Renee Zellweger Interview, LeatherHeads

MoviesOnline sat down recently with Renée Zellweger at the Los Angeles press day to talk about her new film, “Leatherheads,” directed by George Clooney. Oscar winners Clooney and Zellweger match wits in this quick-witted romantic comedy set against the backdrop of America’s nascent pro-football league in 1925.

Clooney plays Dodge Connolly, a charming, brash football hero who is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag ranks. The captain hopes his latest move will help the struggling sport finally capture the country’s attention.

Welcome to the team Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), America’s favorite son. A golden-boy war hero who single-handedly forced multiple German soldiers to surrender in WWI, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed on the field. This new champ is almost too good to be true, and sports reporter Lexie Littleton (Zellweger) aims to prove that’s the case.

Here’s what Renée had to tell us:

Q: Your dress is nice, who is it by?

RENEE: Oh, thanks very much! I went to get a birthday present for my friend at Louis Vuitton, and this was sitting there, and I thought, "Well, that'll fold up nicely in a suitcase and not wrinkle, and I won't have to alter it and I'd wear it to work next week!"

Q: Did you change your hair color?

RENEE: It was an Oscars thing. We decided that you couldn't have dirty blonde hair with a silver dress, you know what I mean? The sparkly dress required a little old fashioned Hollywood platinum! I think it's getting back to dirty, which is good.

Q: Did you know you didn't look contemporary before you came to Hollywood?

RENEE: Okay, well first of all, I'd just like to say, lucky me to get to follow George Clooney. That's great. [laughs] Nothing like George to warm things up for you! He's always very funny. Did anybody read his Esquire magazine article yet? You have to read his Esquire. I read it on the plane coming over here last night and I laughed out loud. I did. With absolutely no consideration for the nappers adjacent. He's just so clever. He's my hero. I'd like to learn to have such grace in this business. I'm doing my best...I didn't think about what I looked like growing up. At all. Ever. I was taught to much later in life. I didn't think about what I looked like. It didn't matter. I was very busy living my life this way, you know? And I didn't think about it so much when I got here, either. You know, I knew that I didn't look like "a movie star." I know that I don't have those assets. [laughs] So to speak. But it didn't bother me too much because it didn't seem that it was going to help me with what it was that I was hoping to do. Did that answer your question?

Q: There's something more to playing period than just looking the part.

RENEE: Well, I enjoy it. I love it. Because I find in my personal experience that the further removed the character's reality is from my own, the more fun it is and the easier it is to dipper within that alternate reality. I just really enjoy it. I love it. In fact, I'm so much more comfortable in a corset or the '20s sort of drop waist dresses and the way of delivering that dialogue than just being the girl who kind of looks like me and who might have the same clothes in her wardrobe as I do. I don't feel comfortable. I don't feel safe playing the girl who looks like me. There's not enough to hide behind.

Q: Was Lexi really a girl of 1925?

RENEE: Oh no, I'm sure she existed. Absolutely. Just fewer opportunities, I suppose, to express herself, and for us to see her, you know?

Q: How did you handle being the girl in this boys' club?

RENEE: It was terrible, but somebody had to do it! [laughs] I had a great time, are you kidding me? Those fellas are fantastic. And yeah, sure, it was a boys' club. It's funny that you say that. It really was. Most of this group worked together for years and years and years, and he's had the same friends for over 20 years, at least. And so it was really nice to be a part of that big, extended family. I had a great time at work. Who are we kidding?

Q: How was working with Clooney the director vs. Clooney the actor? Who was more difficult to work with?

RENEE: I'd say they're equally impossible. It was just torture all the way around. Let's see...You know, that was a tough job. That's a really, really tough gig to have, because you have to be in completely the polar opposite place simultaneously in order to achieve what you're trying to do, in that you have to be cognizant of what's happening as the director watching, and you have to disappear and not pay attention in order to be part of this alternate reality you're trying to create. So good luck. But he did a great job. Focused and good at what he does. He's prepared. He knows what he's trying to achieve so he doesn't waste time. He's not indulgent. He's not insecure about it so we have to try everything 600,000 different ways in order to cover whatever it might be that he's forgetting. I don't know that I'd be able to separate one from the other.

