No. When I met with Audrey [Wells] the first time - over White Bean Tuscan Soup actually, it's my staple over at this restaurant I love - I realized that this movie was just a gift. I had gone through so much in terms of filming “Unfaithful,” and the whole world after September 11th, and my father's prognosis and when he died. It was a lot and so I didn't know what to do next. I didn't feel like going to work. Then this script came and Audrey was there. Audrey's so amazing in her strength and her discipline and yet never losing any of her femininity. She has all those leadership qualities. She defied all these stereotypes in my head that I didn't even realize I had.
[Audrey] didn't want me to read the book because there was really no information there that was going to be helpful in playing the character. She had to create a plot, a character arc, conflict, everything. There was none of that in the book. It's very pleasant. I cheated completely, disobeyed, and read the book. I think I read half of it, honestly. I didn't read the whole thing because I was looking as the actress, and there was nothing really for me to mine out because the frame of reference is so different.
How tough is it to be away from home?
It was very hard for me to go away for three months. That was really hard because I had just gotten my daughter situated, and then her fourth grade teacher left. I was very, very intensely in love in this new relationship and I'm going away for three months to the most romantic place in the world. I was feeling filled with anxious self-pity [and] nobody had any sympathy. They're like, "You're in Tuscany. I'm not going to feel sorry for you. I don't care what you say."
How is it different working with a female director?
The fact that it was a woman's story, a woman wrote [the book], a woman wrote the screenplay from it, a woman directed it, it's about this woman, and I am a woman playing that woman, it's a very full circle. [There was] a lot of estrogen going on, which was very, very welcoming after “Unfaithful.”
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
"Under the Tuscan Sun" Trailer, Credits, and Websites
"Under the Tuscan Sun" Photo Gallery
