It takes about ten seconds to guess how the latest Gerard Butler vehicle Playing for Keeps will most likely end (Is that Jessica Biel as Butler’s harried ex, who still looks a bit mooney-eyed for her rascally baby daddy? And she’s about to get married to someone else? A classic Rom-Com 101 recipe for love! ) but that won’t stop the target demo from swooning come December 7. And let’s be real: I will so watch this movie, predictable or not. It’s not that Butler is all that swoon-worthy as a middle-aged loser athlete clinging to his past greatness. (Gross.) It’s not that Playing for Keeps , with its groan-worthily on the nose sports-themed title, feels fresh in any way whatsoever. (It doesn’t. But how great would it be if this was a remake of the Weinstein-directed 1986 rock ‘n’ roll hotel comedy of the same name?) And don’t get me started on how Uma Thurman and Catherine Zeta-Jones, both 42 and exactly the same age as Butler, have become Hollywood’s go-to cougar-types while the 12-years-younger Jessica Biel is positioned as Butler’s fresh-faced leading lady. Whatever. I’ll go see this Playing for Keeps because it vaguely reminds me of those ’90s rom-coms that used to star Michelle Pfeiffer and Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks and John Cusack, the kind of movies about grown-ups of a certain age dealing with parenting and careers and their own crippling failings while still falling in love. (Like I said: A vague reminder. Let’s just all blow off work and go Netflix One Fine Day , shall we?) Also, those brief soccer-tot scenes remind me of Ladybugs . And The Big Green . And I kinda want to see Gerard Butler juggle a few balls and shoot a Gatorade bottle off a goalpost with a soccer ball. For that matter, forget Butler: I’d like to see Biel, reportedly a soccer ace in real life, dribble circles around Butler on the pitch. Give me that movie, Hollywood. Verdict: Feels predictable, familiar… and mindlessly watchable. Eh, why not? Playing for Keeps hits theaters on December 7 and is directed by Gabriele Muccino ( The Pursuit of Happyness , Seven Pounds ).
It takes about ten seconds to guess how the latest Gerard Butler vehicle Playing for Keeps will most likely end (Is that Jessica Biel as Butler’s harried ex, who still looks a bit mooney-eyed for her rascally baby daddy? And she’s about to get married to someone else? A classic Rom-Com 101 recipe for love! ) but that won’t stop the target demo from swooning come December 7. And let’s be real: I will so watch this movie, predictable or not. It’s not that Butler is all that swoon-worthy as a middle-aged loser athlete clinging to his past greatness. (Gross.) It’s not that Playing for Keeps , with its groan-worthily on the nose sports-themed title, feels fresh in any way whatsoever. (It doesn’t. But how great would it be if this was a remake of the Weinstein-directed 1986 rock ‘n’ roll hotel comedy of the same name?) And don’t get me started on how Uma Thurman and Catherine Zeta-Jones, both 42 and exactly the same age as Butler, have become Hollywood’s go-to cougar-types while the 12-years-younger Jessica Biel is positioned as Butler’s fresh-faced leading lady. Whatever. I’ll go see this Playing for Keeps because it vaguely reminds me of those ’90s rom-coms that used to star Michelle Pfeiffer and Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks and John Cusack, the kind of movies about grown-ups of a certain age dealing with parenting and careers and their own crippling failings while still falling in love. (Like I said: A vague reminder. Let’s just all blow off work and go Netflix One Fine Day , shall we?) Also, those brief soccer-tot scenes remind me of Ladybugs . And The Big Green . And I kinda want to see Gerard Butler juggle a few balls and shoot a Gatorade bottle off a goalpost with a soccer ball. For that matter, forget Butler: I’d like to see Biel, reportedly a soccer ace in real life, dribble circles around Butler on the pitch. Give me that movie, Hollywood. Verdict: Feels predictable, familiar… and mindlessly watchable. Eh, why not? Playing for Keeps hits theaters on December 7 and is directed by Gabriele Muccino ( The Pursuit of Happyness , Seven Pounds ).
