FAMILY AFFAIR: An interview with Lovely & Amazing star Catherine Keener By Warren Curry 6/26/02 Part 2 of 2

Next you're in Simone?

Another really interesting part; I have a smaller part in that -- it's really Al's (Pacino) movie.

How was it working with Al Pacino?

It was great; it was one of those, "Am I really here?" moments. Then you have to overcome it, do some work and get over all of that. He was wonderful; he's a very gentle spirit and I have so much admiration for him as an actor. Andrew Niccol, who wrote it and directed it, is so clever and great.

Have you been able to feel if the Oscar nomination has changed your career?

I can't. I 'll tell you why: I had a good one going before then. It didn't make studios want to hire me. I didn't get bigger by any means, but it was a nice thing -- it made my parents really happy and that kind of thing. Maybe it did (help my career) -- I really don't know. I'm not aware of it, because I got really good jobs before that and (jobs of) the same quality (afterwards). Maybe the studio wouldn't have signed off on Smoochy with me; perhaps something like that. But, then again, Danny's pretty powerful. (laughs) It was fun and funny and weird -- all I wanted to do was come home and eat pizza with my friends, which I did.

What was it like working with Jake Gyllenhaal?

I wish he was here; he's so great. I was so excited when I heard it was Jake. I had a blast with him. People have asked, "Was it weird, because he was so much younger?" I just discovered this while talking today that I guess I was so in the mindset of Michelle and the character, and she was so immature, that it seemed an appropriate guy for her to date. It wasn't freakish at all to me. So, if it's going to be a guy playing 17, why not Jake Gyllenhaal, who's fantastic, adorable, fun and enthusiastic? It was a blast. It was kind of just silly -- it was 3:00 in the morning the first night we're working and (we're) kissing in the back of the car, freezing. It was silly; it wasn't one of those standard, uncomfortable love scenes. I think he's so gifted and just a really nice guy.

What did you think the first time you saw your husband and Emily's rather risqué scene (where Mulroney's character Kevin, a movie star, is asked by Emily's character Elizabeth to critique her body while she stands completely nude in front of him)?

Honestly, I loved that scene. When I read it, I thought, "Oh my God, I've never seen anything like it." It was one of those (scenes) where you knew that it was going to be mind-blowing to see. I was really happy that Dermot got to be a part of it. I look at it like a classic kind of film scene and I was totally fine with the sexuality of it; that doesn't bother me. More than that, I was excited for him that he was a part of it and Emily's such a great person. I knew that between Nicole and Dermot, she was in really good hands

What's Nicole like on the set?

She's perfect! She really is; she comes so prepared, she writes a script that's ready to shoot -- there's no, "We'll work it out on the set." We were ready to go. She has a very gentle, but very decisive opinion on everything and you feel completely free and loved. She has a real, real knack for saying just the right thing to get you where you need to go. Part of the reason I think Dermot wanted to do that part is he heard me talk about how great Nicole was to work with. I wish for her big things.

Are you ready for your big action heroine role?

You know, I'm ready, but I'm not sure anybody else is! When we did Malkovich, Cameron (Diaz) and I had the whole action sequence -- a lot of it didn't make it in the movie -- but we had two weeks of walking on top of buses going at 35 miles an hour, diving through the tops of them; just crazy, crazy stuff that I can't even believe that we did. It was fun, really fun. It would be a different experience -- I think it would be a blast. But the people who make those movies tend to be studios, because they need a lot of money to do it, and those people don't hire me.

Why do you think those people don't hire you?

I don't mean to disparage, because I like the people they do hire. I just maybe don't fit in enough with what they want. They're worried that I won't bring people in to see the movie and I can understand that. The movies I'm in not a lot of people see, but it's alright.

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