Only
21 years old, Scarlett Johansson has already had the opportunity to
work with several legendary directors, including the Coen brothers,
Woody Allen and, umm, Michael Bay. This week she adds another to her
resume with her latest project, Brian De Palma’s noir-ish crime
drama, THE
BLACK DAHLIA. Based on James Ellroy’s acclaimed novel, DAHLIA
delves into the underworld of old-school
Los Angeles
, where crooked cops, studio bosses and mafiosos often mingled
together behind the scenes.
Last
week Johannson stopped by the Millennium Biltmore in downtown
Los Angeles
for a press conference to promote the film. Here are some excerpts.
Scarlett
Johansson
How
deeply did you delve into this character with your director, Brian
De Palma?
We
talked about the character in regards to different scenes and that
kind of thing, but Brian has a real respect for the time and space
that an actor needs to prepare for something. He was never overly
personal about where I was getting my inspiration from or anything
like that and always very supportive if I felt that I needed
something more. We could be wrapping up the whole set, and I would
say, “Brian, I think that I need to do that take again.” He’d be
like, “All right, boys, bring everything back in.” He was really
good about that, but we never went too much into depth about the
character, no.
How
were you able to create this character?
Luckily
I had what a lot of actors don’t have which is the source, having
the book. I mean, you read a script and you interpret the
character’s emotions through their actions and their words, but I
had the perspective of Bucky’s character looking in on Kay. So I
really used that as the beginning source to find the character.
Was
the film actually shot in Los Angeles?
We
filmed it in L.A. and we filmed it in Bulgaria as well.
What
was shot in Bulgaria?
We
shot most all of the interiors there. Dante Ferretti had built the
sets and he actually built the Chinatown set there. He had built the
apartment there that they find. He built the interior of the house
there and the boxing ring and the police station. A lot of it was
just
there.
What
preconceived notions of De Palma did you have prior to getting
involved with the project? Do you have any theories of own in
regards to the murder of the real-life Elizabeth Smart?
Well,
when I had become involved with the project, and I was originally
excited just hearing that Brian had a film that he was directing
with two female roles. I’ve always wanted to work with him and have
been a huge fan of his. I met with Brian. I had read the script and
was very attracted to the character of Kay. So, I met with him and I
tried to convince him that I could play this character that I’m
completely physically wrong for and he bought it. So that was good.
I
never have any preconceived notion of people because I find that
they always prove you wrong or are surprising. I expected a certain
kind of darkness about him, a certain kind of roughness about him I
guess, and I was surprised to find out that he’s a very funny guy.
He’s very funny. One thing that didn’t surprise me about Brian
is that he’s really cut and dry. He’s never going to beat you around
the block regarding anything and he’s never wishy-washy about
anything, which is such a relief. As far as my own theory, I had
read The Black Dahlia and that seemed like a palpable story. I don’t
know though. I mean, that seemed to be…I felt that was interesting
and was definitely a candidate for the truth, but who really knows.
What
input did you have as far as the look of your character is
concerned?
Well,
I mean, as far as the physical appearance of the character I really
wanted her to look nothing like Hilary’s (Swank) character or the
Dahlia. So we thought that we would dress her in cream and beige and
things that were soft because Hilary’s character is so kind of hard
and really a glam vixen…getting to play a woman during that period
and the makeup and the hair and the costumes and the cars and the
sets was all very glamorous and fun and I’ve always kind of had an
affinity for that period. I got to wear a lot of beautiful vintage
pieces and they built a beautiful wardrobe for me. So that was a lot
of fun.
Were
you able to identify with the struggling actresses portrayed in this
film? And did this film make you sentimental for a Los Angeles that
no longer exists?
I
have a lot of friends who are very talented actors and musicians who
struggle. You have a one and a million chance here and all you have
to do is come to L.A. and everyone is trying to get involved in the
industry somehow. Any time that you are involved in a field that’s
revolving around vanity of some sort with a high rate of failure it
can breed a desperation in people that doesn’t always have a happy
ending. I think that kind of ambition with no end can really make
for a lot of nastiness.
