Maggie Gyllenhaal
Interview By: MarkPlante
Maggie Gyllenhaal has a voice and she knows how to use it. In her short time in the public eye she has become synonymous with portraying women who are' shall we say' a little bit lost and confused; and perhaps sexually more experienced and open than most' Yet, these women all have a goodness to them and a voice that is worth listening to if you choose to look beyond the rough exterior. And as a public figure with the opportunity to speak about issues that affect her, the actress does not shy away from using her voice, despite any media backlash that might come her way.
In her new movie Happy Endings, she plays a lost woman named Jude who blackmails a father and a son in order to get money and a place to stay, but what she gets in return is a life with possibility of a bit more purpose.
Maggie Gyllenhaal was born in New York City, but grew up in Los Angeles. She comes from a family that was in the business long before she decided to pursue an acting career. She chose to go to Columbia University and get a degree in English. And at this press junket you can hear in her voice that this is a woman who thinks before she speaks.
Despite the obvious lies that her character tells throughout the film and the agenda that she does have, Gyllenhaal is adamant in stating that she believes that Jude does tell the truth. And she hopes people seek the truth when watching the film. She reveals she hopes people seek the truth from her in her every day life.
'It's easy to make judgments about her. It's the easiest thing to do. And who cares about that version of her' It's so easy to go, 'well I would never sleep with someone and with their dad and want money from them.' It's very easy to do that. It's a lot harder to ask, how is she good' How is she alive' How is she worth caring about' How can you love this person that does these hard things''
And Gyllenhaal had a lot of hard things to do in this film. She exposed her singing voice to the world for the first time on film.
'I said to Don about working on the film, it was really important to me that all the singing be live. I think most of the time when watching a movie, even with the real actors voice, it's been prerecorded and you're lip synching when you're on set. I feel like you do that and there's nothing alive in the scene. I guess if it's important that the singing be perfect then it's harder to do it the way I wanted to do it. But I don't think that was important for Jude. I feel like all that's important is for Jude have some fire.'
Maggie also found watching her singing to be a much more enjoyable experience then any of her other acting in the film because for the first time while acting, she used her brain in a different manor.
'It's easier to be awake and alive and be really in the moment singing. It's like a gift handed to me. You have to breathe. You have to respond to the sounds coming out of your mouth. And to watch it felt freer,' said Gyllenhaal. 'And to me my best work is when I'm the freest. And so it felt cool to watch myself in a freer mode then I am usual.'
In the end, Gyllenhaal thinks Jude's singing is the one thing she's holding on to. Gyllenhaal is also holding to her own singing, but has not considered recording an album. Still, it's clear she has the intellect and the voice to make a memorable one
Maggie Gyllenhaal also used her voice to comment on the beating she took in the press earlier this year about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks which she believed were taken out of context.
'A ten minute interview for another movie is not the place for a complicated political conversation. I definitely learned that at the Tribeca Film Festival,' said Gyllenhaal. 'What I said was misunderstood to mean something that was very, very painful to me. And it was very, very hard. '
With all the talk during the last political election about family and what the definition of family is and how do you define the world family, Gyllenhaal believes that is the very question that the film poses.
'It's about families. For some moment in time Jude, Otis and Frank are family. And they're this crazy, crazy family. And can you consider that a family' asks Gyllenhaal. 'Here's a woman whose pregnant. Maybe with Otis's child, maybe with Frank's child. And I think she always knows she's gonna sacrifice that baby because of how much destruction it would cause if that child were born. I think that's a sacrifice she knows she's gonna make. Then there's like a moment of the possibility of this weird family existing. Can you be compassionate to really consider that a family' Can you be that open hearted and accepting' That's such an amazing question for a filmmaker to ask.'
And we hope that everyone who goes to see this fantastic film will take the time to ask themselves these questions, and ultimately learn a new tolerance and understanding for the love that other people share; in whatever form it manifests itself.
Mark Plante@TheCinemaSource.com