Also in Tuesday morning’s round-up of news briefs, actress Jennifer Lawrence is in negotiations for a hefty paycheck for the second installment of The Hunger Games . Kevin Costner is headed to join a new project. Wayne Wang will direct a basketball tale and big changes at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Marvin Hamlisch Dies at 68 He composed the scores for over 40 movies, winning three Oscars, four Emmys, a Tony for A Chorus Line and three Golden Globes. Films included The Sting , Sophie’s Choice , Ordinary People and Take the Money and Run , USA Today reports . Jennifer Lawrence Eyes $10 Million for The Hunger Games Sequel She reportedly received $500K plus bonuses for the first installment which has grossed $683.8 million worldwide, but she’s in final negotiations to return for Catching Fire in a package that could total around $10M range, THR reports . Dreamworks to Make Kung Fu Panda 3 in China DreamWorks Animation and Chinese partners announced plans Tuesday to co-produce the next Kung Fu Panda movie and develop an entertainment district in Shanghai, expanding Hollywood’s fast-growing ties to China, A.P. reports . Kevin Costner Eyes Kenneth Branaugh’s Three Days to Kill Costner has been offered the co-lead in the film that will star Chris Pine. He’ll play Ethan Renner, a government assassin who is dying. Before he goes, he is determined to reconcile with his daughter, while taking on one final mission, Deadline reports . Wayne Wang to Direct Basketball Story Brave Dragons The story is based on Jim Yardley’s new book about an NBA coach who moves with his wife to a Chinese industrial city to coach one of the worst teams in Chinese basketball, Deadline reports . Peter Scarlet Departs from Abu Dhabi Film Festival He will be replaced by Ali al Jabri as Festival Director. He has served as director of the Emirates competition for five years. Scarlet served as head for three years previously topped the Tribeca Film Festival and the San Francisco Film Society. This year’s festival will take place October 11 – 20, Screen Daily reports .
The deep thoughtful look, the craggy face — the signature beard. Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis resonates as Abraham Lincoln in this first shot of him in full character for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming epic about the nation’s 16th president, Lincoln . Paparazzi snapped photos of a bearded Day-Lewis at a diner last year, but on Tuesday morning, EW.com posted this exclusive shot of Day-Lewis in period costume for the highly anticipated movie that will be released on Nov. 9, just three days after the 2012 Presidential election. The site also addresses reports that Day-Lewis, known for his immersive acting techniques, prepared for the role of the mid-19th Century president “by avoiding the trappings of 21st — not to mention 20th — century life during the shoot”. Not so, says Spielberg, who tells EW : “Daniel was always conscious of his contemporary surroundings” and “never went into a fugue state. He did not channel Lincoln. All that stuff is just more about gossip than it is about technique.” Those on the set, including Spielberg, did, however refer to Day-Lewis as “Mr. President,” but the Jaws director says that was about maintaining atmosphere. “I was calling [all] the actors by their character names,” he tells EW . “That was something I felt was important to establish a little authenticity, maybe even more for me than for them.” Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
The Russian-born American businessman and cultural philanthropist Martin E. Segal died Sunday just under two months before the 50th anniversary of the New York Film Festival , the premiere Manhattan film event hosted annually by the venerable organization he founded, the Film Society of Lincoln Center . He was 96. Segal’s son Paul confirmed his death, the New York Times reports . In 1969, he co-founded the organization that has grown into a film behemoth that hosts year-round film events including NYFF, New Directors/New Films, major retrospectives and other high-profile events that attracts over 200,000 film aficionados, filmmakers, and industry. He served as FSLC’s president and CEO until 1978 and as chairman of Lincoln Center from 1981 – 1986 Segal was born in Vitebsk in what was still known as the Russian Empire in 1916, a year before the Bolshevik revolution. He founded The Segal Company in October, 1939 and has grown to become one of the nation’s largest firms dealing with benefits, compensation and human resources consultation. In addition to Lincoln Center, Segal was active in other New York cultural institutions including the New York Landmarks Conservancy, the New York Public Library, the New York