ELLEN POMPEO (Bertie)
You had actually met Jake Gyllenhaal prior to being cast opposite him. Can you talk about that meeting?
I had. Very quickly on the street, [we] just sort of said hi to each other. It was an awkward sort of flirtatious moment.
Were you flirting with him or was he flirting with you?
I think we were both flirting with each other (laughing).
What do you think your on-screen chemistry will be like, because of that flirtation?
Fantastic, I think.
What does this film have to say about loss?
It has to say that there is life after loss. You can never replace the person, but you can laugh.
Jake seems to have this "It" quality. What is it about him?
He does and I said it 500 times before and I'll say it again, it can't be articulated. Watch the movie and you see it. Watch anything he does and you'll see it.
People have compared him to Dustin Hoffman. Do you see that comparison - a younger version of Dustin Hoffman?
I don't know in what way they are comparing him. Clearly Jake is extremely gifted so in that sense, you could say that both of them are very gifted.
Is there anything you can tell us about Jake that we might not know?
He's a great cook.
Did he cook for you?
Yes he did. Pasta, salad, chocolate chip cookies, anything. He's a great guy. He likes to have fun and he loves to live life.
How do you go from a project like this to “Daredevil?”
Very easily (laughing).
What can you tell us about your work on “Daredevil?”
I only worked a couple of days on “Daredevil.” I play Karen Page who is the girl who works in the office. It looks like it is going to be a fantastic movie. I haven't seen it yet but I know that they are really trying to do it just right because I know there are millions of fans who want to see it done perfectly. I think they are making every effort to make them happy.
All of my scenes are with Jon Favreau and Ben Affleck. They are a lot of fun. I had just done “Old School” with Vince Vaughn and Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau are really good friends. It's almost like working with the same person so it was funny to go from one set to the next.
What is your character in “Old School?”
I play a girl named Nicole who is the love interest of Luke Wilson.
Aleksia Landeau at a Special Screening of "Moonlight Mile."
Photo ©Rebecca Murray. All Rights Reserved.
Can you describe your character in “Moonlight Mile?”
I play the girl who tries to - it's a very dramatic character - take everything that was once Dustin and Susan's daughter's as her own, and make this very tragic event very much about me and very much about my pain, my gain - me, just me.
The film is very much about loss. What do you think people will take away from it?
I think that this movie is very much about love and then how you move beyond love and then move to a more life-affirming, positive place. Once you've lost and grieved, moving beyond that stage to a positive place where you can learn to love and trust and to be happy again, in due time of course. It's just such a positive movie.
Did you take away anything from this film that will make you a stronger person when dealing with a loss?
When I got this movie I was heartbroken. I had just moved to LA and I'd gotten left by somebody. But then - I think this is weird - I rescued this dog that got hit by a car on my way to work, and then I fell in love - right around the same time. I really believe this, I was sort of hardened before and it kind of opened me up.
What was your experience like working with Susan Sarandon?
Great, I love her. You know what was really good? Telling my grandmother - my grandparents live in Israel so not so many people translate for them - that I'm working with Susan Sarandon, Dustin Hoffman and Holly Hunter. They're like, "What???" Those are like icons so that was also kind of nice. When you've got kids who want to be actors there's a lot of like, "What are you doing with your life? Who are you working with?" so that was really cool.
And working with Jake Gyllenhaal?
He's great. He's super well read. He's very educated and he's got a real thirst to learn both working and outside of work. He's always reading. He's the consummate actor; he wants to be the best that he can be. It's all about the work for him.
We hear that he's a really good cook.
He's a really good cook. I became friends with his friend who was on the movie helping him with his lines. They cooked a French meal for me and it was delicious. He's just great and I love him.
What's next for you?
I'm going back to France - I'm half French - so I'm going back to do two movies there; one with Audrey Tautou and one with people who are French actors. One is like a “Memento”-style thriller. It's about a mistaken identity. It shoots in New York and
France. It's with this [French actress]. We play the same person but just different aspects of the same person - once she gets corrupted and before she gets corrupted.
Which half are you?
I play the innocent one this time, thank God. I'm so psyched.
