#i just remembered that the writers had told the actress to not lose any weight during the filming

[sugaroto]

Whoever wrote the "fat funny friend" song would have loved "Είσαι το ταίρι μου"(2001) in which the fat funny woman is actually the main character who is full of confidence and the tall pretty woman is the stupid bitch who got them involved in a mess of pretending to be each other in front of the in-laws

[teamfreewill2pointo]

Transcript of End of the Road Special

Transcript of End of the Road Special. 

Please let me know if I made any errors in transcription. Twitter version Family Don’t End with Blood Transcription Winchester Mythology Transcription

Dabb: Ultimately, we came up with something that we're all very proud of Singer: You never know what the audience is going to like so we really tried to say "what would make us happy? Would we be satisfied with where we've taken them?"

The Carry On song was a guideline.

Singer: The myth of what these brothers were throughout 15 years... We didn't shy away from fatalism, but we wanted to be able to have it be kinda uplifting as well.

Dabb: If you're going to do something that feels like a complete arc, you have to kinda go back to the beginning of it (clips of them hunting vamps from s1 & 15.20) When it comes to Sam & Dean- it's all about getting back to, in some ways, these two guys on the road in this car.

Dabb: They've been doing this job for 15 years now. They've fought everyone from demons to vampires to God himself, but at the end of the day, they're still working guys, out there on the road & taking cases. We've tried to never lose sight of that.

Dabb: There are times when we've been wrapped up in our own mythology a little bit. We've always tried to get back to the basics, which are: these two guys, saving people, hunting things. 

Eugenie: I think we sort of knew generally what the ending would involve.

Eugenie: We might not have known the mechanics, but we sort of knew there would be a victorious, glorious sacrificial ending bc I think sacrifice is a big theme in the series.

For every great thing you do, a cost must be paid.

Singer: Andrew & I talked about it. We were in agreement pretty quickly... talked to the rest of the writing staff & let them know what we wanted to do and we were open to suggestions. And then we pretty much pitched it to Jared and Jensen.

Jensen talks about flying to LA. Jensen: So before we ever even started 15, we knew how the last portion of the story was going to go. We didn't know how we were going to get there, but we kinda knew the final- the finish line- we knew what... what that was going to look like.

Jared: I don't think there's ever been a season of SPN in 15 years where the way the writers thought the show would play out for that season- ended up being the way it played out And so we were aware of that. They told us here's what we're thinking, here's what happens to Castiel

Jared: In the finale, Dean dies & Sam lives on. And then we think they're going to meet up in heaven. 

I remember Jensen... just because I know him so well- he seemed to bristle a little bit.

Jensen: It was hard to hear then & it was hard to read now. Not because I didn't like it, not because I wished it had gone differently... I'm not adverse to it. I think it's a great ending. I'm proud to film it.

Singer: And we just aimed for that, you know, throughout the season. We knew where we were going.

Jensen: Reading it & knowing that... there's just a weight that is so much larger reading these scripts than I've ever experienced before. 

There's an emotional weight that these scripts are going to carry & these episodes are going to have that I don't think we've ever seen before.

Brad: [J2] were so young when all of this started. They brought to it such conviction & such commitment to the effort. 

That's one of the things that kept the show going for so many years... a show that was designed for very young guys, footloose & fancy free, & on the road…

Brad: To see these guys grow up b4 your eyes into- men, not boys any longer- was amazing. 

BABY Jared: Though the story does involve Sam & Dean chasing supernatural things, it really is a story about two brothers that love each other & ultimately will do anything for each other.

Jensen: There's really one person that gets it on the level that I get it, and that's Jared. Jared: I've never spent as much time with another human being as I have with Jensen Ackles. He will be my friend and brother forever. And I know that.

BABY Jensen: There's a lot of dynamics between the two brothers, there's a lot of history between them, there's a lot of banter between them... it's good stuff S15 Jensen: We had a partner in crime & we leaned on each other for, you know, for times when it was tough.

Jensen: But we also won together. We got to share the experience of success & the experience of getting picked up for another season. Watching these two characters go through what they're going through, when we're working 14 hours & it's 2-3 o’clock on a Sat morning and we're just now finishing filming out in the rain and mud and we gotta race to the airport to get on a plane because we've got a photoshoot in LA & we've gotta do on camera interviews and we gotta promote the show that we love so much that we were just in the mud & the rain filming hours before we're exhausted and it's like there's only one person that gets that right now. That gets how I feel and that's this guy standing next to me. That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool to have somebody like that.

Brad: We knew it was going to be impossible to tie up every aspect of all of the cans of worms that we opened up. 

We did want to bring a proper ending to the guys, the guy's relationship.

Brad: Then of course we had this huge corner we painted ourselves into with the most powerful thing in the universe being the big bad of the season. We try and find a proper send off for Jack & for Cas. What to do w/ the boys & is that a together farewell or an individual?

It was just... lots of moving parts. 

Dabb: I give a lot of credit to Bobo who really was the one who started banging the drum early & often to ending the mythology in 19 and end the characters in 20.

Brad: You're battling God & battling God & you have this epic situation going on through the first 3/4 of the show & then what? You send off Dean in act 4? That just felt wrong. Eugenie: We had this obligation, it was really mandatory, that we tie up the mythic narrative and leave the final episode for the emotional resolution. I [was] more on the side of not wanting to best God. To have God change to be more like his creations. So there were philosophical arguments, but we always knew God's resolution was going to be a big ticket item.

Jensen: We'd started day 1 of the 2nd to last episode, 19. We were 1 day down on that episode & we were just about to start our 2nd day & we got the call that morning that we were not going to be coming in that day.

Jensen: So we figured ok, we'll figure out protocol, figure out what we need to do, & we'll just regroup, come back on Monday. As that day progressed, it was like- this looks like more of an apocalypse that is ascending upon us than just a bad cold.

They pulled the plug & they said everybody go home. 

Singer: Fortunately, we got assurance from both the studio & the network that one way or another we were gonna finish the series. That was comforting to us, but we didn't know when we were going to go back.

Eugenie: We didn't know what we were going back to... if this was the last time we would ever see the set. There was no plan. It was just get out of dodge. Dabb: When it first happened, we thought it would be a couple of weeks, maybe a month.

I had conversations w/WB where they expected everyone to be back shooting in June & then things got worse & pushed & pushed.

Eugenie: Slowly as we settled into that 4 or 5 month period, discussions were going on w/the studio, & the networks, & the actors. We knew there would be restrictions on what we were allowed to shoot, but finally, the mechanics were figured out. 

Singer: So they were ready to go pretty quickly, shooting in Van, where covid wasn't quite as virulent as it was [in LA].

Dabb: We were one of the first shows, one of the first WB shows to start back up. So in a way, we were kinda a guinea pig. But, in being that, I think everyone took it really seriously. We had 0 positive tests. Crew members weren't going out on the weekends.

They were like look, if I get sick, it hurts the whole show. That speaks to the family culture up there, where we've had so much of our crew for so long. Where J2 & Singer provide such great leadership.

Singer: When I was in prep for 20, I was basically in the office but couldn't go to the set. It was very odd for me not to be able to go to the set while I was in prep. 

Everybody just hung in there & did what they were supposed to do.

Brad: Then we were faced with the dilemma of having to rewrite a lot of the stuff bc of the pandemic bc of the limitations that we knew were going to come on the production.

Jensen: We were gearing up for, not only the end of that season, but the end of the series. There was a lot of big, big things written-packed- into those last two scripts.

Jared: At first, it was supposed to be a lot of our old cast from prior seasons in a Roadhouse with Kansas.

Everybody had already agreed. Kansas was going to be in Van. We were going to have dad there & mom there. Just probably 20 or 30 different actors & actresses who had been a part of the SPN's canon over the last 15 & a half years.

Jensen: It was scheduled to be the last day that we were going to film, so it was almost like rolling right into a nice wrap party on camera. 

Brad: The idea of flying a boatload of ppl up there to quarantine for 2 weeks so they could shoot for a day was making less & less sense.

Eugenie: How do we make this work? And while you're doing that, you also don't want to sacrifice the heart and soul of the project. 

So we came up with a reduced, much more intimate ending. It has been replaced by something equally magical & rewarding.

Singer: I felt an enormous responsibility in directing the finale of a show that's been on for 15 years. Andrew, when he saw the cut, he said some really nice things to me as to, you know, the way I handled the material.

Jensen: The scenes that were filmed on our last day on the sound stages were filled with the most emotion of the final episode. 

Singer: One of the really hard things was we're on another stage that wasn't the MoL stage & they started wrecking the MoL sets

They'd been working on this set and been apart of this- this family for just as long if not longer than the set's been around. I was like "it's really sad seeing this get taken down" and the other guy said, "I'm trying to hold back tears while I'm swinging this hammer."

Jared: As we start saying goodbye to characters, to locations, like it just seems like every day you would wake up and there would be some reason to cry. 

Misha: This is a show ultimately about love, & empathy, & caring, & I think that Castiel embodies that.

Misha: Half the crew was crying. It was really such a sweet, supporting environment to be in for the demise of a character that, of course, for me is really important. 

But it was so lovely to see that, you know, the folks that I'm- I'm working with were also there for Cas at that moment. 

Alex: To get to work with these caliber people & see your friends every day is really special & is not something that often happens in this business for this long. It's been definitely a topsy turvy last couple weeks here with us and the crew. 

Jared: Friday of the final full week was the big scene in the barn with the vampires where Dean suffers his fate. They did the first two days with the entire stunt team & the young boy actors. 

And then they cut it for Thursday night and they're like, okay, Friday, tomorrow, we’re starting the dialogue. Dean, you're on the post. Sam, you just cut off the last vampire's head.

That was the scene- that was where Supernatural was really encapsulated. 

Jensen: And then the next week we kind of had this- on the road encore get together filmmaking scenario that felt more like we made it & it was more pats on the back as opposed to tearful goodbyes. 

Dabb: In a weird way you can look at the 15 seasons is like Sam & Dean's emotional evolution. You know instead of therapy, they kill vampires, but other than that it's kind of the same & brings them both to a very good place. And a place where they can, as the song says, you know, lay their weary head to rest. 

