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Scarlett Speaks About Singing, and Mary Queen Of Scots

PopSugarUK — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:00:00 -0800

So here it is, the final installment of my Q+A with Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. In the first, second and third parts you read about The Other Boleyn Girl, as well as the actresses' thoughts on the upcoming US elections. In this final part we talk to Scarlett about her upcoming projects, and the amiable Eric interrupts to joke around (yet again!). I'll also give you my thoughts on the movie, which is out this Friday (March 7) in the UK.

Tell us a little about your upcoming movie, Mary, Queen Of Scots.

SJ – Phillip Noyce is directing and we’ll be shooting in the summertime, I’m not necessarily sure on the locations, but…

Eric Bana – Toronto?

SJ – (laughs) but yeah it should be an adventure, spanning from her return to Scotland to her execution, so it’s a lot to fit into two hours. With the accent, we’ll see… it’s been an interesting discussion. Her ladies in waiting were Scottish so I guess her English would be with a Scottish accent, but she was living in France so it should be interesting, probably a big mess.

EB – Sounds like you can get away with whatever you want.

SJ – Yeah… it will be like a Chinese accent.

Scarlett tells us a little about her album after the jump, and I'll review The Other Boleyn Girl! So read more

And finally, could you tell us a little about your upcoming album of Tom Waits covers?

SJ – I’m very excited about it, it was a really great project that I had the opportunity to explore, and I couldn’t really pass it up – All my friends would kill for that opportunity to be able to record a full album and work with Dave Sidek from TV On The Radio. It was an inspiring career change for a bit. I just look forward to it coming out.

And with that they were gone, back to their suites to get ready for their meeting with Prince Charles and Camilla before the Royal Premiere of The Other Boleyn Girl.

So, what of the movie? It opened in the US last week to mixed reviews and fourth position at the box office. I enjoyed it though. The story is interesting throughout and Natalie and Scarlett give great performances, holding on to their Brit accents admirably. Eric's a little less remarkable as King Henry VIII, which was disappointing to me as he's so full of character in real life. But Henry is not at the centre of the movie, it is the two women, so in some ways I'm glad his performance did not deflect from them too much. As a rule I'm not a huge fan of period movies / TV shows, so I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy The Other Boleyn Girl, but I'm really glad I got to see it. Even thought I knew what was going to happen to Anne Boleyn at the end, I was still kept interested, which to me is a pretty mean feat! It's a curiosity-bating fictional take on a well-known story. The film's out on Friday (March 7) and I'd be really interested to know what you all think too.

Right, I'm off to start reading the novel now, to see what was missed out...

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Do, Dump, or Marry?

DearSugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:00:00 -0800

Did any of you see The Other Boleyn Girl this weekend? If so, do you agree that Eric Bana - the object of the girls' affection in this film - is someone to fight over? I've been a fan of his since he played an assassin in Munich, and although he's a little too pretty for my taste, I'm still a huge fan! So what about you? Tell me ladies, would you want to do, dump, or marry Eric Bana?

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Box Office: Semi-Pro Semi-Beats Out Competition

BuzzSugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:30:00 -0800

Despite earning the top spot at the box office, the predictable laughs in Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro only earned $15.3 million over the weekend. This is considered a disappointing sum, especially compared to opening weekends of other Ferrell films like Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory. Variety reports that this underwhelming performance by the basketball comedy may have been due to mediocre reviews and an R-rating.

Vantage Point was only bumped down one spot to No. 2 over the weekend followed by The Spiderwick Chronicles at No. 3. The adaptation of Buzz Book Club's February selection The Other Boleyn Girl took the fourth spot earning an estimated $8.3 million. Penelope starring Reese Witherspoon and Christina Ricci also opened this weekend coming in at No. 8 behind Jumper, Step Up 2 The Streets, and Fool's Gold.

Filling out the top ten were Oscar-nominated films No Country for Old Men and Juno.

Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema

We Talk Sexism, Obama and Clinton With Scarlett & Natalie

PopSugarUK — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:00:00 -0800

We're coming close to the end of my Q+A with Scarlett, Eric and Natalie – we've discussed the making of The Other Boleyn Girl, and their impressions of the UK – but in this penultimate installment the girls talk about the treatment of women both in the time the film is set and in the 21st century, and they also confirm the candidates they're backing for the US Presidential election. It's fascinating to hear the passionate responses from both Scarlett and Natalie, I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed listening to them speak.

