I hardly ever get star struck when talking to all these musicians and movie stars. But when Sarah Jessica Parker walked into the room and started chatting, it seemed so unreal. I am still a big fan of Sex in the City and to hear that famous voice responding to my queries was quite exciting.
Parkers new role is in the romantic comedy Failure to Launch alongside Matthew McConaughey. She plays Paula, an intervention specialist whose job is to have men who live with their parents long past the due date fall in love with her so they will move out.
Check out the official website for Failure to Launch
Daniel Robert Epstein: Do you see your character in Failure to Launch as a cousin to Carrie Bradshaw?
Sarah Jessica Parker: No, I dont see any connective tissue except that they are both kind of sort of blonde. But theres a big difference between them because Carrie was so introspective and so curious in terms of relationships and sexual politics. She was endlessly mining and examining that. Paula does everything to deflect from her own personal experiences. Shes one of those people that seems to be very good at being a critical eye for others but has absolutely no interest in examining why there is a great deficit in her own romantic life.
DRE: Failure to Launch really seems to be about very unhappy people who get slightly happier.
SJP: [laughs] Isnt that just like life? That is a recipe for a sequel. They get happier the next time and then they get unhappy only to become that much happier.
DRE: When did you know you and Matthew had chemistry?
SJP: I dont think I know that. Let me put it this way, I feel very comfortable with him. One of Matthews specialties is that hes extremely comfortable and extremely natural in front of the camera. Hes clearly easy on the eyes and he likes the flirtation on screen. It would be hard not to respond to it. He reminds me of John Corbett. They both feel good in front of a camera and that makes the person playing opposite them feel comfortable.
DRE: Did you relate to your character at all?
SJP: No I tend to be more inviting of relationships. It takes great confidence to fall in love because theres tremendous risk. The odds are your heart could be ravaged. Obviously something happened to her where she is afraid to take that risk. Most people are willing to take the chance, but its just so odd for someone to be so timid about it.
DRE: You have scenes with two of my favorite comedians Rob Corddry and Patton Oswalt.
SJP: Wasnt Rob hilarious? I love him so much. Two days ago he hosted The Daily Show when Jon Stewart wasnt there. Patton was fantastic as well. The only sad thing about them is that theres never enough. Theres never enough time or pages with them. I would have been thrilled if both of those actors had been around a lot longer. They both only worked for one day and Patton had just gotten off a plane from where hed been playing London for a number of weeks. He was tired but fantastic.
DRE: Are you a romantic?
SJP: I think in some poetic way most everybody I know is. But theres also reality.
DRE: After a few years of marriage, the hopeless romanticism can fade away.
SJP: I think you can still project onto somebody whatever it is you want. Maybe thats one of the great things about being an actor. Having a child makes a marriage much more romantic. You have this thing in common that you love in a new way.
DRE: Do you miss Sex in the City?
SJP: I will miss it for as long as I have cognitive thinking. Until Im senile and I make up my own memories. I like being nostalgic for Sex in the City, I like being reminded of it. I like people still talking every day about it. It even has this second life now on regular TV.
DRE: Yeah but its censored.
SJP: I dont find it particularly censored. The only time Ive ever seen it, my character said the one dirty thing shes ever said and it was on. I dont know what the standards and practices are for each of the two networks that bought it.
DRE: Emma Thompson said recently that the womens roles in Hollywood are crap. You seem to be doing pretty well.
SJP: I dont want to dispute Miss Thompson because I think that her experiences are very real. There are some helpful things. The first is that there are a huge number of women running studios who are of a certain age, who still believe in romance. But do movies with women of a certain age make money? Thats the bottom line. If theres new, inventive and exciting ways to make movies with sophisticated themes and have them be cost effective in then we all benefit. The other thing is that if more women of a certain age are commercially successful actresses, the better off the rest of us will be. We have to wait and see. I must say that I am reading a lot of great scripts but I know a proportion of them arent 40 million dollar movies. But still a 17 to 22 million dollar budget is very generous.
