By Max Evry
"I want to do things that are real people. I think women can be weak or vulnerable or strong. They can be not very smart or brilliant. There's not one kind of woman out there and I think it's important to portray a wide variety. But I have recently been getting frustrated."
Though it revolves around the political maneuvering in the House of Tudor during 16th century England, “The Other Boleyn Girl” is far from a dry history lesson. The film is about sexual power plays during the reign of King Henry VIII (Eric Bana), and his notorious dalliances with the two Boleyn girls, Anne (Natalie Portman) and Mary (Scarlett Johansson). After conceiving a bastard child with Mary, Henry becomes smitten with her sister Anne. Being a young woman astute in the machinations of the court, Anne Boleyn uses her feminine wiles to manipulate Henry into leaving his wife, marrying her, and founding the Church of England. Along the way she conceives a child named Elizabeth who might just grow up to be queen, and amid all this stress Anne “loses her head” a little.
Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman recently stopped by New York to hold a press conference where they discussed their roles in the enticing period piece.
Q: What other historical characters would you like to play?
SCARLETT: I'm starting production for Mary, Queen of Scots, which is kind of interesting because it's some time later, but the same bloodline, of course. So I guess I'll be playing a distant cousin of myself or something. I have to think about that for a minute. It's a little bit twisted.
NATALIE: Maybe like an aunt or something.
SCARLETT: A distant cousin. I don't know. The whole dynasty was so confusing at that time. But that's what I'm looking forward to.
NATALIE: Historical figure? I don't know. It's interesting. I feel like there were periods of time a long time ago where there were more women leaders than there are currently. But nothing particular (comes to mind).
Q: The family in the movie tries to essentially sell/pimp off the daughters. Have we really advanced that much in society? Today we still read the Weddings section of the Sunday New York Times to see who's getting married, and they're almost like mergers. What's your take on that and has it happened in your personal lives?
NATALIE: No, I don't get that personal pressure. But, yeah, I think it definitely exists and I think that's why it's a story that is still resonant now, because you know those people. You know the people who think of marriage as empire building or whatever, and I think it's something that definitely still exists today.
SCARLETT: I guess so. There are still debutante ball and things like this. It's completely foreign from any lifestyle that I grew up in, but I hear rumors of it.
NATALIE: The fact that marriage is a legal contract at all (is crazy). The fact that the word husband means "to tame" or whatever, (as in) "animal husbandry"… it's engrained in the language, the ownership and all of that of marriage.
Q: For the two of you, was there any choice of who played which Boleyn girl? What was the order of the casting, and do you think that anyone under 20 really knows who Anne Boleyn is?
NATALIE: I think a lot of people watch The Tudors.
SCARLETT: I remember passing very briefly through this period of time in my own World History class, just because it was so vast. I remember us having World History I, World History II, and learning all of this in a period of two years, and that's before you hit U.S. History. Unless you're studying it or majoring in European History or particularly interested in these monarchies, I think that it's not something that known as much to Americans. I remember learning, "Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived." That's what I learned about Henry VIII, but it was never really fully explained. We knew the rough edges of the history. So it's interesting. Hopefully the fact that Natalie and I are both involved with the project will maybe entice the younger generation and spark their interest in the subject, because it is a fascinating time in history. They say history repeats itself, so we'll see how that works out over time. A major part of why I joined the project was because Natalie was involved and was set to play Anne, and I was a huge fan of Natalie's for a long time. I always loved her choices and performances. And I'd never had the opportunity to work on such an even playing field with a peer, being able to play siblings. It was a great opportunity for both of us.
NATALIE: I read the script and loved it and came on as Anne. And I was like, 'I will only do it if Scarlett does it,' because I have just loved her for so long, since we were kids. She's so true always and so good, and it was, like Scarlett was saying, you just never get the chance to work with someone your own age, that you so admire. This was such a great, great chance (to do that).
Q: And Natalie, do you think people are aware of this story?
NATALIE: I wasn't aware of this story before I read the script. So, that's exciting, to be able to introduce this story from the beginning. And then it's exciting because, in England, where I think people know a lot about Anne Boleyn, it's pop culture knowledge. And it's exciting, too, to turn it on its head because the story of Mary is a very untold story. And, also, people (in the U.S.) know this story. The book was really, really popular here. Every woman I know is like, 'When's that movie coming out? When's that movie coming out?' I think that primed people for the movie.
