Rosario Dawson Press Conference
Rosario Dawson: "I was really thoughtful thinking of her a lot when I was doing this and hoping that someone like her, and people like the people I interviewed and met and was representing by playing someone like Emily, would feel respected in the performance and understand, you know, this is a woman who's with the facts can be in a morose place. She's dying. She could be really upset about the cards she's been dealt and use that as an excuse to be really mean to her and they would kind of accept it. She really is not that though. She really is such a beautiful human being and really smiles when she wakes up and goes, 'Oh, it's another great, beautiful day.' One that she really notices because she is not guaranteed the next one, but was also present to the fact that none of us are. That choice, it's not that that choice is something so special to her. We all have that opportunity. Our mortality is as close to us as it is to her, though she's just a lot more aware of it. That was just something, her dignity and her courage in the face of that was something that I was so moved by and really hope is something that resonates with the people who really are in her position."Ben tests people to see how good they are. Would you have met Ben's criteria for goodness?
Rosario Dawson: "I hope so. I think so. I think it's really interesting. We're talking about in the film people who are coming from a kind of more negative place and space in their life might see this film as a tragedy. People who think of themselves as a good person or just to a degree are coming from a more positive place see this movie as a love story. I definitely see this movie as a love story. I'm really connected to the compassion between the characters and how beautiful it is, the idea of strangers reaching out to each other and having such a positive effect. I believe in that so much. It's inherent in all the work that I do, either with Voto Latino or VDAY, Lower East Side Girls Club, I believe in that concept so strongly. The ideas in this film I think are tremendously important to be shared in the large scale. It was one of the reasons why I'm so excited and encouraged by the fact that Will and Gabriele are doing this. This is a story that's normally relegated to an independent film and is now being able to be put out into the mouthpiece of huge cineplexes because of the stardom that comes with it."
"For me, I'd hope that I would meet that criteria. Do we have a bad day sometimes though? Are those judgments really harsh? Yes. It's scary to actually imagine that, but we are judged every day. Are there people out there who might think I'm a jerk and people out there who think I'm a good person? Yes, you know? But I personally, I think at the end of the day think of myself as a good person. Do I think I'm perfect though? Not by any stretch of the imagination. I'm always trying to be a lot better. After a movie like this, I definitely see where I could be stronger in that. I'm nowhere near even as beautiful as Emily I think, yet. I'm trying."
What did it mean to you to be in a project that can make a difference?
Rosario Dawson: "I've been drawn to scripts like that over the years. I feel really lucky that actually the first movie I ever did was Kids. That movie really talked about really important issues to me. Even though I was playing the kind of character that wasn't really supportive of those ideas, it was important. I have always understood that sometimes my role is not to play the good girl all the time but to play the real person and do that storyline and being able to see it all in a three dimensional piece. It's like you get a three act piece, then you get to make your own choices and decisions. It's like reading a great book or listening to a great song. It can change your life."
"I do appreciate the value of doing something for just the sake of entertainment, but it's amazing to do something like this. You could feel it seething in the script, how beautiful these ideas and stories were and how necessary they needed to be told. So I felt so grateful for this. The ideas of compassion and love and the transformative power of love is just remarkable to me in this. It's exquisite, and I think it would be impossible to not be moved, I think, by this story. It is very unique and very, there are moments when Will and I are watching the movie going, 'We sound like crazy people.' It's so out there but I think it's in this way, just as in Kids, all those things in Kids have actually happened with Harmony [Korine, the writer] and all those guys, but they didn't all happen in one day. He put it all in one day because it really makes an impact and you walk away with something. That's a lot of what this movie feels like. It's a lot to see. You have to see it several times to really be able to get all the moments, all the different people, really let all of those stories really sit with you and try to understand what it's like to be in all of their shoes. But you can really feel the story just watching it the first time. I think that'll give you an opportunity hopefully to really feel coming from a sincere place to open the door of the person who just saw the film, walk them out. Just to be kinder to each other."
And Sin City 2 starts shooting in April?
Rosario Dawson: "Hopefully, yeah. He just finished writing the script."
Can you give us an update on O.C.T.: Occult Crimes Taskforce?
Rosario Dawson: "O.C.T. we're taking away from The Weinstein Company. We're starting to do certain meetings and stuff. It's way too early to still talk about it but I think we're going to be having some really good news with it pretty soon so I'm really excited about that because I love my comic. I really want it, we want to put out our next miniseries and keep going with it. It's unfortunate that it's kind of hit the back burner. I'm actually developing a project at SciFi right now possibly with David Atchison my co-writer on that as well. So we're all still doing our thing and kind of networking with each other. It's just we're a small comic book so it's like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. You've got to wait two years for it every once in a while."