As modern women, how did you comprehend that the Boleyn girls were pretty much sold off by their father and their uncle?

NP – I think it’s interesting, because although women have made a lot of headway since then, I think there are women who are made to have sex or marry for position or money – today a lot of women also choose to have sex with someone or marry for position or wealth. So we see it still today – there are still vestiges of those societal limitations on women, and I tend to think that has to do with opportunities that are available. It says a lot that that is still sometimes the best opportunity for a woman to advance herself.

To read Scarlett's response, and their US Election hopes, read more

SJ – And it would be silly to assume that it doesn’t still happen in other parts of the world. When you travel and see the limitations that are put on women in certain countries, you really feel thankful to have grown up in a society where, you know, both my parents always encouraged my sister and I. We were told you’re your own person and you can do whatever you want and we were never limited because of our gender. Both Natalie and I have had a lot of questions saying ‘God, women have moved so far on from this period’ but the truth of the matter is in many parts of the world it’s not that way.

NP – Including the United States, I mean, in Saudi Arabia women aren’t allowed to drive cars, but in the US if you look at the number of female CEOs of companies or women in congress it’s still in the dark ages. It’s not so different in our own societies.

How important then do you think it would be to see a woman in the top position in American public life as President of the United States?

NP – Very important. I’m very pro-Hillary so I hope to see her as our leader.

SJ – I am in the other camp... I think it would be great to see Michelle Obama in the White House.

We still have Scarlett's solo album and upcoming movie role to discuss, and I'll be letting you know my thoughts about the movie, which comes out March 7th, so keep checking back!

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Rewind: This Week's Buzz

BuzzSugar — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:00:00 -0800

The Buzz Book Club officially wrapped up The Other Boleyn Girl this week. What did you all think? Going to see the movie? Next up: Revolutionary Road!
In case you missed it (and a lot of people did) the Oscars gave us a lot of wonderful moments and a few surprises. You can see a 60-second version of the show here, and I also researched what's next for this year's big winners.
Time to play casting director: Who would you recast as Will Hunting and who would you cast as you in a movie?
This week in music videos we learn that Jack McBrayer is Mariah's love slave, Jay-Z likes his cinematography dark, and Willie Nelson is still tight with Jessica Simpson.
American Idol is picking up speed and already we're down to 16. I think the boys need to step it up this week and it's time for those talented girls to pick some great songs and show us what they've got, don't you?
NBC ordered more episodes of Lipstick Jungle, though we haven't heard a peep about the fate of Cashmere Mafia.
Adorable indie duo alert!: Zooey Deschanel and Paul Dano are pairing up for a movie. Also, this casting news has me laughing/crying a little: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to play the tooth fairy.

Photo courtesy of Sony

The Other Boleyn Girl: Ambitious and Flawed

BuzzSugar — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:31:50 -0800

Not unlike Anne Boleyn herself, the movie version of Philippa Gregory's bestselling novel The Other Boleyn Girl is both greatly ambitious and flawed. It's lovely to look at, yet unsatisfying as a film. In some ways, it seems like a video that will soon be used in history classes as one of the many ways we can view Anne Boleyn's life and death. It's not the grand cinematic experience I'd hoped for as I read the novel for this month's book club.

In this version of Gregory's work, Anne is forced by her family - against her will, at first - to seduce England's King Henry VIII. Henry's queen, Katherine of Aragon, has not been able to produce a male heir to the throne, so Anne's uncle, the Duke of Norfolk - played as the one true villain of the story by David Morrissey - decides Anne should have a boy by Henry, thus allowing the whole family to advance. Yet when Henry suffers a hunting accident and Anne is blamed for it, the Duke makes Anne's sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson) become Henry's mistress. She's, you know, the other Boleyn girl. There's so much else to talk about with this film, so read more.

When Mary becomes pregnant by Henry, Anne is once more pushed in front of Henry to keep him interested in the Boleyn family. Anne enchants the king who quickly forgets all about Mary and becomes desperate to have Anne - no matter what it takes. Having gained the king's worship, Anne withholds herself physically from the king until he promises to divorce Queen Katherine and make Anne his wife. Yet everything goes horribly wrong when Anne does become queen - and then cannot produce a male heir. King Henry grows increasingly impatient and Anne takes desperate measures to try and remain in his good graces. These measures ultimately lead to her demise.