This felt like the most honest & emotionally fulfilling episode for these characters to us. Jared: I got thinking about how Supernatural started & how the majority of times how I thought it should end. It started with Sam & Dean Winchester. I think it's proper that it ended with Sam & Dean Winchester together again. 

Jensen: When the cameras stop rolling & Bob yelled, “Cut!” and Bob yelled, “That’s a series wrap on Supernatural.” There was- a there was a loud cheer that echoed through that canyon we were filming in. I will- I will happily say that there were hugs that happened and that needed to happen. Those are people that I spent not just years with, but so much time with- it's like brothers in arms and so to put it to bed the way that we did felt really good and then felt good to hug some people, I'll tell you that much. Singer: I thanked everyone, but I wanted to really thank people who had been with us from the beginning and as I looked around, there were so many people who had been there from the beginning.

We really were a family. I always say about this show is one of the reasons that it was a success and is that it was not only about the Winchester family, but it was about the Supernatural family. 

Jared: So now that's all said and done, I guess I can look back at it and just be proud that I helped this show carry on and I'm really proud of the blood, sweat, and tears that I put in, and I feel like- I feel like that sacrifice was also maybe one of the things I learned from Sam, you know? Sam had to sacrifice a lot. So, I'm honored and flattered and grateful that I got to be a part of that journey.

Dabb: You're never going to have another show like this. You're never gonna have another experience like this. For a lot of different reasons, from how long it ran, from the family that the show became, from the amazing fans that we have. [Footage of us] From the emotional investment people can put in over 15 years of their lives. 

Some started watching this when they were in high school, when they were 15, they're 30 now, they might have kids. That's their- that's like half their life. They've been with this show. You're not gonna have that again. Shows just aren’t gonna run this long, especially genre shows, but I don't know that I'm ever gonna do anything else in my career that I'm gonna be more proud of than having been involved in this show. 

Jared: The things that stick out are just how important it is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. And keep on working and wake up every day and treat it like it could be your last and- and if you make it out the other side, you'll be happy and proud of what you did. 

Jensen: The crew had packed up, they had cleared the bridge, and they were all starting to, you know, load their trucks and get moving. And Jared and I just kind of hung back, and we just took a moment. I looked at him and I said, “I’m proud of us, man. I'm proud of what we've done.”

We know that that's the collective we, that is everyone that is involved, that is- you know from the top down. You know, for our portion, for what we contributed to this monster of the show, he and I reflected on that, and still able to see and smell the roses.

[tcm]

Shelley Winters: An Extraordinary Actress By Susan King

When Shelley Winters died at 85 in 2006, much was made of the fact that the two-time Oscar-winner went from a va-va-va voom sex symbol to a matronly character actress. In fact, the Los Angeles Times obit stated she was a “blond bombshell of the 1940s who evolved into a character actress best remembered for her roles as victims, shrew and matrons.”

But truth be told, Winters was always a character actress. However, when she began in the acting in Hollywood in the 1940s, the studio system typecast actresses and actors on appearance. In fact, she once noted she often played the “the bad blonde bimbo usually going up against the sweet brunette.” In fact, before she got her big movie break as a tart waitress who is murdered by Ronald Colman in A DOUBLE LIFE (’47), she was playing the comedic character part of Ado Annie on Broadway in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!.  And speaking of A DOUBLE LIFE, Winters brought a depth to the character that other ingenues of the era wouldn’t have had the ability to play.

“She was a serious actress,” said Diane Baker, who made her film debut opposite Winters in George Stevens’ acclaimed THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (’59) for which Winters received her first supporting actress Oscar as Mrs. Van Daan. And it was her role as the zaftig middle-age Van Daan that was her watershed film – the movie in which she segued from glam roles and moved into the forefront of the character actresses. “I believe Shelley exemplified what it was to be a Method actress,” Baker added.

Winters initially had to work hard to convince Hollywood she was a serious actress. Oscar-nominated Sally Kirkland, who knew and worked with Winters from 1962-2006, recalled the lengths she went to convince director George Stevens that she was more than a sex symbol in order to play the dowdy pregnant Alice Tripp, who is murdered by her boyfriend (Montgomery Clift) in A PLACE IN THE SUN (’51).

“When George Stevens made an appointment to meet her at the Hollywood Athletic Club, she made her hair brown. She’s flattened her chest, got a dowdy coat. She sits there for an hour because he doesn’t recognize her. Winters went to these ‘extremes’ because she’s smart enough to know she can not be a blonde bombshell. He agrees to test her and then hires her. She gets her Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Of course, that relationship with Monty Clift was profound to her.”

She also excelled in the gothic thriller THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (’55), the only film directed by Oscar-winning actor Charles Laughton. “I don’t know whether this is a well-known fact, but she felt Charles Laughton really taught her acting,” said Kirkland.” In fact, before she made NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, Winters had taken a Shakespeare acting class with the British actor. “He took her under his wing,” noted Kirkland. “During my entire time with her from 1962 until she died, she would talk about Charles Laughton. From her point of view, he was her mentor.”

Winters also respected Lee Strasberg, with whom she studied at the Actors Studio in New York and later became a well-respected teacher there. “She loved Lee Strasberg,” said Kirkland. “I loved Lee Strasberg. I studied with him from ’64 on.” (Winters got Kirkland into the Actors Studios.) But Kirkland noted that Strasberg was “a very hard man to have a relationship with. He was very closed off in the sense of communications other than when he was critiquing. I think Charles Laughton had a really personal relationship with her. She had him on such a pedestal. She said he taught her more than anybody.”

After THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, Winters left Hollywood for the Actors Studio and soon was appearing on Broadway in A Hatful of Rain with Ben Gazzara and Anthony Franciosa, who would become her third husband. Winters played the pregnant wife of a Korean vet struggling with heroin addiction.

“I was a teenager and saw it on Broadway,” said Kirkland. “It just blew my mind. I said, ‘I have to do that. I have to do what Shelley’s doing.’ Unbelievable impact on me.” Winters also impacted Baker. “While we were on DIARY, if something happened, she didn’t stop the scene,” Baker explained. “One time, something happened to the chair when she was in a scene. The chair went down the stairs. She didn’t say cut or stop acting. She went down the stairs to bring the chair back up and kept going.” Baker recalled that Winters wasn’t “Hollywood” in any way. She had a table at the Silver Spoon on Santa Monica Blvd. Just a normal simple little lunch table where she sat and had people visiting. She used to have her little group of people who were friends who would chat and talk.”

Stevens treated Winters with sensitivity and understanding, Baker noted. “He went along with her creative needs. I think that’s why he brought her onto DIARY, because she was the combination of nerves, humor and at the same time tragedy. She would pull it off.’

“I think she was just a mensch,” added Baker. She was more than a mensch to Kirkland. “I studied with her. I was her assistant. I taught her all her lines in LOLITA (‘62), A PATCH OF BLUE (’65), THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (‘72). I basically did everything she needed help with. She always wanted a young actress, kind of a protégé; I always wanted a stage mom. My mom was fashion editor for Life at the time and didn’t have time to be a typical mom.“

When Kirkland was working with Winters as the actress preparing for A PATCH OF BLUE, for which Winters won her second Oscar for playing the harridan bigoted mother of a young blind woman, she gave Kirkland a gold friendship ring. “It said, ‘To Sally from Shelley. I love you.’”

Winters had to gain nearly 40 pounds for her final Oscar-nominated role in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE for her sweet performance as a former competitive swimmer. She never was able to lose the weight. Though the quality of her films was a mixed bag until her death, Winters still gave some great performances especially in Pau Mazursky’s NEXT STOP, GREENWICH VILLAGE (‘76), in which she plays the ultimate Jewish mother.

“Paul Mazursky was her friend,” said Kirkland. “Paul was an actor/director/writer at the Actors Studio. He would come over to the house when I was there, and he would talk about the project.” Kirkland said Winters would use music to get her into character and emotional scenes. “She loved opera,” Kirkland noted. “She would put on something like La Traviata and that would always make her cry. Paul, brilliant that he is, kept it in the movie, kept her Method acting exercise in the movie. So, when you see NEXT STOP GREENWICH VILLAGE and you hear opera, you’ll know that was one of the secrets of Shelley Winters’ acting was always to have opera playing.”

[waitimcomingtoo]

To the Bone

TRIGGER WARNING/DISCLAIMER: negative body image. Reader does NOT have an eating disorder but do not read if you’re easily triggered by things of that nature. I’ll have a fluffy story out soon for those who can’t read this one. And remember, you are beautiful exactly as you are. Love you!

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Masterlist

With you being a singer and an actress, you rarely got to see your movie star boyfriend for more than a few weeks at a time. When Tom was off shooting for Cherry, you got a call asking you to model for Saint Laurent. You’d been selected to be an égérie, or muse for the highly esteemed fashion brand. You smiled to yourself as you remembered the times you’d flip through your mothers fashion magazines as a child, always talking a special interest in the glamorous handbags and shoes you saw in the Saint Laurent magazines. To be on the cover of their magazine, decked in their masterpieces inspired by yourself, was a dream come true. You twisted around your room, feeling that familiar childlike wonder seeping in. You caught a glimpse of yourself in the full length mirror you and Tom had in your bedroom and stopped. You took a step closer and gazed at your reflection, placing delicate fingertips on the cool glass of the mirror. Another familiar feeling sunk in.

The feeling of not being good enough. 

Saint Laurent was a huge brand. Millions of people would be looking at you on the cover. The thought of all those people and all the opinions they harbored made you feel uneasy. Would they like what they saw? Were you pretty enough to be a cover girl?

You traced your fingertips over your reflection until they landed on your tummy. You moved your hand from the mirror to your tummy and kept it there, turning to the side to get a better look.

“I could stand to be a little thinner.” You nodded your head and continued to stare at your body. You decided losing a little weight for the cover would be a good for everyone.

Tom was going to be away for three weeks, and your cover was a week after he returned. You found a diet online that claimed models followed and printed it out. You stuck it to your fridge and started following it that night.

The first week, you cut your meals down in size and cut out snacks completely.

The second week, you skipped meals here and there and told yourself you didn’t need them. You didn’t need the fatigue and constant hunger you felt either, but you told yourself it was worth it every time you stood up and felt dizzy.

