Oh yeah, always. Sequels are a disaster. We had no intention of making this one. But Marc Lawrence, the writer who wrote the first one, we just worked so much together and kept joking about it. We finally said, “What would've happened to Gracie if the media had caught wind of what she did?” She couldn't do what she does for a living anymore because she's now famous. And what happens to ‘uniques’ when they come into this business, this business all of the sudden wants to change you, highlight your hair, make you sort of like whatever they consider the star.
“What happens to someone when their entire life as they knew it, which to her was being an undercover agent, that's what she did, that's who she was, was taken away?” So once we came to that, we didn't think at all about the sequel thing. I mean, if you can take away the title and not put a two on it, it'd be great. But you know, there's something to be said for continuing a story. Like Harrison Ford can keep telling a story and Michael Douglas can keep telling a story, but yeah, there are disaster sequels. I have been in one. But again, you know, history doesn't always have to repeat itself. I wanted to say something, especially on this subject.
What did you want to say?
It's what we say at the end of the movie. And I think that it's
really important, especially for anyone who feels that they don't fit or that
they're unique or that they don't belong to the masses. I mean, what is
normalcy? There's no such thing. It's society trying to control us like
cattle. You just want to say, “We can all live together and have different
opinions, whether it's political or religious or what you like to do, what
you like to eat for breakfast versus what someone else wants.” It's sort of
saying, “Why don't we promote the uniqueness of someone instead of
trying to make them normal.”
Did you ever feel like an outsider when you were growing up?
Sure. Every kid does. You reach puberty and you automatically become
an outsider. I traveled back and forth from Europe to the United States, and
so I had a lot of adjusting to do every time that I landed on the other
soil. And you spend a lot of time making yourself fit, especially when
you're a kid. That's all you want to do, just fit in. You don't care if you
look exactly like the girl next to you, that's what you're striving for. I
wanted to have the straight leg Levi's jeans and I wanted to have the little
top. I wanted to have exactly what the other girls had. And my mother kept
saying, “Be unique, be original.” And at that time, as a kid, you don't want to stand
out. You want to fit in. You want to blend. You want to be accepted. So
yeah I think, like everyone, everyone feels that at some point in their
lives.
How has becoming a producer changed your career?
Well, I think that about eight years ago is when I started and it is
my career. It's my job. It changes with every film. Just when you think that
you've got it figured out, you go to television and it becomes a whole
different animal. But I think that the one thing that I've learned is that
to do your job well you need to delegate well. You hire the best and you
allow them to do their job, and you provide them with what they need. As long
as everyone's goal is to make a good film, and as long as the story is the
same amongst everyone - because you can't have two different people making two different kinds of films - you have to make sure everyone is making the same film. And then you just provide the crew and all the artisans with what they need.
Do you prefer comedies or dramas?
When I'm doing a comedy, I want to do a drama. When I'm doing a
drama, I want to do a comedy. I think every actor [is the same]. You spend three to six months doing that person, that one thing, and so unlike how we adjust to life with
good moods and bad moods, you get to go with the flow. There you're sort of confined to having to be x, y, z no matter how you feel. I don't know. I just sort of think that it's
something that's condensed. You can't drink condensed milk all the time.
It's nice with a little bit of coffee, but if you have too much of it you're
like, “Enough already.”
I think it's just a balance. It's like when your hair is long you want it short. If it's straight, you want it curly. You always want what you don't have. But I appreciate where I am. I'm just happy to be working. I'm getting paid for this. It's a good thing.
