Lindsay
Lohan faced one of her toughest screen challenges in Bobby
and relished every minute of it.
“To be part of such an amazing ensemble cast was quite
daunting,” she says. “People like Sharon Stone,
Demi Moore, I mean, they are incredible and I really admire
them. So yes, this part was a big challenge. But I loved
it.”
Lohan and her co-stars – including Martin
Sheen, William
H. Macy, Christian Slater, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Hunt,
Anthony Hopkins and many more – play ordinary people
caught up in an extraordinary, tragic event which shaped
world history – the assassination of Robert Kennedy
at the Ambassador Hotel on June 5th, 1968.
Written and directed by Emilio
Estevez,
Bobby is the story of the people who gather at the hotel – staff, guests,
journalists, and political campaigners – in the hours
before Sirhan Sirhan fired the shots which would mortally
wound Kennedy and injure several others.
Lohan, 20, wasn’t born at the
time of the assassination, and hopes that the film will
remind younger generations of just how important a figure
Bobby Kennedy was and, in turn, how America, and the world,
was robbed of an inspirational leader.
And she admits that before embarking
on research for the film, she didn’t know as much about Kennedy as she
does now. “No I didn’t. So it was a learning
process for me.
“My sister is 12 and she came
to set and she learned more than she learned in school,
just from being on set and seeing what was going on. We
had videos playing on set because Emilio had a great idea
of having everything playing while we were filming so that
everyone could kind of feel that energy. It was very surreal
actually because it felt like you were there.”
Lohan plays Diane, an idealistic young anti war campaigner
who marries William (Elijah Wood), a young man she hardly
knows, to save him from being drafted to Vietnam.
“She was really devoted to what she believed in at
the time and I think that is a really good thing for me to
put out there, not only for women, but it’s really
empowering for people of my generation - basically to have
a say in the world that you live in. Not only in America,
but to be aware of what is going on and to have a say in
what is going on. I think that is so important.”
Working with Estevez – who also appears on screen
in the film, playing the husband and manager of an alcoholic
singer due to perform for Kennedy – was a dream, she
says. And his passionate commitment to the project rubbed
off on his cast, she says.
“Emilio is probably one of the nicest men I’ve
ever met and he’s so down to earth. To see someone
who is so passionate about something and at the same time
is so happy to be making the movie that he’s wanted
to make forever, is just wonderful.”
Lohan is one of the hottest young stars in the world today.
Born in New York, she was modelling by the age of three and
as a child made more than 60 commercials. At ten, she made
her acting debut on the TV series Another World.
Just over a year later, she made her
first feature film – playing
twins in Nancy Meyers’ charming remake of The Parent
Trap. She’s hardly stopped working since and her credits
include Mean Girls, Herbie Fully Loaded and Freaky Friday.
As well as Bobby, she will soon be seen playing a rebellious
teenager in Georgia Rule with Jane Fonda and in Chapter 27,
with Jared Leto, a film about the days leading up to the
murder of John Lennon.
Q: Are you pleased with Bobby?
A: Oh yeah. Doing interviews for the
film and seeing how well people respond to it is special.
And seeing how well people responded to it because it’s such a tricky subject.
Emilio is probably one of the nicest men I’ve ever
met and he’s so down to earth. To see someone who is
so passionate about something and at the same time is so
happy to be making the movie that he’s wanted to make
forever, is just wonderful.
Q: With such a big cast, did Emilio have time to devote
to his actors individually?
A: Yes. He would come up and talk to me and discuss how
we would approach a scene, like he would ask me what I felt
and how we were going to do it. And to get that from a director,
to know that they trust you, is fantastic. And he also trusted
me to play a (real) woman that is still alive and I felt
that was an honour.
Q: Do you want to meet her?
A: I do and we’re trying to work that out. I really
appreciate her trusting me to do this. I’ve never done
this before, playing a woman who is alive and who I’ve
never even met.
Q: What do you make of what she
did? She was prepared to marry a young man she hardly knew
to prevent him from being sent to Vietnam…
A: She was really devoted to what
she believed in at the time and I think that’s very important. And I think
that is a really good thing for me to put out there, not
only for women, but it’s really empowering for people
of my generation. You have to have a say in the world that
you live in and to be aware of what is going on and to have
a say in what is going on. I think that is so important.