The third week, what you did allow yourself to eat was rabbit food. Berries for breakfast, no lunch, salad for dinner. Your appearance had changed a little more than you expected, so you covered yourself in baggy clothes to hide the transformation. As you were examining your body in the mirror again, you heard the front door unlock.

“Tommy!” You ran to him from the bedroom and threw your arms around his neck. Tom embraced you immediately, and you felt his body tense up. His hands found your waist and slowly moved up to your ribs as your heart pounded in your chest.

“Woah.” He pulled away quickly and looked you up and down with a concerned look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” You kept your voice steady. He noticed. Of course he noticed.

“I don’t know, you tell me.” Tom looked up at you with accusation in his eyes.

“What do you mean, baby?” You played it off.

“Have you been eating?” Tom asked firmly, hands still on your waist.

“I…yeah.” You stuttered at his blunt question.

“How much?” He questioned. “And what?”

“What’s with all the questions? What are you, my doctor?” You laughed nervously and tried to leave his embrace but he wouldn’t let you.

“No, I’m your incredibly concerned boyfriend.” Tom said, reminding you it wasn’t time to joke.

“There’s nothing to be concerned about. You should be excited, actually. Saint Laurent has made me their muse. They designed a collection inspired by me and want me to model it on their cover. Isn’t that amazing?” You said proudly and Toms eyes softened. He swallowed thickly and looked you in the eyes with an emotion you’d never seen from him before.

“Is that why you did this?” He asked in a whisper.

“Did what?” You asked, still dodging his accusation.

“Whatever crazy diet you put yourself on.” He said finally.

“I’m not on any diet.” You said defensively. “I just lost a little weight.”

“Love, I have hugged you a million times; held you, cuddled you, woken up and fallen asleep with your body next to mine. What I just had in my arms, what I felt when I hugged you, that wasn’t you.” Tom shook his head sadly. “That’s not the body I hold in my sleep or the one I come home to at night. You’re skin and bones, darling. I don’t even recognize you. What happened?”

“Nothing.” You smiled, trying to appease him, but Toms face remained stoic.

“Take off your jumper. It’s huge on you, anyway.” Tom commanded.

“What? No, I’m cold.” You lied. It was the middle of summer and you had on sweatpants and an oversized sweater on.

“It’s boiling in here.” Tom pointed out. “Take it off.”

“Tom, no.” You said sternly.

“Why not? Because you don’t want me to see what I already know? You think baggy clothes and denial won’t make me see what you’ve done to yourself?” Tom shouted, eyes softened when he saw your face fall.

“Princess.” Tom said softly and tilted your chin for you to look at him. His gentleness almost brought you to tears. “I can’t say I understand why you’d do this, or why anyone would, but I can say I know how you feel. I’ve had issues with my body too. I never knew how insecure a person could feel until I went to the gym with the Avengers cast. I mean, have you seen Chris Hemsworth without his shirt on?” Tom asked and a small laugh escaped your lips. “There, now I got my pretty girl laughing again. What’s it gonna take to get you eating again? We can start small but I’m not sleeping until I see you put something substantial in your body. I need to know you’re going to be okay the next time I leave, or I’m never leaving again.”

“Then how are you gonna do your job?” You asked.

“Loving you is my job. That’s more important than any part in any movie.” Tom assured you.

“I just wanted to look good for the cover.” You admitted weakly. “I just wanted to be beautiful.”

“You were already beautiful, and you would be at any size. Numbers on a scale and the size of your waist do not equate to beauty.” Tom said assertively. “Come with me.” He took your hand and brought you to the bedroom, taking his place in front of the full length mirror. He stood behind you and pressed himself into your back.

“Tom, I’ve looked at myself in this mirror enough in the past few weeks. I don’t need to again.” You told him.

“But you’ve only seen yourself from your point of view. I want to show you what I see.” Tom told you as he moved your hair to the side to place a kiss on your neck.

“The first thing I noticed about you was your hair. You had it loose and it framed your face like the work of art that you are. I thought it was beautiful but it was covering your face and I wanted to see that to.” Tom recalled the day you’d met. “I pretended to cough so you’d look at me, and you did. That’s when I saw your eyes for the first time. Our eyes met and I got this funny feeling in my tummy like when you come home after a long time and your dog greets you at the door. That’s how you make me feel, like coming home.”

“I only looked at you because I hate the sound of coughing.” You laughed and Tom laughed too.

“But you still looked at me. And then you smiled. I forgot how to breath for like three days after that.” Tom laughed in your ear. “I nearly fell over from how weak my knees felt. Your smile could make the coldest, most evil old man bite his tongue. And when I heard your laugh, God I wanted to marry you right there. And I could’ve. And I just might.” Tom kissed your cheek this time and wrapped his arms around your waist. “Then there’s this body. This body that keeps me warm, the body that’s gonna carry my kids one day.” Tom put his hands on your tummy and looked at you in the reflection of the mirror. “I’ve loved every inch of you since the day we met. My eyes never have and never will see something more beautiful than you. I know I can tell you everyday that you’re gorgeous and take my breath away, but I also know that if you don’t think the same then my words mean nothing.”

“It’s hard to love myself sometimes when theres so many people watching me.” You whispered. Tom turned your around in his arms so you were facing him.

“I know, love. But I’m here to make it a little less hard.” Tom assured you. “I’m gonna make you a deal; I’m gonna make your favorite dinner and you’re gonna eat it.”

“I think I can manage, as long as we eat in the candlelight.” You smiled.

“You got it.” Tom kissed your forehead. “And I want you to sign my magazine once it comes out. I gotta have the autograph of the prettiest girl in the world.”

Tag List 🏷

@maybemona​ @sunrise-shawn​ @meghan-8520xx​ @writing-for-hours-on-end​ @lavender-writer​ @captainmandeestudent17​ @whatareyouhidingpeter​ @takenbyheartstrings​ @ultrunning​ @imyourliquor-youremypoison​ @theolwebshooter​ @autumnlyholland @andreasworlsboring101​ @guksmyfav​ @waiting-to-be-myself​ @letsloveimagines​ @ho-ho-holland @peterparkoure​ @a-villain-vying-for-attention​ @m19friend​ @justcallmehitgirl​

[just-some-random-blogger]

Noona, You're So Pretty

SHINee + TVXQ! Lee Taemin x Actress!Reader Characters: Park Seo Joon, Choi Minho, Shim Changmin (MAX), Lee Taemin Summary: You were a big time Hallyu sweetheart. Having garnered the attention of the masses with your debut role as a high school student with the ability to talk to animals, everyone fell in love with your bubbly and quirky personality, including Shinee's maknae, Lee Taemin. And for the most part, Taemin thinks he can stand a chance with you, except--oh no, he thinks you *may* not like younger guys and your new co-star, Park Seo Joon, seems a little too taken with you. Word Count: 2k+ Warnings: Fluff, pining, typos etc.

A/N: i hope four years is okay w/u.

Two more questions.

It was my turn to chose. My co-actor, hair slicked back, snug in a cashmere top, nodded my way. The act was so simple, and yet I could practically hear the swoons of the ladies in the audience. Who could blame them, Park Seo-joon was a dashing and hardworking man.

There were flashes of light from the photographers. I tried not to squint and insyead smile softly in order to look flattering in the photos. I nodded at the man, who stood up and presented his question.

"You've done a handful of notable projects since your debut in 'Sounds of the Animals'. From then to now, what is your secret to being so graciously recieved by the public? And what can we expect in the future?"

I nod upon hearing this and break into a smile. It was so flattering that from all the questions we were asked about this drama at hand, people were interested in my career in particular.

I clear my throat and move closer to the mic, "Uh, firstly, thank you for being interested in me and for saying that I am graciously recieved by the public." 

I break into a chuckle, Seo-joon beside me cracks a smile too. 

"Although, I will admit I don't have a secret," I say in an unsure tone. "Hmmm, I believe I am just really blessed because I am able to do what I love and have people behind me help me and shape me into being the best I can be." I say and turn to the rest of the panel with my other co-stars, writers, and director.

"If anything, the secret is a good team. Having such great people behind us is what really makes a drama, or any project, successful and well-recieved."

I look around the reporters and watch them nod. I end my reply, "As for the future, I can't really say. I hope to keep working hard. But, er, right now, I am hoping and beckoning everyone to watch 'Replay'. We worked very hard on it and it was so much fun and such an honor to work with everyone here. Please watch it diligently and stay tuned til the end."

There was a bustle between the reporters. The flashing camera lights broke out again, and I allowed the man next to you to choose whomever he wanted.

Last question.

Seo-joon points, and the woman wastes no time, "you said a while ago that during the filming of this drama, you two got very close because you would go working out together. Besides this, what else do you two do together outside of work?"

No, there was nothing physical about my role in the drama. I just grew to like working out, and I had to because, well, I needed to keep my physique up, you know.

I turn to the man beside me and he turns to me as well. For a moment we stay quiet, as if doing so would make an answer come out of nowhere.

"Well," he starts looking at me as if the answer was on my cheeks. I hold back a laugh ad shrug, answering for him, "we eat a lot."

The room breaks into laughter.

"He treats the cast and crew to soju from time to time," another of our co-stars point out. "Seo-joon is good at keeping his alcohol."

Seo-joon sudenly remembers something, "Actually, sometimes Shinee's Choi Minho would work out with us." Minho and him were friends because they were in a drama called Hwarang before. (Legit they are, it's really good, you should watch it)

I raise my brows and nod. Seo-joon continues, mentioning my name, "TVXQ's Shim Changmin would sometimes he'd work out too." I was friends Changmin because we worked on a drama together. "And one time, she, myself, Minho, Changmin drank together--"

My eyes suddenly widen, realizing where this is going.

"--and she--" Seo-joon chuckles out.

I but in and punch his shoulder, "ya oppa!"

"--got drunk and started crying."

The room laughs and I feel my face burn. I groan and start hammering Seo-joon's shoulder, but he only bends his neck to the side, pulling away slightly, and laughs. He even continues on mimicking me, apparently.

"Ahoohoohoooo, I'm so happy to be friends with you guys. You are all so great. And so, so handsome."

I jump out of my seat and stand, "YA SHI--" I then clench my teeth and playfully place my hands the man's neck. I laugh, pull away, and sit back down. At this point, the entire room is awake with giggles. Truth be told, I wasn't really embarrassed. I just like making people laugh.

