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Paramount Pictures releases Morning Glory nationwide on November 10th, 2010. NYC MOVIE GURU: Who did you model your character after? Patrick Wilson: As [Becky] was going through all of her shenanigans, I tried just to be the grounding force. I really was just playing the opposite of what she was doing. Harrison Ford: I didn’t model my character after anybody. I wanted to bring the ideas that were in the story to the screen. I wanted to be Mike Pomeroy, that specific character, doing the news; not to do an imitation of somebody else. Rachel McAdams: I wound up shadowing some executive producers from Good Morning America. We went to The Today Show and to K-Pix, and Becky starts out at a smaller place, then moves to the big city, Manhattan, and goes to a bigger show. So, I tried to get a feeling for all of it. You know, I was disappointed to know that executive producers are much more organized than Becky, and much more together as people. So that wasn't quite in keeping with the reality; she's a bit more frenetic than they would be. But, I liked the juxtaposition of that and that she was trying to hold this show together that was falling apart while she was, kind of, falling apart as well. So, that was kinda fun to play. But, I met some really great producers along the way that gave me some great insights that I'm very grateful to. And Harry Smith, actually, spent a lot of time with me, unexpectedly, one day. I went to their show and he, I'm sure, had a million things to do, but he sat down with me and told me some stories and shared some things with me that were very helpful. I'm very grateful to him, too. Diane Keaton: As far as me, my concern, like my character, was with how I looked. So that's why [I modeled myself after] Diane Sawyer, because, obviously, she's beautiful. In terms of who I was playing, I thought that I wanted to be more like Kelly Ripka. You know what I mean? [She’s] funny. Because I’m not really playing an anchor like Harrison is. You know, she was never taken seriously, I don't think. That's my story. Jeff Goldblum: I met with Phil Griffin who was very generous to me, who heads up MSNBC, as the what would be my job there. And he spent a couple/ hours with me going over the script saying, “Yeah, you're thinkin' about this," [and], "This is what you're talking about here and there.” There were some fascinating stories of what goes on behind the scenes. But my character also reminded me of, not that I really modeled myself or imitated him, but, you know, Sanford Meisner. He was a person of great weight and authority and I thought that that was kind of the story between me and this wonderful character, [Becky]. She comes in –-yes, I have to recruit her and fulfill this challenging job, but I think, which I'm right about, I think she has the winning resources to do what she does and, kind of, win the day. But I think I see it in a moment that, instinctively, that she's ripe for some kind of experience whereby she's going to go on this growing journey and learn about an artful way of living somehow where a balance is reached between her life here and life circumstances and ambitions and plans and making things work and her addiction to and her identification with her mind and her thinking. A balance between that and her soulful life of the present. And something lovely, which allows her to then have this romantic life blossom and actually bring something of substance to her work life and sweetness and get something sweet out of it. All of which goes on to happen. And that's why I want to invite her in and nurture her because I think my character is going through something similar, and I want to share in that. That's what I think. And it reminded me of Sandy Meisner, who could be very fierce, challenging in his ways of waking somebody up and guiding them, and enormously, really nurturing. Harrison Ford: And I thought we had no sequel potential. [laughter] NYC MOVIE GURU: Rachel, how did director Roger Michell persuade you to play Becky? Rachel McAdams: I tried to talk Roger out of it a few times and, thankfully, he didn’t listen to me. I was very nervous about playing this character, and I didn’t want to let him down. So, yes, I was very hesitant. We talked about it a little bit. What Roger did for me which was really great was that he got me out of my head and into my body. I grew up playing sports and I think that that’s the best way I work. It’s a testament to him that he figured that out. NYC MOVIE GURU: Harrison, can you weigh in on the issue of news versus entertainment and the so-called dumbing down of media? Harrison Ford: We all know that now that, as we have 24-hour news, it’s not really news anymore. All of it is what used to be called “features,” interesting things, perhaps. But still, we, as citizens, should require to get quality information about what’s going on in the world. Our citizen responsibilities depend on how to get information. I depend on the radio more than I do on television. It seems to me, your task as a journalist is more clear on radio, and the density of thought has to be greater because you’re not depending on pictures to carry the story; you have to tell the story. Main Page Interviews Menu Alphabetical Menu Chronological Menu ______________________________________________________ |
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