Cinema Confidential

INTERVIEW: Lena Headey & Piper Perabo of "Imagine Me & You by Jenny Halper How dare you make such a remark!! How dare you! Next question! That's Piper Perabo, playfully protesting when a journalist chides the sweet London newlywed she plays in Ol Parker's “Imagine Me and You” for losing interest in her husband (“Matchpoint's” Matthew Goode). Somehow pulling off an egg-yolk yellow vintage dress most girls I know wouldn't wear for any sum of money, the Jersey-born star speaks boldly about the lesbian following she earned after falling for Jessica Pare in “Lost and Delirious” (2001). This time, the object of her tentative affection is British actress Lena Headey, who will soon battle thousands of Venetians as the Queen of Sparta in “300.” Offscreen, the actresses clearly have camaraderie, which may or may not be the byproduct of bonding while filming a below-ground debacle otherwise known as “The Cave.” Q: So you two met on “The Cave…” PIPER: Why do you have to start there? You want to talk about “The Cave”? We choose not to even acknowledge the fact that we were in “The Cave.” LENA: We were injected. And we woke up in a cave. PIPER: No, it helped. Don't you think it helped? LENA: No. PIPER: I mean, I wanted to do some good acting with Lena. LENA: We actually wanted to speak to each other. PIPER: Yeah, we were like, “do you want to run some dialogue?” Before we go jumping into caves? Q: Piper, do you think your character was gay or just in love with Lena's character? PIPER: I think what's great about this film and progressive about it is there's no hemming and hawing about “Does this make me gay? Am I gay? Am I a lesbian? What does this mean?” So I think we're past that initial kind of thing and we can just get on to the love and the story. Do you know what I mean? Q: In the movie, Luce (Lena) believes in love in first site, and Rachel (Piper) thinks love is established over a period of time. What do you personally believe? LENA: I think it's very tricky. I think that's why the film, more than anything, is about timing and love and how we have absolutely no control over anything. And you can't take anything for granted for a second - otherwise I think you trip up. More than anything, I believe life is timing, all about that. I know certainly every situation in my life has been like “why now?” And it's a test or a beautiful moment. That's why it's so gorgeous, I think. PIPER: I think love can be a terrible thing, especially if you thought you knew what it was and you weren't really being honest, or you didn't know. You know when you're young and you're still figuring it out, you break some hearts while you're figuring out who you are and what's important to you. I guess there are people in life that fell in love just once and stayed with that person for their whole life, but they're a lucky few. Q: Do you think this would be a different film if there was two men, or if this was a Hollywood film rather than a British film? LENA: I think actually because we're used to sort of seeing men I think have affairs, it's quite interesting to that it's the woman messing around with another woman. But then I think it's also quite a light film. It's not deep and dark. I think it's really honest and it is painful. Matthew (Goode)'s character is pushed to fulfill his ambition that he forgot about when he found Piper because he got too comfortable. PIPER: That's what I think is interesting and why it's not a Hollywood film. I think in a Hollywood romantic comedy, the person that you're leaving behind is always slightly villainous. Is it wrong for that person? It's so clear to the audience who you should be with, and what's interesting about this film, and what's not Hollywood about it, is that there is no villain. Q: Obviously a great moment in this film is when you guys connect in that first scene. Was it hard to play? LENA: It's like being shocked out of your reverie for a second. Do you know what I mean? Like sort of going for “I think he say something” or the recognition of somebody you know. I think they knew each other. PIPER: I think also because people watching the film may have had moments like that in their life, you fill it up with your history of what that moment is when that happened to you, when you see it on screen, whatever we're doing leaves enough opportunity to feel that way. Q: You've said you have a big lesbian fan base because of “Lost and Delirious.” Is this script just a coincidence? PIPER: Plain luck. I also feel that I've just been lucky that I found two really well written characters. They happen to be lesbians, maybe that's