Here, we offer the actress a tissue while discussing perilous times, her fear of Penny Marshall--and how Boys brought her closer to her mother.
The news today obviously affected you deeply.
<D>I just don't know how to do my job all of a sudden, and that's a very strange feeling. So, hopefully, we will learn together. I do appreciate how gentle and kind the good people on this planet are to each other, and I just keep holding on to that.
Do recent events have you questioning your line of work?
<D>I had such a life planned, and it doesn't make sense anymore. Other than taking everything day by day, I don't know what to do. I'm planning to do a film next--a comedy. I went and studied all the films that came out in the time of World War II and Vietnam, because I don't know how to do this. And people did want to see movies, so you have to find some way to go on with your job. But I question everything.
Seeing you in tears today makes me marvel a bit at your work in Riding in Cars with Boys. Your character is this tough, unapologetic woman, who's pretty unlikable a lot of the time--completely unlike the usual sunny roles you play.
<D>It was hard. For eight months, I didn't have a life outside work. I was this woman, and that was hard. You're right--she's not a nice person a lot of the time. She resented her child a lot of the time; she ignored him; she screamed at him. And that's not me. I'm more of a Pollyanna kind of person. I'd have to stay in my trailer most of the time just to stay focused. I couldn't even talk to the fans who came to the locations, because I just couldn't be myself.
What was harder to play, 15 or 36?
<D>Definitely 36. I remember being young and rebellious and outrageous, but to be a woman at 36 and have a grown child...that was scary. I haven't experienced that. In fact, everything about this woman was pretty much outside my experience. I'm really just a happy Valley girl, and that went out the window the first day of shooting.
Penny Marshall, your director, made you audition. Were you okay with that?
<D>I would have made me audition, too. She'd never seen me play anything like this role, so I can understand why she'd have her doubts.
She says she rode you pretty hard through the shoot.
<D>She scared the hell out of me at first. And I used that. We filmed pretty much in sequence, so when I was playing a scared, intimidated 15-year-old, I just channeled all my fear of Penny into the character. But there did come a time later on--when we were doing the scenes when Beverly was 36--that I asked Penny, "Okay, can you be nice to me now? Can we have a mature relationship?"
You and Brittany Murphy play best friends in the movie, which seems to have spilled over into real life. Did you just click?
<D>I'm like the salt, she's like the pepper. You don't want one without the other. Yeah, we hit it off immediately. And we fed off each other through the shoot, because we're both just way too sensitive. So, there would be days when I would break down in a corner and freak out, and she would be strong for me. And the next day, she would be hysterical, and I'd be there for her. In fact, Penny added a line about us to the movie: "They like to hug a lot." It was so true.
The movie kind of turns on this line: "One day can make your life; one day can ruin your life. All life is, is four or five big days that change everything." You must have compiled your own list of days.
<D>I had a day when I was 14...It's going to sound crazy, but I was put in an institution, and, when I got out, I realized how lucky I was, and that everything is a gift, and that you have to be responsible for yourself. The day I met my husband changed my life. God...Today is changing my life. You find yourself at forks in the road, and the paths you choose change the direction of your life--the whole course of it. It's amazing how people respond to that line, how much it affects them.
You and your own mother have had a turbulent relationship. Did making this movie give you any insight into where she was coming from?
<D>I really started to figure out my mother. I started seeing things from her point of view, not looking at them the way I always have, as a victimized child. It wasn't easy on my mom, me being a child actor. She was confused, and I was confused. We both made mistakes.
Are you talking now?
<D>Every once in a while...and it's thanks to this movie. We had some really cathartic conversations. We have forgiven each other. I used to think she was so kooky and weird. I accept it now. I don't freak out anymore. This movie made me kick that bag, and you can't believe the incredible weight that has been lifted off my shoulders. I used to have so much guilt and pain, especially on birthdays and holidays--days when I wasn't talking to the person who gave birth to me.
Did your husband, Tom Green, encourage you in that?
<D>He's smart about stuff like this--he's Canadian. He comes to the table a little more grounded. In fact, he invited my mother to spend Christmas with his family in Ottawa last year. I kind of freaked out at the thought, but it was really fun. Everybody got along really well.
Last time I interviewed Tom, he told me Flossie--the dog that saved you guys when your house caught fire--had died. Watching Flossie wag his tail right now, I can see he's very much alive.
<D>You never know what Tom's going to do. He'll be on the phone with someone and scream, "Oh no! Drew just ran over Flossie! My God, she's dead! She's dead!" You just learn to live with it, although I'm still not sure sometimes when to take him seriously--and we've been together awhile.
Any other lessons life has taught you lately?
<D>The singer Beck has that great lyric, "And my bags are waiting in the next life." I think it's true. Everything we do from past lives to present to future lives will affect everything around us. Hopefully, knowing that makes you a gentler person. It works most of the time for me.
You only named a couple, so obviously you're saving a couple for the future. Maybe giving birth?
<D>Absolutely. Doing this movie made me think about motherhood a lot. I don't take it as lightly as I used to. It's not playing dolls; it's not house. It's not about you, actually. It's about another human being. And you're trying to be the best person you are, ideally, but we're all flawed and selfish. You try to be as selfless as possible, I guess. Sometimes I just wonder if I'll be able to do it. It's an awesome responsibility. Also read it by Clicking here |
