During Nicole Kidman talk with Marion Cotillard in the August Interview, Inception star Cotillard admits that “It’s a paradox to be an actress.” Why a “paradox?” Well, it’s in “living in the city, taking planes all the time, trying to find the right balance in this life, which is not so eco-friendly, and still try to respect the environment.” She was recently on a Greenpeace trip to the Congo, where she connected with the locals who live within the corruption of the timber industry – their “their hopes and despair and struggles” – and reveals she’s been wanting to do a documentary about their forest. While she used to feel like an outsider (“a hippy”) for being concerned with the environment, she’s convinced the awareness is now spreading.
Meanwhile, the other woman of Inception, Ellen Page, has been declared the film’s “asexual sidekick” by Vulture writer Emma Rosenblum; “it makes sense that Nolan wouldn’t dress her as he does Marion Cotillard’s character, decked out in gorgeous, lingerie-inspired couture. And yet, did he have to make her look like a little boy?” While Rosenblum compares her less chic attire to a boy scout and a chef, she argues that there is a better way to show that Page’s character, Ariadne, is ‘smart’ and not the romantic interest of DiCaprio’s Cobb. But the fact is the two females in Inception were defined (or limited) very specifically – and against one another. Stereotypically speaking, Ariadne is reason and logic (masculine) and Cotillard’s Mal is irrational and passionate (feminine) – and they dress accordingly. Both fight against each other to steer Cobb: one towards reality and one towards dreams. The curious thing is why Ariadne’s character was female at all (other than to kiss Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Arthur – which was just a gentle reminder that Ariadne is, in fact, a female). It’s no surprise the magazine covers went to Cotillard, and that her role had several more dimensions than Page’s.
– The Other Guys star Mark Wahlberg has perfect chemistry with co-star Will Ferrell in the Adam McKay film, argues Collider. But never mind that; Wahlberg calls The Fighter the “best film [he’s] ever been in…the best story [he’s] been a part of.” The film (based on real life boxer Micky Ward’s early training years) won’t be released until December 10 and is bypassing the festival route, though Toronto was at one time discussed. Instead the filmmakers are just going to “go out and do big” with it. It’s Wahlberg’s baby: he worked on it for four and a half years. He brought on David O. Russell as re-writer/director and Christian Bale to co-star as his brother; “it’s very real, it’s a special movie,” Wahlberg says.
And finally, Salt‘s Liev Schreiber tells CinemaBlend’s Katey Rich about his nerves around working with Angelina Jolie. The “double whammy” for him: “I get very nervous around famous people and I get nervous around beautiful women.” But once they started talking about their kids, the “sexual tension” was gone. While researching to prepare for his role as a CIA operative, Schreiber discovered there were more nerdy Aldrich Ames types than Daniel Craig Bond types, poli-sci analysts more than ex-military heros. But then throw in the requisite extensive weapons and combat training and the operatives became understandably more dynamic and cinema-ready, he says. “I like the fact that they’re nerds. I like duality in character, I like the opposition…I’m not that interested in working with impervious people.”
[Cotillard photo courtesy of Interview Magazine]
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