Claire Danes
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ckashie said:
But I love those candid moments! They catch her humanness! Who doesn't have those odd moments? She does look like she is making fun of someone there, doesn't she?! Maybe Ashley Olsen, who sat next to her at the show?
Captain_Lydia
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It just struck me in those pictures of her in the gorgeous white coat and blue jeans, but she reminds me of a very young Cate Blanchett. Anyone else see the resemblance? I think they're both devine ladies and both very talented with good fashion sense. 
Captain_Lydia
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Damn tags in them piccies, I'm seriously falling in love with that coat though and I hate white and gold... but for some reason I want that coat lol!
Captain_Lydia said:It just struck me in those pictures of her in the gorgeous white coat and blue jeans, but she reminds me of a very young Cate Blanchett. Anyone else see the resemblance? I think they're both devine ladies and both very talented with good fashion sense.
I suppose her fashion sense is somewhat like Cate but she's so much prettier than Cate, imo. I never thought of Cate as pretty, even though she's obviously very stylish and well-put-together.
I see the resemblece in that they're both unconventional beauties with a similar sense of style and strong features. But I think that one of Claire's most distinctive features is her huge, wide eyes, while Cate's eyes are fairly small for her face.CTstyle said:
Here's an article with some info about Claire's role in The Family Stone:
THE FAMILY STONE is a comic story about the annual holiday gathering of a New England family, the Stones. The eldest son brings his girlfriend home to meet his parents, brothers and sisters. The bohemian Stones greet their visitor – a high-powered, controlling New Yorker – with a mix of awkwardness, confusion and hostility. Before the holiday is over, relationships will unravel while new ones are formed, secrets will be revealed, and the family Stone will come together through its extraordinary capacity for love.
Sybil Stone (DIANE KEATON) is the strong-willed matriarch who is at the heart of the Stone family, an outspoken woman who wants only the best for her five children. Strikingly beautiful, her face now reflects a recent note of brittleness or fatigue, suggesting that perhaps Sybil carries a secret.
“I was drawn instantly to the character of Sybil because of the many layers to her personality,” says Diane Keaton. “This role allowed me to explore so many – often conflicting – emotions. It was fun playing the character who maintains a semblance of order within the chaos that prevails in her household. Sybil is the glue that holds the family together.”
Sybil and her family are not pleased with the arrival of eldest son Everett’s girlfriend, Meredith Morton (SARAH JESSICA PARKER). Meredith is an immaculately composed, contemporary New York City-based career woman whose tailored suits, upswept hair and subtle makeup speak volumes about her personality, making an indelible impression on both friends and strangers. When she meets the Stones, the results are chaotic and unforgettable.
“Meredith is different from most of the characters I’ve played,” says Sarah Jessica Parker. “She’s controlling, rigid and tightly wound. She’s also intractable and inflexible, and when she finds herself out of her element at the Stone house, she turns into a wreck of a person.
“Meredith tries very hard to relate to the quirky members of her boyfriend’s family, and she works hard to join in their conversations,” Parker continues. “But she simply does not understand the ‘room’ she is trying to become a part of, so she doesn’t realize when she should stop talking. When she tries to dig herself out of these awkward moments, she only makes matters worse.”
After her initial trial by fire with the Stones, Meredith enlists the help of her younger sister, Julie Morton (CLAIRE DANES). Julie, who works at a foundation awarding grants to artists, isn’t nearly as tightly wound as Meredith.
“Julie is not under the same pressure that Meredith is experiencing,” says Claire Danes. “She’s just there to provide moral support. She arrives when her sister’s life is in a state of chaos, and the Stone family – quite eccentric in the first place – seems to be unraveling, and Julie is initially disoriented.”
Danes calls attention to the film’s delicate balance of comedy and drama, saying that it challenged the cast to walk a fine line between the two styles.
“I found working on the film an exhilarating experience, because it forced me as an actor to be as honest as possible,” she explains. “You can’t hide behind a comic or dramatic acting approach, because you would never be able to create and sustain the wide spectrum of dynamic moments throughout the film.”
Julie enters the “lions’ den” with much more ease than her sister, but Julie’s visit ultimately leads to further complications, especially for Everett Stone (DERMOT MULRONEY). Everett is a successful executive in Manhattan whose charm comes from the fact that he seems to be utterly unaware of the effect his attractiveness and easy-going nature has on others.
“Playing Everett was a challenge because he starts out very button-downed and straight-laced, but by the end of the story he returns to his real personality,” explains Dermot Mulroney. “Deep down in his heart, Everett isn’t the over-achieving, submissive ‘suit’ we see at the start of the film; he is really like the rest of the Stone family: loose and kind of Bohemian, with a fondness for free-flowing candid conversation and the laughter that often results.”
Everett’s brother, Ben Stone (LUKE WILSON), seems to have strayed the furthest from his family’s New England roots. A film editor living on the West Coast, Ben’s unpredictable, sometimes mischievous nature is reflected in the ultra-casual clothes he wears.
“Compared to his siblings, Ben is a looser character,” says Wilson. “He’s the free spirit of the family who lives in California, and he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Ben provides a dramatic contrast to his straight-and-narrow brother Everett.”
Ben’s and Everett’s sister, Amy Stone (RACHEL McADAMS), is the passionate, outspoken and youngest member of the family. She bears her luminous natural beauty with an aggressive indifference – and with a near open hostility toward Meredith.
“I was drawn to the dramatic arc that Amy goes through, which eventually brings her full circle,” says Rachel McAdams. “Amy sees herself as honest, not mean, and expresses that uncensored candor in her sardonic wit.
“Amy instantly rejects Meredith as unsuitable for her brother, because Meredith represents a whole way of living – fashionable yuppie success – that Amy has worked hard to reject,” McAdams continues. “Eventually, she comes to realize that she would reject anyone who was brought into the family from outside, because outside is about change. Amy wants everything to stay the same.”
The family patriarch, Kelly Stone (CRAIG T. NELSON), is a college professor in his sixties who is still an impressive figure. Kelly has an obvious love for his family that drives his every move.
“I was attracted to this character because Kelly appears to be the traditional titular head of the Stone household, but it is Sybil who really dominates the family,” says Craig T. Nelson. “Despite his low-key personality, Kelly’s calming yet offbeat influence on each of his five children is obvious.”
Elizabeth Reaser plays another Stone sibling, Susannah, and Ty Giordano portrays Thad Stone, the youngest son, who is both deaf and gay. Giordano is a deaf actor who, like his on-screen character, reads lips and speaks, in addition to signing. Brian White plays Thad’s partner, Patrick.
