nomination will be the win.  She’s going to have a great career.  Mo’Nique’s performance was so singular this year that it would be a huge travesty if so-called Oscar politics got in the way and denied her the Oscar in March.

Me, Campaign?  Just got to the Film (NY Times)

I remember when I first saw her in Mean Girls.  She was terrifically mean.  She scared the crap out of my teenage self.  Then she broke my heart in The Notebook.  I have always admired her film choices. (I’ll give her a pass on Sherlock Holmes cause she was great but I did not like the movie.)  What I like most about McAdams is that she has never been cared about or been consumed by Hollywood and makes films when she wants to.  She maintains a very normal, regular life in Canada where she bikes and walks everywhere.

A recent Vogue profile delves a little (just a little since she is so private) deeper into McAdams.  You never see her in the tabloids.  The only time you knew who she was dating was when she was with Ryan Gosling and that was because they were in the same movie.  I give some props to Vogue for not inventing crap about Rachel to tabloid up the article, and really letting her personality shine through.  I learned that she lives a very green life (hates air conditioning), took a knife skills class in order to cut veggies better, and even runs a website with friends, Green is Sexy.  Not really Hollywood.

Some quotes:

Her interest in catwalk trends is so slight that when she received a Proenza tie-dye tee—before the runway, before anyone, the must-have piece for spring 2010!—she wore it to bed, alone.

I don’t really desire things. I prefer to spend my money on experiences, on meals or travel.

I’d love to get a little more info on her politics.  She’s clearly progressive and I’d love to hear her stance on women’s issues.  In a business that has a tendency to suck people, especially women dry and spit them out, I hope that we see McAdams in interesting movies for a long, long time.  I am excited for her next film- Morning Glory which she co-stars in with Harrison Ford.

The Notebook Part Two (Vogue)

I saw Invictus over the holidays.  There were some very interesting things going on in the film especially how inspirational true leadership is, and how sports can be a great connector across cultures.  But one thing I thought was strange about the film was how Winnie Mandela was completely absent.

Sophie Okonedo plays Mrs. Mandela in a new biopic that will air on the BBC later this month.  (I hope we can see it here in the US soon.) Her performance in the film Skin is also wonderful and will be availble on DVD soon.

She spoke with the Guardian about playing Mrs. Mandela and a host of other issues.  Here’s what she had to say about when success beckoned:

“After the Oscar nomination there were some big things mentioned. But it would have meant moving to America. And my domestic life here is set up in a way that I can’t move there unless I want to leave my daughter or something ridiculous like that, and she certainly doesn’t want to go there. Also, Los Angeles – I’m not thick-skinned enough to live there.

“And some other things here I was offered very good money for – but the parts just felt badly written. I’d be the girlfriend of someone really famous and I’d always be the same – wearing a tight dress and saying the odd slap-piece smarmy line – and I just thought, ‘First, I’m not very good at those parts anyway, and second, there are much prettier younger actresses to do them other than me!’

There Wasn’t A Moment I Didn’t Love Being Winnie (The Guardian)

Actress and Director Jodie Markell graciously took some time over the holiday weekend to answer some questions about her film debut The Loss of the Teardrop Diamond now playing in NY and LA.  Films opens wider on January 8.

Women & Hollywood: Why did you want to make your directing debut with this screenplay?  Tennessee Williams is a lot of pressure even for an experience director.  But you took him on your first time out of the gate.  Why?

Jodie Markell: When I was fifteen, growing up in Memphis Tennessee, I was cast as Laura Wingfield in a high school production of The Glass Menagerie. By the time I was seventeen, I had read everything by Williams that I could find and I had also been inspired by Elia Kazan’s classic films of A Streetcar Named Desire and my favorite, Baby Doll. Later, as a young actress, in New York City,  I saw a number of productions that did not feel organic to the southern sensibility that I knew. I wanted to reclaim Williams and bring his visually poetic world to the screen in a fresh way with as much vibrancy and authenticity as I could achieve in the hope of inspiring a new audience to re-discover this original American voice.

I never thought of it as choosing material for my first time out of the gate. I simply thought that this screenplay needed to be realized and the connection I felt to the material made it the right project for me to pursue.

W&H: In the production notes you said: “I instantly sparked to Fisher Willow and related to her as a strong female character in the Williams mold.”  Can you elaborate further?

