Parker Posey |
Notorious for assuming raw, quirky roles, the bold “Indie ‘It’ Girl,” Parker Posey takes on a big challenge in Broken English, with her realistic portrayal of a vulnerable woman on the brink. She plays Nora Wilder, an endearing but cautious, mid-thirties professional, is frozen by a debilitating fear that renders her unable to make life decisions. Her posh job has become stale, and she is left drifting through life, emotionally withdrawn--until a piercing comment by a friend propels her into a bout of duty-dating.
On a mission to connect with what’s holding her back, Nora’s reactions chart the gamut: from holing-up indoors in order to focus on "self" to hitting the outdoors with a bad case of cabin fever. All of her ill-fated solutions come to a screeching halt upon meeting Julian, the ultimate French charmer.
Nick Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands |
Posey teams up with Indiewood royalty, writer/director Zoe Cassavetes, daughter of actress Gena Rowlands and late director John Cassavetes whose collaborations pioneered '70s American independent film. Much like the filmmaking of her brother, Nick, Zoe's clearly inherited talent emerges in her frank storytelling and edgy directorial style. The perceptive director also recruited Gallic, bad boy enchanter, Melvil Poupaud, who was “dragged” into the business at the age of nine.
Distinctly different, Posey, Cassavetes and Poupaud share one common trait: they only attach themselves to projects that have a very personal draw.
Hollywood.com: Would you’ve wanted to make this movie, if you hadn’t written it?
Zoe Cassavetes: No. I think for me, writing and directing go together. I just like writing stuff that is personal to me. It’s such a hard thing to make a movie. I mean, you have to be a totally insane person! Like me.
HW: Was it Zoe’s "personal" style of writing, or your sense of her as a filmmaker that motivated you to play the role of Julian?
Melvil Poupaud: It was [all] very impressive because Zoe had so little time, so little money, so many problems to put the movie together. Even during the shoot we would come to a location and it wouldn’t be possible to shoot, so she would have to change her mind and change things around. I was impressed because she was [always] like, “Okay, we are going to find a solution.”
HW: Parker, what made you want to do this film? Were there any hesitations?
Parker Posey: It’s gotta be right when you’re making these movies. It’s SO hard to get it made. It’s like: "Can I do it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s all good!" Zoe came out to L.A. the week before I finished Boston Legal, and we sat outside and talked for eight hours.
HW: So the written material gave you a lot to work from?
PP: I just found that I had so much to hold onto…it was a lot of: “Do you know what I mean?” … “Yeahhhhh” … “Exactly!!” … “Oh yeah, oh yes!” To be able to do this kind of movie that’s written in this very realistic way is the greatest thing, and most fun an actor can have.
HW: Did you have an actress in mind when developing the character of Nora?
ZC: I don’t cast when I write because if I get a “no” [from the actor], I’d be very disappointed. But, I knew that I wanted someone real. I’d hear people say she’s [Parker’s] so funny, she’s this comedian…but, she’s not. She’s just a wonderful actress who can do comedy.
HW: Parker, how would you describe your character Nora in your own words?
PP: She’s not self-realized. She doesn’t know that she needs help--and she does need help. She hasn’t asked for what she wants and she’s drifting along in her life…she deserves happiness. She clearly is not giving that to herself. We’ve all been there!
HW: Zoe…Nora goes on a lot of bad dates!!
ZC: People say these men are so sh*tty. Can’t say that? Sh*t! I mean they’re such jerks, but really it’s a reflection of where she is in her life--and what you reflect onto other people when you meet them.
HW: Finally, Nora finds someone who just might be a good fit. She’s an older woman who falls for a younger man--what’s your take on her romance with Julian?!
PP: [Sighhh] I just feel so "soap boxy" doing press…I just start to hate myself. Honestly. It gets a little, er-r-r-r-r, annoying recently…well, because you’re repeating the same thing you’ve said before--and it just makes you feel like a loser.
HW: You’re not a loser.
PP: Thank you-u-u-u! I deserve some M&Ms. [Posey playfully dives into the candy bowl nearby, and starts poppin’ the colorful candies.]
HW: Back to the question…?
PP: Hey, as long as they [younger men] love their mother, you know? I think younger guys are more comfortable [in that case] putting a woman on a pedestal. [Pause] Especially if they’re really young. [Long pause] I’ve known guys who have had affairs when they were younger with older women, and they love their mothers! I think it’s ni-i-i-i-i-ce if you haven’t had that. Have it! … I get the feeling you’re asking for personal reasons?? [She squints her eyes suspiciously--ironically.]
Parker Posey |
HW: Nope, it’s not personal…just in regards to the movie. [Fearlessly playful Posey eases the awkward moment with a lean smile.]
