Focus Features' Hollywoodland is a thought-provoking movie which closely examines the life and death of actor George Reeves (best known as Superman in the '50s TV series). Tunney's character Leonore was Reeves' fiancee at the time of his death and was present the night he allegedly committed suicide.
Acclaimed actor Bob Hoskins plays studio executive Eddie Mannix, a powerful man with unsavory connections. In the film, Mannix is one of the people under the umbrella of suspicion as having somehow been involved in the murder of Reeves.
The Appeal of Hollywoodland: Tunney said, “I think who wants to see a movie, a historical movie, a period movie unless it bears some relevance in your life today? I think that's why the film works because everyone in America wants the SUV and their wife should have longer legs or bigger breasts. Everyone faces that every day. That's why the film works now because it's not just about an actor whose career wasn't enough. It's something that I think we can find in our own lives.
I've been in bad movies and it doesn't define who you are, and I think that's not what makes you happy. As a person, you go, 'This is what I do. It can't define who I am.' And saying, 'This is my job and I go home and I love my life and I love my kids,' and then just have that be enough. I mean, that seems to be his fatal flaw, that he's obsessed with making something of himself and can't look at his wife and say that she's a beautiful woman. I think that it's the American dream. We've read a thousand novels about it, and it's the tragic American dream.”
Preparing to Play Studio Executive Eddie Mannix: “…What was interesting was that the script was very clear about who he was," said Hoskins. "His main object was making movies and loving his wife. That was his life. I didn't want to come in with any sort of great structure that I had created to walk into this production because I don't know what anyone is going to do. I'm just coming in to fit in. So I didn't do a lot of research. In fact, I didn't do any.”
A Peek Behind the Curtain: The public seems to have a never-ending fascination with the private lives of celebrities as evidenced by the plethora of gossip magazines and celebrity Internet sites. But knowing too much about a celebrity isn’t necessarily going to leave anyone feeling satisfied. “There is a scene in the movie where Adrien [Brody] visits Carol Van Ronkel's husband,” explained Tunney. “He's a writer and he says, 'You find out the truth,' about [what happened] and about their lives or whatever, and he asks if it makes him feel better. Adrien answers, 'Hardly ever.' And what's interesting about that is that knowing all of this about our presidents or about celebrities, is that advantageous? Does it even help us? Does it distract us when we're watching them in a film because does how a president does his job, is that effected by what he does in personal life? That probably doesn't help us, but for some reason people just want to find out.”
Hoskins says he doesn’t have to deal with the ‘celebrity’ issue because people just don’t view him that way. “People don't seem to see me as a celebrity,” admitted Hoskins. “It's almost like they think that they know me, and they certainly think that I know them. I had a guy come up to me and he said, 'You've got to talk to my [daughter]. She's out of order and she's doing this and she's doing that.' I said, 'Yeah.' I don't think that the guy realized that he'd never met me before. He wasn't really embarrassed. By this time I was going to go around and give this girl a talking to. But no, I don't know. People don't seem that interested in my private life. They think that they know me.”
Reuniting with Diane Lane: 20 years after working on The Cotton Club, Hoskins and Lane are together again onscreen. This time around, Lane plays Hoskins’ wife. Hoskins recalled, “When I first saw Diane I was like, 'Wow. This kid is amazing.’ Then when they told me that she was 18 I couldn't believe it. When I read the script, what attracted me to playing this part was his really sort of ruthless and pragmatic vision, but he had the depth to adore his wife way beyond his ego and having Diane as your wife made that a lot easier.”