I blow are between my pouted lips and exaggeratedly whine, "Oppa, you are clearly the worst."

The man who was a year older than me basked in satisfaction, "Ye, but you still love me."

Later that day, you and Seo-joon attended a party celebrating the airing of Replay, hosted by the TV network the drama was being aired on. Many came up to you and congratulated you. Some shook your hand, others asked for a selfie. A smaller portion asked for an autograph, and your relationship status was Seo-joon.

You were in the midst of finishing a conversation with some producers when a hand came to your shoulder, followed by the greetigs of a tall man. He spoke ypur name fondly, and you broke into a pleased smile, "Changmin oppa!"

We share a quick hug and I can't help but flutter at his expression. "Congratulations on your show!" the man in a plaid, grey suit speaks with his hand on my shoulder. He pulls away and continues, "I heard the ratings are expected to go through the roof."

I chuckled and shook my head, "I can only hope so."

"Yaahhhh, you're Hallyu's sweetheart. Don't worry about."

I give a smile at his reassurance and decide to change the topic, "You here alone, oppa, or do you have a hot date?" I wiggle my brows.

Changmin shakes his head and rolls his eyes, "Well, I recall you drunkenly admitting Minho is handsome, so..."

"Ya!" I raise, "I'd admit Minho is handsome regardless of my sobriety."

Changmin snorts, "speaking of."

"Noona!"

"Minho-ya!" I coo and welcome the younger man's embrace. I chuckle and cling onto his green sweater when he squeezes tightly and pushes slightly forward. 

"Ya!" Changmin scolds his dongsaeng and I can't stop laughing. "It's as if you haven't seen her in years."

Minho has a mischevious glint in his eyes. "Noona, you're so pretty," he notes, making me chuckle and Changmin snort.

"Thay's the title of his debut song," Changmin mutters to me, making me nod,

"Actually," Minho cocks his head to the side, "its english title is Replay."

My lips form a please o-shape, "Ya, you should perform that for me then!"

"No way," Minho says, "but our maknae might." The man then moves to his side to reveal a lanky man in a loose button down. "Lee Taemin," Minho introduces. The said man chuckles sweetly with his cresent shaped eyes. "Annyeonghaseyo," he greets bowing his head.

I smile back and mimic his actions.

"I've been a big admirer of yours since Sounds of the Animals. I couldn't stop watching it because I just loved the idea of being able to talk to animals."

"Wah, thank you so much," I clap my hands together and bow my head at him.

"That, and I also think noona is super pretty," Taemin says in a gradual chuckle.

The four of us break into a laugh. Changmin and Minho embrace each other in amusement. Minho is losing his mind with his distinctive high-pitched laughter, and Changmin's nose is scrunched up in glee. "Ya, I think we're just gonna get a drink," Minho says, rasing a hand. Changmin pat's Taemin's shoulder and at this point it's so painfully obvious that this was all a setup.

Taemin and I turn to each other. He chuckles to me again, "Minho's really loud."

"I know. It makes working out with him really fun."

We shuffle from where we stand and Taemin moves a bit closer, "Honestly, I don't like working out, but I would if it was with you."

I can't help but laugh and cover my face at his blatant but smooth flirting. I shake my head and feel my face wrap in warmth.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't do it like them. I don't lift heavy weights or anything. I just do what they consider a warm-up you know. The treadmill runs, which I love because I get to listen to a lot of music, and then like stretching, push-ups, sit-ups, nothing that actually requires gym equipment to be honest."

He hums, "my work-out is dance."

"Oh, no, no, I know that. I may have watched a lot of your performances during my breaks."

Taemin's face lights up upon hearing this, "For real?"

"Yeah," I nod, "you are really good at dancing. Honestly good isn't even the word. I'm good at dancing, you're on a whole 'nother level."

He claps his hands, eye crinkling, "Well then noona has to show me her moves!"

"No way, you rascal!" I shake my head profusely.

"Nooo, come on dance with me!"

"And embarrass myself in yet another dance battle with an SM artist? No way! I already did that with Changmin oppa. Besides, I might break a hip! I'm too old to be your dance partner."

Taemin tilts his head to that, and takes the statement as a double meaning. Did you not like younger guys?

I hear someone call my name. I whip my head to the direction of the voice and see that it's Seo-joon, holding two flutes of champagne.

"Oppa," I smile when he comes over. He smiles as well and hands me one of the glasses, "I got you a drink."

I look at it and take it from him with a quick thank you. He smiles down at me and moves some stray strand of hair on the side of my face away. "Joon-hee PD-nim was looking for you a while ago."

"Really? Where is she? What'd she say?"

"You look really sexy in that dress," he says, turning from his glass to me. I snort and feel my cheels burn. "Ya, oppa!" I snarl and hit his shoulder repeatedly.

Seo-joon laughs and gives me an amused side eye.

As he and I share a laugh, and then I notice Taemin's awkward expression and remember he was begging me to dance with him. My laughter faded and I nudged the chuckling Seo-joon, "Ya oppa, this is Shinee's Lee Taemin."

"Ah," Seo-joon nods and turns to the shorter man, "you're the maknae right?"

Taemin turns to him and nods, chuckling, "Ye."

"Sorry, I didn't get you a drink. I didn't know you were here."

"Ah, no, it's okay."

"Do you want mine? I haven't drank from it."

Taemim raises his hands and shakes it, "no, no, no, I'm fine."

Seo-joon purses his lips, nods and turns to me, "I guess I'll drink it then." His lips connect with the rim, and his tongue darts out afterward. A moment passes and there is an awkward silence between us. Both Seo-joon and Taemin turn to me and open their my to speak up.

I look between then and they turn to each other.

Seo-joon motions, "Please, continue."

"No, it's aright you can go first."

"No, but you were talking to her first, before I came here, so you go."

Taemin agrees with his reasoning. "Noona," he calls, "Minho hyung told me that you really like cupcakes."

I hum and nod in agreement.

Taemin smiles brightly like a while ago again, "well I got you one." He chuckles and I knit my brows upon hearing that. I look at him and purse my lips, but when he stick his hand in his pocket and pulls something, I realize what he means.

My jaw drops into a pleased smile and he dangles a small cupcake key chain in front of me. I smile at the sight of it, "Wah, that's for me"

"Yes," he says simply and grabs my free hand suddenly, placing it on my palm. I smile and feel my neck heat up at his action.

Seo-joon takes a sip on hs  drink again and looks between us. He chuckles lowly and turns over his shoulder.

"Thank you so much, Taemin. You didn't have to get me anything though."

"No, I wanted to though, so please use it well."

Seo-joon speaks up, "Ye, well, I just wanted to say that we were invited to dinner next friday. Are you going to attend?"

"Ah," I nod, knowing it was a company gathering, "sure. Are you?"

Seo-joon nods simply. "Well," he gestures his head to the side, "there's someone calling me. I'll see you later."

I nod and Seo-joon places a hand on my shoulder. He then turns Taemin and gives him a polite smile and bow before going off.

Taemin purses his lips and sighs, "Seo-joon-ssi is nice."

I turn to Taemin and nod, "He is. He's a very good co-worker. Very hard working."

Taemin hums, "You seem to like him very much."

I feel the suggestiveness in his statement, but I ignore it and snort, "Well, he's pretty annoying sometimes, but you learn to love him."

"... he seems to very mucn like you too. Like... a woman."

My lips part at his words, and the next thing I know I'm at a loss for words. When I feel my face heat up, I chuckle and turn away, "Aye, it's not like that. We're just realy close because we worked together as lovers. He's really like my older brother though."

Taemin decides to believe it and breaks into a wide grin, "Really. What a relief."

My brows quirk up at that, "Why is that?"

"Because I really wanted to ask you out."

My lips part again, but this time I break into a big smile. I chuckle and take a sip on my drink for the first time. "I like how you're really confident."

Taemin's shoulders shake and she smile, "Does that mean you want to get cupcakes with me sometime?"

"Hmm," my eyes crinkle, "well, if you bought me such a cute keychain of one, then I suppose I wouldn't regret it."

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[letterboxd]

Run, Brittany, Run.

“It has changed my life. It’s changed the way I look at myself, the way I speak about myself or even think about myself. I feel like I’m a much kinder person to me.” We talk to stars Jillian Bell and Lil Rel Howery, and playwright-turned-director Paul Downs Colaizzo, about his debut feature film Brittany Runs a Marathon.

Transformation stories, makeover movies, ugly duckling tales: Hollywood has long been awash in them, but usually they’re steeped in fantasy (average girl discovers she is princess! Princess reveals she is ogre!). Brittany Runs a Marathon is the very real story of a woman who is transformed not by any magic spell or deus-ex-machina, but by the words of her doctor, warning her to follow a healthier diet, get some exercise and lose some pounds.

The real-life Brittany ended up running the New York Marathon, inspiring her friend, playwright Paul Downs Colaizzo, to write and direct a feature film about her journey. It’s a great vehicle for Jillian Bell, who racked up her own running miles to prepare for the title role. Playing Brittany’s wonderfully supportive brother-in-law Demetrius, lending moral support via video-chats, is Lil Rel Howery (Get Out TSA agent Rod Williams).

While Brittany Runs a Marathon is being heavily marketed as a comedy, “there’s something deeper, more serious and heart-wrenching lying at the heart of this film” observes Letterboxd member Nina. “Sticking to regimens and coming off of setbacks is hard,” writes Michael. “It was refreshing to see growth portrayed in all its fits and starts.” “A really beautiful story of someone trying to better themselves and how that doesn’t mean you have to do so alone,” Claire agrees. “Jillian Bell is excellent and really raw as Brittany.”

We spoke to Jillian Bell, Paul Downs Colaizzo and Lil Rel Howery ahead of the film’s US theatrical opening.

Jillian Bell (Brittany)

What was the first thing in the script that you related to and made you feel that you could be Brittany? Jillian Bell: I got the script from my manager and I was very nervous [laughs]. She said, “You’re going to be a little scared while you’re reading this because I think you’re going to relate to the character and then you gotta keep reading because the script is really beautiful and powerful.” I read it and I remember thinking the exact same thoughts: ‘This is going to be very different to take on than most things I’ve done’. It was different in a good way. Something I wanted to try and go out of my comfort zone. I just related to the characters so whole-heartedly. There were moments where I thought ‘someone is taping me right now’ because I’ve thought the exact things and now they’re in a script I’m reading.

