Starring opposite Adam Sandler, Leoni spends a majority of the film either crying or screaming. A difficult role to bring to life, Leoni seems to geniunely enjoy playing characters who are a little hyper. But with "Spanglish," Leoni has to take that hyperness to the nth degree.
INTERVIEW WITH TEA LEONI ('Deborah'):
This character’s so hyper, when did you find time to breathe?
This was an exhausting character. There’s no doubt. We had the great advantage of not being slammed through a schedule. This was not a two and a half month shoot, this was more like a seven month shoot and because of that, there were days in between. And sometimes, I’ll tell you, it felt like I was holding my breath until the days in between. Deborah drove me crazy, you know, it’s hard to kick around in those shoes.
You’ve played these high strung characters a few times. Are you drawn to them or do people perceive something about you?
No, no, I’m drawn to them. There’s no doubt. I think a healthy slathering of neurosis is always fun to work with. It’s mostly that it gives you this very…it’s a loaded palette. You have something to start with, you have energy to start with, you have some horrible demon that will speak to you and keep your voice more interesting. A lot of it’s choices. I think you can choose to make your character [more high strung]. I think I’ve probably souped up a couple of mine beyond what was intended because I find that energy. The inner conflict is what makes the spin so much fun, what makes it more colorful. I actually can’t imagine playing someone who wasn’t neurotic.
What’s it like watching yourself play these characters?
I’m not a huge fan of my work. (Laughs) I just mean it’s very difficult for me to watch my work, in some ways, because I am critical of what I didn’t get across or I thought I was making one point.
Does it make you cringe?
Well yeah, no. I remember I saw “Family Man” at one point and I cringed over my teeth. It was the weirdest thing. I’d worked before, I’d seen my teeth before. I walked away cringing about my teeth. They looked huge to me. (Laughs) But that’s the only real cringing. I get a kick out of some of these women. I get a kick out of the sort of nakedness of putting that turmoil on film. I think it’s funny.
Do you think your character’s a bad mother?
I think she’s a deeply ineffectual mother. I couldn’t have played her, I can’t play anybody, I can’t start unless I’ve found a very healthy dose of compassion for them. I will admit to you that, reading the script, I sort of wondered about that compassion, because I wanted to go to Jim and say, “But she’s wrong.” Duh.
As I sort of tinkered in there, I started to feel the desperateness that this character feels. I could relate to her. In the oddest ways as a mother, I could actually relate to her, because I could relate to the self-doubt. I could relate to watching her on screen and that feeling that I think every mother has at some point, especially with the first child, am I doing this right? I qualify that, because by the second child it’s like, “Whatever, you’ve just got to deal.” (Laughs) That wanting so much for this perfect thing, for this perfect [little] joy in your life. And you question whether or not you’re doing it right, whether or not you’re being as loving as you want to be. “Was I too hard right there? Should I be harder? Am I spoiling this child? Am I ruining this child? What kind of adult am I raising or whatever?” So I got a kick out of watching her, because on a very less amped level, I feel for her. I feel for that absolute heartbreak that comes with motherhood.
I don’t mean to be presumptuous that men don’t feel this, I don’t mean this, but I found that when my child was born, my first child, it felt like my heart broke. It was so much, it was like more than [you expect], your heart can’t really take it. And your heart kind of breaks in a wonderful [way]. I don’t know. Mine did, so I imagine that for Deborah. I think all mothers who ever bond or care about their children. Deborah doesn’t walk out, Deborah doesn’t not see. She sees too much, she tries too hard, and she’s almost everything and not anything perfectly.
PAGE 2: Tea Leoni on Communication and Her Six Pack Abs