HW: Melvil, you play the role of a gorgeous, carefree charmer, but Nora is kind of wacky. What makes him stick around?
MP: I don’t know.
HW: You don’t know?
MP: I don’t know. It’s maybe like me and [our director] Zoe. I think sometimes you meet people, and you don’t ask yourself questions. You just think you have something to do with them and you get along. It’s natural for you to stick.
HW: How did you team up with Melvil?
ZC: He’s such a wonderful actor. He also goes with that theme of what I really like…he’s been making movies since he was a kid. He works with great directors because he wants to be an actor. I met him through my boyfriend, who is French, and he said Melvil is this great actor, and I went out and rented all his movies. He was fantastic! So I bribed him with many dinners and I cooked for him.
MP: She [Zoe] approached me when I was drunk, I guess? There was a party at my friend’s place. I didn’t even know who she was--and we got to know each other having drinks. She said she was looking for a French guy to be in her movie, and that I would be nice [as a fit]. And she had seen some movies I was in. It was very natural for us to become friends first, and then work.
HW: Melvil, how did you get into acting?
MP: I was dragged into cinema very young so I never had to make my mind up of what I would do? You know? It happened to me in a way. I’m not sure if I hadn’t had that chance to be an actor, if I would be [one] now. I’m not made for that job. It just happened to me, and now I enjoy it and I can understand how it works--and hope I am getting better and better. But, basically I am more shy and introverted [than you’d think].
HW: How do you find your roles…or do people seek you out?
MP: Only once, I went to see a director to say, “I’d like to work with you.” It was Francois Ozon director of Le Temps qui reste. And he said, “Oh, I have a part for you. I was writing a scene and I was thinking about you.”
HW: Any other directors you’d like to do that with?
MP: It worked once, but I’m not sure if it would work again?!
HW: What about an American director…maybe Steven Spielberg?
MP: I wouldn’t find his address [chuckles]. You know, I found François’ address. Spielberg is probably hard to reach; but maybe he’ll read this article!
HW: Speaking of American film royalty, what was it like having your mother the great Gena Rowlands, play Nora’s mother in the film?
ZC: I was feeling--I have a real in! Writing the movie I said, “Oh, I’m going to write you a part.” She was like, “It better be funny. I never get to play funny.” I told her, “You can wear diamonds. You can have red nails. You can have good hair!”
Gena Rowlands |
HW: Was it intimidating at all?
ZC: Strangely, no not at all. It’s just so nice to work with such an amazing actress, but also such a hard journey--and to be able to share it with my mom was such a nice part. When she saw the movie she was really happy and she was like, “It’s really you. It’s really ‘how’ I’d know you [to be], and the stuff I know about you.” I mean--not that I’m that demented…but she said, “I like your ‘feeling’. And the fact that you have some honesty with what you’re doing.”
HW: Yes, there is a true sense of honesty with Nora’s spiraling character, how does the film speak to people going through that?
PP: When you’re like that, get yourself out of it, you’re not going to find anything in a black hole of your own depression and loneliness. I don’t read parts like this and these movies don’t get made and these women aren’t represented.
HW: Do you think American women place too much pressure on themselves to balance work and their personal life?
MP: The feeling I have is that here in NYC people are always [on-the-move] walking…and always sticking to the ‘schedule’, and going here and there. And in France, maybe we have more time to hang out, find a friend, find love. Maybe that’s the difference?
HW: How was it working and filming in NYC?
ZC: These big budget movies come in before you [arrive] and tear-up the whole neighborhood where you want to shoot; and then that becomes a hot-zone and you can’t shoot there, and you have to go to the Mayor’s office. In Paris, we stole everything!
MP: To be in a different country and not understand everything that is happening [smiling]…sometimes to be by yourself gives you a sense of freedom. Let things go. That’s what I like about traveling. I don’t know if it’s special to NYC, but you get to know people very easily…very similar to the [characters in the] film.
PP: It’s like, to play someone, at this particular point in her life, where she’s got some issues that she’s not even aware of yet…and the audience clea-a-a-arly sees that she’s down…it’s a portrait of loneliness. To play someone living in N.Y. in that kind of existence…which we all know…it’s really exciting to me.
HW: Zoe, this being your first feature how’d it go, and would you do it again?
ZC: [Emphatically] All the actors knew what we were going to do--there was no mistaking how we were going to make this movie or how fast it was going to be. Or, that they’d have to change [costumes] in the van, or the bathroom. … I had heard all these great things about Parker that she would do that! I love Parker and I love that she is that kind of person.
Photo(s) by Dave Edwards- © 2006- DailyCeleb.com- All Rights Reserved
Photo(s) by Dave Edwards- © 2007- DailyCeleb.com- All Rights Reserved
Photo(s) by Scott Kirkland- © 2006- DailyCeleb.com- All Rights Reserved