Irene Bedard on Working With Terrence Malick: “He’s amazing. He’s a genius, that’s for sure.”
On Playing Pocahontas’ Mom: Bedard plays Pocahontas’ mother in dream sequences in "The New World," so her character didn’t interact with Colin Farrell as John Smith or Christian Bale as John Rolfe. “I interacted with Q’Orianka but for the most part it was all these amazing [scenes of] going through the forest and inside the community homes. It was just really much more, I guess, dreamlike. We did all these really interesting things. I haven’t had the chance to see it and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Bedard.
The Sets of “The New World:” Bedard says that Terrence Malick went all out in making sure the sets looked as authentic as possible. “He wouldn’t even let them build it with 21st century tools. The whole set was built with tools that were used at the time. Same with the wardrobe. It was all done the way it was done then.”
Changes in the Portrayal of Native Americans in Films Over the Past Decade: ”I’ve been a part of a lot of films – this is my 30 some-odd film that I’ve done. I think as we’ve been going along, we’ve been getting stronger and stronger in the ways of portraying native people in a more realistic light. I think that sort of helps too that we’ve grown so much culturally as a nation and socially as a nation, that audiences want to see more of the reality and more of the truth.”
Is There a Story About Native Americans Bedard Would Like to See Told?: “You know, I just literally got off this mini-series called ‘Into the West.’ That’s coming out this summer and I’m really looking forward to seeing that. It’s the story of a Lakota family and an Anglo family and how they intertwine over a period of 80 years. And in that intertwining, the backdrop is American history and so it really is, I think, an excellent portrayal.”