What were some of the conversations you had with the real Brittany? How did meeting her affect your approach? The script is inspired by her story but there were a lot of other characters in the film that were not in her actual life story. Paul and I decided to create a character together and Paul had sent me early on a video of the real Brittany when she was making a tape to raise money for the marathon. I completely got her essence from that. She is so inspiring, smart, and funny, sometimes very silly.

Paul and I worked together on creating a character based off all these other characters and it informed us about X, Y and Z. But the first time I met the real Brittany O’Neal was when we were shooting a super emotional scene. I was concerned about making sure she was okay. It’s one thing to know that your life story was about to be told; it’s another thing to see an actor trying to portray all of these things you really went through in your real life.

What were the other types of preparations you did for the role? I decided I was going to do the actual physical journey of the character. I decided to lose 40 pounds for the shoot, 29 pounds before we shot and eleven while we were filming. I just thought it would inform me on certain approaches the script took that I didn’t quite connect to emotionally. There was so much that I did connect to with Brittany, and then there were moments in certain scenes where I thought ‘why is she acting that way? Why is that her response?’ Once I had done the physical journey I completely understood. I had never experienced what it was like to plateau, for example, and focus on a number so intensely. That was part of the script that I didn’t really understand.

You’re known more as a comedic actress and this was a fantastic opportunity to show off your dramatic talent. How did you want to subvert expectations of yourself coming into the more dramatic scenes? I think there’s always a lot of pressure when you try something that is different than people expect to see when they come to see a movie that you’re in. I was just so drawn to the script and I wanted to protect the character. I know I told Paul that I didn’t want anyone else playing her, not that anyone else couldn’t do it, but I wanted to make sure that the way I read it was the way he was going to shoot it, and he was so on the same page.

I felt like I was in really good hands. We were both taking a chance on each other. He was a first-time writer/director and this was my first time doing something that had dramatic elements, and I was playing the title character which I’d never done before. This is the first time where I was in a movie where I was in every single scene. I had no idea if I was going to enjoy doing something that was such a departure of things I had done in the past, but I truly loved it and I hope I get to do it again.

There’s a fine balance between the need for people to live healthily in order to avoid lifestyle-related illnesses, versus the need for society to accept everyone for who they are, no matter their appearance. What conversations did you, Paul, and other creatives have about this line? We had several conversations and talked basically every day for seven months before we started shooting. We wanted to make sure that we were being honest about these conversations: what it’s like going to the doctor and have them say to you: “You need to lose weight to be healthier” because of some health concerns; and the difference between that and the friendship that you have where somebody is saying: “You’d look better if you drop a few pounds” and how unhealthy that is. And how you can have self-hate and lack of self-worth and [how some of that] is society-ingrained ideas and some of that is of your own making. I think Paul did such a beautiful job with the script. We hit on everything without being too political or too shy.

We just covered Sword of Trust and had the delight of chatting with its director, Lynn Shelton. That’s another fantastic, funny movie you’re in. Can you talk about the different pleasures you get from working from a script versus the type of freedom you have in improvisation, as you did on Sword of Trust? I’m definitely more comfortable with things like Lynn’s film, where it’s not as scripted and you get to be extremely loose and bring whatever you want to it, and Lynn was so open to any ideas we had. I remember Michaela and I, the night before we shot, we were sitting in a hotel room together talking over who our characters were and what they wanted, what their goals were. We approached Lynn saying “this is what we’re thinking” and she said “great!”. It’s very different from doing a role like Brittany, where all I got was the script and I fell in love with that. I decided to stick more to the script than I’ve done with any other film. But I definitely wanted to make sure I was telling the story that I received and was so moved by.

Jillian Bell, Micah Stock and Michaela Watkins.

It’s awesome that in both these movies you’re opposite Michaela Watkins. It’s wonderful for me. Michaela Watkins is one of my favorite actresses. I just think she’s so strong, and honest in her performances, and she also makes me laugh harder than most people in this world. I would really love to work with her again. I’ve worked with her twice in one year so I’ve felt very lucky.

Paul Thomas Anderson has said he’s gearing up for a comedy with Tiffany Haddish. He brought you onto The Master and Inherent Vice because he thinks you’re very funny. You must be on his speed-dial for this project, right? I don’t know about that. [Laughs]. I may not be on speed-dial. I’m definitely a huge fan of his and I love that him and Tiffany are working together. That’s going to be amazing. If I hear nothing more than it coming out, I’ll be very excited to go see it.

Brittany has a life-changing experience and your hard work to demonstrate that really shows. How has working on the film changed your life? It has changed my life. It’s changed the way I look at myself, the way I speak about myself or even think about myself. I feel like I’m a much kinder person to me. It made me examine what I was putting out there and how negative that can be and I think that happens, not to all women but to some, and I’m definitely one of those women.

I feel like a movie like this really inspired me to look at that and have a deeper look at how I would talk about myself. I think this is the movie that I wanted to see when I was thirteen, about a real woman who was struggling with these things and how hard it can be to make the first step, how amazing it can be to really choose yourself first over everyone. It’s a hard thing to do, making that first step.

What was the film that made you want to be in film? Clue was the movie that made me want to be in films. I watched that when I was a young girl; it was one of the first VHS tapes we had and I watched it on repeat. It wasn’t just because I loved comedy and mystery and anything that’s a little dark and twisted; I also loved how all these funny character actors were the leads. I still love watching that movie and it’s still my favorite movie to this day.

Jillian Bell with writer/director Paul Downs Colaizzo.

Paul Downs Colaizzo (writer/director)

The film is based on your best friend and roommate Brittany. What was the moment you realized her story could be a movie, and how was she involved in shaping her own narrative and the tone of the film, if at all? Paul Downs Colaizzo: It was after a conversation she and I had after I first moved in with her, where she decided she was going to turn her life around and take control of what she could control and find some structure in her life. So she went for a run. It was when she was out for her first run that I thought this could possibly be a movie. I outlined it without telling her I was working on a movie that was inspired by her life and then a few months later I let her know. She was surprised and flattered and excited and interested and intrigued.

The character of Brittany is different than my real-life friend Brittany in a lot of ways but her DNA is all over it. She was incredibly supportive, and now she’s at a point where she’s excited that people are going to be inspired by something that was inspired by her.

Which aspects were fictionalized for the movie? I took some milestones from her journey and there were elements of her personality that I incorporated into the character of Brittany, but none of the characters is really based on anybody. The character Brittany is different from my friend and really none of the scenes from the movie is a recreation of anything that happened in real life.

What was it that convinced you Jillian was right for the lead? How did you identify the dramatic potential of the comedic actors you selected? [With] Jillian, I’d always been a fan of her comedy and her comedic acting; when she was in 22 Jump Street I fell in love with her. When I met with her about the role she really had this connection to the character. She wanted to tell the story and she wanted to protect the character in the way that I did. Her brain is naturally funny so we got the opportunity to play with the comic genius that is Jillian Bell and also expose this well of untapped emotion that most people had never seen her access. She’s never done a dramatic role before, I had never directed a film. We had to place bets on each other. That drove both of us to work as hard as possible to not let the other one down. 

The idea of the film is that we’d take a character who is typically a sidekick, start with the archetype of her as someone we know how to laugh at and create actually a really deep, personal pathos-filled human that we also empathize with and relate to. We wanted to do that with Brittany but also with all the other characters in the film. Luckily we got incredibly talented comedic actors who are normally playing supporting roles and also have these other elements of their personality that we were able to expose and illuminate for the world to see.

Do you feel there are films or plays that have done justice to body image issues before? What did you want to bring to the topic you felt was lacking? I never really approached this as a body-issue film. I started working on this in 2011 and that wasn’t really part of the cultural conversation at the time, at least in the way it is now. Her relationship to her body was always a big element of the film as far as her trying to understand what her own value system was, not the value system that the world put on her. But I would consider it a story of a person coming into their own.

I think we all can relate to this idea that we’re not living the lives we want to live and that we’re maybe not taking ourselves as seriously as we could because we’re afraid that if we try we will fail. I think we’ve been ingrained to feel that failure is a bad thing. For me this was a story about a person who learns to help and dream for herself and pursue these dreams in a way that’s earnest, without losing her edge and irreverence in the process.

I like how you kind of utilized the “friend-zone” in a way most rom-coms don’t know what to do with. What were some of the genre clichés you deliberately resisted? Again, you know, I never really looked at it that way because I come from theater. I really am just looking at the characters and their journey and the story we’re telling and how it all relates back to the theme. It’s not quite how I look at the construction of a story; I’m not starting with the genre. The one thing I was starting with here is I was starting with the archetypes we were familiar with and allowing the story to decidedly go in a different direction by deepening the characters and seeing where the story would go as we deepen the characters.

How do you feel your instincts as a playwright and experience in television informed your approach in making your first feature film? What were the different satisfactions in the process? The good news about theater is that it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation. You’re making things work, you’re solving problems because there are limitations in the space in which you’re telling the story. In an indie film, there are also a lot of limitations. So getting creative with your surroundings and figuring out how to multi-purpose environments so they can be several different settings so your film can have a feeling of scope and a change of scenery, but also be filmed in a certain amount of time, was a technical thing I brought over from theater. But beyond that, it’s all storytelling and it goes back to Aristotle and the poetic and finding heroes with flaws that we can relate to. It’s just, in this movie, I’m just asking that the sidekick is the hero because she deserves to be one too.

You filmed at the New York City Marathon. That sounds very challenging. Can you talk about your experience filming there? Did it go smoothly? It was incredible. There were six of us from the crew permitted to be there. We had three units in the race. It was a monster of a day. And also, the action you see in the marathon is easily one of the most emotional days of the city in the year because everybody is so supportive and lovely and kind to their fellow man. We could feel it that day, and I think you ultimately feel that energy in the film. It’s a magical day to experience in real life and we did our best to honor that.