International Festival of the Arts (which discontinued in 2002) and the Martin E. Segal Theater Center at the CUNY Graduate Center in 2000. Additionally, he served as the first chairman of NYC’s Commission for Cultural Affairs from 1975 – 1977. “Marty was a passionate and enthusiastic champion of film,” Rose Kuo executive director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center told ML. “When something caught his attention, he would quickly respond, gather support and with a great sense of urgency, he would make sure that things happened like last year’s NYFF screening of the newly restored Chaplin’s Gold Rush . I was fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from his wisdom and be inspired by his curiosity. He was the youngest 96 year old I ever met.” [Source: New York Times ]
Rashida Jones filtered her own relationship history — and a few heart-wrenching break-ups — into this weekend’s Celeste and Jesse Forever , an L.A.-set look at one couple’s struggle to remain besties through separation, divorce, and the complicated disentanglement that follows the world’s best-worst break-up. Co-written with fellow actor Will McCormack, whom Jones dated for three weeks years ago, the sweet, affecting dramedy is peppered with moments inspired by real life events that carry Celeste through her journey of painful but necessary self-discovery — including one legendarily awful date with a guy who turned out to be, in Jones’ words, “a serial masturbator.” Like Celeste, Jones, who looks back on her past relationships as life lessons, has learned the hard way that not all love stories are meant to last. “I’m no better at break-ups,” she admits. “I haven’t gotten any stronger, I just try to learn my lesson in a way where I don’t have to re-learn it, and that’s the only thing I can do,” she says. As I was watching, I realized these are revelations you can only really have by experiencing them firsthand. Yeah, totally. Will always says, “The cure for the pain is the pain.” I hate when he says that, but I definitely feel like it’s the first step in real adulthood, when you’re like, “Oh, things are not going to be the way I thought they would.” In some ways they’re going to be better, and in some ways they’re going to be way worse. But regardless, I have no control over it, and my need to control it only makes it worse. It definitely came from a real place. It’s a very personal story for me, and hopefully it’s the kind of thing I can leave in the movie and leave behind. There’s so much truth in this movie. For instance: The crushing wisdom that is contained in Boyz II Men’s “On Bended Knee.” Was there an actual best-worst break-up for you that inspired the story? It’s definitely a composite of a lot of relationships for me, for Will, and for family members and friends. We just stole the best-worst parts. I definitely loved somebody for years, and it didn’t work out. We grew up together, and it was really hard to let go. We spent years not being friends and now we’re friends and it’s great — but that’s because it took years. And I’m no better at break-ups. I haven’t gotten any stronger, I just try to learn my lesson in a way where I don’t have to re-learn it, and that’s the only thing I can do. It gets a little better every time I get out of a relationship, I know I’m never going to do that thing again. You and Will wrote this together, but the press notes tell us you two dated for a few weeks way back when. I assume you were able to be good friends after that? We were. We dated for three weeks and then he kind of dumped me. I was like, “Ugh, whatever.” Then we became friends a couple months later. He reminded me recently that he had apologized to me for not treating me well, and then we became friends. That’s nice! I think that was obviously an essential part that I had blocked out, but… so we were friends for a long time and talked about writing, and started things but never finished them. But the Celeste and Jesse relationship, that dynamic is very close to the one that Will and I have — except we don’t still have that “will they/won’t they” tension. We’re basically brother and sister now. So that’s what happens, huh? Well, listen — not with everybody! I have people with which that thing will never go away. That’s the crazy part about being an adult: when it’s like, [your feelings for another person] are never going to go away. But it doesn’t mean I should be with that person. I have somebody that I love and will always love, and we’re friends, but we’re never going to be together. That sucks, but you can’t always reward the connection with a lifelong relationship. Sometimes it is what it is. You’re so wise! Ugh, not really! [Laughs] There’s a line in the film that stuck with me: “Would