Since you have followed it for so long, when you finally get to play it, does it still feel fresh for you?
"Yes. I always joke around a lot about the movie gods, but I really do believe that there are no accidents in life. I find that whenever I am playing a character, it is exactly the right time in my life for me to be playing that character. Usually because there is something really important for me to either be processing or learning from that character, or something important that I need to learn about myself through playing that character. I always find that things come along at exactly the right time. I don't mean from like a career, strategic point of view. I mean like for me, personally, as an artist. The projects that I've been able to do, they've been these little gifts for me to grow. I've used this metaphor before but if - just stay with me on this - if you meditate there's a lot of Buddhist literature, and I'm not a Buddhist, that says that meditation is about kind of sitting and witnessing your life, and you learn from being the observer of your own life and of the world. I kind of feel like, as actors, we get the benefit of living a lot of lifetimes in one life. You know, you usually play a character at a pivotal point so I get the benefit of reincarnation in this one lifetime because I'm constantly learning this woman's biggest lesson, this woman's biggest lesson, this woman's biggest lesson, and I get to take that into my own life."
This movie is shot in seven weeks. Does it feel emotionally draining?
"It is. I remember on the first day in my brain I was like, 'This is a thriller,' even though I had done all the character work. It was the first day and there's this scene where something really horrible happens between Sam and I and it makes me nauseous and I throw up. I remember saying to Neil, 'So I'm not really going to play the emotion of it, I really just want to play the sick part of it.' And he was like, 'No, I think you're really upset,' and I was like, 'Oh okay.' And so it was day one, I'm balling at the kitchen sink, I'm crying and vomiting and I was like, 'It's going to be seven weeks of that!,' you know? Because I had never really done this kind of film before. Even in Fantastic Four, my character doesn't really have anything at stake or even in Mr. and Mrs. Smith my character didn't have the emotional stake, so in my brain there's always been this real compartmentalizing. Of course I did my actor homework, but it's not like really digging emotionally. But for this film I had to bring it all to the table, which is just so fun."
Would this be tougher than working on The Last King of Scotland or would this be comparable?
"It's more. It's just more than Last King of Scotland."
More emotional?
"No, just more scenes so it's more work. There's no safaris in Walnut for my days off so that's not as fun. I don't know… They're all different. It's hard to say because now that I think about it even though there's less screen time for Last King, I was a wreck the whole time I was there kind of. The days right around we were shooting the abortion day scenes where we're in the car talking about it, I was in my kitchen in Uganda and I was toasting bread and my then fiancé was in Uganda with me and I burnt the toast by accident. I started balling and he was like, 'It's just toast.' And I was like, 'You don't understand!' Because I was already in like, 'Oh my God, I'm going to die because I'm pregnant with a child that's not Idi Amin's.' Like it was so weird, so sometimes I get caught in that. I mean not nearly in the way that Forest [Whitaker] was, so Uganda was exhausting. This set's actually really fun because Sam is so funny. Sam is so funny and Patrick Wilson is hilarious, actually. I had no idea. I was so excited when I found he was doing this movie because I think he's a genius."
Give us just the funniest, most random Sam Jackson moment.
"What's the funniest random Sam Jackson moment? Well you know what's interesting about working with Sam is that he's such a pro because he's done like a hundred thousand movies, right? In the last season! So everything is sort of like not a big deal all the time. So we're doing this scene where I'm holding a knife up to him in a very threatening way and there's some blood involved. I'm all caught up in it and he's like, 'I don't really think it's worth having the bag with the blood. I kind of just feel like maybe we should just put some on the knife.' Like he's so technical. Like nothing's a big deal ever. Even when you think it's going to be like tough and hard he's like, 'Yea, right, great,' but then you call action and it's terrifying. He's terrifying, you know? I'm sorry. I know you want something funnier."
"Mom, did you have a question? Mom, ask me a question. You have to come up with something. I'm not leaving the table until you ask me a question."
Kerry's Mom's Question - What is the scene that you most enjoyed doing?
"Ohhh, that's such a good question. Wow! Dad, they were much more impressed with her question. The scene so far that I have most enjoyed doing.? Oh it's such a good question, there's so many good ones. There's an argument that Sam and I have in my backyard out by my pool and it was actually the first day that I worked with Sam. We had already been shooting for a few days, but it was the first day that I actually got to work with him. So my first day of working with him, I'm like up in his face telling him to get off my property and that was just a blast. I remember going to see Jungle Fever on the day it opened when I was in high school in New York City, like with my girls. You know, taking the bus across town to go see Jungle Fever and being awed by his performance. It's really neat when you have those moments. It's like a double consciousness where you're in it and you're like, 'Get off my property and that is not okay!' And then there's another little part of your brain going, 'Oh my God, that's Sam Jackson!' It's very fun. My acting teacher would say that's bad acting, but whatever."