“This is not a story centering on a deaf character,” Writer-Director Thomas Bezucha explains. “Thad just happens to be deaf. With a deaf member in the family, it is natural that the Stones would be proficient at sign language.” (Bezucha recruited the services of a sign language teacher who worked closely with each actor in the instruction of American Sign Language – ASL – during rehearsals and throughout production. The language is well-suited to films, because it is so visual.)
“The Stones, and Meredith and Julie, are people you could meet in real life,” says Producer Michael London, whose credits include the much-honored pictures “Sideways,” “Thirteen” and “The House of Sand and Fog.” “They can be shortsighted and even kind of nasty to each other. But these flaws make the characters feel real.”
THE FAMILY STONE is a comic story about the annual holiday gathering of a New England family, the Stones. The eldest son brings his girlfriend home to meet his parents, brothers and sisters. The bohemian Stones greet their visitor – a high-powered, controlling New Yorker – with a mix of awkwardness, confusion and hostility. Before the holiday is over, relationships will unravel while new ones are formed, secrets will be revealed, and the family Stone will come together through its extraordinary capacity for love.
Sybil Stone (DIANE KEATON) is the strong-willed matriarch who is at the heart of the Stone family, an outspoken woman who wants only the best for her five children. Strikingly beautiful, her face now reflects a recent note of brittleness or fatigue, suggesting that perhaps Sybil carries a secret.
“I was drawn instantly to the character of Sybil because of the many layers to her personality,” says Diane Keaton. “This role allowed me to explore so many – often conflicting – emotions. It was fun playing the character who maintains a semblance of order within the chaos that prevails in her household. Sybil is the glue that holds the family together.”
Sybil and her family are not pleased with the arrival of eldest son Everett’s girlfriend, Meredith Morton (SARAH JESSICA PARKER). Meredith is an immaculately composed, contemporary New York City-based career woman whose tailored suits, upswept hair and subtle makeup speak volumes about her personality, making an indelible impression on both friends and strangers. When she meets the Stones, the results are chaotic and unforgettable.
“Meredith is different from most of the characters I’ve played,” says Sarah Jessica Parker. “She’s controlling, rigid and tightly wound. She’s also intractable and inflexible, and when she finds herself out of her element at the Stone house, she turns into a wreck of a person.
“Meredith tries very hard to relate to the quirky members of her boyfriend’s family, and she works hard to join in their conversations,” Parker continues. “But she simply does not understand the ‘room’ she is trying to become a part of, so she doesn’t realize when she should stop talking. When she tries to dig herself out of these awkward moments, she only makes matters worse.”
After her initial trial by fire with the Stones, Meredith enlists the help of her younger sister, Julie Morton (CLAIRE DANES). Julie, who works at a foundation awarding grants to artists, isn’t nearly as tightly wound as Meredith.
“Julie is not under the same pressure that Meredith is experiencing,” says Claire Danes. “She’s just there to provide moral support. She arrives when her sister’s life is in a state of chaos, and the Stone family – quite eccentric in the first place – seems to be unraveling, and Julie is initially disoriented.”
Danes calls attention to the film’s delicate balance of comedy and drama, saying that it challenged the cast to walk a fine line between the two styles.
“I found working on the film an exhilarating experience, because it forced me as an actor to be as honest as possible,” she explains. “You can’t hide behind a comic or dramatic acting approach, because you would never be able to create and sustain the wide spectrum of dynamic moments throughout the film.”
Julie enters the “lions’ den” with much more ease than her sister, but Julie’s visit ultimately leads to further complications, especially for Everett Stone (DERMOT MULRONEY). Everett is a successful executive in Manhattan whose charm comes from the fact that he seems to be utterly unaware of the effect his attractiveness and easy-going nature has on others.
“Playing Everett was a challenge because he starts out very button-downed and straight-laced, but by the end of the story he returns to his real personality,” explains Dermot Mulroney. “Deep down in his heart, Everett isn’t the over-achieving, submissive ‘suit’ we see at the start of the film; he is really like the rest of the Stone family: loose and kind of Bohemian, with a fondness for free-flowing candid conversation and the laughter that often results.”
Everett’s brother, Ben Stone (LUKE WILSON), seems to have strayed the furthest from his family’s New England roots. A film editor living on the West Coast, Ben’s unpredictable, sometimes mischievous nature is reflected in the ultra-casual clothes he wears.
“Compared to his siblings, Ben is a looser character,” says Wilson. “He’s the free spirit of the family who lives in California, and he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Ben provides a dramatic contrast to his straight-and-narrow brother Everett.”
Ben’s and Everett’s sister, Amy Stone (RACHEL McADAMS), is the passionate, outspoken and youngest member of the family. She bears her luminous natural beauty with an aggressive indifference – and with a near open hostility toward Meredith.
“I was drawn to the dramatic arc that Amy goes through, which eventually brings her full circle,” says Rachel McAdams. “Amy sees herself as honest, not mean, and expresses that uncensored candor in her sardonic wit.
“Amy instantly rejects Meredith as unsuitable for her brother, because Meredith represents a whole way of living – fashionable yuppie success – that Amy has worked hard to reject,” McAdams continues. “Eventually, she comes to realize that she would reject anyone who was brought into the family from outside, because outside is about change. Amy wants everything to stay the same.”
The family patriarch, Kelly Stone (CRAIG T. NELSON), is a college professor in his sixties who is still an impressive figure. Kelly has an obvious love for his family that drives his every move.
“I was attracted to this character because Kelly appears to be the traditional titular head of the Stone household, but it is Sybil who really dominates the family,” says Craig T. Nelson. “Despite his low-key personality, Kelly’s calming yet offbeat influence on each of his five children is obvious.”
Elizabeth Reaser plays another Stone sibling, Susannah, and Ty Giordano portrays Thad Stone, the youngest son, who is both deaf and gay. Giordano is a deaf actor who, like his on-screen character, reads lips and speaks, in addition to signing. Brian White plays Thad’s partner, Patrick.
“This is not a story centering on a deaf character,” Writer-Director Thomas Bezucha explains. “Thad just happens to be deaf. With a deaf member in the family, it is natural that the Stones would be proficient at sign language.” (Bezucha recruited the services of a sign language teacher who worked closely with each actor in the instruction of American Sign Language – ASL – during rehearsals and throughout production. The language is well-suited to films, because it is so visual.)