why they're so…I don't know. I just found two well written characters and I really didn't care who they were sleeping with. Q: Did anyone tell you not to take these roles? PIPER: Yes. I just said, “I'm going to do it.” Q: Was it important that you spend a lot of time together before shooting the love scene? PIPER: That's what “The Cave” was for. LENA: That was the reason for “The Cave.” PIPER: It was. “The Cave” was just a long action exercise for me. Q: Do you think men will be more willing to go to the theater after they see the two of you on posters? PIPER: You can't really see us on the posters. LENA: I think it's just a great comedy so I'm sure people will flock to see it. Q: Do you think women who are actually lesbians will be very critical?? LENA: I read a couple of reviews in Toronto, I read things like “I'm crazy about the movie.” “Really it's very beautiful, you'll love it.” PIPER: Gay friends of mine who've seen it have loved it. But then maybe they were just saying that to my face. But they seem genuine about it. LENA: It was a really great experience. The weird blue green screen was freaky. It's just odd and emotionally there's nothing to connect to apart from the fact you have another actor - but there's no chair, no table, no book. It's very strange but the director is awesome and he's such a great human being and brilliant director. I had a ball. Q: What is it about, and who do you play? LENA: It's based on the battle of Thermopile. PIPER: It's a Frank Miller comic based on the battle? LENA: Yeah. It's nuts. PIPER: What does “300” mean? LENA: The men who went to fight. 300. Q: And you're the only woman in the battle of Thermopile? LENA: I'm the queen of Sparta, alongside Gerry Butler who plays the King. They go to war and I'm left holding the political fort as they go off to fight. The Venetians are in over their heads. PIPER: You're the Queen of Sparta?! LENA: Yeah. I actually got a fantastic role. Q: Piper, you've done nine films in two years. Which ones are you most excited about? PIPER: The Piper retrospective will be opening any minute now. It sounds so cliché to say I like this one. I love this one. I think it's so funny. It's finally feels so good to not be embarrassed about the film you really like. I'm like “go see it, you're going to love it”. It's a good feeling because usually you're like it's called (whispers) ‘Slap Her She's French.' And I hope you go see it”. And I also did this film with Guy Pierce called “First Snow” that I'm really excited about. It's directed by Mark First, and he's a first time director, aptly named, and it's a sort of desolate psychological drama in Albuquerque. Really uplifting. Q: You've made really interesting career choices, from “Coyote Ugly” to “Cheaper by the Dozen.” How do you decide what to do? PIPER: It depends a lot about who I would be working with. And it's not just limited to the actors but the director or the writer. If there's someone I feel like it would be interesting to make work with, you Steve Martin, it's kind of hard to say no, no matter what he's asking for. He's so smart and so funny and so it's a lot about if there's something on this that's interesting to work with . Q: Lena, was “The Brothers Grimm” a difficult shoot? LENA: I have to say when I left that job I was like “I don't know if I want to be in this business.” It really made me feel like that. Q: Critics often say that if an American actor or actress is cast in a British film they sometimes get carried away trying to maintain the accent. Piper, were you aware of that? PIPER: I was very aware of trying to be as prepared as I possibly could be by the first day of shooting, so that I could try and just set all that down, as with any kind of preparation. And I hate when I see anybody doing an accent and it's inconsistent. I find it distracting and laughable so it was frightening to do this film for that reason. Because if you fuck it up in a British film and they could have cast any number of genius British actresses, you look like an ass, you know what I mean? I find that the people who've done it successfully, it's impressive and an interesting challenge for me to try and change where your voice is that dramatically. Q: Did you keep your accent between scenes? PIPER: I did a lot in the beginning. People started making fun of me, so I had to stop that. We would go out at night and I'd be doing the accent, and Lena'd be like “stop.” LENA: When we'd go out, she'd go into the accent, and I'd be like “I've never seen her before.” “Imagine Me and You” opens in limited release on January 27 th . source: Cinema Confidential