“Diane Kruger is so incredibly beautiful and talented,” says director McGuigan, adding, “She was perfect for this part. She encompasses everything Josh’s character is trying to find again; she has a wonderful grace and silent beauty, and the camera just adores her.”
Told in flashbacks, “Wicker Park” is a psychological drama that deals with love and obsession. In this interview, Kruger talks about filming the movie out of order and briefly discusses her upcoming movie, “National Treasure.”
INTERVIEW WITH DIANE KRUGER ('Lisa'):
Did you think about this story in chronological order?
That’s a good question. Not really. I tried to but it was difficult at times. That’s one of the challenges of shooting this film because everything was shot in flashbacks.
Did you have scenes early on where you hadn’t yet come to the point of knowing what happened before the scene?
Yes, sometimes. Thank God Paul was there, and the continuity person. We did get confused at times, definitely. There were some scenes we’d start shooting and come back to three weeks later and just shoot it from a different angle. So you had to look at footage. It was crazy at times.
Would you consider this a romantic film?
I think it’s a pretty realistic film, to tell you the truth. There certainly is romance in it, but I think anyone [who] goes into this movie can identify with it talks about and has certainly felt that way before. I have. Who has not been obsessed about something or been in love and not been loved in return? So I can totally identify with all those characters, actually.
Do you think anybody could have manipulated you away from your husband or would you have seen right through that?
There’s always the question if you want to be manipulated or not. I think I’m a pretty good judge of character, but I have to say that Alex’s character [played by Rose Byrne] is a good liar. Lisa never realizes she is lying to her.
Did you ever worry that your character could come across as just the object of these two people’s obsessions? How did you infuse her with enough humanity that she stood on her own?
I was not concerned with that because the way Lisa was described in the script was such a good girl. She’s the kind of person I think I would want to be friends with. I think she’s so sincere and so unfazed by the way she looks and such a good friend with Alex. I think her relationship with Matthew is so mature because I like the fact that she pursues her career choice. I like to think that she does leave to London when that opportunity comes up. I don’t think she’s very conscious of the way she looks. I don’t think she plays on that at all.
Why do you think she wasn’t turned off by his obsessive approach to her?
Well, he looked like Josh Hartnett (laughing).
How was it working Paul McGuigan?
He kind of has a funny personality, if I may say so myself. He can come across when you first meet him as a little cold but I don’t know if he told you, he was going to become a priest. He went to priest school. Isn’t that amazing? How do you come from priest school to becoming a director in Hollywood? So he’s very contradictory. But he turned out to be the most sensible guy I’ve ever… The first day I met him, he gave me a CD of music and said I don’t want to direct you but this is how I see Lisa. There are all these very different songs on the CD and I still have it. It’s like I completely understood on how he wanted to see Lisa. I never saw anyone who had such love for detail. He approved and looked at every single piece of wardrobe for every actor. He chose every color, every pattern, [he was] like obsessed with that kind of stuff.
What’s on the CD?
The Scientist, for example. U2. The last scene in the movie we shot to the Scientist and that was the most incredible day in my life of filming. There were 500 extras, Paul was filming with his headphones and I had to turn around when he started singing. It was a very emotional thing for me. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was a magical night.
PAGE 2: Diane Kruger on French Cinema and Starring Opposite Screen Hunks
