While most men consider her their ultimate C.I.L.F. (easy one) I definitely consider Rosario Dawson to be one of the most coolest chicks ever on film and yes she is gorgeous! I was watching her make the TV promo rounds this week for her newest flick 7 pounds and so I've been checking out some of her movies in my DVD collection as of late like Deathproof and was very pleased to see that she played Ed Norton's babe in 25th Hour. Love Ed, but that's for another day!
The last time Rosario Dawson joined Will Smith on the big screen was in Men in Black II. Now she’s his leading lady in Seven Pounds, the wrenchingly emotional story of a man who puts his own life on the line to save the lives of strangers. Dawson stars as Emily Posa, Smith’s love interest with a deadly heart condition. As the odds of her survival become slim, they fall deeply in love. The actress did whatever it took to get it right, including extensive research on heart transplants, reflecting on her own mortality and working with a very nervous Will Smith.
Q: You really wanted this role, didn’t you?
A: I fell in love with her when I read the script, but I knew I was competing with a lot of other actresses who wanted to play her. So I didn’t mind doing auditions and putting myself out there to convince them that I needed to do this part because I felt like I understood who she was. I knew that I’d become a better actor for playing her.
Q: What connected you to her?
A: We were in the same body, Emily and I. She looked like me, she felt, in so many ways, like me, even though her heart was failing and I’m very healthy. I just admired her courage and determination to live life in spite of the fact that any day could be her last if she didn’t get a new heart.
Q: Was it unsettling to play someone who’s facing her own morality?
A: It wasn’t as scary, actually, as I thought it would be. I did a lot of research talking with patients who had congenital heart disease. It was really very profound to realize how close some of them were to their own morality. I already understood that from people in my own life who are HIV positive, seeing what that feels like for them. I’m 29 years old. If I was told I had six weeks to live, how would I deal with it? So I’m going to at least take what I know about my mortality and appreciate everything, like walking down the street and thinking about how easy that was for me to start running and all the other things that you take for granted.
Q: The good news is that you get a love scene with Will that’s one of the most intense he’s ever put on the screen.
A: It was at the very end of filming and I was thinking about how beautiful and fulfilling it would be. You know, girly kind of stuff because I’m a real romantic. And Will was like, ‘All right. We’re going to do this scene today. Woo!’ I went, ‘Calm down, we’re not about to play basketball.’ I had to get him to chill out because he was so nervous and actually very shy about doing all that intimate stuff. We joked about having his wife Jada there just to kind of help him out, which might have been a little weird. But it turned out to be a very sweet and really incredible moment between us.
Q: Did you connect with the idea of someone totally committed to changing the lives of others no matter what the personal cost?
A: I believe so much in the idea of strangers reaching out to each other and having a positive effect. It’s inherent in all the work that I do with groups like the Lower East Side Girls’ Club. I believe the ideas in this film are tremendously important to be shared on a large scale.Q: Do you think of yourself as a good person?
A: We are judged every day. There are people out there who might think I’m a jerk and people out there who think I’m more than just an actress. Personally, at the end of the day, I think of myself as a good person. Do I think I’m perfect, though? Not by any stretch of the imagination. I’m always trying to be a lot better. And after a movie like this I definitely see where I could be stronger in that.
Q: You relocated from the Big Apple to Los Angeles. Are you getting used to it?
A: Basically, growing up as a New Yorker, the whole L.A. driving thing has been very new to me. I like driving a lot. I just really enjoy that space. I always take it as an opportunity to listen to music and check out the scene. But other drivers? I’ve been in situations where I’m driving and people start wading into my lane and cutting me off. And there was a woman painting her toenails as she was driving. It’s shocking to me what people do behind the wheel. I’m like, ‘I understand you’re bored and you think you can drive this route with your eyes closed, but you can’t.
Q: How do you feel about the way women are portrayed on the screen?
A: I see a lot of positive images. I’m just tired of all the movies like Saw where women are just the objects of brutality. We’re at war right now. And it’s really interesting that it seems like such a male-dominant thing. But there are a lot of women who are a part of the fight in Iraq, and people don’t ever really think about that.
Parade Magazine
pics courtesy of rosario-dawson.net
No comments:
Post a Comment