And
of course, luckily, I mean for myself I’ve been constantly surprised
at my luck. It’s really unbelievable especially being surrounded by
a lot artists who struggle and watching them struggle. I feel very,
very lucky. As far as L.A. at that time I feel very sentimental
about it. I read a lot about the industry at that time and watching
several documentaries about Hollywood at that time. It’s so very
different now than it was then. I think that there is a certain sort
of decency and class that’s somehow been eliminated over time. I
don’t know. I think that it makes you sentimental when you read
different autobiographies of actors at that time and how exciting it
was that actors came together and they talked about the method and
they talked about the work that they were doing, and just the amount
of available and incredible actors at that time it just doesn’t seem
to be the same now.
That’s
not to say that I don’t like L.A. I do. It’s very nice here, of
course. The weather is lovely and all of that stuff, but I think
that people…look, even being in this hotel that’s such
a beautiful hotel it’s just rare to find these gems that have been
preserved. It seems like people are always bulldozing over beautiful
storefronts and restaurants and houses and things like that to make
way for whatever is popular now, things that are bigger and better
and more modern and all of that stuff. I think that’s also true of
New York too. It’s sad I think.
What
was Bulgaria like?
Sofia
is a city that at one time was a real jewel of Eastern Europe, but
it has been trampled on so much throughout every war. It’s been
bombed. It’s been taken over. It’s been given up. I mean, it’s
really been just harassed and of course seeing remnants of the
communist regime there it’s interesting the kind of buildings that
they have there. It’s like you’re almost in a time warp or a kind of
broken city somehow. What’s interesting also about it is that the
youth there, they have a lot of very promising sort of creative
outlets there. There is music and dance and art.
There
are a lot of young people there who are very enthusiastic about
life, and some of them are wanting to join the EU. Others are very
much against it. There is a real kind of passion there right now and
so in some ways it feels very sort of forward thinking and then in
other ways it’s like being in a time warp. There are a lot of
strange things like if you go to the markets there, there is all
this Nazi paraphernalia that you can buy. It’s really interesting.
It’s very strange, very strange.
Can
you related to the experience of a producer trying to make an
actress do something she doesn’t want to do?
I’ve
been lucky. I mean, of course every actor has had a casting that has
gone awry and you leave and you go, “Oh my God, that was the
absolute worst.” Luckily I’ve never been approached in that way
because when I was auditioning, mostly, I was so young. I was like
12 and 13. So luckily I never had anything like that to deal with,
but I do love to audition still. I find it to be incredibly
challenging and I’m always up for a challenge in that way, but no
casting couch stories for me. No.
Do
you still have to audition for any roles?
Occasionally,
yeah. It’s rare, but it does happen and I like it. I always like
cold readings and all of that stuff. I think that it keeps you on
your toes. I mean, after all I’m an actor for hire and so I will
never turn down the opportunity to audition for something.
Never?
No,
not if it’s something that I feel that I want. If I want a role and
they say, “Well, we’re only auditioning people.” I will say,
“All right. I’m going to get this part.” That’s the mentality
that you have to have. It’s like, “All right, fine. Test me. I got
it.” Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s still fun
to do that.
There’s
a lot in the book about your character’s relationship with Bucky
(played by Josh Hartnett) that didn’t make the film. Was any of it
shot and subsequently cut?
No,
it never was. It was never filmed. It was never in the script. I
mean, the book is so – there is so much information in it that I
felt Brian just had to get rid of some of the stuff. There are so
many stories going on that he felt he had to narrow some of it. I
mean, also,
the marriage and all of that stuff, it’s great to read that, but I
think that in the film it would be too much of a side story. After
all this isn’t a film about this relationship. That’s an aspect of
it of course, but I think that to get too involved in that would’ve
been a mistake. People would’ve said, “What the hell? Is this a
movie about a relationship? Is it about a murder? Is it about this
man’s fight for justice?” Already there is so much going on so
that was never a part of the screenplay.
You
have another upcoming project that’s based on a book: The Nanny
Diaries. Can you talk a little about that?
I
mean, it’s a great read and it’s a fun book. It was wonderful to
shoot in New York of course, being a New Yorker. The directors were
also New Yorkers – Berman and Pulcini – who are just fantastic
New York filmmakers and documentarians. It was all New York based
crew and it was wonderful to shoot there. I think that it’s going to
be great. I loved American Splendor. They of course wrote the script
and they’re wonderful writers. They’re a husband and wife team and
it was amazing to work with them and I think that it’s going to be
great. So we’ll see. Hopefully. We had to compromise a little bit
for the cinematic ending and so forth, but it’s true to the book and
the authors I think were just thrilled.
Questions?
Comments? Manifestos? Send them to me at thomasleupp@joblo.com.