you rather be right, or be happy?” That’s the kind of thing that really sucks to hear until you realize that it’s true. I know. To me, that was really the key to turning to adulthood for me. For so long when I was precocious and in my twenties I thought, “If I take right action, if I know what’s right, I’m going to be fine.” And then shit happens, because shit always happens to you. Then you have to learn how to be flexible and see grey and not hold onto a concept, or not fight for a mission that’s going to make you unhappy. For a long time I was convinced that I could will whatever I wanted to into being. Me too. My Will and I bring this up all the time — free will versus destiny — because I think when you feel like you have control over your life you do think, “Well, if I just do this, I’ll make it better.” Then you’re like, “Oh my god, maybe there is no free will, because things happen and if you try, you’re going to be miserable.” [Laughs] Well, you’ve given us all a lot to chew on. In terms of tackling the romantic dramedy genre, how did you and Will approach it, and what did you want to do differently than what had come before? The kinds of romantic comedies that I’ve always responded to, that I’m obsessed with, that I watch incessantly, are When Harry Met Sally… , Manhattan , Annie Hall , Broadcast News . And what I love about those films is that, yeah, maybe they’re hilarious, but they also have these rich insights and complicated relationships, and you walk away feeling something. You’re left with something. The humor comes out of the pain of the reality of the relationships. Mainstream film doesn’t have as much of that element anymore, so we kind of wanted to do something like that and hopefully touch upon some kind of socio-cultural trends that relate to people, that they feel haven’t been represented in movies. What are some of those trends? There are a couple of things: One is the Peter Pan-syndrome boy and the Type A woman relationship, and I think that has been touched upon — that’s, like, a Judd Apatow model. That’s his thing. But then more it’s growing up with somebody and feeling like they’re a family member, somebody that you loved, and trying to transition into friendship. Can you be friends with your ex? What does that actually look like? How do you get past a relationship that has defined you for so many years and try to keep some part of it but not throw all of it out, just because you’re not going to be together anymore? Right — and that would be the typical immediate reaction to most break-ups. To throw it all out? I think there’s some survivalist protection thing involved, too. I personally don’t think you can go right into being friends with somebody right after so long being together. You have to have a break. You have to heal, you know? [Laughs] People say this to me all the time and I fucking hate it, but you’re only ready when you’re ready. Chris Messina’s character says it in the movie and it’s so annoying, but you go back as many times as you need to go back before you’re done with that lesson. You’re going to do it until you’re not going to do it anymore. So true. Meanwhile, Celeste and Jesse also manages to feel very authentic to L.A. — not just the local landmarks and spots, but even something in Celeste’s constant plugged-in multimedia engagement. Maybe that’s something of the contemporary female experience, in an age when everyone’s consumed by email and the ego-driven Twitter mentality, all these things pulling you in different directions at the same time. For sure. Also, her job in the movie is to stay connected. And to be smarter than everyone else, in a way — to be able to forecast the future, to predict trends, which is exactly what she has trouble doing in her own life. Exactly. If we were being really simple and cliché one of the themes that we were going for was, she can predict everyone else’s future, but she can’t predict her own. She picked a job where she can always be right, and she can prove to herself that she’s always right. Then life happens and she can’t be right about it. Some of the more comic scenes — the awful date Celeste goes on at Chateau Marmont with the celebrity photographer, for instance — were those inspired by terrible dates in real life? That happened to me. No! It did not! It did ! Horrible, horrible dating story. The whole thing? The whole thing. Yeah. That’s amazing. Is it? [Laughs] It was less amazing when it happened, and then like six months later it was okay, I could tell the story. The worst part was that I had a friend that I told the story to and I knew that she had dated him briefly, and the same thing happened to her! He was, like, a serial masturbator. I want you to know that makes that scene so much