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 Being
Catherine Keener
an emily blunt interview
Catherine Keener is an acting goddess in my eyes. Cat never delivers
a half show or a mediocre film. She has a certain eye for a script
that maintains her integrity and her sense of the art. I am not
alone, the indie fans and I consider her a fave among a large
list and a tip-top chickbabe actors. She's married to that adorable
slice of mansteak Dermot Mulroney, who himself, is an underrated
talent.
She
chooses her work carefully and hasn't, so far, disappointed her
minions. Her latest soiree on film, Lovely
& Amazing, is gaining critical acclaim (as usual)
and again give Catherine a strong brilliant role showcasing her
abilities. Writer director Nicole Hofcener (Walking and Talking)
told me she actually wrote the role of Michelle with Catherine
in mind. How cool is that?
If your into small intelligent films that spy on lives and just
peek behind closed doors, without explosions and special effects,
her latest film Lovely & Amazing will not just mesmerize
but entertain you. As a film should.
Here's a chat with the great Catherine.
EMILY: This role of Michelle was written
for you because Nicole said you could handle anything!
CATHERINE:
Wow! Yeah. Nicole called and said she was writing me into her
next movie. Which I was so happy about. She's tremendous! I was
excited about working with her again. It was a lot of fun. She
writes like no one else. She puts things in a way that I think
is very unusual and resonant of truth. I couldn't wait to get
to it.
EMILY:
How like Michelle is the real Catherine?
CATHERINE:
[laughter] I have my moments definitely. Maybe. I don't know.
Michelle's quite an immature person whose hay day was quite a
while ago. I think its time to put those things away and she doesn't
quite see that yet. She was aware enough to know she had an anger
problem [laughter] and but she's not doing nothing about it! I
found all the characters very honestly written. Even Emily
and her character Elizabeth, Emily as well, is just a beautiful
person. So sweet. Elizabeth, her character, is vain and narcissistic.
And it's true but she's both things. Somebody who is trying
to find her way in the world and struggling for love…. just
a human being. I really love that about Nicole. How she writes
characters that capture all those facets of people.
EMILY:
How about Emily's Elizabeth being so concerned with her appearance
as an actor?
CATHERINE: I didn't have to deal with that so much. But as a person
in this business and as much as you don't like it you care about
that crap, you feel like you have to…I don't know if you
really know if you have to…but you feel like you do.
Consider your physicality all the time.
EMILY:
How do prepare for a role?
CATHERINE: It's really important to me to interact with a script.
After meeting with the director if I feel 'oh this is a person
I'm going to feel unguarded around and be able to try and find
those things' I feel lucky. And I 've been real lucky. If you
look at the parts, the really great parts, the writings always
great. And the people I've been able to work with are amazing!
I really find that it's something I can't do by myself
and I do believe it is just such a collaborative process. So I
really rely a lot on other people to help me get there.
I think that for me, the situations I've been involved with people
are going towards a common goal. To do good work. Everybody, the
crew will go out of their way, be quiet, make you feel comfortable,
give you an encouraging pat on the back. Everybody sort of works
towards that objective and it's really helpful in a performance.
It's dire for me - it really is.
That's
why it takes a while for me to actually do something. I don't
find a lot of scripts I want to do.
EMILY:
How do you find a script you want to invest in?
CATHERINE:
I don't know. They are few and far between. I have gotten to be
in a lot of good things, and a lot of good parts. I think
once I got this taste for working on something good when I worked
on Johnny Suede with Tommy [DeCilo] that was what I consider
a good job. Not that the ones before were that bad…they were
valuable but with that I felt like,' oh this is what it feels
like to be in a good movie.' Then you get it. You want to repeat
that. Continue that experience. So you keep looking for it you
know what the signs are for that. In terms of the director and
how you feel about him or her. The script. The part. The other
actors. All those things. Then there's luck. Dumb luck.
EMILY:
Now Death To Smoochy didn't do too well. What happened
there?
CATHERINE:
I don't know. I have so much respect for Danny [DeVito] It's not
for everybody! I don't think any movie is. I watch and
I love Danny so much He's such a great guy. And there's was an
example of somebody who worked his ass off and had all the integrity
in the world and with his approach to that movie. And sometimes
it doesn't translate to people, apparently. You move on and you
feel bad. The people who made it loved it and worked so hard on
it. It wasn't one of those experiences were everyone was like
'oh God what a jerk or this or that,' everyone was treated so
well. And like I described before, everyone was going for something
and wanted to do the best work possible. Whatever. I thought it
was hilarious. And I made great friends. I wish the movie
had have done better for Danny. I love his movies.
EMILY:
I loved Drowning Mona!
CATHERINE: Yeah another interesting one!
EMILY:
How was it working with Al Pacino on upcoming Simone?
CATHERINE:
Yeah right! I felt so weird. So I'd stare and think…
Al…your Al Pacino right?! It was great! It
was one of those am I really here moments. But you have
to over come that and do some work and forget all that. [laughter]
He was wonderful. He's a very gentle spirit. Really, obviously,
I have so much admiration for him as an actor and Andrew Nicoll,
who wrote and directed, it was so clever and great. He did Gattaca.
