I can totally leave it behind. But with this film, I don’t know, I don’t find it depressing. I think it evokes emotion but I ultimately think it’s uplifting so anything I took away from it was positive.
How do you think it is that she connects with Lee, the character played by Mark Ruffalo, so quickly?
I think that he’s her way of entering a life that she never got to live. Things like travel and music and literature, he introduces all these things to her. I think he’s kind of her gateway into seeing the world that she didn’t get to see when she was alive.
Did it have to be him or was she reaching out to any man at that point?
I think it does have to him.
Why do you think she believes it’s the right decision to cheat on her husband?
I don’t know. I just think that if you’ve been with the same man since you were 17, you have 2 kids, and you’re 24 and you find out you are about to die, that no matter how much you love your husband there are things that you're going to want to do for yourself at that point. I think she’s the kind of person who would have probably stayed faithful to her husband if they had been together, if she had lived a full life. I don’t think you can really judge what someone chooses to do when they are 24 and they have 2 months to live.
I think it’s important she does something selfish for herself. She does so much for her husband and for her kids, I think it’s really important she does at least one thing that's purely selfish.
How much input did the director allow you to have in developing this character?
She was great. She had a really specific idea of what she wanted. We talked a lot about it before we started shooting. But ultimately when we were shooting it, she really was able to hand it over and let me take charge of the character because I knew what she wanted to accomplish. She trusted me for better or for worse to deliver it.
The character is actually two different people with the two different men - Scott Speedman and Mark Ruffalo.
They are very, very different actors. I can’t really describe how but there’s a completely different energy with both of them so it was great for me because you really do want to establish two very different relationships. That was easy with them, because they are so different.
They are both these very gorgeous guys who are at the pinnacle of their careers and neither of them have any ego or vanity at all. It’s pretty amazing; it was pretty weird actually.
Are you ready for something a little less dark?
Definitely. In "The Event," the movie that’s coming out on October 3rd, another film that I did, it’s more of a comic role.
What’s your role?
I play this aspiring actress who is the sister of the main character who is actually dying of AIDS. It was a chance to do something I’ve never done before.
You’re also in the remake of "Dawn of the Dead." Were you a fan of the original?
I was a huge fan of the original, which is why I did it. It’s a huge departure for me to do something so mainstream and something in a studio, but I think the original is such an amazing allegory for consumerism in the guise of this crazy zombie movie. I think that the allegory is actually stronger in the remake so I’m really excited about it. It was a total departure for me.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Interview with Mark Ruffalo
"My Life Without Me" Photos, Trailer and Movie News
