Dec. 30, 2016 "Plan B for A-listers": Today I found this article by Chris Knight in the Edmonton Journal:
If Werner Herzog had never (as legend has it) stolen a 35mm camera from a school in Munich and declared himself a filmmaker, we wouldn’t have Fitzcarraldo, Grizzly Man or Cave of Forgotten Dreams.
We wouldn’t have Salt and Fire or Into the Inferno, his new drama and documentary. But we might have equally creative insights into the branch of mathematics known as number theory.
“I think I would have made a good mathematician,” Herzog said. He was responding to a question put to everyone — well, everyone famous — I met during this past fall’s Toronto International Film Festival: If you had never gone into show business, what would you be doing today?
Some reflected a desire to escape the celebrity fishbowl.
“Do I have to make money?” asked Michelle Williams, star of Manchester by the Sea. When told no, she continued: “I’d be a mom. I mean, I am one, but I’d be a PTA kind of mom, a Girl Scout troop leader kind of mom.” Full time, no pay.
Her co-star Casey Affleck, after joking that he too would like to be a mom, got philosophical. “I would like to be a postman,” he said. “Very satisfying. You start with a big bag of mail, you get to walk four or five miles a day, you get some good exercise, nice meditative thinking/ walking time, and at the end of the day you have an empty bag.”
Ewan McGregor of American Pastoral at first said his non-movie job would have something to do with his passion for motorcycles. But as he pondered the options — “I’m quite good with repetition, like with a really boring job I’m actually quite happy” — he finally settled on something very specific. “I quite like the idea of being a boat builder. With a pipe.”
Emily VanCamp, star of Chloé Robichaud’s French-language political satire Pays (Boundaries), said she felt confident she’d taken the right career path. “I’ve always been hugely fascinated with human behaviour, which is probably why I do what I do,” she said. So if not film, “maybe something to do with psychology.”
That was also Cynthia Nixon’s choice. The Sex and the City actress stars in A Quiet Passion, Terence Davies’ biopic on the life of Emily Dickinson. “I wouldn’t want to be a psychiatrist because I don’t think I’d be able to go into medical school, but the talking cure — spending your days unpacking people’s psychological troubles would be a very worthwhile way to spend a life, and very interesting.”
For child actors, the what-if can be problematic. Jennifer Connelly, star of American Pastoral, started acting when she was 10, “so I never got past ‘maybe I’ll be a vet because I want to do some good and I love animals.’ ” But she imagines going back to school. “I would probably take a lot of history classes. I regret not having paid more attention in my history classes when I was a kid.”
Her co-star Dakota Fanning has been acting for 16 of her 22 years. “I could go to med school tomorrow and become a doctor,” she said. “I could go to law school; I might not be able to but in theory I could do that. Most things are possible for anybody. But I was watching the Olympics this year and that is something that I will never do. I will never go to the Olympics or win a gold medal.”
Not surprisingly, other creative arts were often mentioned. Gemma Arterton, starring in the science-fiction-horror The Girl with All the Gifts, said she might have been an opera singer.
Jim Jarmusch of the drama Paterson and the documentary Gimme Danger, about Iggy Pop, cited his early love of music and concluded: “I’m pretty sure I’d be an over-the hill marginal rock musician at this point.”
Some stars answered without a moment’s hesitation. “Journalism,” was Michael Fassbender’s quick reply. When the star of Trespass Against Us was looking into university options, “journalism was a possibility and I found it interesting. I found it exciting to be at the forefront of information.” (In a different world, he might have been interviewing me!)
Gordon Pinsent, the voice of the bear in Two Lovers and a Bear, and the subject of a new documentary, The River of My Dreams, was equally quick. “Anthropologist! The digging, the finding, the new, the different, the old and different and special, it’s something that always intrigued me. Even with travel, I would always spend more time studying than enjoying.”
"Scrappy Little Nobody": There is also an article by Lincee Ray. She reviewed Anna Kendrick's book.
"Scrappy Little Nobody" (Touchstone), by Anna Kendrick
Anna Kendrick has charmed her fans in films such as "Up in the Air," ''Into the Woods" and "Pitch Perfect." In "Scrappy Little Nobody," Kendrick tells how she shaped her career by being irritatingly ordinary.
Her collection of essays portrays a young girl's road to success, as well as the personal anxieties that accompany a profession in film. Early in her career, one of her biggest headaches was her tiny stature, but she could work her size to her advantage by playing a wide age range of characters. As she got older, she learned to adopt the mantra that big things come in small packages. When Kendrick spoke her mind, people listened.
Kendrick also lets the reader peek into the more personal details of her life. This includes a coming-of-age checklist, an index of extremely detailed party themes she has yet to execute and a harrowing experience on a boat to Catalina. Her description of the emotions she felt during her grandmother's funeral can only be described as heartbreaking.
"Scappy Little Nobody" is a story about Kendrick's ability to embrace the pretend person she's playing in front of the camera, as well as the person she is in real life. Kendrick is both practical and skeptical and more courageous than not. And she's secure enough to admit that what you see is what you get.
If you're looking for authentic and engaging under the umbrella of ridiculously entertaining, then Anna Kendrick is your answer.
Kendrick is authentic, engaging in 'Scrappy Little Nobody' (dailyherald.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment