Your character has to dress the Olsen sisters in “New York Minute.” How did that go?
We gave them a big makeover. My character’s name is Big Shirl and she has a salon/clothing store called Big Shirl’s House of Bling, and so the girls come over and get ‘blinged out.’ They come up there and we give them a little taste of Harlem and some funky good times.
What attracted you to this movie?
Oh my goodness. You know, I’m in “Hairspray” and Mary-Kate and Ashley and Dennie Gordon [the director] saw me in “Hairspray” and wrote this role for me, so that’s how I got into this movie. So I’m so thrilled and I’m so flattered.
But this isn’t your first feature film, is it?
No, I’ve been around a long time. I’m born and raised here in Los Angeles and I moved to New York in 1992 to do “Jelly’s Last Jam” with Gregory Hines and I ended up staying in New York and getting married – and getting divorced. So I’ve gone through a lot of changes, but I’m really an LA girl at heart.
Do you prefer the stage to film?
I like it all. Any time I have a chance to scratch that creative itch, I’m going to scratch it. But when I’m doing film, I want to do TV. When I’m doing TV, I want to do stage. When I’m doing stage, I want to record. So it’s like I want to do it all.
Is there anything out there you want to do but haven’t been able to do yet?
You know what? I’ve kind of done it all. I started out professionally singing in nightclubs, singing cabaret. I was underage so my mother had to sit there with me. At the age of 16, she let me have a cocktail and smoke a cigarette and then I’d get up and sing with the big band. So my life has been pretty full.
Did that type of experience at a young age help mold your career?
Oh yes, absolutely. One of my mentors was my music teacher from high school. I used to sing with his big band. My first TV show when I was 17 years old was with the Bing Crosby Christmas Show, and Fred Astaire was the special guest. So to be 17 years old and working with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby… It was thrilling.
Are you going to do write your autobiography? It sounds like you’ve lead quite a life so far.
I thought about writing some stories and making my own “Babylon” book. Not “Hollywood Babylon” but maybe another kind of dishy book. I’ve thought about it. I’ve got some stories to tell (laughing).
INTERVIEW WITH COMPOSER GEORGE S. CLINTON:
What’s the process like when you work on a teen movie?
The process is you’ve got to keep it moving, and especially with a movie called “New York Minute.” The choice of the songs becomes a very important thing because you don’t want it to sound like songs that somebody’s dad would choose. It’s fast, upbeat, and young. Even when you’re writing love themes – there’s a couple of love scenes - there’s a different approach to writing love themes for 18 year-old girls instead of for 25 year-old women.
And especially these girls who have such a younger fan base. Did that influence your writing?
It does, it really does. But at the same time, I tried to make it the real deal. You know, it’s an adventure movie but there are elements in there that play to who the twins are. So that was an interesting challenge.
Do you enjoy writing for teen movies? Is this a genre you connect with?
I do. I enjoy writing comedy and a lot of the teen movies are comedies. There’s a lot to do in a comedy because you have to write the love scenes as if it were a romance movie. You have to write the scary stuff as if it were a thriller, and then you have to write the comedy as the comedy.
At what point did you get involved in this movie?
I got involved early on. I got to go to Toronto and then to New York and watch them shoot some of it, so that was inspirational.
Does that really help?
It does. Most of the projects, and most of the times for me, I don’t get to actually visit the set and get a sense of what they’re going for early. It’s usually after they come back and edit the film – or started to edit the film – that I get involved.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were also producers on this so did they speak to you about the music for this movie?
Yeah, they had feedback, for sure. These are very professional young women and they’ve been at it a long time.
What’s your next project?
My next project is a movie called “Glory Days” and then a thing for USA [Network] called “The 3400”, which is about alien abductions.
Have you done a sci-fi movie before?
Oh yeah. I did “The Astronaut’s Wife,” which is a movie with Charlize Theron and Johnny Depp. So I get to do those every now and then and I like those, too.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
More Interviews from the "New York Minute" Premiere - Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen / Riley Smith / Dennie Gordon and Andy Richter / Premiere Guest: Eli Roth / Premiere Guest: Christian Kane
"New York Minute" Photos, Credits, and Movie News
