"Perfect" Pairing

http://www.ew.com/ew/se/ie_interview/1,2006,9,00.html

Gwyneth Paltrow and Michael Douglas talk about being evil,
director Alfred Hitchcock, mining the cultural zeitgeist,
and their diabolical new movie, "A Perfect Murder"

By Alexandra Jacobs


Michael Douglas used to bounce Gwyneth Paltrow on his knee.
The now famous actress was the daughter of Douglas's family
friends Bruce Paltrow and Blythe Danner ("spoiled," jokes
Douglas about Gwyneth as a young girl). These days, Douglas,
53, is once again bouncing Paltrow, 24, on his knee: She
plays his adulterous young wife in "A Perfect Murder," a
remake of Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder" now in
theaters. EW Online recently caught up with Paltrow (who
called in from London by satellite) and Douglas at a press
roundtable in New York City.

(leila註：以下只摘錄Gwyneth Paltrow的部分)


Gwyneth Paltrow:

Entertainment Weekly: Was the prospect of doing an onscreen
sex scene with family friend Michael Douglas troubling to you? 
Gwyneth Paltrow: There didn't end up being a sex scene between
myself and the Michael Douglas character in "A Perfect Murder."
All the talk started as a joke. Michael was teasing my father
about the fact that he was playing my husband, and started
teasing him about physical contact that he had with me in the
movie, which was really non-existent. It was just my father
and Michael, old friends, kind of ribbing each other just a
little bit.

EW: What was it like working with a family friend? 
Paltrow: The pluses were that I've known him since I was a
little girl. He's close with my family. So in that regard,
I think he was my champion and wanted me to succeed and was
very supportive of me. If there were any negatives, it would
just be that I could never regard him really as a peer. He
was always just sort of my dad's friend. I had to resist the
temptation to call him Mr. Douglas. I've done films with
people who are much older than I, and I regarded them as
peers, but that didn't really take hold within our dynamic.

EW: Do you find the frequent onscreen pairing of young actresses
and older men creepy? Was it meant to be unpleasant in "A
Perfect Murder"? 
Paltrow: Obviously it's sort of creepy in real life if I'm
married to Michael Douglas. But I think that within the context
of the film, it makes perfect sense. There are a lot of these
situations. People do it all the time. Young women marry much
older men. I suppose in a certain way, the reason that it's less
creepy in this film is because it works for what the film is
trying to do. There's supposed to be an uncomfortable age
difference between them.

EW: Speaking about "uncomfortable," how would you characterize
Hitchcock's relationship with women? 
Paltrow: He had a very interesting relationship with women. He
sort of revered them and sort of was dismissive of them at the
same time. His relationship with women seemed to depend on the
women he was working with. He seemed to have a great respect
for Grace Kelly. And her character in "Rear Window" is a
really wonderful, smart, sexy woman. She's strong. But in some
of the other films, he seems to have less respect. It's odd.
You sort of think that must mirror his relationship with women
in real life.
But as far as this film went, playing the part made famous by
Grace Kelly, one of his favorite women, made it more daunting
to play. That's why I had to really think of it as its own
separate entity entirely, and try not to reference back to his
version.... To be completely honest, "Dial M for Murder" isn't
my favorite of his films. I think artistically what he was
trying to do was keep it a stage play, which I think is a
really valid and interesting artistic venture. But at the same
time, I think it's one of his least cinematic films. So I felt
we could really do something different with our version.

EW: What was it like living the film's luxurious lifestyle? 
Paltrow: It wasn't bad. It was kind of hilarious. The night
that we were doing the scene at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, I actually had an armed guard with me because Cartier
had lent us some really beautiful things. The necklace cost
like $180,000 -- just some ridiculous price. But, you know,
the little diamond earrings I wore in the movie were fake.
They weren't real diamonds.

EW: What do you think about all these Hitchcock remakes? You
know Gus Van Sant is remaking "Psycho." 
Paltrow: I think the reason Alfred Hitchcock is so revered is
that he was a brilliant film maker. He invented this genre.
And his films still hold up. In a world where Hollywood's
constantly making sequels to things, why not have Gus Van
Sant shoot the exact same script of "Psycho"? Let's see what
he does. To me that's really exciting. It's no way
desecrating the original movie. The original movie is always
there. You can always rent it. You can always go and watch it
in a revival house. I think Gus Van Sant is one of the most
talented filmmakers around today. And I think people should
embrace the film, if that's his choice. Let's see why he
wants to remake "Psycho." That's really exciting.

EW: You've had a meteoric rise to fame -- do you have any
regrets? 
Paltrow: I think that regret is a total waste of time. I would
never regret anything. I would try and think, If I've made
choices that have affected me or my life in a deleterious way,
how can I avoid recreating those situations? Unfortunately, in
a certain way, a lot of the damage would be already done. You
can't fix it, and that's the way that it is. The upside for me
is that my success hasn't happened overnight. I've been
working since I was 18 years old. And it's been kind of
gradual. Sometimes I've been more focused on my personal life,
sometimes more on my work life. So fame has been with me as
I've become a grownup. And the truth is, I've come to
understand that it's just a part of what I do for a living.
People will scrutinize your private life if they find it
interesting, or if they find you interesting, or if they find
your work interesting. But what I've also learned is that I
can be the proprietor of what I want to discuss and not
discuss. I can keep my private life private. If you don't put
really personal things out there for everybody to see and
comment on, then it's not there.


EW: You're in London working on your new film. How's the
English press treating you? 
Paltrow: I'm doing a film called "Shakespeare in Love,"
which Tom Stoppard wrote. John Madden's directing it, who
directed "Mrs. Brown." Geoffrey Rush is in it, Judi Dench,
Simon Callow, Colin Firth. It's really an extraordinary
cast.... Right now the press is treating me okay because
I'm really in favor these days. Everybody really likes me
here. "Sliding Doors" is the number one movie, and
everybody loves it. So they're really nice to me. But you
know what they're like here. They can really build you up,
and then they have a big ol' party just being rude and
tearing you down. I think since Princess Diana was killed,
the press is a little bit more respectful. If you ask them,
'Please don't follow me' or 'Please don't take a picture,'
they actually listen.

EW: As an actress, you are known for your beauty. Would
you ever be willing to gain 40 pounds for a role? 
Paltrow: I would, I guess. But I wouldn't like it. I'm just
as vain as the next boring actress, I think. But I don't
mind looking grubby. I don't mind looking ugly. I wouldn't
mind gaining weight if it was right for the part. I know
that some people think I have a certain amount of
pulchritude -- it helps in a way, but a lot of times I
think it hurts. There are certain roles that people
wouldn't think of me for because of the way that I look. I
met with some people for a part, and I said, 'I'd really
love that role,' and they said, 'But you're too regal for
that.' I thought, People perceive me like that, but that's
not how I perceive myself.