better for me as a viewer. I know, it’s so sad. Also: Was Ke$ha not available to play the trashy pop starlet played by Emma Roberts? [Laughs] You know, there’s obviously a little bit of that in there but it’s another kind of composite. It’s her, a little early Britney Spears, a little Taylor Swift, a little Miley Cyrus… Sure, but there is a nod to the unexpected wisdom in that character. We didn’t want it to be this superficial, shallow girl. We tried a little bit to buck convention. Every character in the movie, we tried to do a thing where you expect one thing from them and they surprise you, which is hard to do. Next up for you is another re-team with Will, adapting your own project? Frenemy of the State, yeah. We’re doing an adaptation of a comic book that I co-wrote, for Universal and Imagine. It’s about a socialite who is recruited to be a spy in the C.I.A. Are you thinking of starring in it? No! It’s like a 20-year-old girl. I could be her mother. I could legitimately be her mother. If you were a teen mom, or something. Yeah, if I was a teen mom. So we’ll see. Hopefully they make it! Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Jessica Biel likes to play her action heroes with a touch of femininity. Movieline pal Grace Randolph hit a special New York screening of Total Recall on Thursday night and chatted with the actress on the red carpet. Biel plays the resistance fighter Melina and asked what quality she likes to bring to her action roles, tells Randolph that she aims to portray a character “who feels like a real woman,” not “someone who’s so tough that you can relate to [her] but someone who is feminine and has an emotional arc as well as a physical arc. The screening was hosted by The Peggy Siegal Company and InStyle magazine, which features the beautiful Biel on the cover of its August issue. After the screening, guests headed to Meatpacking District nightclub No. 8 to compare notes and Len Wiseman’s remake with Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 original starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Watch it on YouTube. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Finally, a Wookiee-centric Star Wars vehicle that could get some actual laughs. Anyone who’s actually sat through The Star Wars Holiday Special should welcome a report by The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog that Fanboys director Kyle Newman is developing Chewie , a spec script by Evan Susser and Van Robichaux that is reportedly a tongue-in-cheek look at the making of Star Wars through the eyes of Peter Mayhew, the seven-foot-three-inch hospital worker who donned a fur suit and became one of the most memorable sci-fi/fantasy sidekicks of all time. In December, Deadline reported that Chewie was near the top of film executive Franklin Leonard’s 2011 Black List of hot unproduced screenplays. The script follows Mayhew as he tries to balance a career as a hospital worker while chasing his Hollywood dreams. Mayhew recently tweeted that he’s working with Newman on Chewie and Heat Vision reports that the Fanboys filmmaker acquired the gentle giant’s life rights to advance the project. Newman’s involvement bodes well for the project given that Star Wars creator George Lucas put his stamp of approval on Fanboys , which enabled the director to use the official sound effects. Let’s hope Lucas gives Chewie the thumbs up, too, since, a movie about Chewbacca that would not be permitted to use his official yowl — an amalgamation of bear growls “with a dash of walrus, dog, and lion thrown in,” according to Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt — would be sad indeed. A scene or two involving Mayhew’s involvement in the much-ridiculed Star Wars Holiday Special , which centered around the Wookiee Christmas equivalent, Life Day, would be an added bonus, but, if Lucas does become involved, we won’t be surprised if the subject is avoided. Lucas once deemed the 1978 CBS Television special a “travesty. [ Heat Vision ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Also in Thursday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs, Lynn Cohen joins the cast of the next Hunger Games , while Lucas Till takes on an action-thriller. Doc NYC releases some highlights for its November documentary festival. Drew Barrymore has a new directing gig. And Octavia Spencer joins a new Fox Searchlight comedy. Lynn Cohen Joins The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Cohen will play Mags in the next installment of the popular franchise. A former mentor to Finnick Odair, Mags is an eighty year old Hunger Games victor from District 4. The second round of the series begins as “Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a “Victor’s