Q: Did he surprise you in either role?

RENEE: I gotta say no. I know he's a good actor. I think he's a wonderful performer. And I know he makes beautiful films. So no. Surprised me? I guess that he seemed to have the faculties of a much more experienced filmmaker might have surprised me. His confidence, and his level of preparation, and his clarity in terms of his vision. That might have surprised me. I wouldn't have known what to expect from that. But I knew he was going to do a good job.

Q: An extra from the set said you were very pleasant to be around, and that you used the same bathrooms as the extras. How was it working with the North Carolinians? And is using the extras' porta-johns something that stars do often?

RENEE: I expect when you gotta go, you gotta go. We had a great time down there. It's sort of like a pre-requisite in that region of the country that you are polite. So everybody that we experienced, they were so generous. I mean, seriously. In the towns that we ended up in, seriously polite. People are just generous and fun, and warm welcomes everywhere we went. They were truly generous, hospitable hosts. I had a great time. A great five months, wherever it was that we were running around in that region, wherever we ended up. The food was good, too. Oh, man! And as far as the porta-can is concerned...It's always surprised me that people are surprised when somebody is just kind of normal, you know? [laughs]

Q: Can you talk about John coming into his own? And was there much debate on the set amongst women about who was hotter between George and John?

RENEE: [laughs] That was more on the streets. You know, you drive to work and there'd be the cheering section for George and the "I Love Johnny K" signs everywhere. I think he's a wonderful person. Have you met him yet? Okay, he's funny and smart and charming and he's kind. I think he's very special. I think he's one of those that doesn't come along all the time. And I respect him. I think he's really good at what he does. So I enjoyed being at work with him a lot. It was just so fun. It was a lot of fun to watch him not really knowing how good he is, you know? And the scarier part is knowing what's in store for him, and remembering what that might have been like a long time ago with Mr. Cruise on the set. It was an interesting experience to have for pretty much the first time, I suppose, in that parallel way. But I'm happy for him, because he deserves good things.

Q: Having your own breakthrough moment like that, did you offer him any insight into what's coming next for him?

RENEE: No, I just laugh a lot. [laughs]

Q: He said he was terrified on the train set, and you calmed him down.

RENEE: Well, I don't know, I just liked him and thought he was nice. No, I'm kidding. I just remember crying behind a few fake bushes on the set of Jerry Maguire when nobody could see. Yeah, I do. I remember. I remember it well. [laughs]

Q: Does comedy get easier for you? Do you feel more comfortable with it?

RENEE: I don't know if I look at it as being more difficult than any other genre. I found comedy that's written into the script that you need to get out of the way of rather then interpret or sort of bring to life. I've found that a new and different kind of challenge, when I worked with, say, the Farrelly Brothers, for example. And when we did Down with Love, where you kind of just had to understand the dialogue in such a way that you didn't screw it up in the delivery rather than interpret it and bring it to life. I just think it's about being truthful, right? So I don't think about it. I think if you think about it, it's not funny.

Q: What do you think about the type of journalist you play?

RENEE: Oh, with her? I don't know. I don't know that I'd like her job very much.

Q: Why?

RENEE: Why? I understand the responsibility that journalists have to reporting the truth, and I appreciate that. I mean, we're in an interesting crossroads with that right now, because I find that there's not so much accountability any more, and that you don't necessarily have to report the truth, you just need to be first. And news has become a commodity, and that's frightening to me, because I think there's a better way to make money. But yeah, I don't know that I'd be comfortable with having that much responsibility in terms of shaping the course of another person's life. I don't know that I would. Especially if I knew that I could do damage to it, I don't know that I'd be comfortable.