Having recently finished the book, I was distracted by the ways in which the film deviates from Gregory's work. Many of the changes are understandable, seeing as Gregory's novel is quite long and encompasses so many events that couldn't possibly fit into a two-hour film. Yet despite the edits and the rearrangements, the movie still feels cluttered, overwrought and sometimes disjointed. Mary's first husband William Carey, for example, is in the first quarter of the movie but when Mary takes up with the king, he sends William Carey away and we never hear from or see him again. There's zero explanation for whatever happened to this person that Mary is married to, and then randomly William Stafford approaches her with the offer of a country farm. I assume this is a casualty of editing, but it's infuriating to be thought so little of as an audience, like maybe we wouldn't notice.

And then, after all the things left out of the movie, there's the baffling addition of Henry viciously raping Anne when she refuses to marry him until he divorces Katherine. This is not a part of Gregory's novel and the only reason I can think of to include it is for dramatic effect. In this way, it feels like a cheap - and disgusting - move. Personally, I resent being subjected to an awful rape scene because someone figured it would be a great way to keep our attention.

The lush costumes are the most delightful part of the film, as the story is so rushed it's hard to care about anyone or anything - including this "sisterly bond" they consistently try so hard to make seem like the tightest relationship ever. The two women are far closer in the film than they are in the book, probably because it's supposed to make the wedge driven between them that much more devastating. And yet . . . it's hard to care much about either sister. It's not a fault of the acting - I was pretty impressed by both Johansson and Portman, for different reasons - but perhaps of the story's hectic tempo.

Bottom line: Though it has a lovely look to it, I expected more from this movie and was disappointed.

Photos courtesy of Sony

Dear Poll: Have You Ever Competed With Your Sister?

DearSugar — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:00:00 -0800

Finally, the much-awaited movie The Other Boleyn Girl has arrived in theaters. Having read the book, I'm absolutely dying to see this movie, especially because it has two of my favorite actresses in the main roles, Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. They play two sisters, Mary and Anne Boleyn respectively, in perhaps one of the most dramatic sibling rivalries of all time over the affections of King Henry VIII.

The story is certainly an intriguing one, and while I assume (and hope) that none of us are caught in such a whirlwind of competition with a sister, this particular brand of rivalry isn't a new one. So let me ask you this; have you ever competed with a sister?

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Buzz Book Club: The End of The Other Boleyn Girl

BuzzSugar — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:30:00 -0800

Welcome back, members of the Buzz Book Club! Now that I've finished Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl, I'm excited to chat about it in its entirety. This is a fun time to wrap everything up as the movie opens this weekend as well.

Over the past several weeks I've suggested chapters to complete and posited questions to prompt discussion in the comments section. Last week's assignment was to finish the book! Of course, that means I'm going to announce the next book, so stay tuned for that.

After the jump you'll find some discussion topics that struck me as I finished the book. Also, if you're just joining and want to catch up, you can find all of our discussions thus far here.

Ready to discuss the conclusion of The Other Boleyn Girl? Just read more.

We learn more in the final section about the decline of the court and the lengths to which Anne is willing to go to produce a son. Did any of the developments in the final section shock you?
How historically accurate do you think this book is? Did you get the sense Philippa Gregory took some major liberties or does it seem like this is pretty factual?
What's one question you'd like to ask the author?
Did you all feel like there was too much or too little detail? On one hand, I think the book could have used some editing down. On the other hand, I found there to be so much ambiguity from our narrator, Mary, that I actually craved more information despite the length.
Now that you've read the entire book, what would be a good subtitle for it?
How do you feel about the movie version of this book, opening today? Are you glad they made it into a movie, or would you have preferred Hollywood not mess with the novel? Do you want to see the movie, having read the book? Or do you not want to see the movie, having read the book?

Talking All Things English With Scarlett, Natalie and Eric

PopSugarUK — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:00:00 -0800

In the first part of my exciting meeting with the stars of The Other Boleyn Girl I found out about their experiences of making the movie and Eric mischievously teased Scarlett about her research attempts, which mainly revolved around reading the novel. Have you read the book, or are you about to start? If so you should definitely check out Buzz's book club – It's a great way to get even more out of it.