Tour” of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) – a competition that could change Panem forever.” Lionsgate will release Catching Fire November 22nd. Doc NYC to Close with The Central Park Five New York’s documentary festival Doc NYC will close out its third annual event with Den Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon’s The Central Park Five . The film, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May, follows the story of five innocent teenagers wrongfully imprisoned for the infamous “Central Park jogger” rape case. The festival also announced an ambitious, expanded line-up of panel discussions called “Doc-a-thon,” covering the art and business of documentary filmmaking. Spanning five days, the program features some twenty seminars and panels with acclaimed filmmakers and experts devoted to different stages in the filmmaking process. Doc NYC takes place November 8 – 15. Lucas Till Boards Wolves Till ( X-Men: First Class ) will play the lead in the directorial debut of David Hayter’s Wolves who wrote X-Men . The action-thriller centers on Caleb Richards (Till) – a young, handsome eighteen year-old with an edge. Forced to hit the road after the death of his parents, Caleb finds his way to an isolated town to hunt down the truths of his ancestry. Around the ‘net… Bill Murray Won’t Haunt Ghostbusters 3 Dan Aykroyd said, “”It’s sad but we’re passing it on to a new generation. Ghostbusters 3 can be a successful movie without Bill.” Aykroyd also offered up that the sequel will begin shooting next year and also without its original star, Vulture reports . Matthew McConaughey Joins The Wolf Of Wall Street McConaughey will play Mark Hanna in the Martin Scorsese-directed feature, an early boss and mentor of Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, Deadline reports . Drew Barrymore to Direct The End The end of the world drama will be produced by Warner Bros. The story will apparently focus on several people as they face the apocalypse and will take an “uplifting and humanistic” approach. Aron Eli Coleite (writer-producer on TV’s Heroes ) wrote the script, THR reports . Octavia Spencer Joins Baggage Claim The Oscar-winner boards the cast of the Fox Searchlight comedy that stars Paula Patton as a flight attendant who is the oldest unmarried woman in her family and decides to find a mate before her sister’s upcoming wedding, Deadline reports .
At one point, Kate Beckinsale remembers, director Len Wiseman thought of tapping her for a cameo as a three-breasted hooker in his Total Recall remake. Luckily for the actress, Wiseman (who directed the British beauty in Underworld and Underworld: Evolution — and happens to be her husband in real life) instead cast Beckinsale in the much juicier role of Lori, the adoring wife of factory worker Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) whom Quaid discovers is actually an undercover agent hellbent on killing him. Consider that a divorce, indeed . Expanded considerably by scribes Kurt Wimmer and Mark Bomback as an amalgam of Sharon Stone’s duplicitous Lori and Michael Ironside’s ruthless Richter from Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 version , Beckinsale’s Lori — her first onscreen villain — is baddie Cohaagen’s (Bryan Cranston) loyal right-hand woman, embittered by the humiliating role she’s been assigned, but relishing in her dogged pursuit of Farrell’s Quaid with glee. (She also boasts unfailingly fantastic hair, in keeping with Beckinsale’s action cinema filmography.) Beckinsale sat for a chat with Movieline about Total Recall , Lori’s inner psyche, how marriage lends insight to her working relationship with Wiseman, and how she resolves her “Kate Beckinsale” public image/action heroine reputation with her literary roots and lesser-seen work. This version of Total Recall is quite different from the Verhoeven original in many ways, including its emphasis on a more geopolitical commentary. But the Lori character in particular, which is vastly expanded here, is a sharp, strong woman who literally rejects this domestic role that she’s been given, playing wife to Douglas Quaid at the behest of her employer. I think she’s an extremely highly trained, highly intelligent, and very much at the top of her field operative, and the detail that she’s been given is actually quite degrading, if you think about it. For a police officer at that level to have to basically sleep in a bed, have sex with, make dinner for this person who appears to be a factory worker of no real note indefinitely, must be incredibly frustrating – and I think must feel like, “I have this because I’m a woman.” And there’s nothing more maddening than to feel like you’re being passed over or degraded or humiliated because of your