JM: As a teenager with artistic tendencies, who often felt a bit different, I had an affinity for Williams’ sensitive characters who are searching for something authentic in a harsh world.  Fisher Willow is a young woman struggling to find her voice and trying to understand how to connect with someone she loves in a genuine way. I related to Fisher’s longing to be understood in a conventional society. Fisher says, “I am out of my element here.”  I think she is not only speaking for Williams himself, but for anyone who marches to the beat of a different drummer.  She says, “I want to be with people who do things. Paint, write, compose music and so forth…”  I know how she feels, that’s why I moved to New York.

W&H: Why do you think that Tennessee Williams was able to write such brilliant yet flawed women in a truly unique way?

JM: Williams said he never wrote about a vice that he had not observed in himself.  I think there is a part of him in all of his characters. And he always had a tendency to look at the more sensitive side of things. He started out as a poet after all.  He also had several women amongst his close friends and family that were as you say, “brilliant yet flawed”- especially his mother and his sister Rose who inspired many of his characters. He often wrote about women who were too beautiful, too romantic, too sincere, too sensuous, too witty to be understood by a society that did not prize women for being smart or adventurous in spirit. I think he perhaps held the belief that being human means that we are naturally flawed even though conventional society believes that everyone should be flawless, fit in perfectly with what is expected, and not make any waves.

W&H: What were the biggest challenges in making this film?

JM: Before arriving in Louisiana, Giles Nuttgens, our cinematographer, said he thinks a period film usually requires a minimum of 4 months. But we were faced with the challenge of bringing scope to Williams’ world despite the indie budget and our 28 day shooting schedule. And yet, I actually believe that this kind of challenge comes with the territory of independent filmmaking and forces filmmakers to work efficiently, be resourceful, and make creative choices in a courageous way.

W&H: Talk about the difference between acting and directing.  Do you want to direct more?

JM: As an actor, after researching, creating, and becoming the character, probably your most important goal is to be in the moment. As a director, one of your goals is to create an environment of trust and support so that the actors can make discoveries as they work.  It is those discoveries that light up the screen. While keeping the creative vision in mind, the director has to wear a lot of hats, run the set, and put out a lot of fires.  The director also has to think of how each moment works in relation to the whole vision –from shooting to editing to the final print. The director has to think in the past, present and future all at once, whereas the actor gets to be more in the present. But in both acting and directing, it is really all about finding the truth in each moment and sharing that with an audience.

I will continue to work as an actor and director in both theater and film because I think what you learn in one discipline informs the other.  But right now, I am looking forward to my next film as a director. I have several projects in development and am reading scripts as well.

W&H: What do you want the audience to be thinking about when they leave the theatre?

JM: I want the audience to feel that they have experienced Williams’ words and his world in a new way.  I want them to be touched by the honesty in two young people’s search for something real and their longing to connect.  I want them to consider how difficult and how rare it is to really “see” and really “hear” another human being. And most of all,  I want them to have their own experience and their own response to the film that I have no way of predicting.  Making a film is kind of like raising a kid and then sending her off to college – you have to let go and realize that your film is going to be having all kinds of encounters with all kinds of people that you will never know and that you have no control over.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female filmmakers?

JM: Stop defining yourself as a “female filmmaker” and just think of yourself as someone who has a story to tell and the skills and the life experience to tell it. Look for material that speaks to you, then find a producer who believes in the material as much as you do.  Every now and then someone says to me, “Do you realize that you are the first woman to direct a major Tennessee Williams film?” But I really never thought of it that way, I just thought I had a certain understanding of how to tell this story.

The Loss of the Teardrop Diamond is currently playing in NY and LA and will open in additional cities on January 8.  Check out the trailer here.

Sandra Bullock started out 2009 pretty much off the Hollywood radar screen.  She hadn’t made a movie for two years, and since most people never thought a woman over 40 could score box office successes, her upcoming films weren’t taken very seriously.  Part of the reason is because her films are romantic comedies and are starring vehicles for her so they don’t get a lot of love or buzz in the blogosphere.  Nobody had really high expectations for The Proposal,  All About Steve looked terrible (and did terrible), and The Blind Side wasn’t yet registering at all.

But then The Proposal hit — and hit big — with an opening weekend of $33 million on a $40 million budget.  It has now grossed $163 which puts it at number 13 for the year.

The Blind Side has propelled Bullock into a serious power position.  The success of the film, it opened with $34 million on a budget of $29 million, made Bullock 2009’s box office star in a survey of theatre owners.  The last time a woman was at top of the list was Julia Roberts in 1999.  The film is now the 8th top grossing film for 2009.

