Michelle
Pfeiffer
has a theory about
ageing process.
"As you get older,
there's a reason why our eyes go bad",
she says. "It means you can't see
what you really look like. I mean, I can
barely see anything these days, so I think
that I -and everyone else- look pretty
good."
SHE'S HALF RIGHT, OF COURSE. Everyone
else congregated at the Four Seasons Hotel
in Beverly Hills looks like the motley
collection of media types we are, puffy-eyed
and vaguely disheveled on a muggy Saturday
morning in LA. She, on the other hand,
in a cream Chanel top, pencil skirt and
Yves Saint Laurent high heels, radiates
a Hollywood sheen befitting one of the
screen's great beauties. Now 49, she still
has that remarkable combination of surf
bunny and blonde Venus that allows her
equal reach as vamp (The
Fabulous Baker Boys, Batman
Returns) or ice maiden (Dangerous
Liaisons, I
Am Sam).
But, after becoming a mainstay of every
Most Beautiful list and turning down almost
as many hits as she starred in (Thelma
& Louise, The
Silence Of The Lambs and Basic
Instinct among them), Pfeiffer
disappeared off Hollywood's radar, leaving
town to raise her two children with TV
producer David E
Kelley (Ally McBeal, The Practice).
"I have been
away for a while," she acknowledges.
"Although,
actually, for the past two years I've
been working. It's just it's only now
those movies are about to be released
so it's going to be a big summer for me.
But even when I wasn't working, I was
really busy raising a family [her
daughter Claudia is now 14, her son John,
12], making decisions
about the home, sorting out school stuff
etc. I even got in some painting lessons,
which I really enjoyed, so the time has
flown by."
The move away from LA has clearly done
her good, even if it's made her resumé
a little sparse in recent years.
"I was never
unhappy in Los Angeles other than the
paparazzis had gotten a little out of
control... well, that's an understatement!"
She laughs. "We
just wanted a change, hence the move to
Northern California. And it's beautiful
and ever so slightly slower than LA. There's
a much more diverse community of people
from different walks of life. And nowwe
can have horses and property and my daughter
can ride. So it's a lifestyle change."
She almost returned to the Hollywood
fold last year with the rom-com I
Could Never Be Your Woman,
opposite Knocked Up's Paul
Rudd ("It's
pretty chicky," he claims).
But the film has yet to get a release
date.
"I think there's
some distribution issue,"
frowns Pfeiffer. "I
hope it comes out because Paul is so funny
and charming in it and Amy [Heckerling,
the director] has done a great job."
Still, she's definitely going to be back
on screens now, with the double whammy
of Hairspray
and Stardust.
Hairspray's up first, a new take on the
hit Broadway musical version of John
Waters' 1988 slice of celluloid
camp and colour set in early '6os Baltimore.
But it wasn't the frenetic musical numbers
that proved the biggest challenge for
the actress.
"I've played
some evil and characters before, but this
was really hard," admits Pfeiffer,
who stars as the suitably monikered suburban
siren —anti-integrationist —
Velma Von Tussle. "One
day it just registered: Oh my god, I'm
playing a racist. I had to talk to my
family because I just wanted to make sure
they understood that, 'Look, in order
to do a movie about racism, somebody's
got to be a racist and it's me.' And they
were OK. They got it. And I'm so glad
I did it because I had a lot of fun playing
the part even though there were some lines
I honestly could not remember because
they were so hateful and I knew that was
why. I mean literally I'd be doing a scene
and I'd come up to this line and blank.
It was interesting what my brain did."
Sticking to the dark side, Pfeiffer's
other `comeback' role is the less domestic
but equally, well, not very nice Larnia,
a 5,000 year-old villainess who needs
the heart of a star to retain her youthful
beauty, in Matthew
Vaughn's adaptation of Neil
Gaiman's novel.
"I really
wasn't sure about Stardust when I first
read the script," admits Pfeiffer.
"I mean, I
loved it and I thought it was going to
be really interesting but I didn't really
know what to do with the part. But I met
with Matthew and it was kind of a similar
thing to Hairspray and Velma — it
scared me on the page. I just thought,
`Gosh she's so awful all the time:
("I had to
fly to San Francisco to talk to her,"
confirms Vaughn,
who brought along storyboards to help
persuade the actress).