gender. Were these elements that were in the script originally, or did those shades come in as you worked on the character? It was a little more sketched, and I know that Len wanted to feel like that about her, so it was quite early on when we were talking about the character. Because otherwise I think it’s peculiar; first of all, it’s a strange situation for someone to be undercover pretending to be somebody’s wife. What would that feel like, if you were that highly trained? And equally, there’s nothing more boring than a bad guy who’s just being a bad guy for no reason. Mainstream audiences know you best from the Underworld movies and as this lithe, lethal action heroine, but your career began with very different kinds of roles; ironically, the character of Hero in Much Ado About Nothing was one of your first breakthrough parts. And even before that, some of your first awards came as a writer, for your poetry. Does it feel strange to you that so many moviegoers know you primarily for your action roles in the Underworld movies and the like? I think that dwelling on other people’s perception of you is the road to complete madness, unfortunately. I try and resist that. You can’t help it a bit, because it is quite odd when other people are responsible for conveying your image or your words. That is quite a strange spot to be in, especially if things do come off unfamiliar. You can feel a bit gypped. But I suppose a part of you has to go, there is a kind of penalty for being so lucky to have this kind of a job that those things are going to happen. I do feel very fulfilled by the work that I’ve done, and often by the work that I’ve done that many people haven’t seen. So the bottom line is, I have actually done the work and I’ve had that experience, and it has been amazing. And yes, it would be nice if more people were aware of those, but at the end of the day it’s more important that I’ve actually had the experience. Even on Google, the first items that pop up about you involve your “Sexiest Woman Alive” type honors, or quote you talking about nude scenes… It’s maddening! And the thing is, a lot of the time you’ll do a whole long interview with somebody and then they’ll say, “By the way, have you thought about doing a nude scene?” and that’s the thing… so it’s quite skewed in terms of the balance of the interview where you’re talking about all sorts of things, but people tend to pull out the one that fits the image they have for you. And that can be a little bit annoying if it’s always about, you know, not having knickers on or being sexy or what beauty products are you using? I have no idea who that person is. It’s just odd when you kind of go, I’m coming off a bit as the sort of person who walks into a room and tries to tell everyone what I’m eating all day. Len [Wiseman] said he wanted to cast you in the role of Lori because he saw aspects in the character that he thought you hadn’t had the chance to play onscreen before very much – even Lori’s guile, her complexity. She’s not a comedic character, but the film has a sense of humor about her. What’s your take on Lori as a role? I think this is a really good part, and really great parts don’t come along every ten seconds. But I think the thing that’s great about her is she’s really intelligent – she’s obviously a bit unhinged, but she’s a very, very smart person, and people who are crazy and smart at the same time are usually the most dangerous people. I think he really wanted to get a sense of that, and I may have been in some rather not-very-intelligent looking photo shoots and/or movies, but my husband observes me in my natural habitat and knows that I’m quite a smart girl. It’s nice that your offscreen relationship could help lend that sort of insight into your working relationship. And it means he’s not just receiving the kind of Kate Beckinsale that’s out there. The quote-unquote “Kate Beckinsale.” Yes! There’s a dichotomy and gender reversal as Lori reveals herself and attempts to kill Quaid: As she chases him through the city, it’s clear that she’s highly lethal and the disoriented Quaid is rather clumsy and scared. Later you two have the most brutal hand-to-hand fight, but it remains on equal footing. I really like the movie, for all of that. It’s a very fun ride, but it’s actually very thoughtful. What deeper meaning could we draw from Len casting his own wife as the ultimate evil wife? And all the film’s many nods to their sham marriage, were those written in to begin with? Some of them were, some of them we came up with. But we obviously don’t have that sort of relationship. Len is still walking around! [Laughs] Total Recall is in theaters Friday. Read Movieline’s review here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
