By Christina Radish
|
|
|
Kathleen Robertson at the Film Independent's Spirit Awards held at the beach in Santa Monica, Calif. on February 24, 2007. |
The IFC original series The Business stars Kathleen Robertson (Hollywoodland) as an uptight, brainy producer at Vic’s Flicks -- an unlikely independent film company that was previously known for peddling smut. With Vic’s Flicks’ respectability and reputation on the rise, following their surprising box-office hit, House of Fear, producers Julia Sullivan (Robertson) and Vic Morgenstein (Rob deLeeuw) move their team into stylish new offices and go to work as they try to prove, against steadily increasing odds, that the hit wasn’t a fluke.
Currently in its second season, The Business is a scripted-improv hybrid that takes an entertaining look at the underbelly of the film business. The Canadian born Robertson, whose diverse films and chameleon-like performances continue to impress audiences and critics alike, tells MediaBlvd Magazine that she was drawn to The Business because it was so unlike anything she had done before.
MediaBlvd Magazine> How is The Business different from other films or television shows about the entertainment industry?
Kathleen Robertson> The Business is a show about a group of misfits that want to make a legitimate, respectable art film. Julia is partnered with this guy, Vic, who’s a B-movie producer, and they form Vic’s Flicks. At the end of the first season, they get their first movie made. And so, the second season deals with the fact that their movie is actually successful. It’s a huge shock to them. It’s that thing of, “Be careful what you wish for because it might come true.” Now that they have this success, they don’t know what to do. The stakes are even higher, and it’s a more risky endeavor for them because they’re so scared they’re going to lose it. A lot of shows, or movies, that deal with the entertainment industry, like Entourage, deal with the highest level, where people get paid $20 million a movie, and this show is the reverse of that. It’s about people who are at the very bottom, base level of the industry, and are scratching and clawing and trying, desperately, to break in and be taken seriously, and do something of some sort of value.
MediaBlvd> How did you first become aware of this project, and what did you think when you first read it?
Kathleen> They approached me about doing the show. And then, this year, I also executive produced the series, which was fantastic and a huge challenge for me. It was great.
MediaBlvd> How did being a producer for the show this season change your work schedule?
Kathleen> I love the show and I really believe in it, and I wanted to be involved, on a deeper level, in all of the creative aspects. I’m not involved in the financial end of it. This year, we really wanted to take the show to a new level. We got some great guest stars, and we had new sets, similar to the actual show. On the show, they actually have new offices and new things and, in real life, we were bumped up a notch with our second season. It was funny because the show and what was happening in our real lives, with the show, was sort of the same.
MediaBlvd> Is producing your own projects something you want to do more of in the future?
Kathleen> Yeah, absolutely. I think every actor, after you’ve been acting for years and you see the way things work, sees it as a natural progression, to want to become involved on a deeper level and learn about different aspects of what you do for a living. I think that’s in any industry, not just the entertainment industry.
MediaBlvd> This is the first regular TV role you’ve done in awhile. Did it take some convincing, or was it more about the script and the character, as opposed to the medium?
Kathleen> I haven’t really done a lot of television. I wasn’t necessarily looking to do a series. I do a lot of independent movies and this, to me, felt like a really good fit. It really has the sensibility of working on an independent film, and it didn’t feel as daunting to me, to sign on and do this. It’s not like doing a show where you sign up for eight years, and you’re locked in, and you basically give up that freedom to go and do other things. But, we have so much freedom. IFC is a network that I like and I watch. I didn’t feel like I had to make that jump to doing something that I didn’t really believe in, or feel 100% committed to. It felt like, “Oh, yeah, this is cool. This is something I would watch.” It’s also really different for me. I tend to do more dramatic work. This was scary to me ‘cause there’s tons of improv and it’s really loose. I’m working with all these guys who are so good at that. For my first couple weeks on the set, when we first started, I was just in shock at how different it was than anything I’d ever worked on before because it’s so loose and so unstructured. You spend your whole life learning certain things and mastering specific techniques, and then you go on this set and you don’t have to worry about your marks or overlapping. You just do it. You shoot so many pages a day, with costume changes. It really frees you up, as an actor. Now, working on things after The Business, I’m like, “Oh, can’t we just improvise? Can’t we just overlap?” But, it’s back to reality. It’s really fun for all of us, on the show.
MediaBlvd> How much of the show is actually written and how much of it is improv?