I like the way Blythe Danner has navigated her career. I feel like shes done such interesting movies and she has a family. Now at this point in her life shes doing television. Its like her trump card.
DRE: Do you feel like youre competing with teenagers in this business?
SJP: I definitely do. I feel like Im competing against 16 year old boys wanting to see movies for knuckleheads. I remember a time when adults went to the movies. From the mid-70s until seven years ago there were always all these adult films and they made money or at least they made their money back. It wasnt such a risk. But I dont want compete with teenagers. What am I crazy? Id be delusional to do so and I dont have any interest in doing it. If I carried a pink cell phone Id be crazy. Thats for Lindsay Lohan, shes the age when one should carry a pink cell phone.
DRE: There were rumors for a while about a Sex in the City reunion movie but I read that everyone was onboard except for Kim Cattrall. Was that true?
SJP: Yes it was.
DRE: Why didnt she want to do it?
SJP: I think youd have to talk to her to be specific. Im not certain. I think you have to respect someones choice to want to move on in their life. It was a hard pill to swallow especially because the script was so great.
DRE: What was the idea for the movie?
SJP: It involved two weddings.
DRE: Would you have called him John or Mr. Big?
SJP: Oh I think Id have to call him Big.
DRE: Is there no chance for a reunion movie now?
SJP: I feel that the moment has passed. There was a time when there was great momentum and the production was ready. But now the stages are gone, the wardrobe is gone and the sets have been dismantled.
DRE: There was an episode of Sex in the City, where a girl came up to you and was fawning over you and wanted you to be her mentor. Does that happen to you in real life?
SJP: They dont ask me questions. They just talk to me or we talk about the show. But they tend to not ask me for advice which Im so glad for because I dont have any. Im not a professional in any way. Im very bad at advice.
DRE: If you had a tattoo, what would it be?
SJP: I would never get a tattoo in a million years.
DRE: What are you doing next?
SJP: I havent decided. Until September I am doing nothing. I want to take a break for the first time in over a year. Matthew [Broderick] stops working in June and my son is in school. So June to August is a real holiday for us.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Parkers new role is in the romantic comedy Failure to Launch alongside Matthew McConaughey. She plays Paula, an intervention specialist whose job is to have men who live with their parents long past the due date fall in love with her so they will move out.
Check out the official website for Failure to Launch
Daniel Robert Epstein: Do you see your character in Failure to Launch as a cousin to Carrie Bradshaw?
Sarah Jessica Parker: No, I dont see any connective tissue except that they are both kind of sort of blonde. But theres a big difference between them because Carrie was so introspective and so curious in terms of relationships and sexual politics. She was endlessly mining and examining that. Paula does everything to deflect from her own personal experiences. Shes one of those people that seems to be very good at being a critical eye for others but has absolutely no interest in examining why there is a great deficit in her own romantic life.
DRE: Failure to Launch really seems to be about very unhappy people who get slightly happier.
SJP: [laughs] Isnt that just like life? That is a recipe for a sequel. They get happier the next time and then they get unhappy only to become that much happier.
DRE: When did you know you and Matthew had chemistry?
SJP: I dont think I know that. Let me put it this way, I feel very comfortable with him. One of Matthews specialties is that hes extremely comfortable and extremely natural in front of the camera. Hes clearly easy on the eyes and he likes the flirtation on screen. It would be hard not to respond to it. He reminds me of John Corbett. They both feel good in front of a camera and that makes the person playing opposite them feel comfortable.
DRE: Did you relate to your character at all?
SJP: No I tend to be more inviting of relationships. It takes great confidence to fall in love because theres tremendous risk. The odds are your heart could be ravaged. Obviously something happened to her where she is afraid to take that risk. Most people are willing to take the chance, but its just so odd for someone to be so timid about it.
DRE: You have scenes with two of my favorite comedians Rob Corddry and Patton Oswalt.