What was the importance for you of depicting an LGBTQIA+ family in the film? I’m a gay man. I think this story is about giving depth and relatability and asking for empathy for all of the people in the film, many of whom are “others” in our society. I wanted to subvert the idea of the gay best friend as a trope, which is usually in a lot of ways the comic relief or kind of a hot mess, sort of the character Brittany would be in a typical big comedy. I wanted him to have a full life that honored where our culture is headed and made the gay storyline as relatable as any other storyline.

What are the types of films you’d like to make moving forward? Do you see yourself making more personal projects/dramedies like this or maybe adapting your own plays? I’m gonna go wherever the inspiration takes me. One thing a friend of mine observed about my work recently: I tend to like to unfreakify people we freakify. My guess is that thread will remain in my work but I’m going to do it in a whole bunch of different ways I hope. I’m working on something right now that’s a historical thriller but I’m not done with it yet. I’ll let you know.

What was the film that made you want to be a filmmaker? The first film that made me realize that films had the amazing potential to break through to people all through the country in all sorts of situations and make them feel excited by the idea of insight was American Beauty. I grew up in Georgia in a conservative area in a religious home and the idea that my life could be subverted in a way that movie depicted made me excited to understand more about myself and the world about me and the lies we tell ourselves.

Great choice, it was formative for me too, I resent this backlash it’s been getting. American Beauty? Fuck that! It’s great!

Lil Rel Howery as TSA agent Rod Williams in ‘Get Out’.

Lil Rel Howery (Demetrius)

What did you connect with most about the script? What was it that stood out to you? Lil Rel Howery: How honest it was and how Paul did a good job of writing the human experience on an aspect of you know, “you lose weight, everything becomes peaches and cream” but you have to get your mental health together too. I thought it was dope. Brittany’s character really showed all the different processes of getting it together. She would be running and losing weight and it’s like “everything’s going great now” but then here comes an obstacle. It’s not about the weight, it’s more than that, and I thought that was very deep. I love how, also, he wrote all these stereotypical characters in such a human way without a political agenda to it. He made these beautiful families look like real people.

Most of your scenes you’re acting in front of a computer. What were the challenges of acting without your co-star present? How did your scenes work? I always joke with people, like, “I’ve done more than Get Out”, and they’re like, “Have you ever acted with people before?” I’m joking. It was acting, man. I think one of the things I love about what Paul did a good job of was each of us got our one-on-one with Jillian. And not just one-on-one, especially for us funny people, very dramatic one-on-ones. It wasn’t hard, it was a beautiful well-written movie and for me, that scene with me and Jillian was one of the coolest things I’ve ever filmed because it was filmed with honesty and emotion and I think we did a good job of filling that.

Do you feel eager to show that dramatic side of yourself? How will you reconcile that after establishing yourself as a comic relief? I’ve never put myself in that box. Unfortunately people just love to do that, I guess. With Get Out, as funny as I was in that, I was only funny to people because it was so intense. It wasn’t like I was just telling jokes. I wasn’t doing anything silly. My character Rod was just being honest: “This is what I think is going on.” It’s just funny the way I was saying it because the rest of the movie is insane. I even look at Bird Box, that character, I threw in a couple of jokes in there just because I felt like it, but that was a dramatic character. 

Even the scenes in Get Out, most of those things were dramatic. Even doing Uncle Drew, I made sure they didn’t make me the funniest person in that movie, especially with a movie with everyone running around with prosthetics. I thought that was crazy. I made sure I was the one who brought the heart into the movie. I’m very specific about what I pick. So I think with my next few films, the ones coming out this year, along with Brittany Runs a Marathon and the stuff I’m filming now, I just think you’re not going to put me in a box. You’re just going to have to call me good at one point.

You are good! [Laughs, generously.]

What are the different pleasures for you working in a scripted format compared to the freedoms you might have on other projects where you can improvise jokes? The crazy thing is, when people hire you they want to hire the best of you, right? I can improv drama. When I met with Paul it was about playing a love interest. We had a conversation of how I loved the script so much and I was talking to him about how I wish the father figure would be aggressive with her and he ended up making me that character where I played the father figure. He created this character based on our conversations. This character didn’t even exist at first.

I’ve worked with directors so far that trust me, and I trust them along with the creative process. I’m one of those dudes who’s a control improv-er. Maybe some comedians go off the rails. I know what the story is, I know what the moment is, I never go off what we’re supposed to get. My only thing I like to do is make a scene real. Even if the scene is funny, I don’t like to do nothing funny if it ain’t real. If it’s too silly, I don’t want to do it. I’m very big on keeping it real.

The same goes for my standup. My standup always comes from a real place. I try to make sure, everything I do, every project, every role, even the stuff now, I’m working with some great directors and I’m like, “can we get on the phone today because some of these lines are too stupid. Let’s think of something better and dramatic and I’ll make it funny” [laughs].

Get Out is a bonafide classic. It must have been exciting two years ago when it was being lauded and discovered, but in hindsight, it’s a key part of a movement that’s defining Hollywood right now. How does that feel to be part of? It feels great, man. I feel like I’m a part of so many different versions of that. I’ve been lucky, I’ve been able to do some cool stuff, man. I think with Get Out and what that did. I think about even Bird Box, you can do whatever you want, that was a fun time and I loved the script. After that, Netflix said they were breaking all these records. “This is a record-breaking movie.” There are a lot of interesting things I’ve been able to do, which I’m not done with.

I think for me, Brittany Runs a Marathon falls under that category with Get Out where I don’t think people know what they’re about to get into. I remember telling people that about Get Out and they were like, “Oh, okay”, and I was like, “Naw, you have no idea what this is about to be”. I think Brittany Runs a Marathon is like that too, I don’t think people have any idea how special this movie really is until they see. That’s why I think it’ll do well word-of-mouth more than anything.

Did you get to keep the hoodies for your character’s birthday? That’s the best piece of costume in a film for 2019. [Laughs]. Naw, I didn’t. It’s so funny you say that. I don’t know why I didn’t keep a t-shirt. Damn, I should’ve. I’d keep anything.

What movie made you want to be in movies? Let me tell you something funny. It’s not a film that made me want to take this on at first. It was an episode of Family Ties. It’s the episode where his friend got killed by a drunk driver [season 5, episodes 23 and 24; a two-parter titled A, My Name is Alex which won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1987]. Michael J. Fox performed in a way, you know, you watch things to be entertained at first? But that was the first time I watched an actor and I was like, “Yo, this is crazy good”. Then he did like a one-man show in the second part, like a play where he was walking on different parts of the set and it was different parts of his life. Man, I thought that was brilliant. I thought, ‘Whatever job this is, this is what I want to do!’ [laughs].

‘Brittany Runs a Marathon’ is in US cinemas now.

[enchantedbyhiddles]

Harvey Weinstein “personally approved” an 18-year-old British actor wearing only a dressing gown in a Savoy Hotel room encounter that she described on Monday as humiliating and “an abuse of power”.

Romola Garai, who starred in Atonement and BBC series The Hour, told the Guardian she was left feeling “violated” in the latest of the growing series of allegations of harassment and inappropriate behaviour by the Hollywood mogul.

“Like every other woman in the industry, I’ve had an ‘audition’ with Harvey Weinstein, where I’d actually already had the audition but you had to be personally approved by him,” said Garai. “So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy, and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it, it has stayed very clearly in my memory.”                        

Garai said the incident in London was indicative of Weinstein’s approach to women in the film industry, consistently putting young female actors, often desperate to get a break in the industry, into “humiliating situations” to prove “he had the power to do it”.

“The transaction was just that I was there,” said Garai, who once she was in the hotel room with Weinstein just sat on a chair and had a brief discussion about film. “The point was that he could get a young woman to do that, that I didn’t have a choice, that it was humiliating for me and that he had the power. It was an abuse of power.”

In an exposé in the New York Times last week, it was alleged that Weinstein, one of the most powerful people in Hollywood who produced films such as Pulp Fiction, had been sexually harassing women in the film industry for more than two decades.

It was alleged that he had reached at least eight settlements with women he had sexually harassed, and that he would invite women to his hotel room under the guise of work and then greet them naked or ask them to massage him or watch him shower.

Among his accusers are the actors Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan, and since they went public with their allegations against Weinstein, others have come forward. The writer and artist Liza Campbell said Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked her to get in the bath with him, and a US TV journalist said Weinstein masturbated in front of her.

Weinstein had taken a leave of absence from his company but on Sunday night the boardannounced he had been sacked after new allegations of misconduct. Actors including Meryl Streep and Judi Dench, both of whom have starred in several Weinstein films, publicly condemned the producer, denying any knowledge of his actions, while Emma Thompson described him as a “predatory man”.

Streep added that the allegations had “appalled those of us whose work [Weinstein] championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported”.

Weinstein has expressed regret for his inappropriate behaviour towards women stretching back decades, saying “I own my mistakes”, but his lawyers say he also denies many of the allegations made against him.

Garai told the Guardian she “couldn’t be less surprised” by the allegations again Weinstein and said the fact that the film industry was “very very very misogynistic” had meant Weinstein’s behaviour was accepted. “You can’t find an actress that doesn’t have that kind of story about Harvey,” she said.

Describing her hotel room encounter with Weinstein, Garai said she knew back then it was “weird” but that she “just tried to make out like it was normal because as far as I was concerned it was a job interview”. “I knew something had happened to me that I didn’t like and that I felt belittled by but I didn’t feel like I had the right to complain.”

She added: “The people who asked me to go to his hotel room did so with an eye-rolling look of, ‘This is weird but you just have to do it, you’re not in any danger’. It was clear they were uncomfortable asking me to do it, but that it had to be done.

“I remember the feeling of seeing him opening the door in the dressing gown and thinking, ‘Oh god, this is a casting couch’. But I guess it’s now only as a much older woman that I understood what it meant. At the time I understood myself to be a commodity and that my value in the industry rested almost exclusively on the way I looked and I didn’t really think of myself to be any more than that.”

Garai said she had never thought to raise the incident until now because in the film industry people would be “shocked I even thought it was an issue”. Weinstein’s alleged behaviour towards women has been described as an “open secret”, and something Garai affirmed, saying he was one of the most notorious culprits for this sort of behaviour in the film industry.

