I made it to my appointment with the "end of the world" two years early. The premiere of 2012 - Hard to believe that was just yesterday! So much happened. And all I had to fortify me was copious caffeine, and pastries.
This was breakfast at THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS junket: coffee and pumpkin bread.
Then nothing to eat (too busy) until late night McDonald's drive-thru after THE 2012 RED CARPET: Coffee and apple pie.
The day started early on the treadmill, then down the road out of town...
...and to the Four Seasons Hotel, where I got to interview Terry Gilliam for THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS. I was really, really looking forward to it. The only other time I've interviewed him is for another "Heath Ledger movie" THE BROTHERS GRIMM in 2005. Look at the picture comparison. We have both changed a lot, in four years. But not in chemistry -- as with the first time I talked to him, we were joking around immediately and it seemed like we had a shorthand. That doesn't happen very often.
Definitely some directors I've taken to instantly are Gilliam, Todd Haynes, and Guillermo Del Toro. A few actors would be Malcolm McDowell, Doug Hutchison, and Idris Elba. Females who're really cool, right off the top of my head, are Zoe Saldana, Emma Stone, and Helen Mirren. Always a pleasure to talk to any of those folks. Most interview subjects are pretty guarded -- Heath Ledger was in that category, for sure.
I get so many questions about Heath Ledger, as if I knew him. Our TV-Wire video at YouTube has gotten over 200,000 views and people either love or hate it. It's very polarizing. The interview took place in November of 2007 in New York, and while I'M NOT THERE wasn't a box office hit, that clip certainly was (and is). When Ledger died in January of '08, I actually had friends calling me and offering their condolences. I have to say I was shocked, but not surprised when I heard the news.
Since I have been asked so many times, I'm going to write everything I can remember about my impressions of Heath Ledger. If memory serves, he first caught my eye in A Knight's Tale. I thought he was really hot and good-looking onscreen, then was totally disappointed when I did the premiere! He was introverted to the extreme, his skin was bad, his hair was dirty, and he was sucking down cigarettes like cancer was going out of style. I subsequently interviewed him on the press lines for Monster's Ball and The Four Feathers. Naomi Watts was with him, and I thought: "She could do better!" He wasn't exactly rude, just so withdrawn it was hard to find something to like. But then his work started to trascend him... his acting was so amazing that it really spoke for him. I didn't cover The Order or Brokeback Mountain (though I did interview Ang Lee for the latter), but then we did our first on-camera interview for THE BROTHERS GRIMM. He was paired with Matt Damon, and that was a super-short interview (three minutes for two people, and gregarious Matt did most of the talking), but there was a little more of a light in his eyes.
After that, I did a much longer interview (for print) on the set of The Dark Knight in Chicago. He was still pretty uncomfortable with the press -- I really can't believe anyone wouldn't evolve in so many years, doing the same thing -- but he was talking more. For the first time, I was impressed by Heath Ledger. He didn't seem assured, but he did come off as a very comitted actor who genuinely cared about his work. He also got my sense of humor, which a lot of people don't. So he scored a few points there. Then he did the amazing, wonderful, fantastic film I'M NOT THERE and that's where he really scored. Not only in the movie, but our interview was really interesting for me. First of all, he remembered me from the Batman set visit and there were pleasantries.
Then after the interview, he said he really liked the blue streak in my hair and he asked me how it's done. He gave me his "lucky" clothespin and was still shy, but much sweeter than usual. I like his sort of unguarded moment during the interview when he isn't sure if when I say "that's interesting" I really mean it or if I was using "interesting" as a substitute word for something else. But I genuinely found his reply informative; he answered my question in a way I didn't expect. He had good perspective on things. That interview has been praised, torn apart, understood, and misinterpreted by hundreds of YouTube users.
Some people say he seems to be flirtatious, and others say he seems very uncomfortable. In the room, at the moment, it felt like a little bit of both -- but I did feel as though he liked me: but he didn't like the press junket situation. He did seem very jittery and sleep-deprived, yet he took the time to be complimentary on my hair, clothes and shoes. It was really the first time he seemed (more or less) engaged during an interview.