“The Stones, and Meredith and Julie, are people you could meet in real life,” says Producer Michael London, whose credits include the much-honored pictures “Sideways,” “Thirteen” and “The House of Sand and Fog.” “They can be shortsighted and even kind of nasty to each other. But these flaws make the characters feel real.”
It's a supporting role. She enters the movie about 45 minutes in and stays until the end (I haven't seen it but I know someone who saw a sneak prieview and she told me) . Did you see the internation trailer? I posted it on the last page. Claire's in that more than the original trailer.CTstyle said:
Here's the article on Claire in Fashion Magazine:
Great Danes
Fashion - October 2005
by Ceri Marsh
Claire Danes steps back into the spotlight, dishing on fashion, what it's like to be judged by the tabloids, and the mortification of catching yourself on cable at three in the morning.
In the book, it’s Norman...no, the one with the N. Nordstrom’s? No…Neiman Marcus! But they changed it to Saks for the movie,” says Claire Danes of the department store backdrop for Shopgirl, the October release she stars in alongside Steve Martin, who also wrote the novel it’s based on. “We shot during business hours. It’s so unfortunate I couldn’t really shop and act—my two favourite things were colliding!”
Clothes are something the 26-year-old, among the first actors to wear Zac Posen and routinely photographed in Narciso Rodriguez, knows well. Sitting on a sunny Greenwich Village patio, Danes lists her favourites: “I wear Prada. I work with Calvin Klein a lot. And I love Jane Mayle. I also like vintage shopping. I like wearing things no one else is going to wear.” She shrugs recalling a recent appearance on US Weekly’s toothsome Who Wore It Best page, in which she sported the same dress as Paris Hilton. “She apparently wore it better. I don’t know why,” she says, smiling dryly. “She’s more famous or something.”
Helping Danes get into the quirky character of Mirabelle Buttersfield was Shopgirl’s costume designer, Nancy Steiner. “She’s really smart, and she pulls amazing things, really specific—like we had little bird pins.” Mirabelle’s sexy-librarian wardrobe was made up of blouses and pencil skirts, something the actor came to appreciate. Danes admits to getting a kick from sneaking bits of her personal wardrobe into films. “I don’t know why I get such a thrill. It’s like writing my name on the concrete on the sidewalk in front of my house—little secrets.”
Her own style is in transition. “My friend Jamal called my style ‘kindergarten sophisticate’ for a while because it was playful. There are a lot of animals on my clothing and a lot of hearts and stars.
But I’m trying to withhold from indulging in that too much, because I want to be an elegant grown-up and not a goofy gal.” She owns a peacock sweater designed by the woman who created Bjork’s infamous swan dress. “I know better than to wear it out, but I do love that thing!”“I rely on my own sensibilities, and I’ve forged relationships with designers,” Danes says of the pressure to be appropriately attired. “Even if I’m in the mood, I won’t wear a funny feather in my cap. I’ll wear it to a dinner party where I’m not going to be made fun of.” As for the mass-media style jury, she says, “I don’t agree with their aesthetic. I’m a little resentful that I’m discouraged from taking risks. But I’d rather not fight them.”
When it comes to the media’s more intimate presumptions, she acknowledges, “It’s part of the job. It’s in your contract. It was confusing for a while. I didn’t know it was OK to have a different set of rules for my public life, because I thought I was being dishonest. But it’s not true. I do have things that I need to protect. And I’m going to protect them. My obligation is to create work that’s vivid and relatable and hopefully resonant. If that incites curiosity about my personal life or what kind of turtleneck I like to wear, OK, fine.”
Besides Mirabelle’s fantastically evocative name, Danes found that Martin had given her a character that was, in fact, vivid. “She was beautifully drawn and really detailed. Mirabelle is a bit of a fish out of water. She’s reserved and slightly out of step with the norm.”
“Claire is younger than the role called for,” says Martin. “But her emotional knowledge astounds me. There was never any uneasiness between us in the delicate scenes we had to do.”
On the heels of Shopgirl, Danes appears in The Family Stone, an ensemble comedy about a woman (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) rejected by her fianc?’s family. The cast also includes Diane Keaton and Canadian Rachel McAdams—whom Danes describes as “a really amazing actor. Lovely.” Although Danes has spent much of her life appearing in acclaimed work, she’s still uncomfortable watching herself onscreen. “It’s tough being objective. The worst is finding some movie you did a decade ago at three in the morning on cable. Mortifying.”
Great Danes
Fashion - October 2005
by Ceri Marsh
Claire Danes steps back into the spotlight, dishing on fashion, what it's like to be judged by the tabloids, and the mortification of catching yourself on cable at three in the morning.
In the book, it’s Norman...no, the one with the N. Nordstrom’s? No…Neiman Marcus! But they changed it to Saks for the movie,” says Claire Danes of the department store backdrop for Shopgirl, the October release she stars in alongside Steve Martin, who also wrote the novel it’s based on. “We shot during business hours. It’s so unfortunate I couldn’t really shop and act—my two favourite things were colliding!”
Clothes are something the 26-year-old, among the first actors to wear Zac Posen and routinely photographed in Narciso Rodriguez, knows well. Sitting on a sunny Greenwich Village patio, Danes lists her favourites: “I wear Prada. I work with Calvin Klein a lot. And I love Jane Mayle. I also like vintage shopping. I like wearing things no one else is going to wear.” She shrugs recalling a recent appearance on US Weekly’s toothsome Who Wore It Best page, in which she sported the same dress as Paris Hilton. “She apparently wore it better. I don’t know why,” she says, smiling dryly. “She’s more famous or something.”
Helping Danes get into the quirky character of Mirabelle Buttersfield was Shopgirl’s costume designer, Nancy Steiner. “She’s really smart, and she pulls amazing things, really specific—like we had little bird pins.” Mirabelle’s sexy-librarian wardrobe was made up of blouses and pencil skirts, something the actor came to appreciate. Danes admits to getting a kick from sneaking bits of her personal wardrobe into films. “I don’t know why I get such a thrill. It’s like writing my name on the concrete on the sidewalk in front of my house—little secrets.”
Her own style is in transition. “My friend Jamal called my style ‘kindergarten sophisticate’ for a while because it was playful. There are a lot of animals on my clothing and a lot of hearts and stars.
But I’m trying to withhold from indulging in that too much, because I want to be an elegant grown-up and not a goofy gal.” She owns a peacock sweater designed by the woman who created Bjork’s infamous swan dress. “I know better than to wear it out, but I do love that thing!”“I rely on my own sensibilities, and I’ve forged relationships with designers,” Danes says of the pressure to be appropriately attired. “Even if I’m in the mood, I won’t wear a funny feather in my cap. I’ll wear it to a dinner party where I’m not going to be made fun of.” As for the mass-media style jury, she says, “I don’t agree with their aesthetic. I’m a little resentful that I’m discouraged from taking risks. But I’d rather not fight them.”
