[IMG:L]One of the toughest challenges in Hollywood is for a songstress to cross over to the big screen. And the newest musician to jump on the acting bandwagon is the smooth and sultry voiced Norah Jones, who portrays Elizabeth, a refreshingly timid, wide-eyed romantic, embarking on a soul-searching journey.
Highly acclaimed and often imitated director displays obvious admiration and great faith in Jones‘ talents by casting the ‘unproven’ thespian as lead for his highly anticipated recent outing, My Blueberry Nights.
Met with criticism and praise at its European premiere, the film commanded much attention for many who were curious over the unexpected collaboration between musician and auteur.
Blessed with the incentive of sharing a lingering, passionate on-screen kiss with co-star Jude Law, Jones‘ debut film performance defies mixed reviews, proving her tenacity by charting Elizabeth’s steady transformation throughout the film.
[IMG:R]The artistic and visionary filmmaker sat along side his soulful muse, Ms. Jones, to talk about about their collaboration.
Hollywood.com: What was the biggest hurdle you had to surmount?
Nora Jones: The biggest challenge was that I never acted before, or did a movie before–so my nerves were a big challenge, and sort of letting myself be in the moment and be confident.
Wong Kar Wai: To make sure that Blueberry Nights was not a Chinese version of ‘America.’ I didn’t want to impose myself. I wanted it to be as authentic as possible … It was also important to break on time for lunch. It was easy to work with Norah because she’s confident. It was very enjoyable to work on Norah’s growth as a newcomer [and see her develop] into an actress. She has to keep herself at a certain weight, and I always work very long hours. Food is very important for her so, I had to break for lunch on time to make sure she eats and gets her energy.
HW: What was it like to work with all these dynamic collaborators?
NJ: Wonderful. The entire crew and all the actors made me able to do this by being cool, nice, open, and making me feel comfortable. Kar Wai would especially come up to me between takes and pat me on the back and say whatever he had to say. Any direction he ever gave me was very sweet, and it was good for me. I needed that. He had the confidence in me that I didn’t even have, because I obviously didn’t know what he had in mind. I had never acted so he instilled it in me by being so confident. I trusted him because I thought he was a great filmmaker so we had this weird faith in each other that made it happen.
[IMG:R]HW: Who else left a great impression upon you?
NJ: Rachel Weisz was also really wonderful and nice. I just really enjoyed watching everyone and I got to work with all these amazing actors, one on one. It was a great lesson. I learned so much in working with each one of them. Rachel especially had a very limited amount of time and she came in and just nailed it.
HW: Did you really eat the pies?
NJ: Yes. I was able to spit ‘em out sometimes, but I had three slices one night. I didn’t really like pies before, but now I really like them. I even have a thing for blueberries now.
[IMG:R]HW: How did this film come together?
WKW: It began with Norah Jones. I wanted to work with her but we decided we couldn’t do it in Chinese, so we did it in English in NYC where she lives. I thought it could be challenging to work in a different city with a different language. It gave me the consistency. This journey [of acting] is a concept, and I had to borrow something from Jones‘ and Jude Law’s own characters [for their parts]. I felt like I was just watching them as they delivered and contributed to these characters.
NJ: Kar Wai approached me and I had never heard of him before so I watched In the Mood For Love and I thought it was amazing. I was on long break from the music industry. I needed a year or two [away] from tours, so I thought it was a good time and opportunity to try something new. When I met with Kar Wai, he asked if I wanted to do it, and I did.
HW: Can you share your writing process on the film?
WKW: Normally when I work on a Chinese film, I write the script myself. This time I had to work with a writer, which was Larry Block because I admire his work and I like his style. I wrote down details about this story and asked him to write a shooting script, to start working on the film. Then I asked him to improvise during the shooting.
[IMG:R]HW: Did you approach filming this with a particular style in mind?
WKW: My style is too romantic. People asked why I shot this film in N.Y. through glass, and why it was so tight. It was really for practical reasons because the place was so small and we didn’t have a lot of money to have extras. Therefore, I wanted to shoot it this way so that even if we only had two people in this diner, it still seemed like a lot of people.
HW: Is there any reason you didn’t work on this film with your long-time collaborator/cinematographer Chris Doyle?
WKW: He was busy shooting Lady in the Water and we had to work around Norah’s schedule because she had to work on her album the week after shooting.
HW: Why did you decide to shoot in Memphis?
WKW: I like Memphis as a city. It has certain structures, and the city is very classy in a way. I also feel close to the city because of the music and Tennessee Williams.
HW: Do you think Wong Kar Wai presents females in an intriguing way?
NJ: I was excited in the way he displayed women. I was hoping he would help me out in that department. As a woman, that’s the director you want to have.
HW: How many days did it take to shoot the famous kissing scene between Jones and Law?
WKW: One day. [Smiles] There were two kisses and my line producer said the film is about the second kiss, which she [Elizabeth] traveled all the way to get. We shot it in two scenes, and each one took a full day. Although it looked simple, it was a very technical thing. It was a stolen kiss, and Jude had to prop up his entire body on the counter to position his face in a 90 degree angle on the counter. They asked if we can just make it shorter and I said, “No, people will expect the touch of the lips, and we have to make this moment prolong … and delay this moment as long as possible.” When they finally kiss each other again, it’s an evolution.
NJ: Actually, my neck got cramped, but it was fine. It was interesting because it [the kiss] was the most choreographed and most technically important scene to shoot. We spent three days on that scene, and not more than half a day on any other scene–so obviously it was very important for the director. We kissed like 95 times.
[IMG:R]HW: Can you discuss the progession of your acting in relation to your character’s transformation?
NJ: I think it was really interesting for me to watch it and realize. We did most of the early scenes in the movie in an early shoot, and I was totally inexperienced and terrified–but it kind of worked for the character actually. I think the director did that on purpose. There were many parallels between my character’s journey and in my journey in making my first film as an actress. I became much more comfortable and I think it worked because my character wasn’t comfortable with anything. In the beginning, she was freaked out and didn’t know what was going on. By the end she had really grown up. I think that is why she took the trip in the first place, to figure things out–and that’s what happened [for me too].
HW: How did you envision Norah within her character’s story?
WKW: Well the first thing that stuck with me was imagining her standing on the corner of the street and looking up seeing her boyfriend with another girl. Somehow when I hear her voice, it gives me that picture. It’s the starting point of the film.
HW: Did you get a chance at one point to see your performance on a monitor during production?
NJ: I watched a few playbacks, but I thought it might make me too nervous having been new at this, so I [stopped and] trusted Kar Wai.
HW: Would you consider acting again?
NJ: I really enjoyed it and would love to have that experience again, but I also don’t have to. I feel fulfilled with the cool experience I had, and I don’t think I would do it again–but I mean I would if it was the right situation, just like this one.
