Neve Campbell has become an old favorite of SuicideGirls since I spoke to her last year for her movie The Company.
Well now Neve is back in When Will I Be Loved. A sexually charged role for that genius of a pervert James Toback, the writer/director of such films as The Pick-up Artist and Two Girls and a Guy.
Neve Campbell is Vera, a femme fatale for the 21st century, a beautiful, capricious young woman exploring the limits of her sexual and intellectual power. Her boyfriend Ford [Frederick Weller] is a fast-talking hustler prepared to do anything to make a buck. He sees his chance to make big money when he meets aging Italian media mogul Count Tommaso [Dominic Chianese] and cooks up an idea to pimp Vera out to the Count for $100,000 -- easy money. Everything appears to be going even better than planned but the men have gravely underestimated Vera.
Check out the website for When Will I Be Loved
Daniel Robert Epstein: That scene with you and James Toback talking in the beginning almost seemed like that is what happened when he invited you to work on this movie.
Neve Campbell: Yeah it was pretty much. I guess he had seen my work and wanted to work with me and I wanted to work with him. He had sent me 35 pages of the script, I read it and I was really enthusiastic about meeting him. We were supposed to meet for an hour but we ended up spending the whole day together. I talked to him about ideas and the concept of the film just by getting to know one another. Hes very curious and very straight up.
DRE: This film is also the Holy Grail for your fans because you do your first nude scenes. Would Toback be the only director you would do that for?
NC No, I had no nudity clauses in contracts before and my feeling on it was that if the nudity isnt necessary and has nothing to do with the film then I wont do it. If its for a box office draw as opposed to the content then it doesnt make sense to me. But When Will I Be Loved is about her sexual spiritedness so it makes sense.
DRE: When Will I Be Loved is being characterized as a post feminist statement. How do you respond to that?
NC I think I can understand why people might jump up and say that because we dont often get to see women be powerful and not play the victim. To me this is a woman who is curious, very intelligent and interested in people and life while trying to figure out who she is. She is courageous enough to fight back against the people who are trying to manipulate her. But she is also takes a very dark turn so I dont know if this is a positive film. Its positive in that she doesnt allow herself to be a victim but I wouldnt admire her choices.
DRE: What aspects of her do you see in yourself?
NC I think we all have been underestimated and manipulated to some extent so we get that moment in our minds where we wish we could be dark and get back at those people.
DRE: This film is very different kind of film noir. Did you see your character as a femme fatale?
NC I think we were finding that out as we went along which is what I loved about the movie. Often when you see these black widow type characters you see it from the beginning. You can see that they have made a choice of how and who they are going to be then the outcome occurs. With this she doesnt know exactly what they are going to do. Shes just taking it as it comes and testing them. I think she is trying to find out how far they will go with their insidiousness. To me thats more interesting thing to watch because you dont know if you are supposed to be judging these characters.
DRE: Do you think this is a good way to move away from peoples image of you?
NC Definitely. I would say that its out the window. For a long time I was told to be concerned about peoples idea of me with the choices I was making and what it would do to my career. No matter what your choices are you truly have no control about what people think of you. It also gets boring doing that because you end up not making choices for yourself. Im just at a point where I want to do work that is interesting, that challenges me and I want to be around people that inspire and push me. The choices Ive made has caused this kind of independent idea of me but I just want to have fun.
DRE: You passed on Scream 4, do you just not want to do big budget films?
NC Theres nothing to do with Scream 4. I didnt feel there was anything to do with Scream 3 but luckily we pulled it off. Everyone that Sidney Prescott loved had either tried to kill her or had been killed. She should have been in an insane film after the first film. I was really concerned about Scream 3 being too similar to the first two thats why I put in my contract that I would only shoot 12 days. I think we were lucky that we were able to make a good trilogy. Then Dimension/Miramax also makes the Scary Movies which make fun of that whole genre they started.
DRE: How long did you shoot When Will I Be Loved for?
NC 11 days. It was a small crew and everyone was excited to work on it. We didnt have a lot of time to discuss everything so a lot of it was on the fly. It was very exciting.
DRE: Its definitely a strange version of New York. You cant tell in which parts of the city the characters are in. Do you like working in New York?