When it comes to the media’s more intimate presumptions, she acknowledges, “It’s part of the job. It’s in your contract. It was confusing for a while. I didn’t know it was OK to have a different set of rules for my public life, because I thought I was being dishonest. But it’s not true. I do have things that I need to protect. And I’m going to protect them. My obligation is to create work that’s vivid and relatable and hopefully resonant. If that incites curiosity about my personal life or what kind of turtleneck I like to wear, OK, fine.”
Besides Mirabelle’s fantastically evocative name, Danes found that Martin had given her a character that was, in fact, vivid. “She was beautifully drawn and really detailed. Mirabelle is a bit of a fish out of water. She’s reserved and slightly out of step with the norm.”
“Claire is younger than the role called for,” says Martin. “But her emotional knowledge astounds me. There was never any uneasiness between us in the delicate scenes we had to do.”
On the heels of Shopgirl, Danes appears in The Family Stone, an ensemble comedy about a woman (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) rejected by her fianc?’s family. The cast also includes Diane Keaton and Canadian Rachel McAdams—whom Danes describes as “a really amazing actor. Lovely.” Although Danes has spent much of her life appearing in acclaimed work, she’s still uncomfortable watching herself onscreen. “It’s tough being objective. The worst is finding some movie you did a decade ago at three in the morning on cable. Mortifying.”
Another article:
Perfectly Claire
Time Out Chicago - October 6-13, 2005
by Stephen Garrett
Claire Danes took her time browsing other genres before ringing up a custom-fit role in Shopgirl.
Sometimes it takes extraordinary talent to be ordinary. Playing the title role in the bittersweet romance Shopgirl, Claire Danes epitomizes the brutally unexciting life of a low-paid sales clerk at the Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue who quietly yearns to be an artist but settles for practical frugality and a one-bedroom apartment with cats. "She's very passive", Danes says. "She's closed initially. And I thought, God, how am I going to make this entertaining? It took a lot to just sit there and not to tap dance."
Dressed simply in jeans and a black blouse, and talking over a bottle of San Pellegrino at the Soho Grand in lower Manhattan, Danes is the model of the casual Hollywood starlet: modest, self-effacing but confident and quick to laugh without losing her earnest demeanor. "I'm not offered everything", she says with a smile. "I really have to make choices based on what opportunities are available. But with Shopgirl, I didn't need to compromise. I loved the book and I loved Steve [Martin]. And it's not very often I get to play somebody who's this layered and accessible to me."
After a string of eccentric leading roles, including a delinquent-turned-undercover-cop in 1999's The Mod Squad, a cloned Polish figure skater in 2003's All About Love and an ***-kicking freedom fighter in 2003's Terminator 3, Danes returns to the realm of realism in Shopgirl. Based on Martin's novella and directed by Anand Tucker, the film depicts the romantic awakening of a wallflower named Mirabelle Buttersfield (Danes) who finds herself simultaneously wooed by two men: romantically hapless Jeremy Kraft (Jason Schwartzman), an immature, less-than-ambitious type who stencils lettering on amplifiers for a living, and suave dot-com millionaire Ray Porter (Martin).
The story's twist is that anti-depressant-popping Mirabelle is virtually unaware of her own potential, and that the blooming love affairs are not only with these men, but also with herself. "Mirabelle is much more resourceful and resilient and steely than she knows", Danes says. "And that was fun to discover that, to find her confidence. She was entitled to a lot she just didn't know it." Her character also develops her talents as a visual artist, and Tucker, best known for 1998's Hilary and Jackie, lovingly creates sequences where she is drawing and taking photographs.
More intriguingly, the film's artwork is by Allyson Hollingsworth, an Oakland-based artist who was romantically involved with Martin, and to whom his book is dedicated. "He did draw from an actual relationship it is absolutely a very personal story for Steve but it is also a work of fiction", Danes says. "He was referring to those experiences in his novel, and then that turned into a screenplay and that turned into a movie. It's been transformed so many times, it's like a game of telephone." She pauses for a moment. "Still, it was nice to have the art grounded in reality, to have a little signifier here and there to remind me."
Ever since her career-defining role as TV's quintessential fin de siecle troubled teen in 1994's short-lived drama My So-Called Life, Danes, 26, has done her most memorable work as a beguilingly wide-eyed youth facing life's darker turns whether it be the ultimate star-crossed lover in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in 1996 or a college student faced with a Thai prison sentence in 1999's Brokedown Palace. She was even short-listed for the part of Rose in Titanic which she turned down. "I had just made an epic love story with Leo DiCaprio that had been shot in Mexico", she says, "and Titanic was going to be shot in Mexico. I just thought, Really? Again? It just felt redundant."
By the end of the 1990s, Danes was ready for a break from all the success. "When I was younger and received a lot of attention very quickly, I was so bewildered by all of it and had no idea how to function and how to proceed", she says. "It was too much too soon, so I had to curb it." A hiatus from acting to attend Yale University gave her the breather she needed although she didn't relax too much. "I had a great time, but I took it all so seriously and was nutso about my schooling", Danes says. "I would write a paper like I would make a movie: I assumed that millions of people would be reading it. I mean, they had seen my movies and my TV show why would it be different with Psych 101?"
By the time she graduated, Danes was much more comfortable with herself, and much more willing to choose less serious roles, Terminator 3. "It was totally ridiculous and silly", she says about the sci-fi Schwarzenfest. "But I had worked really hard for many years doing really subtle, expressive, intimate work, and I just sort of wanted to strut around and blow some sh*t up." She laughs. "I'd like to say I'm not in the habit of doing that, but I might be again. If somebody asked me to put on a miniskirt, I'd be like, 'Yeah! Let's go-go!" But only if she has room in her busy schedule: She's just completed the ensemble comedy The Family Stone, with Rachel McAdams, Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton; and in a few weeks, she begins work on The Flock, a cop thriller costarring Richard Gere and Hilary Swank. "I'm going through the genres", she says with a giggle.
The greatest source of her satisfaction right now, though, is a modern-dance piece she helped produce and in which she starred as Christina Olson, the paraplegic artist's model who posed for Andrew Wyeth's landmark painting Christina's World. Her show had a two-week September run at the East Village theater P.S. 122 coincidentally the first place Danes ever performed. "This is my personal endeavor", she says. "I've been so fulfilled by this. And it's great to have some control, some agency where I can put myself to work. I feel so fortunate that I can vacillate between Terminator 3 and P.S. 122.
