Would you ever want to go back to the era portrayed in “Mona Lisa Smile?”
JULIA STILES: No, I wouldn't because I think that what I learned from making this movie was that women didn't really have choices. They were underappreciated and didn't have a voice.
GINNIFER GOODWYN: I don't think we would be here. I mean, we wouldn't be actresses promoting wonderful work. I think that the actors who were respected back then as people, they weren't considered…
GINNIFER GOODWYN: Up until that point, actors were tramps and renegades and people to be disrespected and shameful. So I don't think there's any way for us to fathom not having this be a part of our lives. How could we fathom being in that time when doing something like this wouldn't have been so supported and embraced?
Ginnifer, do you recognize this as your breakthrough role?
GINNIFER GOODWYN: I'm proud of this film because the work that I remember doing is the work that I saw on screen when I did see this movie about a month ago. And to me, as far as being a revelation or breakthrough goes, I certainly hope that my performance is embraced because my goal is to continue every day of my life to support myself doing this. And so if that enables that, then I will not be so humble as to say that I'm not completely proud of the work that I've done. But at the same time, I can't think about that and do good work at the same time. I think that those two ideas contradict each other.
In being able to be completely emotionally vulnerable and open and step into someone else's skin, I can't really think about the final product. It certainly was not a goal. I certainly wanted to step up to the challenge of working with these women who I have admired forever. And in that way, I definitely challenged myself to keep up, frankly.
Julia, Julia Roberts said she was intimidated by you. What does that mean to you?
JULIA STILES: Oh, that's so nice. Wow. One of the things that I think is amazing about Julia is that she doesn't adopt an intimidating attitude. We've been asked a lot if we were nervous about meeting her and she's just the… I learned so much about acting with her. I learned so much about how to exist in the public eye and maintain your integrity and sense of self and keep a strong head on your shoulders. I was just really amazed that she's so dedicated to the work that she does. All the power that she's accrued in Hollywood, she's used so well. I mean, she's used it to tell stories that are meaningful to her.
What did you do to get into the '50s mindset?
JULIA STILES: We did a lot. We had etiquette training, elocution lessons, dialect coaching, dance lessons. And then on my own, I watched a ton of movies from the early 1950s and also looked at almanacs to see what was going on in the world and brush up on my history. But I thought the most helpful thing was the dance lessons. [It was] not so much learning dance steps but the actual psychology behind ballroom dancing. I really had to let go of my modern aggressiveness and let the man lead me. And I feel like that was what was going on with the psychology of my character.
GINNIFER GOODWYN: I found that, for my character, it was very important to sort of perfect the etiquette of the 1950s. Connie Baker doesn't really have any constants in her life and I found that sort of finding a way to be accepted socially was a way for her to feel accepted on any level. That was very important to her. I mean, clearly, she's not completely embraced by even her dearest friends, even though that does change. And clearly the boys are not chasing after her and having romantic love is her greatest dream. Those little intricate details were certainly something that I had to actually really focus on and try to perfect myself. I could then find these relationships with these girls in this movie and not be thinking about whether or not it's proper for me to shake my boyfriend's hand at the end of the dance and in which direction I'm blowing smoke, and how am I picking up my butter knife. But I did find that those things were very important to really avidly study through movies, through our classes, through reading, and through looking at photographs and seeing how women related to each other spatially. Social acceptance is something that Connie could achieve.
PAGE 2: Character Transformations and Affecting Accents
ADDITIONAL "MONA LISA SMILE" RESOURCES:
Interview with Julia Roberts
"Mona Lisa Smile" Photo Gallery
"Mona Lisa Smile" Credits, Trailer and Movie News
