Q: Can you tell us about that movie and who you play in it?

Hmm hmm.  It’s a romantic comedy and working with Gerry was great.  We’re actually looking for something else to do together with Richard LaGravenese because we all had such a great time together.  It doesn’t sound funny when you kind of pitch it, but it’s about this man, Gerry, this couple that are married, me and Gerry, and he gets a brain tumor.  And while he’s dying he writes these letters to me. So, once he’s died I’m getting these letters every month on how to just find myself again and move on.  And he has me doing all these funny, silly things along the way.  It’s really, really, I mean you laugh and you cry and it’s a reminder of what is important in life. To hold the people you love dear and not take them for granted. It’s really, really touching. 

Q: Are you still learning a lot?  Are you watching and observing?

Yeah and I love that you asked that.  That’s something that’s so important to me.  I feel like, people say, ‘Geez. Well, with two Academy Awards, where do you go?’  Well, I look at those movies and see mistakes all over the place and things that I would have done differently and better. And I think anytime you look at your life and think, ‘Oh, yeah I got that. I understand it. I got that down. It’s a breeze,’ you can just quit. Because that’s not – I want to constantly grow and learn and challenge myself.  That’s ultimately what I look for in a script is to be challenged in some way.  And y’know lots of different ways. And yes, I’m a big observer.  I would say, one of the things, a funny story – as a kid, I would observe so much and one of the things my Mom saying ad nauseum was, ‘Stop starring Hilary!’ I would just stare and watch people. I remember as a kid watching how many times people would chew before they swallow. I remember watching people walk and watching how people write. Do they put their pen up here or do they put their pen here or do they put their pen here.  Do they touch their hair when they talk. I’m just fascinated by people. Fascinated.  And I’m fascinated by how different people work. Like, when we talk about the different directors I’ve worked with. Seeing how they all work differently, but they all make these great movies.  How you can get to a point by doing it so many different ways.  I just love that.

Q: Do you keep your options open every time you go into a film?

I definitely try to and it’s one of the things, y’know that is probably the most difficult, because I’ve been doing this half my life now.  And so, I have an expectation of what it should be like on the set or I have an expectation of what a scene should come out, but the real challenge for me is to stay open minded and not to have an idea of how it’s going to turn out.  To get up and go to my job everyday and be open minded to how the scenes are going to turn out, to how other people work, to being open to how they are working and I think that’s really important, especially in a creative job.

Q: Are you able to observe anymore?

Oh, yeah because I’m out and people will see me starring at them? It’s definitely different, but when I was living in New York, it was great, because I was taking the subway still and it was really important…I think what happens to actors when they become famous is they become more solitary, because it’s harder to go out just the nature of – of course it is.  But, I think that’s one of the biggest detriments, because when you start loosing touch with people and absorbing you loose touch with life and what you’re trying to create. So, I love traveling and I love taking public transportation when I can and being with people, because that’s what I do.  That’s my job. Here you’re in your car, but in New York, people are in such a hurry, so you’ll be on the subway and someone will be reading and they’ll be like, ‘I love your work! I love it.’ And then they’ll go back to reading their book.  Y’know? Or they’ll be walking down the street and they’ll be going, ‘Oh, that was great!’ But they keep going because they have places to go.  So, it’s, y’know, that’s the difference.

Q: What are you working on next?

I’m working on doing press for ‘The Reaping’ and then ‘P.S. I Love You.’