NC I love New York. Im looking for an apartment here. I love the multicultural vibe here. Los Angeles doesnt inspire me in any way. Everyone is the same industry, youre in your car and you feel very isolated. Here in New York youre always in everyones face. Life comes to you instead of having to do search for it. My brother, Christian, lives here so I come hang out with him a lot.
DRE: You produced for the first time with The Company. Were you pleased with the response to it?
NC I was really pleased. I know that financially it could have done better but I never started out making The Company thinking it was going to make money. You dont make a style with that much style, that much freedom and with such a little narrative and hope to make money. Critically it did really well and I cant tell you how many times a week I have dancers come up to me and thank me for representing their world the right way.
DRE: Toback has quite the reputation for gambling and drinking. Did that worry you at all?
NC Thats just what he is about and thats what his films are all about. Every lead character in all of his films are part of him. People always ask him why they he makes films that are so similar to one another but not many people are daring enough to make films about sexual exploration.
DRE: What kind of direction did you get for the shower scenes?
NC Get in and bathe. That was pretty much it. Hes really smart because many directors try to direct things like that and at that point its only going to make the actor uncomfortable. You tend to get more out of the actor if you allow them their freedom and then allow them to believe they made the choices themselves. It was the same in the [lesbian sex] scene with Joelle [Carter]. I chose her. James had me sit in a room with a bunch of girls to figure out who I was most comfortable with. He had us decide what we were going to do in the scene.
DRE: What happened with your Broadway debut, Syncopation?
NC It fell apart because the money fell out. I would have been doing it right now. Im so bummed and now Im looking at other shows.
DRE: Are you going to be producing anything else?
NC Yeah I still have this project, A Private War, which a friend of mine wrote. Its about his experience with Tourettes Syndrome. My little brother Damian has Tourettes so thats very close to me so were looking for the right director.
DRE: When we last spoke you mentioned that you were a bit of a Goth when you were younger. What drew you to that?
NC: I wasnt totally into it. I just liked the whole of it and putting it all together.
DRE: So you were a poser Goth?
NC: Yeah [laughs].
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Well now Neve is back in When Will I Be Loved. A sexually charged role for that genius of a pervert James Toback, the writer/director of such films as The Pick-up Artist and Two Girls and a Guy.
Neve Campbell is Vera, a femme fatale for the 21st century, a beautiful, capricious young woman exploring the limits of her sexual and intellectual power. Her boyfriend Ford [Frederick Weller] is a fast-talking hustler prepared to do anything to make a buck. He sees his chance to make big money when he meets aging Italian media mogul Count Tommaso [Dominic Chianese] and cooks up an idea to pimp Vera out to the Count for $100,000 -- easy money. Everything appears to be going even better than planned but the men have gravely underestimated Vera.
Check out the website for When Will I Be Loved
Daniel Robert Epstein: That scene with you and James Toback talking in the beginning almost seemed like that is what happened when he invited you to work on this movie.
Neve Campbell: Yeah it was pretty much. I guess he had seen my work and wanted to work with me and I wanted to work with him. He had sent me 35 pages of the script, I read it and I was really enthusiastic about meeting him. We were supposed to meet for an hour but we ended up spending the whole day together. I talked to him about ideas and the concept of the film just by getting to know one another. Hes very curious and very straight up.
DRE: This film is also the Holy Grail for your fans because you do your first nude scenes. Would Toback be the only director you would do that for?
NC No, I had no nudity clauses in contracts before and my feeling on it was that if the nudity isnt necessary and has nothing to do with the film then I wont do it. If its for a box office draw as opposed to the content then it doesnt make sense to me. But When Will I Be Loved is about her sexual spiritedness so it makes sense.
DRE: When Will I Be Loved is being characterized as a post feminist statement. How do you respond to that?
NC I think I can understand why people might jump up and say that because we dont often get to see women be powerful and not play the victim. To me this is a woman who is curious, very intelligent and interested in people and life while trying to figure out who she is. She is courageous enough to fight back against the people who are trying to manipulate her. But she is also takes a very dark turn so I dont know if this is a positive film. Its positive in that she doesnt allow herself to be a victim but I wouldnt admire her choices.
