Going into Great Expectations, did you have any reservations
about doing the modern version of a classic?
No, I was really excited, because it was like a classic on
acid. You turn it on its head. We took the didacticism, a
few relationships between the characters and some other
elements, and the rest was up to us.

You didn't have any trepidation about such a sensual version
of the story?
I did in my sort of pedestrian way. I was challenged by it.
I'd never done anything like that, and to play somebody who
is so ensconced in her own brain, and working everybody and
everything--who's so overtly sexual! It was empowering.

Did you use body doubles?
No, that's me. There is only one section where there's this
stomach shot--this quick thing where you'd have to not wear
a bra--and I just didn't want to do that in front of the crew.

Is it true your father has refused to watch the film?
Yeah. He saw the trailer on Entertainment Tonight.

What was it like working with Ethan Hawke?
It was great for me, because we'd been friends for a really
long time. He's so sensitive and so talented and so sweet.
And he has a really interesting way of seeing the world.

How so?
When Emma came out, I was in the middle of working on Great
Expectations, and I sort of flipped out. It was, like, one
day I was just doing this movie, and the next day I was doing
Charlie Rose, and then I was on my way to the White House to
watch Emma with the President of the United States. It was so
surreal, and he was so great to talk to. He really centered
me and brought me back down.

What did he do that was so special?
I walked into my trailer in the middle of all of this, and
there was this big box--a huge present. I opened it, and
there were all his favorite novels. Just tons of books he'd
gone out and gotten me. Books that really made me put
everything in perspective. I just adore him.