“It’s kind of amazing to me that this is news, it’s just so well known in the industry,” she said. “There are so many stories about him sending weird texts and harassing actresses, telling them he’ll give them a part if they come to dinner with him – that’s really really common. And it’s well known that he’s had relationships with a lot of people that he’s worked with, or have worked for him. Given how powerful he is, and given that they are always with women who are a lot younger than him, I think there is clearly an imbalance of power in those relationships.”

Garai landed the role in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights but her uncomfortable experiences with Weinstein did not end there. During filming she said she was put under enormous pressure to lose weight, with food taken from her trailer and people paid to make sure she did not eat anything, and was even told to throw up after meals.

Garai said that while the instructions came from lower-level producers, she believed it was Weinstein putting the pressure on for her to lose weight to “fit his expectations of what a movie star should look like”.

“Harvey’s behaviour was accepted but it was accepted because the industry knows that what people want to see on screen is women who are thin and beautiful with big tits and don’t say very much,” she said.

Garai said the incident with Weinstein was the most “explicitly problematic” of her career, but that only now, over a decade later, had she really come to terms with it. She added: “If someone asked me now to go to their hotel room and a guy was in a dressing gown I’m 100% sure that I would leave and say: ‘Would you like to come down to the bar and have the meeting with me when you’re dressed’.”

Please, read it. It explains very well why the young woman didn’t speak up and why it was so difficult to even voice what happened. How that abuse of power works. He probably made the conscious decision to only chose those young actresses that were vulnerable in a way and depended on him. And the whole industry and everyone around him supports it. The agents, the other producers, directors, etc.

I feel sorry that it happened to Romola Garai and every other woman. She has been very outspoken since then about the sexism and now she is able to fight back and call out producers, but it came at the conscious decision that she missed out on jobs and her career took a totally different path.

[fussingoverfassbender]

An old interview from around 2010 about Fish Tank

BY EDWARD DOUGLAS ON JANUARY 12, 2010

Most movie fans will probably know actor Michael Fassbender from his role as Stelios in Zack Snyder’s 300 or as Lt. Archie Hicox from Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, but in 2008, he started to get more attention for his amazing performance as IRA leader Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen’s Hunger, a role for which Fassbender starved himself for two months in order to replicate the deterioration to Sands’ body during his fatal hunger strike. That unforgettable performance has kept Fassbender heavily in demand and quite busy ever since.

First up this year for the Irish actor is Fish Tank, the dramatic follow-up to Red Road from filmmaker Andrea Arnold. It features a remarkable performance by newcomer Katie Jarvis as Mia, a feisty 15-year-old whose troubles at home are escalated when Fassbender shows up as Connor, her mother’s new boyfriend who moves into the house with the family. While Connor does bring a positive influence to Mia’s life, helping to boost her self-esteem, it’s not long before his presence starts to create other problems. Fish Tank is a distinctive coming-of-age tale utilizing the same stark realism Arnold brought to Red Road with a unique set of characters representing the film’s environment. While it’s clearly Katie Jarvis’ movie, following Mia’s journey, there’s no denying that it’s great seeing Fassbender doing something more contemporary that allows us to see more of his own personality.

ComingSoon.net had a chance to sit down with the actor to talk about the movie when he came to New York City last week:

ComingSoon.net: What was the timeframe for making this movie? I think people see how thin you are in the movie and assume you made it right after “Hunger.” Michael Fassbender: How long was the gap there now? “Hunger” was… yeah, I guess I finished up “Hunger” in February of that year and then did “Fish Tank” in August 2008, because I started “Hunger” in September of 2007 and then I took the 10 weeks off to lose the weight, came back in the New Year. They were editing everything that we filmed before Christmas and then just had the last bits to do then when we finished in February.

CS: I was just trying to figure that out, because we’ve see you in so many movies that came out over the last year, but some of them must have been filmed years ago. Fassbender: Yeah, they were all kind of back-to-back, you know? It was pretty busy. Like I did “Fish Tank” and then straight on to “Inglourious Basterds” so they were back to back, and that’s why they both ended up premiering at Cannes.

CS: How did Andrea approach you for this? I assume you’d already seen “Red Road” already and knew her work… Fassbender: Yeah.

CS: Did you just find out through your agent that she had another movie or did she contact them? Fassbender: Yeah, I was in South Africa doing something for Channel 4, “Devil’s Whore,” it’s a four-part mini-series, and Andrea got in contact with my agent in London and she said she’d be interested in me to play this part in her new film. She had a script but she didn’t want to reveal it to the actors as such, and she wanted to give it scene-by-scene as we went, and that she would be willing to fly to Capetown and see me for the day. Well, I thought that’s just ridiculous. “Just tell her to give me a phone call and we’ll have a chat.” I loved “Red Road” and I loved the way she paints her characters and the ambiguity in her work. She doesn’t spoon-feed her audience like, “This is the good guy and this is the bad guy.” They’re all sort of meshed in to one another.

CS: Just like life… Fassbender: Yeah, exactly, and I was just very keen to work with her. I knew I was going to learn stuff from her, and that it would be a real proper experience.

CS: Did she tell you anything about Connor beyond the fact that he’s the boyfriend of her mother? Fassbender: Well, basically she said it’s a film that follows this 15-year-old girl and my character ends up having a fling with her single mother, and I end up moving into their council flat, and the effect that a male influence has on these three women… er… two girls and one woman. And that was pretty much the brief I got.

CS: You didn’t know any of the stuff that happens in the last act or what happened later. You might have had some idea? Fassbender: Yeah, I kind of had a feeling what was going to happen. In terms of Connor’s own history, I didn’t know that. That started to reveal itself to me as we were filming it, and it was a funny thing that this guy was always sort of upbeat, and on the surface, he’s always a very positive character, but I thought to myself, “He seems to be very eager to jump into this family immediately,” and I thought he must be running away from something or there is some sort of secret there that he’s hiding. But as to exactly what it was, I wasn’t sure.

CS: How excited were you to do a modern-day film? You’ve been doing so many period pieces and been all over history. Fassbender: I know, know, yeah. It’s nice, yeah, absolutely. It’s always nice to do something contemporary, and it’s nice to have a fresh contemporary piece, a new writer, a fresh topic and something that’s taking place in the hear and now for sure. That’s always nice. It’s nice to mix it up.

CS: I know some actors who just love doing period pieces. Fassbender: Yeah, I do like dressing up. (laughs)

CS: That might have to be the quote for the piece: “I like dressing up.” Fassbender: (laughs) Yeah, exactly! Well, it’s like a friend says to me, she’s like, “You play dress-up for a living,” and I think that’s a really good way of putting it. So there is something quite cool about period pieces, because when you do put on all the little bits and pieces, it does give you the feel of a different era, and it gives you a little spring in your step as your character, gives you that little extra layer.

CS: Did you feel like you brought more of yourself to Connor than you’ve been able to bring to some of the other characters? Fassbender: Yeah, and also I didn’t have a script to work with, so I just kept it as free and easy as possible and tried to just allow it just to happen, and not to impose too many other things on it.

CS: I read that Andrea wanted to have a non-actor in your role. I think she just likes to work with non-actors in general. Fassbender: ‘Cause actors are a pain in the ass. (laughs)

CS: Do you have any idea why she wanted to have you play Connor since you obviously are very experienced and have been out there in recent years? Fassbender: She told me she saw me in this thing called “Wedding Belles” which I did, which was an Irving Welsh piece and I play this Scottish character actually who gets out of prison and he has a love interest with one of the lead actresses. It’s basically about four friends, these women, and she saw that character and basically, she said, “Okay, that’s Connor.”

CS: I remember her telling me that she doesn’t like rehearsal either. Fassbender: No.

CS: So how does that work? You don’t have a script? You’re not rehearsing anything… do you have any sort of time to workshop or time to talk about what’s going to happen? Fassbender: Not really, no. I think she just likes to work in that sort of form of chaos in some respects. It’s not like chaos, manic crazy, but working from a place of instability maybe and seeing what occurs in that sort of atmosphere. She creates a very safe and intimate environment to work in and allows one to really throw your trust in her, but I think she does like to see what takes place, the accidents that might happen or interesting moments. She’s very good at capturing the moment to moment in a scene. We would do the scene as scripted and then we would improvise it. She’d say, “Okay, go and do whatever you want now” and then we would do the scene without saying anything. While you’re filming, it’s very free and easy and explorative but no, no rehearsal.

CS: So you just give Andrea all these different versions and just leave it in her hands to decide what is going to work for the film? Fassbender: Well, yeah, and I’m like, “Well I don’t have to do any homework.” She told me not to, the schoolteacher said it was alright. I guess it is quite frightening, yeah, but I do like to do things that scare me.

CS: Did you have a feeling that Katie might have known a little bit more what was going on in the story than you did? Fassbender: Nope, no.

CS: Everyone was on the same page? Fassbender: Definitely, yeah.

CS: Maybe not so much for your character, but I would think the other actors would have at least spent some time together to help create the bond of being a family. Most directors would have them do workshops or rehearsals to help get that together. Andrea didn’t do any of that? Fassbender: Yeah, we’d sort of get together and go for lunch and things like that. When you’re on set as well, it’s a very small crew. We were in that council flat which was a small space for a lot of it, and we all got to know each other pretty quickly. She worked a lot with Katie in terms of hanging out with Katie and talking to her on the phone and just sort of being there for Katie whenever she needed her, just so Katie would really put her trust in her. She was very good with Katie, I have to say.

CS: Did Katie have any acting experience before making this movie? Fassbender: Nope…

CS: So this was her first thing ever… Fassbender: Absolutely.

CS: How was that as a trained actor being in that situation where you don’t have other experienced actors to work off of? Fassbender: I think plenty of cases have proved that you don’t need to go to drama school and sort of get trained. I mean, Katie’s got a wonderful intuition. I’ve said it before that she’s got a real gift for finding the truth in everything. There’s no frills with her acting. She’s just coming from a very raw, guttural place, so she was wonderful to work with, and you just had to try to keep up with her really.

CS: As someone who has been trained, how do you feel when you work with someone who is such a natural without any schooling and can just jump into such dramatic scenes? Fassbender: It’s great. The thing is that I don’t think you need to do training, but I’m glad I did training, because sometimes you’re intuition does fail you or you get nervous before a scene and then I have a structure that’s in place that gets me back in focus and get my head straight. That is the one good thing about training. There might be that one time, it’s like writer’s block or whatever. You get caught in a funk and you have tools that enable you to do your work.

