Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Chat with a Shooting Star
Email to a friendPrint this article
She has played an angst-ridden teenager, a doomed lover, a 17th century stage actress, and a glove saleswoman. She’s acted for TV, the big screen, indie pics and blockbuster favorites. But none of Claire Danes’ previous roles were anything like her newest one: in STARDUST she plays a shooting star named Yvaine.
“Yeah, I know, it’s kind of absurd!” she laughed when I spoke with her recently. She was shivering in her super air-conditioned suite at the Four Seasons, talking about her lead role in Matthew Vaughn’s screen adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s bestselling fantasy novel. I mean how exactly does one get into character?
“Actually it’s surprisingly realistic,” she explained. “I didn’t have to incorporate any kind of fantastical element into the role.” Claire spelled it out for me. You see, Yvaine is a shooting star, but as a result of crashing into the magical realm of Stormhold (go with me, this is fantasy…), she takes on human form.
“Basically I had to learn how to speak like an English person and capture that brand of humor,” she summarized mischievously. Oh, and ride a unicorn: “Apparently there was an actress who auditioned for the role,” Danes laughed, mustering her best British accent “and she said ‘So, it’s not actually on my resume, but I have ridden a unicorn.’” At that Danes paused, then laughed again exasperated. “And she was serious!!! We wonder why I got the job. It didn’t take much. You just had to not be a raving lunatic.”
Danes’ shooting star does have a great British accent, is often funny, and looks remarkably good on a unicorn with her long shimmering gown, pale skin and very blonde hair. But she also has a way of emoting that suits the otherworldly origins of her character. In STARDUST it’s obvious that it was more than mere sanity that won Danes the role of Yvaine.
Stardust is a classic fantasy romp. It comes complete with evil witches (one played by a perfectly ghastly Michelle Pfeiffer), greedy princes (whose father, the not-so-nice king, is played by Peter O’Toole), shifty pirates (in this case, none other than Captain De Niro in a wonderfully playful performance) and true love that gets a little mucked up in the middle, but true to the form, makes a strong finish.
Danes’ co-star is Charlie Cox, a lovable young Brit (he didn’t have to fake the accent) who plays Tristan, the doe-eyed shop boy intent on winning the heart of a young woman (Sienna Miller) he thinks he’s in love with. Danes told me that meeting Cox was the most rewarding part about shooting the film. “I was not at all familiar with his acting before we started, and I’m so impressed by his talent.”
In a more serious moment, Danes said she was in large part drawn to the role of Yvaine because of her very real, very satisfying character arc. “Often women basically just facilitate change and growth in male characters; but I always want to play characters that have some dimension and complexity.” The shooting star Yvaine is grumpy and stubborn and rather out of sorts at the beginning of her journey, but there’s much more to her than what we first see: “She’s kind of knowing and wise, because she’s ancient, Danes mused, “but also completely naïve. So that was fun.”
So, I must say, was my meeting my first live shooting star.
Stardust is in theaters this Friday.
Check out the cool website at: http://www.stardustmovie.com. And look for Danes this fall in her Broadway debut as Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion.
<
Comments