DRE: What aspects of her do you see in yourself?
NC I think we all have been underestimated and manipulated to some extent so we get that moment in our minds where we wish we could be dark and get back at those people.
DRE: This film is very different kind of film noir. Did you see your character as a femme fatale?
NC I think we were finding that out as we went along which is what I loved about the movie. Often when you see these black widow type characters you see it from the beginning. You can see that they have made a choice of how and who they are going to be then the outcome occurs. With this she doesnt know exactly what they are going to do. Shes just taking it as it comes and testing them. I think she is trying to find out how far they will go with their insidiousness. To me thats more interesting thing to watch because you dont know if you are supposed to be judging these characters.
DRE: Do you think this is a good way to move away from peoples image of you?
NC Definitely. I would say that its out the window. For a long time I was told to be concerned about peoples idea of me with the choices I was making and what it would do to my career. No matter what your choices are you truly have no control about what people think of you. It also gets boring doing that because you end up not making choices for yourself. Im just at a point where I want to do work that is interesting, that challenges me and I want to be around people that inspire and push me. The choices Ive made has caused this kind of independent idea of me but I just want to have fun.
DRE: You passed on Scream 4, do you just not want to do big budget films?
NC Theres nothing to do with Scream 4. I didnt feel there was anything to do with Scream 3 but luckily we pulled it off. Everyone that Sidney Prescott loved had either tried to kill her or had been killed. She should have been in an insane film after the first film. I was really concerned about Scream 3 being too similar to the first two thats why I put in my contract that I would only shoot 12 days. I think we were lucky that we were able to make a good trilogy. Then Dimension/Miramax also makes the Scary Movies which make fun of that whole genre they started.
DRE: How long did you shoot When Will I Be Loved for?
NC 11 days. It was a small crew and everyone was excited to work on it. We didnt have a lot of time to discuss everything so a lot of it was on the fly. It was very exciting.
DRE: Its definitely a strange version of New York. You cant tell in which parts of the city the characters are in. Do you like working in New York?
NC I love New York. Im looking for an apartment here. I love the multicultural vibe here. Los Angeles doesnt inspire me in any way. Everyone is the same industry, youre in your car and you feel very isolated. Here in New York youre always in everyones face. Life comes to you instead of having to do search for it. My brother, Christian, lives here so I come hang out with him a lot.
DRE: You produced for the first time with The Company. Were you pleased with the response to it?
NC I was really pleased. I know that financially it could have done better but I never started out making The Company thinking it was going to make money. You dont make a style with that much style, that much freedom and with such a little narrative and hope to make money. Critically it did really well and I cant tell you how many times a week I have dancers come up to me and thank me for representing their world the right way.
DRE: Toback has quite the reputation for gambling and drinking. Did that worry you at all?
NC Thats just what he is about and thats what his films are all about. Every lead character in all of his films are part of him. People always ask him why they he makes films that are so similar to one another but not many people are daring enough to make films about sexual exploration.
DRE: What kind of direction did you get for the shower scenes?
NC Get in and bathe. That was pretty much it. Hes really smart because many directors try to direct things like that and at that point its only going to make the actor uncomfortable. You tend to get more out of the actor if you allow them their freedom and then allow them to believe they made the choices themselves. It was the same in the [lesbian sex] scene with Joelle [Carter]. I chose her. James had me sit in a room with a bunch of girls to figure out who I was most comfortable with. He had us decide what we were going to do in the scene.
DRE: What happened with your Broadway debut, Syncopation?
NC It fell apart because the money fell out. I would have been doing it right now. Im so bummed and now Im looking at other shows.
DRE: Are you going to be producing anything else?
NC Yeah I still have this project, A Private War, which a friend of mine wrote. Its about his experience with Tourettes Syndrome. My little brother Damian has Tourettes so thats very close to me so were looking for the right director.
DRE: When we last spoke you mentioned that you were a bit of a Goth when you were younger. What drew you to that?
NC: I wasnt totally into it. I just liked the whole of it and putting it all together.
DRE: So you were a poser Goth?
NC: Yeah [laughs].
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 13 of 13 COMMENTS
jonasthewhale:
am i to believe that no one saw this movie
jonasthewhale:
that's it i am finished!