Q: How did you enjoy working with each other?
NATALIE: Scarlett was a total dream partner to work with. Just the fact that she was always so present, so focused and so real, I could believe everything and stay in the scene, and feel supported. It was really, really one of my best, if not my best acting experience opposite someone my age. It was so exciting to get to see someone I admire up close.
SCARLETT: It was so important for us to maintain the connection even between shooting (scenes), that we were kind of with one another, because we were in it together. That kind of shooting experience (a period piece, in elaborate costumes, on a drafty set) could feel so isolating. We were shooting on digital film; it was a new process. (They were on) these big sets, these old castles. Everyone was running around doing their scene, and it was nice for us to be able to just stay in it. It was very interesting. It was really an incredible learning experience. It was hard work, but it paid off hugely. Natalie, being able to watch her performance change and manipulate and watch her make the discoveries in a scene… or 'when she does that it affects me this way…,' in some way it was like one half of a whole character.
Q: What’s it like working with Eric Bana?
SCARLETT: We never really had any scenes with Eric together. Because of that I never knew what Natalie's relationship was with Eric, so totally out of circumstance I had to define my own relationship with Eric because I had no idea what was going on with Natalie. Did you feel the same way?
NATALIE: We obviously knew from the script that he's gentle and sexy with you and rough and challenging with me. I remember people being, like, 'Wow, the sex scene was really hot!' (That was) the crew members talking about whatever afterwards. I was like, 'OK.' But Eric is super-fun and funny.
SCARLETT: He's such a goof. He's a comedian, of course. He's really involved with his family. His family was there the whole time.
NATALIE: He's like a bloke. He's this Australian bloke. 'My car… my bike… my kids…."
SCARLETT: And all of a sudden he'd become the king, and regal. What was the word that you used earlier?
NATALIE: Strapping. He is strapping.
Q: Natalie, you pulled out of "The Horse Whisperer" in 1999 and that ended up being one of Scarlett's breakthrough roles…
SCARLETT: I never even thought about that! It was the best thing that ever happened to me, that you dropped out. Thanks, Natalie.
NATALIE: That was an awesome performance.
SCARLETT: I totally forgot!
Q: Do you both seek out roles that send out positive roles for women?
SCARLETT: Do you want to answer that one?
NATALIE: Sure.
SCARLETT: I'll think about it.
NATALIE: I want to do things that are real people. I think women can be weak or vulnerable or strong. They can be not very smart or brilliant. There's not one kind of woman out there and I think it's important to portray a wide variety. But I have recently been getting frustrated. I don't know if you (she looks at Johansson) have this experience, because we probably read a lot of the same (scripts) that are out there, but the number of roles that are for strippers or prostitutes, or the opposites, which is 'She's the pure one, she's the one that makes the man realize who he should be…' that dichotomy exists so strongly. It's the virgin-whore thing in evidence to the greatest extent. That's really been bothering. So to find a character who's complicated, like the women in this film, is very, very exciting. I love comedies so much and then any time I read a comedy the girl is in fashion. She's really into clothes and she just wants to get married. Those are not values I care to jump the bandwagon on. I'd love to do a comedy. I'd love to do a romantic comedy, but you can't find something where the woman has a real job, that's not just about fashion. Joining the 'All girls care about is fashion and boys' (bandwagon); that's not something (she's interested in). So it is frustrating, but I don't want to bitch about it because I think you find the things that are good, and we're in lucky enough position to see a lot of stuff.
SCARLETT: I echo very much how Natalie feels about that. I never think about finding a particularly strong (role). I have found strengths in every character that I have played, even if it is a vulnerable person or someone who's easily manipulated. There are strengths to every personality. As much as I wasn't particularly looking for a girl power kind of a role I think maintaining integrity in a character is a positive thing for women to see. I think it's inspiring for women of all ages. And I don't think that necessarily, like I said, has to do with a girl power type of film.
NATALIE: That's just as false as the woman-as-victim or woman-as-whore stereotypes. A strong woman is as much a fantasy as anything else.
“The Other Boleyn Girl” opens on February 29th.