Once on board, Pfeiffer attacked the
role with relish, despite having to spend
long hours every day getting specially
made up.
"It was a
prosthetic nightmare," she
grimaces. "My
character goes from 5,000 to my age and
back to 5,000. I am after eternal youth
and will do anything to get it: I'm the
villain, I'm the bad guy. Well, one of
them —there are a number of them
actually! In fact, I think Claire [Danes]
and Charlie [Cox] are the only good people
in the movie!"
Next up is possibly something a little
lighter. Pfeiffer is linked to the comedy
drama Chasing Montana
(well, her husband did write it...). She
won't confirm she's going to star yet
but does concede: "I'm
not searching for a new project. It looks
like I'll be going back to work and I
won't wait four years, let's put it that
way. It will probably be a month."
First up, though, are more joys of the
press circuit. At least today's chat has
been a little smoother than yesterday's...
"Oh, it's
been much better," laughs
Pfeiffer. "Yesterday
was foreign press and one reporter actually
said to me, `So now that you have this
old and decrepit body,' or something.
And I thought, OK maybe she just has a
heavy accent and I misheard'. So I asked,
'Excuse me, did you just say I have an
old and decrepit body?' And she nodded!
I don't think she meant it quite like
that but still, old and decrepit... that's
still some way off!"
Hairspray opens on July 28 and is reviewed
on page 48.
Hairspray
Review
Trav slaps on the flab for the movie
of the musical of the movie...
OUT JULY 20 Rumour has it John
Travolta kicked himself for turning
down the chance to star in Chicago.
Which may explain why he's so willing
to risk ridicule in this big-screen adap
of the eponymous Broadway musical (itself
spun from John Waters'
1988 movie).
Packed into a female fat-suit and crooning
showtunes in a voice more Dr Evil than
Baltimore-born, Trav's quite a sight (and
sound) as Edna Turnblad, overprotective
mum to plus-size teen dreamer Tracy (impressive
newcomer Nikki Blonsky).
Credit goes, then, to director-choreographer
Adam Shankman
(Bringing Down The
House, The
Pacifier) for sliding the Grease
star so comfortably into Hairspray's
gaudy world of beehive hairdos, kitsch
couture and peppy TV dance parties. It's
one of the latter - The Corny Collins
Show (hosted by ex-X-Man James
Marsden) - that Tracy gets the
chance to strut her stuff on, beguilingviewers
but not queen bee Amber Von Tussel (Brittany
Snow). Let a bitter battle for
the 'Miss Teenage Hairspray' crown commence...
Amid the adolescent rivalries, Shankman
attempts to tap the '6os-era tensions
- primarily racial prejudice - familiar
from the original movie and stage production.
But while the theme of colour trouble
gives pro-integration activist Queen
Latifah (as 'Motormouth Maybelle')
plenty to chew on in a typically brassy
turn, Shankman's handling lacks bite.
So, incisive social comment may be missing,
but you do get the off-kilter joy of Trav
tripping the light flabtastic with screen
hubby Christopher
Walken. Their surprisingly touching
believability as a couple is complemented
by Blonksy's charm-stocked performance
and a shoal of infectious ditties like
'You Can't Stop The Beat', 'I Know Where
l've Been' and 'Miss Baltimore Crabs'.
The last is belted out by Michelle
Pfeiffer, who has a ball as Amber's
scheming, TV station-owning mother. While
it can't claim the sass and sexappeal
of Chicago,
Shankman's film is shot through with fun
and froth, nailing the crowd-cheering
appeal of the Tony-winning stageshow.
It's just a shame that Hairspray doesn't
have quite the hold you'd hope for.
James White
IN SHORT
A mix of savoury
issues and sweet songs that lets the Iatter
win out. It's short on the subversive
vibe of John Waters' version, but if catchy
tunes and
a cast having a blast are all you're alter,
this will leave a smile.
CERTIFICATE
PG
DIRECTOR
Adam Shankman
STARRING
John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle
Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Nikki Blonsky
SCREENPLAY
Leslie Dixon
DISTRIBUTOR
Entertainment
RUNNING TIME
107 mins
|
