Fisher is an only child, and heir to two fortunes, who's universally disliked following a horrible event caused by her father. Although she's on the outs with her very rich peers, Fisher's expected to attend all the important society events. She can't go alone – that's just not done – so she pays for Jimmy (Chris Evans), the poor grandson of a former Tennessee governor, to be her escort. As they make the social rounds, Fisher's attraction to Jimmy grows.
At the LA press day for the romantic drama, Howard said she feels lucky to be a part of The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond. "To get to originate a Tennessee Williams heroine is not anything that I ever thought to even go for. You don’t think that those kinds of roles would ever be available. It was extraordinary. For me, whether or not a film has some kind of massive budget or is an independent film, or however it’s getting made, it’s always about the filmmaker and, hopefully, being a vessel for the filmmaker’s vision. That’s what really attracts me to projects. With this, it was really Tennessee Williams and Jodie, and just her deeply profound understanding of what Williams intended for this piece, and then her own perspective and interpretation of that. It was so exciting to me. I just feel really lucky to have gotten to do this," explained Howard.
In order to become a Williams heroine, Howard immersed herself in his work. "I really valued going through his canon of work and studying the great performances that had already been captured on celluloid, and reading about the great theatrical performances because, in my opinion, he was a very singular writer. He had particular themes that it seems he was consistently fascinated by," offered Howard. "There’s an iconic Williams female character that you see elements of over and over and over again, which is a woman ahead of her time, who’s being suffocated by the world and who’s too bright, too clever, and too sensitive to really survive and feel grounded. So, to go through and watch Blanche DuBois and Maggie the Cat, who are these really iconic characters that he had created, and steal - to be honest - was something that was helpful to me."
Fisher Willow is the heart and soul of the film, and playing her meant Howard had to deliver massive amounts of intricate dialogue. "I come from a little bit of a theatrical background. I started that way," explained Howard. "I don’t have a tremendous body of work or anything, but I went to drama school. And so to get to do a piece where the characters get to talk a lot, and that isn’t just about the spectacle or the set piece, or is simply visual or movement based, it was really wonderful for me - and juicy and exciting. So, I didn’t feel like there needed to be an adaptation to a different kind of style. It’s just that the characters are speaking their mind. As opposed to it just being an expression, they’re actually saying what’s on their mind. That’s something that Tennessee Williams is really famous for. Shakespeare does that and Tennessee Williams does that. You crave that when you’re an actor, for sure."
And Howard had a co-star who was easy to work opposite in Chris Evans. "Chris comes from a theater background as well, and he really values rehearsal. It was such a relief to work with him because usually I feel like I’m the one harassing people to do it again, and he was right there. We’d rehearse pretty consistently until four in the morning. It’s a very nuanced relationship. There’s this shift in dominant-submissive that keeps happening throughout the film. This is Tennessee Williams. We wanted to do our best and give it our best go. I just felt really lucky to work with him, for that reason."
Howard added, "I remember looking on the monitor one day and I was like, 'Oh my God, he looks like Paul Newman.' There’s something classic about him. He has this classic, strong, leading man presence, and is just such a wonderful person as well."
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The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond opens in limited release on December 30, 2009, expanding on January 8, 2010.