Kathleen> There are definite outlined scripts. We usually start by approaching the scenes and the material from the script, and then, we go from there and just explore and play. Phil Price, the director, really encourages that, and that’s our favorite part of it. We just love to do that. But, it is structured from the point of view that we have an outline of what we’re supposed to start with and what the intention of each scene is and what we’re going for.
MediaBlvd> Did you base this character on anyone specific, or did you talk to anyone who does this sort of thing? And, how much of any of your actual experiences get written into the show? Kathleen> I loosely based the character on a few different people. The thing about being an actor and working in the entertainment industry is that you really meet and come across some pretty wacked out people. People who watch the show think, “Oh, it’s so heightened. That can’t be real. This can’t happen.” But, with the stuff that happens, the people that you meet and the experiences that I’ve personally had, over the years, people wouldn’t even believe some of the things that you see, hear and experience. It’s pretty funny. It’s pretty crazy. The show is definitely based on a lot of real-life characters and real-life experiences. I know that’s how Phil and Myles Hainsworth approach the scripts.
MediaBlvd> What’s it been like to play such a strong woman, among all of the men? Was that something you were comfortable doing, or did it take some getting used to?
Kathleen> The thing that I love about the character is that she is strong, but she’s more of a wreck than all of the guys, which is why it’s such a fun character. Yes, she’s really strong and, yes, she knows what she wants and, yes, she’s really self-possessed and very intelligent. She also has this quality about her that’s like a 16-year-old girl that doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing and she’s trying really hard to seem like she’s together and that she knows what she wants, but she’s just as clueless as all of them. The characters that are the most fun to play are the ones that really think they know what they’re doing, but they don’t. That aspect of her is the aspect that I really like, as opposed to the really straight-ahead, clinical, professional side.
MediaBlvd> Did the much shorter season help contribute to you wanting to do this project, since it also leaves you plenty of time to do other projects as well?
Kathleen> Yeah, absolutely. We did 8 episodes this year, and we did 8 episodes last year. That is so appealing to me because I was able to go off and do other projects. I did a movie right after we finished, called Tin Man, which is coming out in December. That was a four-month job. It’s a re-envisioning of The Wizard of Oz, and it was just such an incredible opportunity. If I was on a regular 22-episode series, I wouldn’t have been able to do that. And, now I’m in Georgia doing a movie. Even with the struggle of doing a series versus not doing a series, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity with this. All of the great things about doing a series -- like working with a group of actors and really becoming comfortable in an environment and developing a character on a longer, deeper level, but also not having to commit to this huge time commitment -- were there. It’s a dream job for me.
MediaBlvd> What was the experience of making Tin Man like? Did you think it was insane that someone wanted to remake The Wizard of Oz, or did you decide to read it before passing any judgement on it?
Kathleen> As soon as I started reading the script, it was very clear to me that it wasn’t, at all, a remake. It has nothing to do with the movie. It’s based on the original books by L. Frank Baum. I grew up reading those books and being such a huge fan of them. The mini-series is three 2-hour movies, and it’s so original. It’s really dark and it’s very different than anything you would envision. It’s nothing like Wicked or The Wiz, or anything like that. The thing about Tin Man is that it takes the original theme of the movie, that everything you need in life, and everything that we are all searching for -- the Cowardly Lion is searching for courage and the Tin Man is searing for a heart -- we already have inside of us, we just don’t know it. That’s the overall theme of Tin Man. And, the characters are all very modern, new interpretations of the original characters. I play Azkadellia, and she’s this evil sorceress, but she’s essentially a re-envisioning of the Wicked Witch. Obviously, that was daunting because that character is probably the most famous villainess in film history. I was, of course, very careful about how I wanted to embody that role. The challenge of playing a villain, in any film, is in doing something different, but still making it believable. Hopefully, we accomplished that.
MediaBlvd> How much fun is it to play such nasty characters?
Kathleen> It really is so fun. I would go to set every day and just be dying with excitement to play the role. It was really cool. And, to do it right after The Business was even more fun. It couldn’t be more of a polar opposite, in every aspect. To go from doing improv and loose comedy to doing this elevated science fiction/fantasy film/special effects laden/costume epic was pretty cool.
MediaBlvd> Had you worked with special effects and green screen before?
Kathleen> I’d done a little green screen, but nothing like this. This was all new to me. It was very challenging, but the movie is very character-based, so that really helped. I didn’t really have the experience that I hear a lot of actors talk about, where they feel like they’re just standing in a big green room, looking at a piece of tape and reacting. The director, Nick Willing, was really great about educating us, before hand, about all the sets, and he showed us sketches to let us know exactly the way everything was going to look. A ton of the movie is real. It’s not CGI. A lot of the locations are real, so you don’t have to take that leap of faith and pretend you’re seeing something that you’re not.
