Notorious for his ability to seduce women at will, Casanova falls for the charms of Francesca. A Venetian beauty unwilling to play Casanova's game, Francesca captures his heart by saying no.
Sienna Miller on What Drew Her to “Casanova:” “I think as a young actress, it’s very rare that you read something where you’re not either ‘the girl’ or there to serve some romantic purpose in a male dominated cast. I was 22-21 when I read it and saw this heroine who was intelligent, feminist, cross-dressing, swashbuckling, just generally a fantastic role. So I begged for it.”
Sienna Miller’s Not a Big Fan of Corsets: “I was really excited actually, and it helps to put you in character if you’re wearing clothes that are so different to what we wear nowadays. Very excited about the corset for half an hour until they actually put it on. Your internal organs are being crushed. Great cleavage, but at the expense of your life almost. So they’re very different. But I was playing a character who felt very repressed by the society that she was in and not being able to breathe really helps you go there.”
Sienna Miller Talks About Her “Casanova” Co-Star Heath Ledger: “It was fantastic. A lot of male actors would have come in playing the greatest lover of all time and had an enormous ego and pouted and puffed their way through it. Heath, being the man that he is and the actor that he is, really sat back and allowed it to be an ensemble piece which I think is really rare. He was great. He really took care of me. He’s kind of like my big brother and we had a right giggle on the set. We both don’t take life too seriously and he’s just generous and kind. I think he knew that I was nervous, that it was my first big role in a huge film, and he really helped me out.”
Sienna Miller Describes Her Approach to this Role: “I read a lot about Emily Pankhurst and the suffragists. I looked at societies where women feel very repressed, Baghdad and all of that, just tried to feel that because I don’t feel too [repressed]. Well, I do at times. And I read a book called ‘The Venetian Love Story,’ which is set around the same period that we were concentrating on. I had Casanova’s memoirs and I dabbled in the Venice years, the Venetian years. Those kinds of things, more focusing on women. I watched Judi Dench in ‘Mrs. Brown’ a lot, just women who are strong. There was a lot to be done.”
On What Makes Her Feel Empowered: “I think being able to hold your own in an intellectual conversation. Feeling like you don’t need a man to complete you. Just feeling independent, and I suppose the same thing that empowers everyone. Just feeling good within yourself is empowering.”
Sienna Miller says that the intense media attention she’s been dealing with for the past year hasn’t affected her ability to feel in control of her life. “I feel like I’ve overcome a lot and I feel more powerful. Yeah, that’s an element, an aspect of my life that I’m not completely content with, but I can’t whine about it anymore than I have - otherwise people will shoot me,” Miller said, adding “I just surround myself with my friends and family. I have the same group of friends I’ve had since I was three. I do very normal things. I have dogs. I cook. I don’t lead a particularly exciting life away from work. I don’t go to celebrity parties. I don’t really court that. I accept that it’s a part of my life. I hope that it will be less prevalent than it has been this year. I’m content. I’m happy so I feel strong.”
Sienna Miller on Romance: Miller believes her idea of romance is similar to that of her character’s. “I think deep down probably, but I think I will relent easier than she does. She’s pretty resilient, sticking by what she wants. It’s a different society as well now. I think there are male and female Casanovas everywhere. I know what I like; I know what I don’t like. I like someone who makes me laugh, someone who’s enthusiastic and interested in things. Other than that, I can let go of all the rest.”
Fun Times in Venice: “What didn’t I do for fun? We had a lot of big cast dinners. I know it’s a cliché and you have to say it, but we were really, really close as a group, as a cast. We’d go out for dinners and drink wine and find these restaurants where they’d have pianos in the corner and sit and sing around the piano. It was perfect. We’d go to galleries. We all went to the beach in the summer, volleyball. Lots of things. There’s so much to do there, so much inspiration.”
PAGE 2: Sienna Miller on Her Career and Playing Edie Sedgwick in "Factory Girl"
