I caught Brittany Murphy sitting down for a snack in her New York hotel room after a day of pre-interviews for talk shows. She was preparing for five appearances the next day, so the producers were calling her to go over what sort of funny stories she'd have to tell. Then, she was doing other phone interviews and I was her last of the day.
That plus having flown in on a red eye didn't seem to phase her one bit. She engaged me personably while she spoke in between bites of cheese and sips of coffee. Half my questions went out the window when Murphy just started sharing everything about her experiences. It was much more interesting than my questions about romantic comedy genre and filmmaking.
”Little Black Book” casts Murphy as a TV producer who gains access to her boyfriend's Palm Pilot. Looking up his ex-girlfriends, she pursues them to find out what went wrong, hoping she can avoid a similar fate. Ron Livingston plays the boyfriend and Holly Hunter and Kathy Bates round out the ensemble cast.
You're doing a lot of talk shows?
Actually, tomorrow (Wed), I'm doing five talk shows in seven hours. How insane is that? I actually found out that it's quite normal. I didn't know this. The thrilling part of it is, I did a pre-interview the other day and I was so nervous and felt so surreal and honored. I played a character, including post and preproduction, for the past year and a half that is obsessed and idolizes Diane Sawyer since she's a child. And I actually get to be interviewed by her tomorrow and we're starting off the segment with a backstage view. Diane is allowing me, she actually asked me – she's the kindest woman – she asked me to help produce a mock, so I can sort of learn how to produce one of her segments in the morning before I go on in the interview. How cool is that?
Is that because of the movie, as a tie-in?
It's because of the film, because she saw the film. She saw a screening of it a couple months back, but I'm so floored by it. I'm thrilled.
Are reporters giving you good feedback for your portrayal of a TV producer?
The feedback of the film has been overwhelmingly wonderful and I'm proud of this film. What really drew me to it was the reality of it. Yes, it's a romantic comedy, but I find it very unconventional. It's very clever and I loved that it was an original. And the characters were all flawed. And it's not a predictable storyline. The same thing drew Holly Hunter and Kathy Bates to this film. I'm so honored to be part of this ensemble of incredible people and incredible actors. I love this movie and I hope other people do as well, and the response has been really great. People have been telling me all these secrets about snooping. I may have too much information on other people's lives because of it, and I don't know if that's going to start happening in airports and such, but if it does, then that means that more people will be able to be exposed to a film that I was proud to be a part of and I think is very relatable. This is the most relatable character that I've ever played. She's very real. We've all been tempted in our lives in different situations and I believe we have all tried to control something that's uncontrollable or planned for something that is unplannable.
Why did it have to be a high tech Palm Pilot instead of a traditional black book?
I didn't write it, Fred. I have no idea but I think it's the computer age and it's a very technological age that we're living in right now. And the title, “Little Black Book” is obviously metaphorical for a Palm. And I'm not computer savvy enough to work, nor am I sophisticated enough to have pulled off what my character pulls off in this film. But many people are and I've been learning more and more about it every day. Now, you work in this field, so I would imagine you would know far more than I would.
I've avoided the Palm.
Now, but do you work on your computer? You're a writer. I've met some writers that still don't use computers. In your field, it's almost impossible. You're working with dot coms.
It would be tough not to. All my stories are delivered by e-mail.
Oh my. I must become, it is a goal of mine to become more computer savvy.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2: Brittany Murphy on Being Cute, "Sin City," and Producing
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