Perfectly Claire
Time Out Chicago - October 6-13, 2005
by Stephen Garrett
Claire Danes took her time browsing other genres before ringing up a custom-fit role in Shopgirl.
Sometimes it takes extraordinary talent to be ordinary. Playing the title role in the bittersweet romance Shopgirl, Claire Danes epitomizes the brutally unexciting life of a low-paid sales clerk at the Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue who quietly yearns to be an artist but settles for practical frugality and a one-bedroom apartment with cats. "She's very passive", Danes says. "She's closed initially. And I thought, God, how am I going to make this entertaining? It took a lot to just sit there and not to tap dance."
Dressed simply in jeans and a black blouse, and talking over a bottle of San Pellegrino at the Soho Grand in lower Manhattan, Danes is the model of the casual Hollywood starlet: modest, self-effacing but confident and quick to laugh without losing her earnest demeanor. "I'm not offered everything", she says with a smile. "I really have to make choices based on what opportunities are available. But with Shopgirl, I didn't need to compromise. I loved the book and I loved Steve [Martin]. And it's not very often I get to play somebody who's this layered and accessible to me."
After a string of eccentric leading roles, including a delinquent-turned-undercover-cop in 1999's The Mod Squad, a cloned Polish figure skater in 2003's All About Love and an ***-kicking freedom fighter in 2003's Terminator 3, Danes returns to the realm of realism in Shopgirl. Based on Martin's novella and directed by Anand Tucker, the film depicts the romantic awakening of a wallflower named Mirabelle Buttersfield (Danes) who finds herself simultaneously wooed by two men: romantically hapless Jeremy Kraft (Jason Schwartzman), an immature, less-than-ambitious type who stencils lettering on amplifiers for a living, and suave dot-com millionaire Ray Porter (Martin).
The story's twist is that anti-depressant-popping Mirabelle is virtually unaware of her own potential, and that the blooming love affairs are not only with these men, but also with herself. "Mirabelle is much more resourceful and resilient and steely than she knows", Danes says. "And that was fun to discover that, to find her confidence. She was entitled to a lot she just didn't know it." Her character also develops her talents as a visual artist, and Tucker, best known for 1998's Hilary and Jackie, lovingly creates sequences where she is drawing and taking photographs.
More intriguingly, the film's artwork is by Allyson Hollingsworth, an Oakland-based artist who was romantically involved with Martin, and to whom his book is dedicated. "He did draw from an actual relationship it is absolutely a very personal story for Steve but it is also a work of fiction", Danes says. "He was referring to those experiences in his novel, and then that turned into a screenplay and that turned into a movie. It's been transformed so many times, it's like a game of telephone." She pauses for a moment. "Still, it was nice to have the art grounded in reality, to have a little signifier here and there to remind me."
Ever since her career-defining role as TV's quintessential fin de siecle troubled teen in 1994's short-lived drama My So-Called Life, Danes, 26, has done her most memorable work as a beguilingly wide-eyed youth facing life's darker turns whether it be the ultimate star-crossed lover in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in 1996 or a college student faced with a Thai prison sentence in 1999's Brokedown Palace. She was even short-listed for the part of Rose in Titanic which she turned down. "I had just made an epic love story with Leo DiCaprio that had been shot in Mexico", she says, "and Titanic was going to be shot in Mexico. I just thought, Really? Again? It just felt redundant."
By the end of the 1990s, Danes was ready for a break from all the success. "When I was younger and received a lot of attention very quickly, I was so bewildered by all of it and had no idea how to function and how to proceed", she says. "It was too much too soon, so I had to curb it." A hiatus from acting to attend Yale University gave her the breather she needed although she didn't relax too much. "I had a great time, but I took it all so seriously and was nutso about my schooling", Danes says. "I would write a paper like I would make a movie: I assumed that millions of people would be reading it. I mean, they had seen my movies and my TV show why would it be different with Psych 101?"
By the time she graduated, Danes was much more comfortable with herself, and much more willing to choose less serious roles, Terminator 3. "It was totally ridiculous and silly", she says about the sci-fi Schwarzenfest. "But I had worked really hard for many years doing really subtle, expressive, intimate work, and I just sort of wanted to strut around and blow some sh*t up." She laughs. "I'd like to say I'm not in the habit of doing that, but I might be again. If somebody asked me to put on a miniskirt, I'd be like, 'Yeah! Let's go-go!" But only if she has room in her busy schedule: She's just completed the ensemble comedy The Family Stone, with Rachel McAdams, Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton; and in a few weeks, she begins work on The Flock, a cop thriller costarring Richard Gere and Hilary Swank. "I'm going through the genres", she says with a giggle.
The greatest source of her satisfaction right now, though, is a modern-dance piece she helped produce and in which she starred as Christina Olson, the paraplegic artist's model who posed for Andrew Wyeth's landmark painting Christina's World. Her show had a two-week September run at the East Village theater P.S. 122 coincidentally the first place Danes ever performed. "This is my personal endeavor", she says. "I've been so fulfilled by this. And it's great to have some control, some agency where I can put myself to work. I feel so fortunate that I can vacillate between Terminator 3 and P.S. 122.
And here are some clips from Shopgirl:
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=trailer&id=1808443445&intl=us
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=trailer&id=1808443445&intl=us
Well, here it is again just in case. Go to"CTstyle said:
http://www.themoviebox.net/movies/2005/DEFGH/Family-Stone,The/trailer.php
and click on "Int'l Trailer #2 New!"
Shoptalk with Steve Martin and Claire Danes
Source: Edward Douglas
October 14, 2005
Ever since the '70s, Steve Martin has earned his reputation as a "wild and crazy guy" with his hilarious slapstick comedy, but after hitting the big 6-0 a few months back, the comic actor has been a bit more reflective and introspective on his life.
Nearly 25 years his junior, actress Claire Danes has been doing some soul-searching of her own. Having started her career as a teen over ten years ago, she's now clearly made the leap to more adult roles, and the two have been brought together by Shopgirl, a film based on Martin's own 2000 novella, which Martin adapted for the big screen.
In the film, Danes plays Mirabelle Buttersfield, a lonely salesgirl in the glove department at Saks in Los Angeles, who suddenly finds herself being chased by two very different men: a sophistical older gentleman, played by Martin, and a young clueless romantic, played by Jason Schwartzman. It's a far more poignant work than what we usually might expect from Martin, and it's particularly surprising that he's not providing the film's comedic element.