SJP: Wasnt Rob hilarious? I love him so much. Two days ago he hosted The Daily Show when Jon Stewart wasnt there. Patton was fantastic as well. The only sad thing about them is that theres never enough. Theres never enough time or pages with them. I would have been thrilled if both of those actors had been around a lot longer. They both only worked for one day and Patton had just gotten off a plane from where hed been playing London for a number of weeks. He was tired but fantastic.
DRE: Are you a romantic?
SJP: I think in some poetic way most everybody I know is. But theres also reality.
DRE: After a few years of marriage, the hopeless romanticism can fade away.
SJP: I think you can still project onto somebody whatever it is you want. Maybe thats one of the great things about being an actor. Having a child makes a marriage much more romantic. You have this thing in common that you love in a new way.
DRE: Do you miss Sex in the City?
SJP: I will miss it for as long as I have cognitive thinking. Until Im senile and I make up my own memories. I like being nostalgic for Sex in the City, I like being reminded of it. I like people still talking every day about it. It even has this second life now on regular TV.
DRE: Yeah but its censored.
SJP: I dont find it particularly censored. The only time Ive ever seen it, my character said the one dirty thing shes ever said and it was on. I dont know what the standards and practices are for each of the two networks that bought it.
DRE: Emma Thompson said recently that the womens roles in Hollywood are crap. You seem to be doing pretty well.
SJP: I dont want to dispute Miss Thompson because I think that her experiences are very real. There are some helpful things. The first is that there are a huge number of women running studios who are of a certain age, who still believe in romance. But do movies with women of a certain age make money? Thats the bottom line. If theres new, inventive and exciting ways to make movies with sophisticated themes and have them be cost effective in then we all benefit. The other thing is that if more women of a certain age are commercially successful actresses, the better off the rest of us will be. We have to wait and see. I must say that I am reading a lot of great scripts but I know a proportion of them arent 40 million dollar movies. But still a 17 to 22 million dollar budget is very generous.
I like the way Blythe Danner has navigated her career. I feel like shes done such interesting movies and she has a family. Now at this point in her life shes doing television. Its like her trump card.
DRE: Do you feel like youre competing with teenagers in this business?
SJP: I definitely do. I feel like Im competing against 16 year old boys wanting to see movies for knuckleheads. I remember a time when adults went to the movies. From the mid-70s until seven years ago there were always all these adult films and they made money or at least they made their money back. It wasnt such a risk. But I dont want compete with teenagers. What am I crazy? Id be delusional to do so and I dont have any interest in doing it. If I carried a pink cell phone Id be crazy. Thats for Lindsay Lohan, shes the age when one should carry a pink cell phone.
DRE: There were rumors for a while about a Sex in the City reunion movie but I read that everyone was onboard except for Kim Cattrall. Was that true?
SJP: Yes it was.
DRE: Why didnt she want to do it?
SJP: I think youd have to talk to her to be specific. Im not certain. I think you have to respect someones choice to want to move on in their life. It was a hard pill to swallow especially because the script was so great.
DRE: What was the idea for the movie?
SJP: It involved two weddings.
DRE: Would you have called him John or Mr. Big?
SJP: Oh I think Id have to call him Big.
DRE: Is there no chance for a reunion movie now?
SJP: I feel that the moment has passed. There was a time when there was great momentum and the production was ready. But now the stages are gone, the wardrobe is gone and the sets have been dismantled.
DRE: There was an episode of Sex in the City, where a girl came up to you and was fawning over you and wanted you to be her mentor. Does that happen to you in real life?
SJP: They dont ask me questions. They just talk to me or we talk about the show. But they tend to not ask me for advice which Im so glad for because I dont have any. Im not a professional in any way. Im very bad at advice.
DRE: If you had a tattoo, what would it be?
SJP: I would never get a tattoo in a million years.
DRE: What are you doing next?
SJP: I havent decided. Until September I am doing nothing. I want to take a break for the first time in over a year. Matthew [Broderick] stops working in June and my son is in school. So June to August is a real holiday for us.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 19 of 19 COMMENTS
auralpleasure:
She is incredibly charming.
kerouaclullaby:
woot! s&tc movie back on!!! 