I always encourage voting and knowing your rights and with
all the turmoil that we have been going through recently,
it’s perfect timing to put that message out there.
This is not a negative film – the focus is in the right
place.
Q: You represent a lot for the film
because you can bring in a younger audience to the film
and maybe a lot of them don’t know as much about
Bobby Kennedy as an older generation.
A: I didn’t know as much as
I know about him now. My sister is 12 and she came to set
and she learned more than she learned in school, just from
being on set and seeing what was going on. We had videos
playing on set, with footage of Bobby and news reels from
the time, because Emilio had a great idea of having everything
playing while we were filming so that everyone could kind
of feel that energy. It was very surreal actually because
it felt like you were there.
Q: It’s an extraordinary cast.
How did it feel being part of that?
A: Great but at times it was intimidating.
I still want to meet Anthony Hopkins! A lot of us were
there together when we did the final scenes, I think it
shows through in the film how happy everyone was to be
a part of it. I would look at the call sheet and I’d see these names added
every day and that was extraordinary. I had the scene with
Sharon Stone and I was nervous to work with her because I
admire her so much and the roles she’s played. She’s
such a force and she has these great stories of working on
these amazing movies. And Demi Moore as well, she’s
great.
Q: It must have been hard for Emilio to weave all the different
stories together...
A: Yes, but I think it worked so well.
He had these amazing actors and he used them to tell these
stories that all, eventually, connect with each other because
of what happened on that night when Bobby Kennedy was shot.
It’s a touchy subject
but Emilio handled it very well and that’s a tribute
to him.
Q: Does this film mark a different departure for you? Will
we see you doing different things?
A: Well the way I look at it is that
it depends on the character and the people involved in
it, that’s really important.
And the chemistry you have with the people involved is really
important. If I meet someone and I connect and it’s
something that I really care for – the way it was with
Bobby – then I’ll do it at the drop of a hat.
It’s as simple as that. I’m growing and I’m
learning. I’m learning about what roles I want to pick
and choose and I’m learning as I get older and you
know people change their minds every day and I happen to
change my mind and the whole world sees – which I still
don’t believe, by the way. If I’m completely
honest about it, it’s still all amazing. And I’m
really lucky to be able to do what I’m doing. So whatever
comes my way and whatever seems really good at the time,
that’s what I’ll do.
Q: With so many films to your credit
it’s hard to
remember you are still only 20. Do you feel older than your
years?
A: Yes, I feel a lot older than I
am. But I like it. I’ve
been around adults all of my life and I’ve had a lot
of responsibilities and I appreciate them a lot. And I don’t
take any of it for granted. I mean I try not to. People do
make mistakes obviously and you have to make mistakes to
learn but I don’t regret anything that I’ve done
and I’m a big believer in everything happening for
a reason. And this movie I believe happened for a reason.
And the timing couldn’t be better in a way, because
we need to take the focus off of the things that aren’t
truly (important), stories that get put out there. And put
it where it belongs. This is a film about a man that people
truly admired, a man who brought people together. One person
who brought so many people together and it was a tragedy
when we lost him.
Q: He represented so much at that time. What does Bobby
Kennedy mean to your generation?
A: He did represent so much. I don’t think there’s
one thing about Bobby Kennedy that we can’t respect
and that shows through in this movie. This movie is special
and people really care about it and it’s great to be
a part of something like that. This film is about Bobby Kennedy
but it’s also about the people around him whose lives
were affected on that day. It’s about extraordinary,
ordinary people and I think you can relate to them. This
film can have such a good impact and I believe it will. And
like I said, I’ve learnt much more about Bobby Kennedy
from working on this film and perhaps if people from my generation
go to see it they will want to discover more about him too,
and that’s got to be a good thing.
Q: Is this a happy time in your life?
A: Yeah. Things are really good. And
I’m learning.
I’m learning how to handle things and people can say
whatever they want as long as I don’t read it. I don’t
take it personally. So yes, this is a good time and I’m
enjoying the work, which is great.
|
