n The Contender, a United States Senator's nomination to the role of Vice President is jeopardized when a possible sex scandal in her past is revealed. Tribute talked to the two stars about their Oscar nominated roles.
Joan Allen
It must have been extremely flattering to have had Rod Lurie come up to you and say, "I'm going to write a script especially for you."
JA: I didn't really know Rod before this film. I knew of him from the L.A. Broadcast and film critics, and he presented me with an award for Pleasantville (Best Supporting Actress) and he said all these very complimentary things about me. He was seated at the table with my husband and he was with his wife and then he looked at me and said, "You know what, I'm going to write a script for you." I was like, "that's really nice, go ahead." Who knows, it could have been terrible or any number of things, but when I did get the script it was apparent how good it was.
Did you hesitate at all? After all, the man's background is film critic!
JA: He is a very dynamic man, very smart, a lot of personality and his enthusiasm was unlike anything I'd encountered before. I really had the confidence that he would be able to do it well, plus he assembled this fabulous cast (also includes Sam Elliot, Gary Oldman and Christian Slater).
I guess you really couldn't refuse.
What a fabulous role to play, a Senator who is chosen to be Vice President
of the United States. Unfortunately you didn't have any role models to
look at, but was there anyone that you spent time with to prepare to be
her?
JA: Not in particular to be her. I
sort of viewed Laine Hanson as a unique entity in a way because there is
something about her that's sort of idealized. It's sort of politics the
way you'd like it to be. You have to still play it in a real way. You
can't really play an idea, but there was that element of clarity and
sticking to her guns. Actually, Rod and I did meet with a Senator from
Arkansas. Her name was Blanche Lincoln, a young senator in her late
thirties, very different in style and temperament from Laine but I think
it was helpful to see her office and her staff and to see how she worked.
From that, I learned a bit about what it was like to be a senator - just
the nuts and bolts of it.
Did you feel yourself relating to her
at all? Do you think if you were ever put in that kind of situation you
could be as strong as Laine?
JA: No way. I never would be. That's
what I kept thinking over and over. I would never be able to do this.
That's what's really fun about acting - sometimes you get to do things
that you would never normally be able to do in life.
It was a bit of a reunion for you because you got to act again with Jeff
Bridges and Christian Slater (all three starred in Tucker
together). What was it like being with Jeff again?
JA: Oh, wonderful. Jeff is an absolute
joy. He is so uplifting to be around - he is very optimistic. He's hard
working, he's creative, he comes to the set with such enthusiasm and I
think his performance is just beautiful in this movie. It's really
complicated and complex. He's got these layers of things and agendas going
on, yet he's a good guy, but he has this rivalry with Gary Oldman's
character and he just balances all that so well. He handles his character
with a light hand but you know he's holding all of the cards. That's so
hard to pull off and Jeff did a really great job.