Q: What was it like shooting the motorcycle scene? Any accidents?

RENEE: Oh yeah! We had motorcycle practice in the parking lot at the football stadiums. That was a lot of fun. I loved it! Are you kidding? The props guy might not be okay, but I was great! [laughs]

Q: Was the dialogue hard for you? What kind of preparation did you do?

RENEE: It was hard because she's so confident and quick, and she's so witty and funny and spot-on, and she doesn't miss a beat! And it's hard to play that when you're terrified that you're going to be the person who destroys your friend's movie. [laughs] Because you go to work and you're thinking, "Okay, don't suck. Just don't suck. Don't forget that, and don't do that." And it's this added pressure of not wanting to disappoint your friend who has put so much faith in you. That made it hard. But there was a lot of homework. You should do your homework, you know? Whatever it takes. You stay up and you get it done, and show up and ready to go. Because it was essential. That's what I loved about her. I loved how quick she was!

Q: Did you watch any other films?

RENEE: We looked at some films, definitely. Rosalind Russell, and we looked at a bunch of Spencer Tracy things with Katharine Hepburn. Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday. There was a nice list of them to understand and appreciate the genre and the style of what it was that we were sort of playing with. But her, she's pretty clearly written on the page.

Q: Did you get to play football with the guys between takes?

RENEE: Oh, I got in trouble! Because at one point we were throwing the ball outside of the...I guess it was the first big practice day where the crowd shows up to see them practice for the first time. And I had my stupid little heels on and my hat, and George came out and said, "Put that thing down! Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" [laughs] "What am I going to do with you when you miss?" [laughs]

Q: The clothes in this are great...

RENEE: Didn't she do a fantastic job?

Q: Which outfit was your favorite?

RENEE: I liked the red.

Q: Are you comfortable in that style?

RENEE: It just helps. I love it. It just helps. It's a disguise. It's a nice buffer between pretending to be somebody else and who you are. I love it. It's something else, just adds one more thing that you can depend on. I loved that orange coat. Boy, it was hotter than Hades on that day, and I didn't care! And my purple scarf with the polka dots? Oh, I loved that stuff! And I loved how brave she was in terms of the combinations of things that she would just throw together. Like the blue shoes with the purple polka dotted scarf, and this bright orange and gold jacket. I loved it. Absolutely beautiful. And who thinks of that when you're recalling the 1920s in America? You think grey and bleak and wool with holes, and the Depression era. You don't think of roaring, celebrated, bright, and fantastic in that way.

Q: You seem so normal and down to earth, does remaining level-headed inspire your success?

RENEE: It's the hardest part of my job. I have the most difficult time with the days that people don't see you or hear you or communicate with you, but who they perceive you to be before they meet you. I have a hard time with that, and I work every day to try to negotiate it and to sort of neutralize it, and just be the person that's standing there, you know? That's all I know.

Q: Is it harder with the fame?

RENEE: Yeah, I guess so, because I'm older now, and the things that I really crave are the hardest things to come by because of that. The exchanges that I have. As an actress, you draw on the truth of the experiences, and I can't draw on the truth of experiences from 20 years ago because that was the last real exchange that I had with a person. You know, I want to have real conversations and I want to be a fly on a wall in a room. I want to be able to watch and people watch, and just have different sorts of sociological experiences that are becoming rarer and rarer. And I know it sounds so crazy, but boy I cherish it when somebody's mean because they're just having a bad day, and they don't recognize that you know Tom Cruise and so they alter their behavior in some way. I love it! I love it when the stewardess is just nasty! I do. It's fantastic. And I just shrink when she comes back and apologizes because she didn't realize. You know what I mean?

Q: No, we don't.

RENEE: [laughs]

Q: They don't apologize to us.

RENEE: But then it's just yucky, you know? Because when you're sitting there and you're thinking, "No, no, no. I liked you before, a lot." Because I can respect that you're just having a bad day. But now it's like the conditional kind of thing. "Oh, now you're going to be nice? Because what? Because now it matters that you're nice, where before it didn't?" No.