Martin and Danes were in Toronto premiering their film last month, so ComingSoon.net used the chance to catch up with them. (Danes showed up a few questions into the interview.)
CS: How was this experience different from making "L.A. Story"?
Steve Martin: Well, "L.A. Story" is a very different kind of film in that the city of L.A. in "L.A. Story" is a character. It's still a character in this movie but in a less specific way than "L.A. Story." In "L.A. Story," it's mystical, magical. It speaks, and it talks. Here, it's a strange thing. It's a mood. I think of those vast shots of Mirabelle's apartment where she's got a $600 a month apartment yet an entire view of the city, which often happens in LA. (Note: that was sarcasm)
CS: We have to assume that you enjoy setting your movies in L.A.
Martin: Oh yeah, I've lived there my whole life. Well, having written the book, I would have to say yes. But I'm not sure what that means. They're all personal. They all have your heart in them.
CS: Is the movie at all autobiographical? Is Ray Porter supposed to be you?
Martin: No. Like anything, a little bit, some of this, some of that. Some of it's just about men. Some of it's talking to men.
CS: When did you realize you wouldn't be playing the comedic role?
Martin: Well, I couldn't have. I'm the wrong age first of all. I always knew what the movie was. I always knew what the role was so there were no surprises to me. In my head, I know everything I've done. In my head, I'm going well, I've done a lot of dramatic work. Even in comedies, I've done dramatic work. But I know that in other people's head who don't know everything I've done, they see it maybe a little differently. But at this point, I go so what? The movie is a movie and the movie's touching and I think it works and it's effective. That's what I want. It's not about trying to fulfill some audience's dream. In this case it's about fulfilling your vision on film and book, etc.
CS: Since you had a long time to think about these characters since writing the novel, can you talk about the casting of Mirabelle?
Martin: Well, I knew it was a juicy part. That's what I felt. We wanted to make sure we got the right actress, because I felt we had a lot of choices, because actresses don't get a role that's meaty, juicy, and this emotional and sexy. It was a very short list before we got to Claire. We had lunch and we knew that it was she that we wanted. Even when we had financing and it fell apart, then we got other financing, none of the elements changed. Nobody said, "Well, this is an opportunity to get rid of so and so." No, we knew the team worked. It's so clear as you saw the movie that Claire is the exact right person to play the role. You can't imagine anyone else in it, so that's what we saw.
CS: What does Mirabelle see in these two very different men?
Claire Danes: Well, I mean, Jeremy's a mess but he's a charming one, and he's not offering enough when she initially meets him. He's not ready. That's crystal clear. But when she re-encounters him and sees the transformation that he's undergone, no matter how superficial, I think she trusts that he's moving in some way. And I think he really likes her and that's a pretty powerful aphrodisiac. If somebody likes me, I'm inclined to like them.
Martin: I just have to jump in, because I think that it's a very common experience to have a lousy date and still go out with them, because you're there. I think that Mirabelle, standing at that glove counter as someone comes up to her is subconsciously saying "What's going to happen?" When Ray Porter shows up, this is going to happen, and when Jeremy shows up, it's like this is going to happen. There's not like a million choices. It's like I have a friend of mine, when you ask us "What type of film do you want to do next?" as though we're offered every film and then we're going to pick one. No, they're filtered through, and that's the way it is with people. You're not going why? It's there. It's in front of me, not over the hill. That's one reason why we do these things, and get involved.
CS: And why are they interested in her?
Martin: There's a very simple answer. And I can't remember if it's still in the movie because it's a tiny little moment. Ray takes Mirabelle to a very fancy restaurant and the first thing the maitre d' says to Mirabelle is "Nice to see you again." Which is a mistake because she's never been to this restaurant. It's meant to imply Ray's been here with other women. But that's a minor thing because Ray's not a serial sexual guy. But in that scene, Mirabelle says, "Why me?" And
Ray looks up at the waiter and they have a moment. The waiter knows why and Ray knows why. He wants to sleep with her.
CS: Is this really a love triangle since the two sides of it never meet?
Danes: Oh, I never thought of that. They are in the same scene.
Martin: The thing about a triangle is they can't work out unless suddenly all three of them are happy living together.
Danes: Maybe that's the sequel.
CS: Was this intended as a story about intimacy or lack of it?
Martin: You know, that's an analysis after the fact. It certainly wasn't "I'm going to sit down and write a story about intimacy." No, you're writing a story about characters and then it might turn out that that's what it's about. All I know is that to me, this is a character study of a young woman, cloaked in drama and film. That's the way I see it and what happens to her and how she is affected, how she grows, which is also another corny word, and how she moves from one point of her life to another. In the movie, we don't get the backstory of Ray Porter, because there's no time. That's one thing, but you also don't need backstory for Ray Porter. You need backstory of Mirabelle, and we do, when we go back and we see her family that barely speaks, and we know why she wanted to get out of there, why she went to LA searching for a new life.
CS: Were you trying to say anything about the L.A. class system with this?
Martin: Oh, I wouldn't say that the subject is that large. It's really just about people living in LA in a Hollywood environment, in a rich environment, poor environment. The big difference about L.A. is that it's spread out, and yet, you can get from Beverly Hills to Silverlake in 20 minutes and it might be 15 miles. It seems like it's forever away but it's not. Sometimes driving in LA, it's 6pm as the sun is going down, suddenly you're elevated on a freeway, and there are these lights and mountains and sea. All you're doing is just driving, and you weren't expecting it. So you can be suddenly overwhelmed with this good feeling as the sun is setting.
CS: Anti-depressants played a large part of Mirabelle's character in the book. Were you trying to make a statement for or against them?
Martin: I don't have a negative view of it. Only in discussion with people who had taken them, I was told that one symptom is that you can be going along fine, going along fine, going along fine and then it just quits working. And you can have a big crash and the solution is to get a different one. And then you take that pill and then that brings you back but it takes a couple of weeks. That's what that episode is about.
Danes: Actually, she consciously decides to stop taking them. She's feeling overly confident about her own emotional stability.
Martin: That's another thing. Right, that is what's different in the movie and the book. In the movie, which is also a symptom I've heard, is that you feel so good, so you stop taking the pills. That leads to a big crash. And that's actually the difference between the book and the movie. In the book, that doesn't happen. It's just a letdown.
Danes: So physically, it's really dangerous to do that and if you're going to wean yourself off of them, you should do so cautiously and incrementally. To suddenly just drop it is really risky.
