Excerpts from an interview with Gwynith Paltrow...

http://whyy.org/flicks/Paltrow_interview.html


Patrick Stoner: Why do you think Jane Austen so obviously
makes contact with our quite different modern sensibilities?

Gwynith Paltrow: She had such insight into people that we
recognize ourselves in them. She also liked people, with
all of their faults, and vanities, and even vices. If you
see yourself in her characters, even perhaps as an
exaggerated version of your own faults, and you sense that
she doesn't dismiss you as a bad person, it's easier to
identify and empathize. She also had a wonderful sense of
humor, and it's enjoyable exploring human foibles when we
can laugh at them -- and maybe at ourselves.

Stoner: It was subtle humor. It was all subtle by today's
standards. To what extent was that a factor in developing
the character of "Emma?"

Paltrow: Oh, there was so much there. She made you understand
every nuance of Emma's character at all times. You never have
that luxury with a character unless you're working with. . .

Stoner: Shakespeare?

Paltrow: . . . Shakespeare, yes, or someone who really
existed that you can research.

Stoner: But what can we say about Emma? She was, what, young?

Paltrow: She was YOUNG. Right. She was young. I don't think
she was narcissistic or shallow. I don't think she had a bad
bone in her body. She was just young, and you watch her grow
up during the course of the film -- becoming the person you
always knew was inside, once she allowed that grownup side
to come out.

Stoner: Still, Emma can APPEAR shallow. Isn't that the danger
in playing her -- that she will come across as lightweight?

Paltrow: Oh, yes. Getting the balance was everything. Oh,
sometimes I would get up to go to work and read the scene and
think, "I just don't like Emma today." I had to remind myself
that she didn't stay that way throughout.

Stoner: How did Brad [Pitt, her boyfriend] react to it?

Paltrow: He's my harshest critic. He wasn't sure I could pull
it off. Then he saw it and said, "Well, you did it!" That was
a good moment.