And to to top it off according to EW: “Bullock is now the only actress ever to have a film marketed with her name solely above the title (i.e. based on her star power alone, and not a franchise or tentpoll picture) pass the $200 million mark in domestic gross.”

Congrats Sandra but it is a sad testament to how far we have to go.

Sandra Bullock is top star of ‘09 boxoffice (Yahoo)

While being interviewed by the Guardian for her film Nowhere Boy about the teenage years of John Lennon, Kristin Scott Thomas talked about her life and her career and had some very interesting things to say.

The moment that Kristin Scott Thomas knew she didn’t want to be a typical movie star, the moment it seems she switched from playing romantic leads to infinitely more interesting roles, was when a director told her she should make her character more appealing. The idea didn’t grab her. “I just thought, I don’t want to do that,” she says. “I don’t want to have to be pretty. I don’t want to have to be adorable. Because if I’m watching that on screen I get irritated.” She sits back with a sigh. “I can’t bear it.”

But [in general] I don’t want to just be a kind of bouncing board for men to flex their muscles and look brave and courageous and understanding, while I just look bleary-eyed in the background. No, I don’t want to do that. You can also do leading roles that are riveting, but they tend to be – well, certainly in my world – they’re the lower-budget, more arthouse films, because I’m not on the right list to be asked to do those really great meaty roles that you see Meryl Streep or Cate Blanchett doing.”

She has made a brilliant career for herself in France, where she isn’t so typecast, plays far fewer aristocrats, and “can let rip a bit”. By working there, she seems to have avoided the mid-life canyon that many Hollywood actresses fall into, because the French film industry “loves middle-aged women. They love us! They think we’re sexy.” I suggest that other actresses need to learn French. “No!” she says. “Keep away. Not on my patch. There are quite a lot of actresses who can speak really good French. Emma Thompson. Jodie Foster. Cate Blanchett. Keep out.

I find her honesty about life and acting very brave.

Kristin Scott Thomas: ‘I’ve been a very sad person, but I’m not any more’ (The Guardian)

PS- Forgot that she signed the petition supporting Roman Polanski…Not a good thing.

Brittany in Clueless (she's on the left)

The death of Brittany  Murphy at 32 is another one of those moments where you can see the toll that Hollywood takes on people.

I mean what 32 year old person has a heart attack?

People are saying drugs, but what about food?  It looks like over the last years that her weight has been up and down (mostly down lately).

And anyone who knows anything about eating disorders knows that your heart gives out.  Not enough food equals heart attack.

This young woman was very promising — think Clueless and Girl Interrupted and then just got caught up in the Hollywood bullshit and to me lost it creatively (Uptown Girls) and it looks like personally too.   It looks like Brittany was another victim of the Hollywood meat grinder.  Very sad.

Here’s what her Clueless director Amy Heckerling said yesterday to Scott Feinberg of And the Winner Is.

I think she felt the pressure to become a different sort of commodity to survive in show business, and I think it was awful.

Check out the full transcript here.  There is also an audio version of the Heckerling interview.

When Tabloids Overshadow the Career: How Do We Memorialize Brittany Murphy? (Defamer)

Zoe Saldana is in a unique position.  She is poised to be in not 1 — Star Trek — but two — Avatar — of the top grossing movies of the year.

Not bad.  She recently spoke to the Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy blog and had some great feminist things to say about the state of women and hollywood.

How bad is the landscape out there for decent female roles?

They’re out there — people just aren’t investing in them. We can sit here forever discussing it, because it has a chicken vs. the egg quality. Bottom line, producers are business people. Hollywood is a money-making machine. At the end of the day, they have to produce numbers that will help them keep their jobs and companies alive. But we as consumers have a lot more power than we think. Women need to demand better roles and get audiences to see their films. Because if a film doesn’t make $150 million, producers and studios aren’t going to bankroll a similar film next time. If there were more filmmakers that were female, trust me, it would be all about women.

Avatar” Star Zoe Saldana on the State of Women in Hollywood (Wall Street Journal)

Here’s what she had to say about her great year:

“Sexism is everywhere. Ageism is everywhere. But you know know what? It’s about making money. Look at what Sarah Jessica Parker did with Sex and the City. Look at what Meryl Streep is doing” — she pauses to laugh — “every other week! The proof is in the pudding. I didn’t have the ‘Oh my God, I’m not working because I’m 40.’ I was working when I was 40. I’ve never had this many opportunities in my lifetime.”

Magazine hits the newsstands today.