CS: Claire, you looked great in the movie. Can you talk about the fashionable transformation that your character goes through?
Danes: Well, thanks. Nancy Steiner designed the costumes and she's incredibly gifted. It was really exciting to collaborate with her because she's really capable and imaginative and empathetic and just kind of has great style. So we had a lot of conversations about how we would articulate her experience and her character through clothing. And she had a lot of great ideas. Steve keeps talking about how important detail is in this movie and in keeping with that, she was so specific in her choices, down to the little bird pins. [Mirabelle] could only afford those vintage clothes. I think she had actually a great aesthetic sense. I mean, she's an artist and has an inherent dignity. But she could afford very little, so I had this idea for wearing vintage clothes because you can find beautiful things.
Martin: Well, in the book and the movie, it's implied that Mirabelle does have a fashion sense, and it's just about price as the movie goes on. I know people like this who look great in their clothes. I know it's not expensive clothes. It's just putting something together in some way, and I always liked that about Mirabelle's character that she starts out looking kind of interesting on a budget.
CS: Would you consider this your version of a European art film?
Martin: Well, only by genre would it be European.
Danes: The director's European.
Martin: Yeah, right, that's true. But the American films aren't quite made like this. I mean, there are some. Certainly "Lost in Translation" is an American film and certainly this movie is in that genre, but I guess us older folks say it's kind of European. But basically, it's a really American film. It's about Americana.
CS: Why do you think Steve has such great insight into women?
Danes: Ooh. I don't know. It's really impressive that he's been able to draw this woman so convincingly and so compassionately. I guess he's known a few of them.
Martin: Well, for me, as I was writing the book, the hardest part to write was Ray Porter and it took me a while to figure out why.
Danes: Oh, that's interesting.
Martin: Because when I look at the opposite sex, I know what's interesting to me. I'm listening and I'm finding "Oh, that story's interesting. That aspect is interesting. That's interesting." So I can write about a woman and go… but when you're writing about a man, because I am one, I know the thoughts, I know the feelings but I don't know what's interesting. So it was really hard to pick and choose. What needs to be known? What is being one? And so that was the hardest part. But it's easy to be an observer and appreciator of the opposite sex.
Danes: It's really interesting because it actually relates to the previous question about this being a European movie or an American movie. Since Anand's European, I think he could actually create a vivid portrait of L.A. because it was a little alien to him. You know how some directors' connection really capture something simply that is not so familiar to them? I think of Ang Lee doing "Sense and Sensibility". Sometimes it takes an outsider to really get the scoop.
CS: Why did you change the store from Neiman's in the book to Saks in the movie?
Martin: That's very simple too. We could shoot in Saks and not in Neiman's. But they're equivalent, I think. I mean, aren't they?
CS: But you weren't tempted to make any Winona Ryder jokes?
Martin: Oh, no, no, no.
Source: Edward Douglas
October 14, 2005
Ever since the '70s, Steve Martin has earned his reputation as a "wild and crazy guy" with his hilarious slapstick comedy, but after hitting the big 6-0 a few months back, the comic actor has been a bit more reflective and introspective on his life.
Nearly 25 years his junior, actress Claire Danes has been doing some soul-searching of her own. Having started her career as a teen over ten years ago, she's now clearly made the leap to more adult roles, and the two have been brought together by Shopgirl, a film based on Martin's own 2000 novella, which Martin adapted for the big screen.
In the film, Danes plays Mirabelle Buttersfield, a lonely salesgirl in the glove department at Saks in Los Angeles, who suddenly finds herself being chased by two very different men: a sophistical older gentleman, played by Martin, and a young clueless romantic, played by Jason Schwartzman. It's a far more poignant work than what we usually might expect from Martin, and it's particularly surprising that he's not providing the film's comedic element.
Martin and Danes were in Toronto premiering their film last month, so ComingSoon.net used the chance to catch up with them. (Danes showed up a few questions into the interview.)
CS: How was this experience different from making "L.A. Story"?
Steve Martin: Well, "L.A. Story" is a very different kind of film in that the city of L.A. in "L.A. Story" is a character. It's still a character in this movie but in a less specific way than "L.A. Story." In "L.A. Story," it's mystical, magical. It speaks, and it talks. Here, it's a strange thing. It's a mood. I think of those vast shots of Mirabelle's apartment where she's got a $600 a month apartment yet an entire view of the city, which often happens in LA. (Note: that was sarcasm)
CS: We have to assume that you enjoy setting your movies in L.A.
Martin: Oh yeah, I've lived there my whole life. Well, having written the book, I would have to say yes. But I'm not sure what that means. They're all personal. They all have your heart in them.
CS: Is the movie at all autobiographical? Is Ray Porter supposed to be you?
Martin: No. Like anything, a little bit, some of this, some of that. Some of it's just about men. Some of it's talking to men.
CS: When did you realize you wouldn't be playing the comedic role?
Martin: Well, I couldn't have. I'm the wrong age first of all. I always knew what the movie was. I always knew what the role was so there were no surprises to me. In my head, I know everything I've done. In my head, I'm going well, I've done a lot of dramatic work. Even in comedies, I've done dramatic work. But I know that in other people's head who don't know everything I've done, they see it maybe a little differently. But at this point, I go so what? The movie is a movie and the movie's touching and I think it works and it's effective. That's what I want. It's not about trying to fulfill some audience's dream. In this case it's about fulfilling your vision on film and book, etc.
CS: Since you had a long time to think about these characters since writing the novel, can you talk about the casting of Mirabelle?
Martin: Well, I knew it was a juicy part. That's what I felt. We wanted to make sure we got the right actress, because I felt we had a lot of choices, because actresses don't get a role that's meaty, juicy, and this emotional and sexy. It was a very short list before we got to Claire. We had lunch and we knew that it was she that we wanted. Even when we had financing and it fell apart, then we got other financing, none of the elements changed. Nobody said, "Well, this is an opportunity to get rid of so and so." No, we knew the team worked. It's so clear as you saw the movie that Claire is the exact right person to play the role. You can't imagine anyone else in it, so that's what we saw.
CS: What does Mirabelle see in these two very different men?
Claire Danes: Well, I mean, Jeremy's a mess but he's a charming one, and he's not offering enough when she initially meets him. He's not ready. That's crystal clear. But when she re-encounters him and sees the transformation that he's undergone, no matter how superficial, I think she trusts that he's moving in some way. And I think he really likes her and that's a pretty powerful aphrodisiac. If somebody likes me, I'm inclined to like them.