MediaBlvd> After the visibility that you received from doing Beverly Hills, 90210, you went on to do very different types of roles, throughout your career. Has that been intentional, on your part, or is that just how things have turned out?
Kathleen> It’s been intentional. There aren’t too many things that I’ve worked on -- and, of course there have been a couple, which I will not name -- where I wasn’t happy with the choices that I’ve made. I feel pretty good about where I am and what I’ve done. It’s just such a great thing to be able to do what you love for a living. There are so many jobs out there that are not hugely challenging, or very stimulating, or that you aren’t really passionate about. I just feel really fortunate that I’ve worked on so many things that I’m so genuinely excited about, and I don’t have to pretend it was great, when it really wasn’t great. I’m really lucky. And, I’ve had a chance to play so many completely diverse characters. That’s what I want to continue doing, and that’s what excites me.
MediaBlvd> Even though you worked as a child in Canada, prior to moving to L.A., did you ever think that you’d have the kind of success that would enable you to still have an acting career, more than two decades after your first job?
Kathleen> Maybe part of it is being Canadian and growing up working in Canada, but I have a really old-fashioned work ethic. I never approach it from the point-of-view of, “Oh, will this job give me a higher profile?,” or “Is this movie going to make money?,” or “Is this going to elevate me?” I always approach it from a really creative, honest place, which is “Is this something that I want to be a part of? Is this a director that I want to work with? Are these other actors that I want to work opposite?” Once you get to be of a certain age, things get slow, but for me, it’s been the opposite. I was never really very interested in just playing the cute girl that supports the guy. I love doing character roles and that’s what I want to continue to do. I just approach it from, “I’m a working actor, and that’s what I love to do.” I just work and, if people like things that I do, that’s great. If people don’t like them, then that’s fine too.
MediaBlvd> With the wide variety of work that you’ve done, is there something that you tend to get recognized for most often by fans?
Kathleen> It depends on where I am. It’s really dependent on the environment I’m in. If I’m at Sundance or the Toronto Film Festival, or anything in that world, I tend to get recognized from the two films I did for Gregg Araki. That tends to be what I’m known for. Or, if I’m in Canada, sometimes I’ll get recognized for this crazy series that I did there, called Maniac Mansion. If I’m in Georgia, I get recognized for Scary Movie, and things like that. It totally depends on where I am, in the world.”
MediaBlvd> Do you have any other film projects that you’re currently working on?Kathleen> I have a movie coming out called Player 5150, that I did with Ethan Embry. I finished that around Christmas, so that should be coming out fairly soon. And then, I have this movie that I’m doing right now, called The Hills. It’s an ensemble dramedy, in the spirit of The Big Chill. It has that kind of sensibility to it. It’s about these characters that meet up in Athens, Georgia on this weekend, for a wedding of a friend that they grew up with, and they all reconnect. It’s a really great script. And, after that wraps, I am unplugging my phone for three weeks and doing nothing. I’m exhausted. I’ve been working since October 2006, and I’ve been on location since October, so I haven’t had more than about a week and a half in Los Angeles, in my home, in my own bed.
MediaBlvd> Is there anything that you haven’t gotten the chance to do yet that you’re still hoping to do?
Kathleen> There’s a million things that I want to do, but haven’t done yet. I have things of my own that I’m developing, and that’s something that I really want to do. There are scripts that I’ve written that I want to get made. What I hope my future holds is to be at a place where I can do my own things and work on things on a deeper level -- producing things and continuing to write.
MediaBlvd> Was that always the goal for you, or did that develop over the years that you were working?
Kathleen> I think a lot of it comes from spending so much time on location, and being alone in hotels, in random cities. I’ve always loved to write, and it’s such a great, amazing, creative outlet because you don’t need permission to do it. With acting, someone has to give you permission and say, “Yes, you’re allowed to come and do this movie with us. Yes, you’re allowed to come and do what you love to do.” But, writing is great because you don’t need permission from anyone. You can just say, “I’m going to sit down and write,” and you just do it. So, that’s where it came from, for me. It’s very therapeutic. I love it. Whenever I wrap, and I go back to my hotel, I should be going to sleep, but I’m always somehow drawn to my laptop in the dark, going “I’m just going to write for a little bit.”