In sum, if he hadn't passed away, Heath Ledger would have made a just "OK" impression on me overall. He was improving on the interviews side of things, and as far as acting: I was beginning to love him. His later roles -- Dark Knight, Candy, I'm Not There -- are my favorites.
FYI
Brothers Grimm Video Interview
http://www.horror.com/php/article-917-1.htmlIt's old, not Flash, so you may have to download it.
As for my stuff on Dark Knight, that's only in text.
http://www.horror.com/php/article-2036-1.htmlhttp://www.horror.com/php/article-1873-1.htmlAnd, my Heath blogs (from before he passed on)
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=46048036&blogId=329477658http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=46048036&blogId=329501080= = =
Earlier today, I wrote my review of THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE THING
http://www.horror.com/php/article-2618-1.htmlThis was one of the more difficult reviews I've had to write this year. (I think "It Might Get Loud" still takes the cake.) It is a movie I really liked... one with many depths and layers of meaning, innuendo, inside jokes and cosmic connections and a bit of bafflement. I honestly don't think I absorbed it all properly... so I was hoping to see it again before having to write the recap. But I didn't have time. Heath Ledger is perfect in the flick, as are his three counterparts (Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell). But it's really Christopher Plummer and Lily Cole's show.
At the junket, I also interviewed Lily Cole and Vern Troyer. They were nice, but for me it really was all about Terry Gilliam.
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Back to yesterday (I really can't believe I did all this less than 24 hours ago). We covered the 2012 premiere at the new Downtown L.A. Entertainment Complex. Never been there before. I guess the inaugural event was THIS IS IT, which isn't my thing. I didn't cover it, and have no interest in seeing it either.
Here're some stills from the red carpet. Me, on Jenna's iPhone. As you can see, I didn't bother to change from that morning, and I put my hair up in a messy bun.
Mickey Rooney and his wife Jan were among the first to arrive. He's not in the movie, so I am not sure what the connection is. Anyway, I didn't interview him. I may have mentioned he's in a movie with my mom (THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ADAM & EVE) but then again I may not have -- he seems rather cantankerous.
Not at all cantankerous -- quite gorgeous and charming, actually -- was Johann Urb who plays a pilot in 2012. I love him on EASTWICK.
Here's another shot of him, with his girlfriend off to the side. 6'+ blonde supermodel type: a very predictable couple, these two.
Beatrice Rosen is in the movie. I didn't talk to her, I was waiting for the director to come up.
I didn't talk to this cute little girl in the movie, either -- but I got a great snapshot!
Oh, and then there is my shoe obession. These are both publicists' shoes. The black ones are cool, but I liked the nude-colored ones so much, I asked about them. They are Gwen Stefani LAMB, she said.
The director, Roland Emmerich. He's good to interview -- very enthusiastic. Then star John Cusack... not so much. It's always like pulling teeth to get a good soundbite out of him.
Here is Camilla Bell, who was in Emmerich's last movie, 2000 BC (or something like that; I covered it a couple of years ago, and found it dreadful).
Danny Glover is in the movie. He plays the President of the United States.
Adam Lambert, from American Idol (a show I am proud to say I have *NEVER* watched). He has a song on the 2012 soundtrack.
Last shot of the night: All's well that ends well!
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AT RANDOM
I watched and reviewed NOT FORGOTTEN today. Don't bother.
I do want to bother with these two movies, though... haven't seen them yet but they're so on my radar!
Remember the other day I posted that thing about the "Staci Layne" friend request at FaceBook? Well, I also stumbled upon REDHOTSTACI -- funny.
I'm reading NEIL GAIMAN'S SANDMAN for the first time, at Terrance's suggeston. I really like it a lot, even though I don't naturally take to the graphic novel format. I have a lot of books here to read, plus have a couple on order (cheap, under $5 at
half.com) about mirrors (inspired by DR. PARNASSUS, and simply my enduring fascination with mirrored imagery).
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That's it for now. Got lots of work and travel ahead of me in the weeks to come...
E-Ya Later!
Staci Layne