In this installment Eric, Natalie and Scarlett speak about accents, England and their Brit director Justin Chadwick. There's even more to come next week, so be sure to keep checking back to PopSugarUK to read their responses.

You all had to learn accents for the roles, do you think it was more difficult to do an upperclass English accent rather than another kind?

SJ – All are difficult, for Natalie and I as Americans, it places a restriction on the intonation and, whether it’s upper crust or common, it’s still very foreign. Americans have a tendency to emphasise every single word that we say, whereas [with this] there are choice words placed delicately for emphasis. It’s a challenge, but it’s a fun one.

NP – It was definitely an extra challenge, but we were lucky enough to have an great dialect coach on the film who guided us through. I actually think that doing something more posh – an exaggeration of what we think of as British – is more clear in my head than doing more of like a modern urban dialect, just from the British movies and television I’ve seen.

To find out Eric's accent experiences, how they found working with Bleak House director Justin Chadwick, and to see photos of Natalie at the David Letterman show, read more

And Eric, you smoothed out your vowels.

EB (In an exaggerated accent) – What you talkin’ about mate? What’s all this about? I fink it’s ‘ard, I mean, everytime I go an’ do a movie I gotta get rid of it all. It's just anover feather in my bow, so to speak, y’know? (back in normal voice, others are laughing) No, it’s always hard, but in my case – rather than the girls, because they’re lucky enough to be American – every time I go to work I have to do it, so it becomes part of the job. It’s an extra challenge and an extra tool you have to think consciously about [when you're] getting into character. So whilst it does require more work, it also is maybe even an advantage to a degree. It forces you to switch, it forces you to consciously jump in and out of a character.

How was it working with your British film director Justin Chadwick on his debut movie?

EB – Justin was brilliant. I love working with people who have television experience as there’s an efficiency and methodology that comes from that background. Having seen Justin’s work on Bleak House I knew that he’d be incredibly well-prepared and interesting stylistically for this, and that was most definitely the case. He creates a very loose, liberating environment and is a great collaborator. I loved working with him, he was very smart in how he assembled people around him and had a crew that he knew very well. So he was very comfortable on set so I never felt like I was working with a first-time film maker.

NP – The film was shot digitally which is really unusual for a period film, I think it might be one of the first period features to be shot digitally, so he and the crew were so meticulous and watching in this darkened tent so they could see everything. I think they succeeded on such a grand scale of making it look as beautiful as it could have looked on film, because digitally it’s hard not to make it look too sharp. He’s just a lovely human being, and he brought a modernity to the way the film came out, he brought the pace and the real emotion. It doesn’t feel as removed as period films can feel, I think.

SJ – I’d seen the Bleak House series, which was so riveting, I loved it. He said to me -"Look, I’ve been an actor before, and I want to make certain that within the craziness of the costumes and the sets and the locations and all this, that we really find the humanity of the story. I don’t want to make a 'Men In Tights', masterpiece theatre type of thing, I want to find the human quality of the story." - And I think he was really successful in that. I really appreciated that he maintained that integrity throughout production and was always trying to fine the humanity of these scenes instead of just the melodrama and the rivalry, he wanted to find the deeper human connection between the characters.

NP – And the locations were amazing – we got to film in all these 16th Century buildings. At Dover Castle we had a big crane shot, and there was a wind tunnel during certain hours in the day, at 3pm they’d be like ‘Everyone Inside!’ and hooped skirts would be flying up. The crew all had hard hats on as it was so dangerous to walk through this thing, whereas they send the two of us in bareheaded in our little wigs. It was funny!

There's even more to come from Natalie, Scarlett and Eric including their thoughts on the status of women in the days the film is set versus now, and what Scarlett's up to in the future in both music and movies. Also here's some photos of Natalie's appearance at David Letterman last week, Pop US has all the gossip on it, as well as a video of her appearance!

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We Meet The Stars Of The Other Boleyn Girl

PopSugarUK — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:00:00 -0800

Last week I had the amazing opportunity to meet Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana when I attended a screening event for The Other Boleyn Girl, just before the stars attended the Royal Premiere. Here's an excerpt of the Q+A regarding their roles in the upcoming film (out March 7th) where Eric reveals he wanted to play Natalie's part of Anne Boleyn! Be sure to keep checking back to PopSugarUK for the rest of their answers...

