Scarlett Johansson and director Mike Barker chat about A Good Woman
An updated adaptation of the play Lady Windermere's Fan by the ever-popular Oscar Wilde, canny director Mike Barker cleverly broadens the appeal by setting his tale in the decadent 1930s on Italy's Amalfi Coast.
Two of our favourite female leads - Scarlett Johansson and Helen Hunt - go head to head as, respectively, the innocent young bride, Meg, and Mrs Erlynne, the New York socialite who has fled the wagging tongues of the wives of the men she has habitually seduced, and who is now looking for a nice new man on the Italian Riviera. She finds one in young Robert Windermere; unfortunately, he happens to be married to the lovely but naïve Meg.
What follows is what one might call a farce - a comedy of errors - or downright funny and imaginative scripting, although would one expect anything less from a Wilde derivative?
"I have always been a fan of Oscar Wilde" says director, Mike Barker. "He writes with such a genuine and original humour that it is very difficult not to be drawn to his work. His understanding of human nature combined with this observational quality make him one of the funniest writers ever and a great source for film material. His approach to rules, manners and etiquette are often subversive and always entertaining.
"Lady Windermere's Fan" is one of Wilde's lesser-known plays and yet it reflects many of the themes in his work. How one is perceived, and what is the reality; jumping to conclusions; and the British trait of doing down your neighbour for a little capital of ones own. It is quite a dry play by Wilde's standard so we added lines, some famous some not, from other plays and other social commentators of the time, including Winston Churchill.
Barker wanted to update the story for modern audiences but realised that, this being a comedy that centres on manners and etiquette, he still needed to find a period in which social behaviour was still very much under scrutiny. "We felt that bringing it forward to the 1930s helped with its immediacy with the audience and made it more approachable and relevant" he says, then adds "Not to mention all those beautiful dresses that the girls got to wear."
His choice of lead actresses also played a hand in making the film more accessible to today's audiences.
"Scarlett had just finished "Pearl Earring" and "Lost in Translation" says Barker. "Neither film had come out but there was a buzz on this young actress. The director of "Pearl" let me into his cutting room to see uncut footage of Scarlett and the decision to give her the role became an easy one. Scarlett has great acting instincts - they are very immediate and she stands by her acting choices. She has fun when she is working and you get a sense of that in her performance."
Johansson, barely out of her teens and already a multiple award winner, concedes that she is not quite as sheltered or unknowing as her character in the film, but says:
"You put a little piece of yourself into every character that you do, even if you're playing some psychotic person - which of course I'm not.at least as far as I know.not during the day time anyway! Some part of you is in that character and it's hopefully believable. You can even prevent it. As an actor you always look at ways to get rid of yourself. I always come back to the fact that my own instinct is better than something I build in my mind."
Something of an acting veteran at the age of 20, Johansson has been acting since childhood, with such roles as The Horse Whisperer (1998), Ghost World (2000), and The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) , with upcoming roles in Woody Allen's Match Point and Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia merely cementing her reputation. Along the way, in 2003, came the double whammy of Lost in Translation and The Girl with the Pearl Earring . Some young stars find it difficult to deal with the pressures of fame at so young an age. Johansson relished it, good days and bad. She says:
"Somebody had suggested to my mom, that we were the very cute Johansson family (she has a brother and sister, plus a twin brother), and we should go to this commercial agency. So we all went, but the only person they wanted was my older brother - I was devastated. Later, I'd go up for more commercial stuff and also be devastated, because it was so overwhelming for a little kid - they didn't know if they wanted me, or, like, a little black boy.
"I always had the chance to do whatever I wanted to do. My parents were very open about that. Acting has been a passion of mine. I was one of those singing "Ahhhh" people, and wanted to be in musicals as a kid, and took tap dance - believe it or not - so for me, it's a dream come true. My childhood was filled with things that I loved to do, and also very normal things: I lived in New York, I have a family life and went to a regular school. If anything I probably look back and think, 'Wow, I did a lot of things that a lot of people don't get to do in their life time.'
One of those childhood memories centres on a film that many a young woman holds dear to their hearts. She says:
"There's only been a couple of celebrities I've been intimated by. One was Bill Clinton and the other was Patrick Swayze. I actually ran up to Patrick at a party, and said, 'Hi, it's so nice to meet you. I just want you to know I've really liked Dirty Dancing since I was a little girl'. He told me, 'That was a long time ago.' And I shrunk into a corner, cried and went home."
Fortunately she seems to fare better with her co-stars. Having played opposite such male leads as Bill Murray, Steve Buscemi, and Colin Firth - all, one might note, considerably older than herself - she likes the challenge of working with established, respected actors.
"I feel it helps me step up my game", she says. " When you're working with somebody you admire and someone who is iconic, like John Travolta [with whom she stars in the fortchcoming A Love Song for Bobby Long ], it makes you want to be a better actor. You aspire to be as great, and you don't want to drop the ball. At the same time you can't be nervous, because it shows. Like the first couple of scenes I did with Woody [in the forthcoming Matchpoint ], I felt like: 'what am I doing? This is useless, this is not getting me anywhere!'.
'[John Travolta is] such a warm person. He was immediately warm to me, and it invited a good energy. So I took him up on that offer and we just became really good friends. I love him very much, he's a generous person, and was absolutely pleasant and wonderful to work with. [He's] more like a playmate. I have a dad, and I don't need anybody to say, 'Hey don't stay up past midnight'. He's almost like a best friend than a dad. "
Johansson might be forgiven for allowing her rapid promotion up the 'actresses most likely to.' chart to affect her. However, she is pragmatic about the double-edged sword that is fame. "I read a lot of stuff, things about myself that aren't true." She says. "I've read that I've been with people I've never met. I don't mention names now. I don't even go there. I've learnt you can say things and they're taken the wrong way, and things are taken out of context. I'm a very private person.
"Living in New York helps, because nobody is really interested in anybody else there. You'd be amazed how many times Michael Stipe [singer of REM] passes me on my block - like 15 times a week - 'Oh, there's Michael Stipe again.'
"People have this idea of celebrity that it's this huge deal, I'm not trying to be a celebrity - I'm just trying to make good movies."
A Good Woman opens across the UK 13th May 2005.
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