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NEW YORK, NY, USA - Though actress Catherine Keener is known for her compelling work in smaller, intimate films like "Lovely and Amazing," she's a remarkably versatile actor who has been nominated for an Oscar for her work in "Being John Malkovich." Witness the contrasting projects she's recently appeared in -- Rebecca Miller's comedic yet penetrating "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" and veteran director Sydney Pollack's big budget, politically charged thriller, "The Interpreter" -- which opens New York's 4th Annual Tribeca Film Festival. As Dot Woods, partner to Sean Penn's Secret Service agent Keller, Keener gets to play a prominent role in protecting the UN and Nicole Kidman from death and destruction.
G21: Was making "The Interpreter" quite a contrast to working on an indie like "The Ballad of Jack and Rose"?
Keener: That was a long shoot. It was an awesome experience, a thriller that we shot in The UN; Nicole Kidman plays an interpreter there and I'm a gun-toting Secret Service agent who is partnered with Sean Penn [Laughs].
I actually went back to this do this little pick-up shot about a month and a half ago and I walked into the General Assembly and I'm thinking that I'm so taking this seriously. The first moment I walked in, I was just stunned by it. My parents came to visit and my Dad walked in, he was in the Navy, and just seeing it through his eyes, he was astonished. What his generation thought was that they went to war for something like this.
G21: So there are women Secret Service agents. What were they like?
Keener: Oh God yes! The woman I worked with for that role was an actual Secret Service agent. She was a very heroic person. I'm not supposed to say anything about that because it's the Secret Service. She was so great. The first time I met her I went to Secret Service headquarters. She met me not on detail and she was just gorgeous and really beautiful. She had fishnets on and high heels. And I thought, she's clearly bringing me to that agent and I realized it was her. So it dispelled a lot of preconceived notions I had about the Secret Service. She was so lovely and cool. She had some amazing experiences. She won big medals of honor.
G21: What pointers did she give you?
Keener: She taught me how to hold a gun. I got to go on some details and watch and observe. She taught me what to look for.
G21: Do you walk into areas differently now?
Keener: I'm paranoid anyway [Laughs]
G21: Is there a downside to shooting a gun?
Keener: I can't think of one. Maybe the downside was the in trepidation of starting with the scene that we started with on this movie. It wasn't a down side; it was just a little [shaky for me]; can I walk up to the door on my first day and unlock it? It was something I don't ever think will be repeated. I wish it were.
G21: When you work with someone like Sean Penn or Daniel Day-Lewis [star of "The Ballad of Jack and Rose"], does it change the way you work?
Keener: I don't know. I think I'm pretty adaptable. I just perceive this as a supporting role. I made that mental adjustment before I went in. I thought that whatever it is I want to do, it's as a supporting character. Then it reveals itself [to you] as you go along. But that happens all the time in jobs. I just feel like whatever. They're different so you adapt to that particular situation. Every job is so different.
G21: What's the contrast between doing big budget movies and independent movies?
Keener: Doing "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" was fun, very, very fun. It was a silly comedy. So it was good.
G21: What was it like working with director Rebecca Miller?
Keener: I had never worked with her before but I was a great big fan of hers before I got word of this movie.
G21: How generous is she as a director?
Keener: I've worked with a lot of great directors but she is very big-hearted yeah, but I hate to compare. She's not real pushy.
G21: What was it like to have Rebecca direct your love scenes with her husband?
Keener: I think it was fine! [Laughs.]
G21: Do you find there is any real connection between two actors in this intimate moment?
Keener: It is intimate aside from it being physical. It's kind of fun but strange. That's about it.
G21: What is your take on your character in "Ballad"?
Keener: My take on her is just that I do love him. I did have high hopes [for the relationship] but I can see where it's going that way for a while. It's gotten to a place where I think his choice is firm to have me go. I found it very hurtful.
G21: Do women directors have as contrasting a style as male directors do?
Keener: I would say as much as guys are different from each other. They are very individualistic people. Everyone works differently but there is a similarity. Most of them are serious about work but they're also not so self-serious. They're not all thinking they're making something no one has seen before.
G21: You've worked with some distinctive male directors such as Neil LaBute ["Friends and Neighbors" a film with a misanthropic worldview].
Keener: That's true yeah. Neil is very much in touch with that other side. That's why I think he writes about men so brutally because he does see it from the other side. I don't mean to say that there are sides in terms of warring, but he kind of presents it that way because Neil [in person] is a very interesting, gentle person. He's very bright. That's why his movies and his plays intrigue me because he does see [things] some times from a place that a woman could view a man.
G21: "Being John Malkovich" was original wasn't it?
Keener: That's true and I agree, but I don't think anybody set out to do that. I've worked with people who'll say, "I don't think anyone has seen this before." It happens and its fantastic but I think everyone went in thinking "I don't know what we're doing." I remember John Cusack was saying at the table reading "I can't believe they're paying us [to do this].
G21: What happened to your hand [it is wrapped with a bandage] -- you injured it while protecting the UN?
Keener: I jammed it while I was baking cookies with my kids [Laughs]. When I shake hands it exasperates me.
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