| *Drew
Barrymore*
Happy Ever After |
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Drew Barrymore has fought some
pretty tough battles in her time. In her new film, Ever After she
plays a new version of Cinderella in a period setting. In real life, she
thinks she's met her 'Prince Charming' in boyfriend Luke Wilson, who
also stars with her in another new film called Home Fries. This
interview with Marion Ross explores both the continuing battles she
faces and the peace and happiness Drew has found in her career and life.
When you were growing up, did you ever
imagine that youd be playing a kick-ass Cinderella for the nineties?
Well, I think I certainly always hoped.
Not just because it's every little girl's fantasy, but I just worshipped
fairy tales growing up. I loved ALice in Wonderland and The Wizard of
Oz, they were my favourites. But Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of
Oz were a little bit psychedelic to me, whereas Cinderella was more
truely about romance. And yet when it came to retelling, and to this
particular project, I was very curious about what the story would be. I
had no idea, going into it. Reading the script, of course, I thought,
God, I wonder if this is like Cluless, like a Jane Austen novel
completely turned around. That was brilliant, by the way - it was an
excellent movie.
People like Claire Danes and Gwyneth
Paltrow are people who associate with period movies. Did you feel like
you had to live up to that standard?
Yeah. I mean, I think Claire Danes is such
a wonderful actress. And I've heard her do accents that she really makes
her own, which I think is the best. And Gwyneth Paltrow really goes for
it, and does it so perfectly - I'm just utterly, utterly impressed by
her. So I do feel like I have to meet a certain criteria. Not only
because of them, but because as an audience member myself I'm always
waiting for that person to fall. I'm like, oh, I heard an American
accent there! I thought Oh God, my criticism's gonna come back and haunt
me. I was not allowed to even dare think that I could get away with
being myself in this character. I am a Valley Girl with modern
mannerisms, bottom line.
How did you feel about retelling the
Cinderella story to a modern audience?
I was truly enthralled that we could do a
retelling, and have the abolition of cliches, and yet explain why maybe
certain story points have derived from the history of the tellings.
You don't often do period pieces.
When I started to hear that this was going
to be a period piece, I wondered if it would be stiff. I didn't have any
preconceived notions of what it would be; so I was curious. And when I
figured out what it was going to be I was truely excited. Because I had
a few problems with Cinderella. I am a young woman, but as an adult
woman also, I was like, wait a minute, why does Cinderella wait to be
rescued? So I was excited to play a Cinderella that not only didn't want
to be rescued, but she also rescued other people.I loved a woman who was
fiercely loyal, instead of cow-towing to the demands of everyone around
her.
As a woman, didn't you feel like Ever
After imparted a more positive message for women?
It has a great message for young women -
to be empowered, to be comfortable with who they are inside, and to
stimulate their minds. To realise that that is what people are going to
love about you. Because the shell will fade away when the personality
exudes through the pores.
Cinderella has a different relationship
with the Prince in this version.
I loved the fact that in this version her
falls in love with her heart and her mind. Because she is so smart, and
well-read, and believes in a Utopian society. ANd she taught me
somethign in thsi film that I thoguht was so extraordinary. I always had
this problem with the word "power". She is able to tell him,
"Power, royalty, is the chance, the base, the platform, the
leverage, to change the world for the better." That helped me
understand why we try to attain power.
How is your real-life relationship with
Luke Wilson?
We celebrated our two-year anniversary
last weekend.
Was he the prince you saw across a crowded
room?
He was the prince around a silver
refrigerator. I didn't believe in love at first sight before I had met
him. I kind of had to be clobbered over the head to get it. And that was
okay, because I was into the organic flow of discovering someone. It
took us awhile. We were quite traditional with eachother. And we did get
to learn that we were good together over a long period of time. And here
we are, two years later, having a really nice time and enjoying each
other. And having our own lives, and our own work. So, Im really happy.
Is this the guy you've been waiting for?
To a very severe degree, actually. We do
believe that. And I believe in fate and destiny so much. I dont have to
disclose every detail about our relationship, especially about him. So I
protect him in that way. I'm so open about how much I adore him and love
him, yet he gets to remain a private person himself. Im not necessarily
his girlfriend, or he my boyfriend - we're a couple, in a partnership,
and a team together. We like working together. But somehow its been a
great balance. Without being annoyingly secretive, we dont feel like we
are naked infront of the public. And I mean naked metaphorically!
You two were great in the film Home Fries.
Did you have to get over the ga-ga stuff so that you could work with
him?
Thanks. Yeah. But I have to be honest that
the chemistry from my character to his - even though it's not me and him
- certainly had no problems. I was so excited every time I was around
him, and I knew I was anoter person. And I am that other person - I am
not me. Its funny - youd never know we were boyfriend and girlfried on
the set. We dont hold hands. We dont sit on eachothers laps. We're not
like that. We're professionals. And it's exciting, because at the end of
the day youre like, "Oh, Hi. How ya doing? Haven't seen you all
day." But my character was super in love with his character. It was
not hard to conjure up that chemistry.
What are you doing next?
I start my next film called Never Been
Kissed,which I am also producing...It's been rewritten by an
extraordinary writer named Jenny Becks who comes from Larry Sanders
and Seinfeld. So you can just imagine how funny she is. We've put
together a wonderful cast which, to me, was the most difficult
experience. You never want to compromise. You just want to get the best
people who are right for the film. And we have David Arquette, and a new
gentleman named Michael Vartan who's making all the women weak in the
knees, which is so exciting to me. We have Molly Shannon, who is just my
hero - I cant believe she's doing this movie...I play a 25 year-old copy
editor who works for the Chicago Sun Times who has absolutely no
social skills. It is yet to be revealed througout the film as to why
that is. But her life's dream is to be a reporter. She's neat, she's
orderly, she has no social skills. She can't talk to people, she folds
every time, and she cannot hack this job. But she gets this opportunity,
through circumstances. Because she's the only person young enough to do
it, the head of the paper assigns her a front page expose on what kids
are doing today in high school. So she gets to go back in high school.
And it's so great, because other than love, that is the one most
universal thing for people - everyone can relate to it...There is a love
story in there, but mostly it's fun. ANd I'm really looking forward to
making fun, exciting movies, no matter what the subject is. I want to be
able to do everything. I dont want to do bad girl roles or good girl
roles. If I'm lucky enough to do that, that's what I'll do. |
Transcribed by Esther of DrewDevotion.
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