Ryan Gosling on "Lars and the Real Girl"

Published in Flaunt Magazine 2008

In a small community, a young man pushes a wheelchair in which rests the upright, silicon body of a sex doll named Bianca. As the title character, Gosling portrays a delusional and socially awkward milquetoast, who channels his loneliness and ameliorates his emotional paralysis with the silent words of a synthetic woman. As Lars slowly breaks from his chrysalis of introversion, Gosling’s performance—made affecting more because of his silences that his words—emerges as the keystone that holds the film together. The plot could have easily been led into the realm of unbelievability. But with each constrained gesture, overactive blink, and nervous stutter, you fall headfirst into the world that Lars built.

“We’re all good and bad people, so I’m interested in characters that have a light and dark side. Bianca is [Lar’s] way to light a match into his abyss. He has a lot of love and nowhere to put it.” –Ryan Gosling.

Anne Hathaway on the dark heart of "Rachel Getting Married"

Published at Metromix September 30, 2008

Anne Hathaway just wants attention.

Scratch that. Hathaway’s character in the new dramedy “Rachel Getting Married” just wants attention, any way she can get it: drug use, impulsive sex, complete disregard for her family.

Hathaway delivers an emotional and captivating performance as the film’s central figure, Kym, creating a sarcastic, self-centered and utterly real person on screen. It’s also one more step in the actress’ concerted effort to break down the façade of the “good girl” persona established by her early work in Disney’s “The Princess Diaries” franchise.

Metromix caught up with the star of diverse hits including “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Brokeback Mountain” for a discussion about love, drugs and AC/DC.

Hi Anne. You’re looking very fashionable today.

I was in my Glamosaurus Rex outfit earlier, but now I’m a little bit more comfy. [She’s wearing a T-Shirt and jeans] Please don’t out me. Tell everyone I’m wearing Chanel or something.

Your character in “Rachel Getting Married” is highly dysfunctional and kind of a mess. Were you looking for a role that would create a different image for you?

No. When I took this role I thought, “oh what a great opportunity” just as an actress, not “what a great chance to shake up this perspective of me.” I don’t consider my whole body of work whenever I think about accepting a movie. And Meryl [Streep] said it best—as Meryl often does—you do the best work you can in the roles that are available to you.

What did you do to prepare for the role?

I went to a lot of AA meetings. In [a Venice film festival] interview, someone asked me in a very leading way if I knew anyone in recovery. So I asked [the journalists in the room] to look at each other and said, “If you are not in recovery or you aren’t related to someone in recovery raise your hand.” And no one raised a hand. Addiction is something that connects us all.

One of Rachel’s big moments comes when she toasts her sister. Are you a good toast giver at weddings?I am a heartfelt toast-giver. It doesn’t always mean I’m clever, but it does mean that everything I say does come from the heart.

“I think that love has a dark side, and I love that this movie explores it and doesn’t try to judge it or presuppose that love and darkness come in the exclusion of each other. Cause that’s life.”

This film has several interracial couples including the newlyweds, Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe) and Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), but there is no special attention paid to their race. Do you think that America is “post-race”?

I am, and I think that my friends are. The family [in the movie] certainly is. If you look at the Democratic National Convention, that certainly was. The Republican Convention…not so much. I do think that we are much further along on that then we ever have been.

Adebimpe is better known as the lead singer of TV on the Radio. What’s it like working with musician actors?

I started listening to TV on the Radio when I learned that Tunde was going to be in the movie. They’re a great band. I don’t think that it affects working in the scene, but ultimately you can get some great adds to your iTunes. It was really cool for the scene where he sings a Neil Young song to Rachel. His pitch was perfect. The song was originally supposed to be “You Shook Me All Night Long,” by AC/DC but it was too expensive.

What do you think “Rachel Getting Married” says about love?

I think that love has a dark side, and I love that this movie explores it and doesn’t try to judge it or presuppose that love and darkness come in the exclusion of each other. Cause that’s life. And I am very open to that idea. Jenny [Lumet] wrote the script and she said that Kym is the loneliest character in the world. I played the character and it never occurred to me that that was who she was. I think that [Kym’s] relationship with Kieran [Mather Zickel, who plays a recovering addict] is as romantic as it is a godsend. He is someone who looks at her and actually sees her.

Should we feel sorry for Kym?

It doesn’t matter what I feel. One of my favorite things about Kym is that people perceive her one way, but she knows herself better than anyone else. She knows the dark, 3 AM version of her soul.

Martín Piroyansky on the "brave" choice to star in "XXY"

Published Artist Direct August 20, 2008.

“XXY” is a rare gem of a film. It is sharply cut, meticulously polished, and completely one of a kind. The Argentine film tells the story of Alex, a 15-year-old with an unusual secret: she is both a boy and a girl. Amid the beautiful landscapes of coastal Uruguay, “XXY” weaves the lives of Alex’s family, the community, and a family visiting from Argentina into a captivating exploration into love, sexuality, and identity.

With emotional performances by Inés Efron as the fiery Alex, Ricardo Darín as her strong and loving father, and Martín Piroyansky as Alex’s starcrossed lover Álvaro, the film won the Critic’s Week grand prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

For more on this intensely unique film, we recently called Martín Piroyansky in Argentina and chatted about intersexuality, homosexuality, and all kinds of sexuality.

Martín, what drew you to this particular film?

I think it is a very brave movie, because in Argentina this kind of movie is very rare. There’s a lot of action and there’s something happening all the time, and I really like that. It’s more similar to [American] Cinema.

Why do you think the movie is brave, and what is the view of homosexuality in Argentina?

I think Argentina is very ambiguous; it’s okay to be gay, but not really. I don’t believe people when they say that they think it’s okay. People know that they have to be okay with it, but they aren’t really okay with it. Since I was a kid I [have] always had gay friends, but it’s not common for Argentina, for the whole country.

How did you explain the film to your friends when you got the part?

It was pretty funny. I was shooting the film and talking to a friend of mine about it, and he said, “Wait, you’re making a comedy right?” And I told him that it wasn’t a comedy, it was a serious movie. But he said, “But it’s about an intersexual girl, how could it be serious?” He was right. It could be like a comedy or it could be like the way it is.

Making jokes can be a way to deal with something that is difficult. How did you make the movie without making fun of the condition?

I always make jokes of difficult situations, and yes, it’s a defense. I watch the movie and I see this teenager with all his struggles and he is like a clown for me. All the people are mistreating him all the time, and he doesn’t do anything. He’s in love. And even the girl mistreats him. It’s kind of funny really. This guy falls in love with this girl that ends up being a guy.

“He is suffering.
He loves her.
He doesn’t mind if she’s a girl or a boy.”

But the film is really tragic love story. What do you think the movie says about love?

It has a dark message. The girl is a victim of what the village people say and that’s why she can’t really be in love with Álvaro. Because she believes that Álvaro is in love with her strange condition, but we know that he is really in love. He is suffering. He loves her. He doesn’t mind if she’s a girl or a boy. Then in the last scene where he says to her that he loves her. She says, “No. Do you like me or do you like to watch my thing?” He loves her and cries. For the first time a guy is in love with her, and she can’t see it.

Your character, Álvaro, is at the cusp of becoming a man. He’s a teenager and he’s learning about his own sexuality through the reflection of Alex. How does the movie challenge the typical view of what it means to be a man?

I don’t know if it’s about becoming a man, but it’s more about coming to accept our sexuality, whatever it is. The girl, in the search of herself, has to come to terms with the fact that her indecision has consequences. She has to decide whether she will become a boy.