Sandra Bullock Soars (EW)

Women are second class citizens in Hollywood and the best way to illustrate it is to look at the money — how it’s earned and how it’s distributed.  Two very different pieces, Actress Salary Report in The Hollywood Reporter and BO of the ’00’s: The Top Grossing Female Helmed Film Women in IndieWire help illustrate the issue.

IndieWire points out that of the 241 films in the last decade that have grossed over $100 million only five! of them are directed by women.  (Two more Shrek and Shark Tale — both animated — had women as co-directors.)

Here are the five:

Twilight directed by Catherine Hardwicke

What Women Want directed by Nancy Meyers

The Proposal directed by Anne Fletcher

Mamma Mia directed by Phyllida Lloyd

Something’s Gotta Give directed by Nancy Meyers

And to add insult to injury: “only 31 films directed or co-directed by women grossed over $20 million.  Over 1,000 films directed by men did the same.”

WTF?  I do like a Nancy Meyers film but please!  I know it’s very complicated to dissect why women directed films don’t perform as well as films by men.  Some of the reasons include subject matter and the fact that men would rather die than see a romantic comedy, and that in 2009 most of the women directed films still fall into the romantic comedy category.

This has got to change.  Everyone knows it’s abysmal and unacceptable yet there are no clear strategies EVER put forward by people with power to improve the situation.

And compounding the issue is the release of the annual salary list of top Hollywood actresses.  We all know that women make less money than men because most of the films that women star in (except for Angelina Jolie) have lower budgets because not too many things blow up which in turn leads to less marketing and advertising which in turn leads to lower grosses and then the outcome is: women’s movies don’t make money so let’s not make any movies that star women.

On the one hand I think that we are going to need many women to blow shit up to get any respect in Hollywood but then look at The Hurt Locker where Kathryn Bigelow blows lots of shit and people up.  It still has not made a lot of money.  So you can’t really win.  Maybe an Oscar nomination will help.  On the other hand I say fuck it.  Let’s just make the movies we want to see and be better about figuring out how to get women to see them.

The list of the top earning actresses is quite predictable and all white.  Most of the women are desperate for a hit.  The general theme to me is that these women need better scripts.  I’m tired of watching the same crappy movies rewritten over and over again.  Give me a Kate Winslet or a Cate Blanchett film any day (and by the way neither of them is on this list.)

The list and my thoughts:

Julia Roberts – took a pay cut for her next film Eat, Pray, Love but is only one hit away from being back on top.

Katherine Heigl – all I know is that she has one more chance to save herself after the misogynistic The Ugly Truth.  (I recently was watching the early episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and she is so good.  She needs to find a movie worthy of her and worthy of us.

Cameron Diaz – she stays on the list because of Shrek, but please she needs a serious hit.

Reese Witherspoon – I kind of miss her.  Where the hell has she been?  Oh yeah, hanging out with Jake.

Jennifer Aniston – I expect to see more boring romantic comedies from her for another 10 years.

Kate Hudson – if anyone needs a career counselor it is Kate Hudson who is still riding on her one hit wonder performance in Almost Famous.

Meryl Streep – hope she’s buying a big truck to haul all the backend dollars she’s getting because they won’t pay her enough up front.

Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side and The Proposal move her back up to the top.  Now no one remembers All About Steve.

Amy Adams – love her but Leap Year looks like a retread of the bad Hilary Swank film PS I Love You.  It’s another January release and you know what that means.  But I have only seen the trailer and it includes the line “I’m not going to die without getting engaged” which always makes me want to run screaming from the theatre

Rachel McAdams – I want her to star in a film DESPERATELY.

I watched every single episode of Family Ties when I was growing up.  It was such a great and smart show.  I knew I was a liberal because I believed everything Elyse Keaton said and even though I loved Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton, I hated his politics so much.  That show, created by Gary David Goldberg, was one of those shows that helped shape my generation.

We all watched it because in the 80s you really didn’t have a lot of other options, and that was when NBC and their Thursday lineup rocked.  We even watched the commercials in those days.  It was one of those shows that kids and parents both watched -- together.  Does that even happen anymore?

So yesterday, on the day when New York, one of the most liberal states in our nation — the state that made abortion legal before Roe v Wade — shot down gay marriage, Mama Keaton came out on national TV in a very honest and moving interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show.

She also gave a great interview to The Advocate.  I know she’s made some crazy Lifetime women scorned flicks but she was so great as Lily Rush’s mom a couple of years ago on Cold Case.  I’d love to see her on TV more.