CS: I don’t… I probably should have some, though. Fassbender: (laughs)

CS: Besides knowing that Connor lives with them and is in a relationship with the mother, at what point did Andrea tell you that something was going to happen between you and Katie’s character? Fassbender: I always knew that. From the conversation that I had with her, I actually thought I was going to sleep with the entire family. (laughs) There’s that… now I can’t remember the name of it but I haven’t seen it, but I remember seeing a documentary on Terrence Stamp and there’s that film where he ends up sleeping with the father, the son, the maid, the mother…

CS: Oh, I don’t know that one. Fassbender: That film just popped into my head for some reason when she gave me this breakdown, so I had a very good idea what was going to happen with the character Mia in the script.

CS: It’s interesting because he certainly seems to be a good influence on the family, because it’s pretty chaotic before he gets there between Mia and her mother. Fassbender: Sure. Yeah, I think he’s a very positive influence in her life. He’s the only one that really tells her that gives her some self-believe and tells her that she has got a talent and she should follow her dreams with the dancing and just gives her a sense of self-worth. I think that’s what Andrea does really well. I think when you display a character like that and what I was trying to do, and I think why Andrea didn’t want to give the script was that I wouldn’t sort of preload it and be this… that he’s sort of this predator and this is all premeditated. I don’t think that was the case at all. What she shows is that we all have this capability inside of us to do these things, and it’s more interesting then, rather than giving an audience an easy option or “Oh, God, here’s the bad guy… he’s trying to do bad here.” No, we leave them scratching their heads when they leave the theater because these are ordinary people that do good and bad towards each other. Positive things towards each other and then destructive things.

CS: As someone without a script, in your head you must have been trying to think ahead about what might happen or where it might go… Fassbender: Yeah, but I just let that go, and that was the sort of thing. Once I signed up to it, then I really just had to go with it, and then give up… as I say, just put my trust in Andrea.

CS: You’ve been very busy with all the movies out last year and you have a bunch coming up, so do you have any idea what might be next? Fassbender: I’m not sure when “Jonah Hex” is coming out. I think that’s going to be sometime in the summer, and then I’m going to start filming with Soderbergh beginning of February.

CS: Is that the movie with the mixed martial arts fighter? Fassbender: Yeah, yeah. I play this MI6 operative that meets up with the lead character, so it should be interesting. I’m very excited to work with him. He’s a legend.

CS: You have a great resume of all the directors you’ve worked with, between Francois Ozon and Tarantino… Fassbender: I know, I know… I’ve been lucky. (Knocks on wooden table) I say my “Hail Marys” at night. I’m in a very privileged place and even the job itself, it’s just a ridiculous job to have really, and I just thank my lucky stars every day.

CS: Do you know when you’ll start the “Jane Eyre” movie? Fassbender: “Jane Eyre” is going to be after Soderbergh, and that’s going to be with Cary Fukunaga who did “Sin Nombre”… brilliant. Really nice guy, and then David Cronenberg, “The Talking Cure,” and that will sort of hook me up with Christoph. We never actually had a scene together, so I’m looking forward to that.

CS: When you’re playing a real person like you will in that movie and when you played Bobby Sands, do you have a different process going into that as you do with other roles? Do you have to be a little bit more careful with how you play them? Fassbender: No, the thing is that something like Bobby Sands, you’ve got a lot of reference points, a lot of books to read. There were people who actually knew him that you could talk to and try to get some sort of essence of the real person, but I don’t try to do a spitting image of the character, just try to grab an essence of it and then essentially, the story is in the script, so it’s almost like you gather all this information and then kind of throw it away once you’ve taken it all on-board and let it seep in, and then you’ve got to do your own thing in the end, I think.

CS: Before we wrap up, I’d like to go back before you even appeared in “Band of Brothers.” I assume you went to dramatic school in Ireland but how did you first get interested in acting? Fassbender: I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was 17 and this guy Donny Courtney, who was a local lad from Killarney, had gone off to the Gaiety School of Drama in Dublin, and he came back to Killarney and started doing some workshops in our secondary school, high school, and I just did a couple of those workshops and that was it. I really thought this was something I could do. It felt right.

CS: Now that you’ve been doing some Hollywood movies, do you feel you could go back and forth and try to do smaller movies like “Fish Tank” when you can? Fassbender: Yeah, that’s the ideal thing, to be able to bounce back and forth between the two. As much as anyone, I like to sit down with a big box of popcorn and go and watch something that’s just an entertaining ride, and then it’s nice to do little films or independent films that have more of a social comment, but that’s the ideal, to sort of dance between the two.

CS: Do you think it would be harder to take a role like this one in a movie where you don’t have a script now than when you decided to do this two years ago? Fassbender: No, it’s all down to the director again. If I’ve got faith in the director, then I’d definitely do it again like that.

Fish Tank opens at the IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and then in L.A., Boston and San Francisco on Friday, January 29.

[cinammonsurveysxo]

005.

1. Who are you? 
Stef.

2. What are the 3 most important things everyone should know about you? 
i live in the uk, I’m a mother and I’m very sarcastic.

3. When you aren’t filling out 5,000 question surveys like this one what are you doing? 
Looking after the kids, watching YouTube vids, chatting to people.

4. List your classes in school from the ones you like the most to the ones you like the least (or if you are out of school, think of the classes you did like and didn’t like at the time). 
i liked English and science most. PE and History least.

5. What is your biggest goal for this year? 
to get a hobby and stick to it. Oh and to lose weight.


6. Where do you want to be in 5 years? 
Hmmm well working. Having more fun as kids will be older.

7. What stage of life are you in right now?
i’m a young ish Mum.

8. Are you more child-like or childish? 
childish i guess. I can be both.

9. What is the last thing you said out loud?
Careful

10. What song comes closest to how you feel about your life right now? 
I’m not sure.

11. Have you ever taken martial arts classes?
i did Taekwando for a bit but not for long. Would like to take it up to be honest.

12. Does your life tend to get better or worse or does it just stay the same? 
it’s always fluctuating.

13. Does time really heal all wounds? 
No, it just allows you time to adapt.

14. How do you handle a rainy day? 
i do the same as usual. I may get my waterproofs on and go for a walk..

15. Which is worse…losing your luggage or having to sort out tangled holiday lights? 
definitely losing my luggage.

16. How is your relationship with your parents? Will you miss them when they are gone? 
I love my parents but Mum can be overbearing Dad can be very critical and aloof but they are amazing people and doting grandparents.

17. Do you tend to be aware of what is going on around you? 
Yes I’m fairly perspective.

18. What is the truest thing that you know? 
People tend to do what they feel they have to do. When most do bad things it’s often impulse not an act of deliberate malice.

19. What did you want to be when you grew up?
a singer or actress but also a doctor or writer.

20. Have you ever been given a second chance? 
yep.

21. Are you more of a giver or a taker? 
Depends on context.

22. Do you make your decisions with an open heart/mind? 
yes.

23. What is the most physically painful thing that has ever happened to you? 


24. What is the most emotionally painful thing that has ever happened to you?
Any sorts of emotional abuse and manipulation and multiple inappropriate behaviour. Not one specific thing, it all adds up.

25. Who have you hugged today? 
My kids.

26. Who has done something today to show they care about you? 
my kids.

27. Do you have a lot to learn? 
of course, we all do.

28. If you could learn how to do three things just by wishing and not by working what would they be?
better writer, better drawing skills and I’m not sure.

29. Which do you remember the longest: what other people say, what other people do or how other people make you feel? 
how people make me feel.

30. What are the key ingredients to having a good relationship? 
Understanding, similar interests, fun times, respect.

31. What 3 things do you want to do before you die?
get a good job, earn good money and have grandkids.

32. What three things would you want to die to avoid doing? 
Killing someone I love, watching someone I love being killed or having dementia.

33. Is there a cause you believe in more than any other cause? 
None specifically, no.

34. What does each decade make you think of: 
The 19.. 
20’s: flapper girls (i could totally be in the wrong decade, my bad)
30’s: the war
40’s: nothing
50’s: nothing specific
60’s: hippies / free love
70’s: disco era
80’s: good music
90’s: my youth/ spice girls
2000: changes 
2010’s: terrorism

35. Which decade do you feel the most special connection to and why? 
90s. i loved my childhood.

36. What is your favorite oldie/classic rock song? 
bohemian rhapsody. — yes, amongst many others. Another Sweet Child O Mine.

37. What country do you live in and who is the leader of that country? If you could say any sentence to the current leader of your country what would it be? 
Uk and nope it wouldn’t be any different than all the others who have said it to her. Theresa May.

38. What’s your favorite TV channel to watch in the middle of the night?
true crime, horror channel or pick tv. Yes, I’m a glutton for punishment.

39. What Disney villain are you the most like and why? 
I was told I suited Scar when played him lol. But I think maybe someone more complex.

40. Have you ever been a girl scout/boy scout? 
nope.

41. If you were traveling to another continent would you rather fly or take a boat? 
definitely fly unless it’s on a luxury cruise ship.

42. Why is the sky blue during the day and black at night? 
because.

43. What does your name mean? 
Crowned.

44. Would you rather explore the deeps of the ocean or the far reaches of outer space?
neither tbh they’d both freak me out.

45. Word association 
What is the first word that comes to mind when you see the word: 
Air: bender
Meat: suit (blame Supernatural)
Different: strokes
Pink: think
Deserve: it
White: walls
Elvis: presley
Magic: mushrooms
Heart: love
Clash: bang
Pulp: fiction

46. If you could meet any person in the world who is dead who would you want it to be? 
my grandad or uncle.

47. What if you could meet anyone who is alive? 
Not sure.

48. Is there a movie that you love so much you could watch it everyday? 
haha not every day but I like a few enough to watch several times a year.

49. You are going to be stuck alone in an elevator for a week. What do you bring to do?
food, drink, book for any shafts of light from the day, an instrument

50. Have you ever saved someone’s life or had your life saved? 
no, but I’ve helped someone who had a head injury that for all I knew at the time could e been life threatening.