Martin: I just have to jump in, because I think that it's a very common experience to have a lousy date and still go out with them, because you're there. I think that Mirabelle, standing at that glove counter as someone comes up to her is subconsciously saying "What's going to happen?" When Ray Porter shows up, this is going to happen, and when Jeremy shows up, it's like this is going to happen. There's not like a million choices. It's like I have a friend of mine, when you ask us "What type of film do you want to do next?" as though we're offered every film and then we're going to pick one. No, they're filtered through, and that's the way it is with people. You're not going why? It's there. It's in front of me, not over the hill. That's one reason why we do these things, and get involved.
CS: And why are they interested in her?
Martin: There's a very simple answer. And I can't remember if it's still in the movie because it's a tiny little moment. Ray takes Mirabelle to a very fancy restaurant and the first thing the maitre d' says to Mirabelle is "Nice to see you again." Which is a mistake because she's never been to this restaurant. It's meant to imply Ray's been here with other women. But that's a minor thing because Ray's not a serial sexual guy. But in that scene, Mirabelle says, "Why me?" And
Ray looks up at the waiter and they have a moment. The waiter knows why and Ray knows why. He wants to sleep with her.
CS: Is this really a love triangle since the two sides of it never meet?
Danes: Oh, I never thought of that. They are in the same scene.
Martin: The thing about a triangle is they can't work out unless suddenly all three of them are happy living together.
Danes: Maybe that's the sequel.
CS: Was this intended as a story about intimacy or lack of it?
Martin: You know, that's an analysis after the fact. It certainly wasn't "I'm going to sit down and write a story about intimacy." No, you're writing a story about characters and then it might turn out that that's what it's about. All I know is that to me, this is a character study of a young woman, cloaked in drama and film. That's the way I see it and what happens to her and how she is affected, how she grows, which is also another corny word, and how she moves from one point of her life to another. In the movie, we don't get the backstory of Ray Porter, because there's no time. That's one thing, but you also don't need backstory for Ray Porter. You need backstory of Mirabelle, and we do, when we go back and we see her family that barely speaks, and we know why she wanted to get out of there, why she went to LA searching for a new life.
CS: Were you trying to say anything about the L.A. class system with this?
Martin: Oh, I wouldn't say that the subject is that large. It's really just about people living in LA in a Hollywood environment, in a rich environment, poor environment. The big difference about L.A. is that it's spread out, and yet, you can get from Beverly Hills to Silverlake in 20 minutes and it might be 15 miles. It seems like it's forever away but it's not. Sometimes driving in LA, it's 6pm as the sun is going down, suddenly you're elevated on a freeway, and there are these lights and mountains and sea. All you're doing is just driving, and you weren't expecting it. So you can be suddenly overwhelmed with this good feeling as the sun is setting.
CS: Anti-depressants played a large part of Mirabelle's character in the book. Were you trying to make a statement for or against them?
Martin: I don't have a negative view of it. Only in discussion with people who had taken them, I was told that one symptom is that you can be going along fine, going along fine, going along fine and then it just quits working. And you can have a big crash and the solution is to get a different one. And then you take that pill and then that brings you back but it takes a couple of weeks. That's what that episode is about.
Danes: Actually, she consciously decides to stop taking them. She's feeling overly confident about her own emotional stability.
Martin: That's another thing. Right, that is what's different in the movie and the book. In the movie, which is also a symptom I've heard, is that you feel so good, so you stop taking the pills. That leads to a big crash. And that's actually the difference between the book and the movie. In the book, that doesn't happen. It's just a letdown.
Danes: So physically, it's really dangerous to do that and if you're going to wean yourself off of them, you should do so cautiously and incrementally. To suddenly just drop it is really risky.
CS: Claire, you looked great in the movie. Can you talk about the fashionable transformation that your character goes through?
Danes: Well, thanks. Nancy Steiner designed the costumes and she's incredibly gifted. It was really exciting to collaborate with her because she's really capable and imaginative and empathetic and just kind of has great style. So we had a lot of conversations about how we would articulate her experience and her character through clothing. And she had a lot of great ideas. Steve keeps talking about how important detail is in this movie and in keeping with that, she was so specific in her choices, down to the little bird pins. [Mirabelle] could only afford those vintage clothes. I think she had actually a great aesthetic sense. I mean, she's an artist and has an inherent dignity. But she could afford very little, so I had this idea for wearing vintage clothes because you can find beautiful things.
Martin: Well, in the book and the movie, it's implied that Mirabelle does have a fashion sense, and it's just about price as the movie goes on. I know people like this who look great in their clothes. I know it's not expensive clothes. It's just putting something together in some way, and I always liked that about Mirabelle's character that she starts out looking kind of interesting on a budget.
CS: Would you consider this your version of a European art film?
Martin: Well, only by genre would it be European.
Danes: The director's European.
Martin: Yeah, right, that's true. But the American films aren't quite made like this. I mean, there are some. Certainly "Lost in Translation" is an American film and certainly this movie is in that genre, but I guess us older folks say it's kind of European. But basically, it's a really American film. It's about Americana.
CS: Why do you think Steve has such great insight into women?
Danes: Ooh. I don't know. It's really impressive that he's been able to draw this woman so convincingly and so compassionately. I guess he's known a few of them.
Martin: Well, for me, as I was writing the book, the hardest part to write was Ray Porter and it took me a while to figure out why.
Danes: Oh, that's interesting.
Martin: Because when I look at the opposite sex, I know what's interesting to me. I'm listening and I'm finding "Oh, that story's interesting. That aspect is interesting. That's interesting." So I can write about a woman and go… but when you're writing about a man, because I am one, I know the thoughts, I know the feelings but I don't know what's interesting. So it was really hard to pick and choose. What needs to be known? What is being one? And so that was the hardest part. But it's easy to be an observer and appreciator of the opposite sex.
Danes: It's really interesting because it actually relates to the previous question about this being a European movie or an American movie. Since Anand's European, I think he could actually create a vivid portrait of L.A. because it was a little alien to him. You know how some directors' connection really capture something simply that is not so familiar to them? I think of Ang Lee doing "Sense and Sensibility". Sometimes it takes an outsider to really get the scoop.
CS: Why did you change the store from Neiman's in the book to Saks in the movie?
Martin: That's very simple too. We could shoot in Saks and not in Neiman's. But they're equivalent, I think. I mean, aren't they?
CS: But you weren't tempted to make any Winona Ryder jokes?
Martin: Oh, no, no, no.
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