EMILY:
Another film I loved others didn't.
CATHERINE:
Yeah, me too. I was thrilled when I heard Andrew wanted to meet
me. Gattaca Andrew!? I show up at this meeting and he says 'oh
Al's here.' I said don't do this to me I can't take it….
[laughter] No, your still there to work. There are people who
had a hand in why you even get into the business. People like
Al Pacino. And I was telling someone I had another experience
like that with Albert Finney. You know, one of those moments like
'Oh my god I'm standing here working with Albert Finney!' It was
crazy. It's from your childhood thing. Your icons. My husband
worked with Paul Newman and I only went to the set once because
I could not be normal. I thought I can't do this it's painful.
I'm standing there shuffling my feet not being able…I was
like 'so you want a beer or something [laughter].'
EMILY:
Did the Oscar nomination do anything for you? Can you say it changed
your career?
CATHERINE:
I cannot. I tell you because I had a good one going before that.
For me anyway. It didn't make studios want to hire me. On the
other hand that's okay. I didn't get bigger by any means. What's
not to like! Lots of free shit [laughter]
EMILY:
For a short period anyway and all the parties!
CATHERINE:
Exactly! As far as career? Hmm, maybe…I really don't know.
I'm not aware of it anyway. I got good jobs before that, they
are all different but the same quality same size and quality and
stuff like that. Maybe the studio wouldn't have signed off on
Smoochy with me…But then again Danny's pretty powerful
so [laughter]. The nomination was fun and funny and weird all
I wanted to do was go home and get pizza with friends. Which I
did.
EMILY: Your character in Lovely & Amazing dates a younger,
illegal actually, man Jake Gyllenhaal how'd that feel?
CATHERINE:
I had a blast with him. People have asked was it weird
because he was so much younger. I guess I was so in the mindset
of Michelle and the story and she is so immature it seemed sort
of an appropriate guy for her [laughter]. It wasn't freakish at
all to me. And so therefore if it's going to be a guy who's only
seventeen why not Jake Gyllenhaal ! It
was fantastic! He's adorable, fun, enthusiastic. We were laughing
all the time. It was three o'clock in the morning the first night
we're working and we are kissing in the back of the car, freezing
it was just silly. It wasn't like one of those standard uncomfortable
love scenes were you feel weird enough. We had no time, no money
and no time. He's so gifted and a really nice guy. Everybody
was. This movie was really a great time everyone was unbelievable.
EMILY:
How was director Nicole Hofcener on the set?
CATHERINE:
She's perfect! I'm sorry but she really is. She comes so prepared.
She writes a script that's ready to shoot there no working it
out on the set. We are ready to go. And she's ready to go. She
has a very gentle but very decisive opinion on everything and
you feel really free and loved. She has a real knack for saying
the right thing to get you where you need to go.
EMILY:
Okay got to ask Ms. Indie Giant would you do a 100 million dollar
action film?
CATHERINE:
I'd do it! I am ready [laughter] I'm not sure anybody else is
[laughter] you know when I did [Being John]
Malkovich Cameron [Crowe] and I had the whole action sequence.
A lot of it didn't make it in the movie…. but we had two
weeks of walking on top of buses going thirty-five miles an hour,
diving off the tops of them just crazy stuff that I can't even
believe that we did! It was fun. It was really fun. It would be
a different experience. I would do it if it would be right! I
think it would be a blast too. Hmm but I don't know people who
makes those movies tend to need a lot of money and those people
don't hire me so…[wink]
EMILY:
Why do think they don't hire you? You're not cookie cutter actor
enough?
CATHERINE:
[laughter]….I don't mean to disparage. I mean the people
they do hire, I like them. I just don't think I fit in enough.
You know they are worried I can't bring them in the audience.
 EMILY:
Dermot Mulroney, your real-life husband, and Emily Mortimer have
a long naked scene in Lovely & Amazing were Emily as
Elizabeth asks Dermott as "the moviestar" to really
look at her and tell her what's bad and what's good about her
naked body. He was hesitant then honestly replied from head to
toe. How'd it affect you to watch that?
CATHERINE:
Honestly I love that scene. When I read it I said this
is huge! Oh my god I have never seen anything like it! It was
one of those scenes were you knew it was just going to be…I
don't know what! Mind blowing to see. I was just happy to be a
part of it. I look at it like a classic film scene. I was totally
fine with it the sexually of it, that didn't bother me. More than
that I was excited for him that he was part of it and I also thought
Emily is such a great person. I knew she was in great hands between
Nicole and Dermott. I mean it would be hard enough to do. It's
an awkward scene.
EMILY:
Yeah, it is most certainly not a sexy scene even with Emily standing
there for five minutes naked.
CATHERINE:
No no…it was so clinical and deeply nerve racking in a way…
depressing. In a way kind of there was such validation in it.
I mean he was saying to he your not crazy, I see it and so do
other people. And they do judge you that way.
With
that we went off on a tangent and talked about her cool shirt
and lunch. Catherine is one of my icons so this was truly special.
I can't wait to see her new film Simone, with Al…Al Pacino.
And it's refreshing that even a talent like Catherine gets butterflies
among the giants.
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