Q: Is it harder for you to be mean when you're having a bad day, because you know it'll be perceived as a celebrity being mean? Or recorded and put on the internet?

RENEE: That never happens! [laughing] What are you, kidding me? They write articles about the bad day they think you're having, when they see you from across the room. "Her body language definitely indicated that she's clearly upset with this person." You know what I mean? Seriously! I mean, I've read that!

[indiscernible comment from the back of the room]

RENEE: [laughs] Isn't it amazing? I guess that probably plays into it somewhere. But I just don't temper myself anyway, because I have no interest in paying twice for the yucky thing that happened. And also it's not in my nature. I don't like conflict so much. It doesn't interest me. And I have absolutely no interest in being the reason why somebody has a worse day than they already were having, you know?

Q: Do you want to produce or direct yourself at some point?

RENEE: I have produced some projects, and I'm doing something as we speak. It's interesting to me because I like the planning parts of it, and pulling the pieces together, and the chess game of it all where you're trying to make it work out, make all of the components come together. I really enjoy that. I've never felt the need to direct. I don't feel like it's a natural progression from being an actor to just going on to direct, unless there's a story that you want to tell and you have such a clear vision about it that you don't think it can be interpreted in the way that you hope it might turn out.

Q: Is it strange to have the director be the actor opposite you?

RENEE: No. I did Appaloosa right away afterwards with Ed Harris and it was the same situation. And now I quite enjoy it. I mean, odd for them, I'm sure, because it's quite a daunting responsibility, I can imagine, and difficult to do, to be real in a scene while you know that you're breaking everything down. But no, I enjoyed it. I mean, I felt sorry for him. He must have been exhausted. [laughs]

Q: Summer is getting closer. How are you getting ready for the beach this year?

RENEE: Isn't that funny? Who's getting ready for the beach? I'm getting ready for a movie! [laughs] We're going to Baltimore! That's kind of it. I have another job to do, and then there's no getting ready for the beach.

Q: What's the movie?

RENEE: It's called My One and Only, and it's going to be directed by Richard Loncraine. It's a period piece.

Q: What period?

RENEE: 1950s' New York. And then cross country. I really think it's a story about the boys, but I'm going to play a woman who’s had enough of her philandering husband, and she packs up and leaves to go find a better life. She's not really equipped to do much or make much of a contribution. [laughs] She's just raised to be charming and beautiful, and a good wife. And she's making her way and getting to know her sons along the way.

Q: So is she modern for her time?

RENEE: No, I think that she's sort of perfectly groomed to play the traditional role that she thought she was expected to.

Q: What are you producing?

RENEE: I'm producing for Lifetime television. It's a story about Dr. Dennis Slamon who discovered the cancer treatment Herceptin. We just closed it with Harry Connick, Jr. yesterday, so I'm very excited about that.

Q: Will you be in it?

RENEE: I won't, because I'm going to go and do this other project all summer. But I'm very excited about it. The Lifetime network is going to make a massive contribution to his research center at UCLA, and it'll be released during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and so it'll be revolving around that, which is a charity that I've been supporting for a very long time. So I'm very, very excited about it. It's going to be good.

Q: Are you a football fan, being from Texas? And if so, who's your team?

RENEE: Oh yeah, you're born with that. It's a genetic thing. Again, it's a pre-requisite, isn't it, to living in that region of the country. You like your football. Oh sure. Right now, I've gotta be a Cowboys fan. Yeah, I have to. I have to. You know, to maintain the relationship with my brother.

Q: You spent some time in Detroit...

RENEE: I did. I sure did.

Q: Can you talk about your experiences there?

RENEE: Yeah, I'd like to say hi to my friends at the Starbucks on Jefferson! Nice guys.

“Leatherheads” opens in theaters on April 4th.