To set the scene, Scarlett was quite quiet and wore a bright green cardigan with stand-out red/orange lipstick, an often-laughing Natalie wore more natural make-up and an elegant slate-grey jewelled top, and Eric (pre-shaven head) sat mischievously between them.

Scarlett you play Mary Boleyn, and Natalie, you're Anne – you both have incredibly rich roles in this film, was there any discussion about swapping the roles?

SJ - No, because when I had signed on to the project, or even when I was approached with the project, Natalie was attached to play Anne. I have been a fan of Natalie’s for a long time – you know, I just saw the role of Anne as being Natalie – that’s how I read it – so I never even thought about it. But like you said, they’re both very complex characters and it would have been a challenge to play either role.

So you were locked in already Natalie, but the role of Mary is still very complex and attractive to an actress, isn’t it?

NP – Yes, it’s so rare to find a script with one role as complex as either one of these, and to have two roles in the same film, both for women, and of the same age is completely unheard of. So it was really exciting. I wanted to play Anne because it was so different anything I’d done before and it was just an amazing opportunity to get to work with Scarlett who I’d admired since we were kids.

To find out Eric's thoughts on playing Henry VIII, and to hear lots more from Scarlett and Natalie read more

Eric, Henry VIII has been portrayed a lot on the big screen, and the small screen, so did you look at other portrayals or did you try and come to it as fresh as possible?

EB – Well, originally when I read the script I wanted to play Anne, but Natalie of course was already attached! (laughter) No, I thought it would be too dangerous [to watch others playing Henry], I had friends sending me emails saying ‘I heard you were playing Henry VIII, you’ve gotta see this guy’s portrayal, and this guy’s portrayal’ and I deliberately steered clear of that. I think it’s restricting enough as it is, playing a real person, but to then be constricted by someone else’s interpretation is kind of crippling I think. So I steered clear of it completely, I look forward to seeing others now.

Did the etiquette coach help you in your portrayals? And was there anything during your research of your characters that surprised you?

SJ – I think it was helpful just to have the etiquette supervisor on the set. Things like how should I carry my hands, how deeply shall I curtsy, would I nod towards the servant or handmaiden, how close would our relationships be, how long would we have known each other... That kind of thing was interesting to find out, helpful, and added to the freshness and the authenticity of the period. As far as my research, I mean I tried to find anything, but aside from land ownership and husbandry or whatever – things that were factual – it was impossible for me to find any kind of record of… (Eric’s laughing) What’s so funny?

EB (chuckling) – Land ownership, I love that! (he does an impression of Scarlett opening a book) ‘I need something very relevant to my character – Land. Ownership.’ (Laughter from all)

SJ (trying to get back on track) – Well, you know, what I’m trying to say…

EB – No… I’m in support of you….

SJ – Yeah, as usual… What I’m trying to say is that I only had the book [Philippa Gregory’s novel] as reference because I couldn’t find anything, other than that Mary had one, if not two, children by Henry VIII. And that was really it.

Natalie, we know a lot more about Anne. But did you also learn a lot about etiquette of the time?

NP – Yes definitely, especially in terms of bodily contact, of what’s appropriate with your Father, or with your sister, or with your lover, in public, in private – all those kinds of things are really helpful – to have someone who knows all those details you can’t glean from books. Obviously there’s so much information on Anne, and I think the big surprise was probably [being] continuously reminded how biased history is. It’s always someone’s version or some sort of fiction. You can see people’s agendas behind their depictions of Anne – whether they had some sort of feminist agenda, or wanted to depict her as some witch who put some sort of spell on their beloved King – and their version helped them understand something in their own lives. I think it’s nice that we present our film so clearly as a fiction – it’s so clearly an imagination of the events even though the timeline is relatively accurate.

No etiquette for you Eric, you could do as you like as Henry VIII I suppose?

EB – No, that was for everybody else to follow I guess. It’s always great doing these sort of movies, you learn a lot about the stuff you weren’t paying attention to in school, and that’s always really interesting.

What a lovely triplet of stars! Coming up in our next installments - Scarlett discusses her new album and next acting role, Natalie talks about the role of women in society and Eric heaps praise on the film's first-time director Justin Chadwick, and I'll also give you my thoughts on the film.

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