Chris Cooper and Patricia Clarkson Interview – MARRIED LIFE
3/6/2008
Posted by Frosty

Q: Can you talk a little about working with Pierce?
Chris Cooper: It was delightful; Pierce and I had a little private get together over dinner.
Patricia Clarkson: I had a little private get together too.
Chris Cooper: And we just talked about our personal lives and we found some similarities in that and just that evening spending together was just a great, great help in that the first thing we shot was the opening scene of the film, that luncheon at the Sky Bar restaurant, and not to make it happen but I felt like we had a nice feel with each other; the same thing with Rachel. I realize I didn’t do that many scenes with Rachel, we just established the relationship in the film with just a handful of scenes. Everybody was very, very comfortable with each other.
Patricia Clarkson: I did have a – like I mentioned, dinner – we got Vancouver, I didn’t know Pierce, but he’s my confidante in the film and I do clearly have a past with him, and we really clearly like one another, and so getting to know him was lovely, and he’s incredibly talented and a real gentleman, and lovely to work with – the two of them, it was dreamy to go to work every day. Seriously, sometimes I couldn’t sleep at night I was so excited.
Chris Cooper: And whether it was a collaboration with Ira and Pierce, I think of all the four main actors, Pierce early on saw great humor in this script and he found those moments brilliantly where he discovers the deal with Pat.
Patricia Clarkson: Shhh. Let’s just call it the deal. He discovers the deal with Pat, that’s okay.
Chris Cooper: I thought it was great the way he handled the scenes.
Patricia Clarkson: Shooting that was so fun. Yee hee.
Q: What do you guys have coming up?
Chris Cooper: It’s embarrassing, I think it’s something called Love in New York, it’s a companion piece –
Patricia Clarkson: American to the French – all those vignettes. (They’re talking about Paris, je t'aime)

Chris Cooper: So I’m going to be doing a little two or three minute piece with Robin Wright and it’s an interesting piece, we’ll be shooting it later this month, but other than that, after the writers’ strike the scripts are just starting to come in and I’m reading material, but haven’t come up with anything yet.
Q: Which director’s doing that segment?
Chris Cooper: [He makes a face and we all laugh] Oh man it’s embarrassing, I think he’s from Tel Aviv, I think he’s name is Ateel, never let him hear this.
Patricia Clarkson: I’m going to work with Scorsese next, which is pretty [someone says great] yeah, on Shutter Island, I shoot in May I guess.
Q: Can you talk a little about your character in the film?
Patricia Clarkson: I can’t. It’s a cool character, it’s a great character. It’s cool, it’s surprising and odd, it’s a challenge, but obviously I’m looking forward to working with Martin Scorsese.
Q: And you just finished a Woody Allen film.

Patricia Clarkson: I did, I did. Yes, I worked with Woody Allen over the summer and he was fantastic. I really loved working with Woody Allen, just his rhythm, his energy, his improvisational quality, it’s a free ride, it’s like a free lunch every day you get to the set and you can kind of – it’s great to be on the set with him. I was honored.
Q: You enjoyed Barcelona?
Patricia Clarkson: I did, Barcelona, by great-grandfather is from Barcelona, people don’t realize I have a lot of Spanish blood in me.
(after the junket ends Chris Cooper says that the New York version of Paris, je t'aime will have a way of interconnecting the stories…which the Paris version didn’t have)


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