Renee Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., and Siobhan Fallon Hogan New in Town Press Conference
Harry and Renee, can you talk about any experiences of being new in town or being new in a job?Harry Connick Jr: "When I moved to New York when I was 18, I was definitely new in town. I was coming from a much smaller place, although it was still a big city, but you have all these dreams. You think you're going to make this and that happen. You get up there and nobody cares. You have to readjust how you think about things."
Renee Zellweger: "Every four months new in town. Wherever the next location is and wherever you get sent, the first order of business is to plop the bags down in what is going to be home for the next four to six months. Then you hoof it around and try to discover what's going on in the community. You find what your patterns and surroundings are going to be for the next six months. So yes, perpetually new in town."
"On set there is an immediate intimacy to some degree because you come into a project with a whole lot of people with common goals. It's this big, huge cooperative effort that everyone is really passionate about, and it's very exciting. It's very strange because you become like a high school class or something by the time you wrap a picture. It's very strange to leave it behind. It's a very strange nomadic circus life, I guess. You are perpetually new in every respect."
Renee and Harry, could you talk a little bit about working in the romantic comedy format? Is there a rhythm to that format when you make these films?
Harry Connick Jr: "I don't think of it in terms of being a rhythm only because that would impose some sort of structure before we even got started. I look at it in terms of I read the story and try to interpret or figure out as much as I can. I think the rhythm happens when you start working with the other people. There is a certain rhythm that Renee brings that another actress wouldn't bring. There is a certain rhythm I bring. I think the rhythm is inherent in the casting and writing. They are all completely different for me."
Renee Zellweger: "I'm not sure if it would differ in this particular genre than say if you were doing a drama. I guess it's about the play, really. It's about the exchange, really, and what's honest in it. Hopefully, if the writing is good, and the dialogue is believable, it just comes together naturally. I felt so lucky on this. I knew we were going to have a great time having met the cast before we started. You don't know how it's going to ultimately come together until you start. You get out there and give it a shot. We share the same sense of humor, which is sort of miraculous."
Siobhan Hogan: "Sort of sick."
Renee Zellweger: "And it was really, really unfortunate for the director and crew who want to keep it going. I think that came into play quite a bit. We have the same appreciation for the moment that could be. It was just play, really."
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New in Town hits theaters on January 30, 2009 and is rated PG for language and some suggestive material.
