Post by Observer2 on Mar 26, 2004 20:31:08 GMT -5
Well, Star Jones did not disappoint me -- she brought up Renee Zellweger’s Academy Awards speech. But D’Onofrio’s response surprised me. Yeah, I expect him to downplay the importance of his influence on Zellweger; but it seemed as though he really didn’t know what Zellweger was referring to, beyond the general experience of working with him on the movie and dealing with the in-depth role. Of course, he’s a good actor so maybe that was his way of downplaying it. But I wonder if he really doesn’t know how much he taught her, and how clearly she remembers it.
Zellweger wasn’t just talking about the experience of being in a major role. She has mentioned before that D’Onofrio taught her a lot. I remember one instance specifically, that was in a TV interview with someone who mentioned her role in The Whole Wide World but did not mention D’Onofrio. Zellweger immediately started talking about D’Onofrio and how much he taught her. I remember part of it, and I think I've seen something in print, but...
....I needed to go use my most valuable research tool....
(Well, the internet is sort of like a vast, virtual library.... and the way to check things out in it – sort of like using a library card to check out books – is to Google. Right? Okay. That was a stretch, I admit...)
Got it. It’s a transcript of the interview I saw on the TV. (Search words: Zellweger, D’Onofrio, taught)
________________________
at www.efanguide.com
ARTICLES - INSIDE THE ACTOR'S STUDIO - 2003
[it’s well down the page in the interview transcript]
James: How do you conduct yourself on the set? Are you gregarious on the set? Are you private?
Renee: Vince D’Onofrio, um, when we did The Whole Wide World…I think he’s a fantastic actor, and he taught me, um, a lesson that I’ll never forget, actually. He said, “don’t you know how much easier it is to get there and stay there, than to start all over again every time you go to do the scene?” So, that stayed with me. He’s so right. That you go to work, and you reach a certain level, um, in the scene, in terms of your concentration, and then maintain it. Stay there, because you can go so much further, than starting all over again, and wasting time getting back to that place.
____________________________
I browsed through the rest of the results I got on that search, and found another reference I remember having read before, at www.seattleweekly.com, in an article about Dan Ireland that says:
“...In Ireland's reunion interview with Zellweger on the new DVD of The Whole Wide World... ...she explains that it was World that convinced Cameron Crowe she could play a grown-up (as she did in Crowe's subsequent Jerry Maguire), and D'Onofrio who taught her to act.”
(If anyone has a DVD player and the DVD, I’d love to have the exact quote.)
I don’t get to many movies, so I haven’t seen Cold Mountain yet. But I’ve seen clips. In the scenes with Zellweger and Nicole Kidman, I’ve been reminded a bit of some of D’Onofrio’s movies, where what I experience is watching what appears to be a real person surrounded by actors of various levels of skill. In the clips, Zellweger gives that impression. There’s a real mountain, and a real log, and a real woman, and then there’s Kidman portraying another woman. With Zellweger I don’t see the outer shell, the layer of fiction. She has stepped into that experience and that’s all I see. She seems to credit D’Onofrio with teaching her how to take it that deep – and since it echoes his style so strongly, I expect she’s telling the simple truth.
Zellweger wasn’t just talking about the experience of being in a major role. She has mentioned before that D’Onofrio taught her a lot. I remember one instance specifically, that was in a TV interview with someone who mentioned her role in The Whole Wide World but did not mention D’Onofrio. Zellweger immediately started talking about D’Onofrio and how much he taught her. I remember part of it, and I think I've seen something in print, but...
....I needed to go use my most valuable research tool....
(Well, the internet is sort of like a vast, virtual library.... and the way to check things out in it – sort of like using a library card to check out books – is to Google. Right? Okay. That was a stretch, I admit...)
Got it. It’s a transcript of the interview I saw on the TV. (Search words: Zellweger, D’Onofrio, taught)
________________________
at www.efanguide.com
ARTICLES - INSIDE THE ACTOR'S STUDIO - 2003
[it’s well down the page in the interview transcript]
James: How do you conduct yourself on the set? Are you gregarious on the set? Are you private?
Renee: Vince D’Onofrio, um, when we did The Whole Wide World…I think he’s a fantastic actor, and he taught me, um, a lesson that I’ll never forget, actually. He said, “don’t you know how much easier it is to get there and stay there, than to start all over again every time you go to do the scene?” So, that stayed with me. He’s so right. That you go to work, and you reach a certain level, um, in the scene, in terms of your concentration, and then maintain it. Stay there, because you can go so much further, than starting all over again, and wasting time getting back to that place.
____________________________
I browsed through the rest of the results I got on that search, and found another reference I remember having read before, at www.seattleweekly.com, in an article about Dan Ireland that says:
“...In Ireland's reunion interview with Zellweger on the new DVD of The Whole Wide World... ...she explains that it was World that convinced Cameron Crowe she could play a grown-up (as she did in Crowe's subsequent Jerry Maguire), and D'Onofrio who taught her to act.”
(If anyone has a DVD player and the DVD, I’d love to have the exact quote.)
I don’t get to many movies, so I haven’t seen Cold Mountain yet. But I’ve seen clips. In the scenes with Zellweger and Nicole Kidman, I’ve been reminded a bit of some of D’Onofrio’s movies, where what I experience is watching what appears to be a real person surrounded by actors of various levels of skill. In the clips, Zellweger gives that impression. There’s a real mountain, and a real log, and a real woman, and then there’s Kidman portraying another woman. With Zellweger I don’t see the outer shell, the layer of fiction. She has stepped into that experience and that’s all I see. She seems to credit D’Onofrio with teaching her how to take it that deep – and since it echoes his style so strongly, I expect she’s telling the simple truth.