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::FILM NEWS::
LE Newsletter - February 2, 2012
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Sundance 2012: ‘It’ Star Gina Rodriguez Moved To Tears
Source:
www.thestar.com - By Linda Barnard
(Jan 26, 2012) PARK CITY, UTAH—Every film festival has one:
an “it
girl” actress who seems to come out of nowhere to turn heads
with a breakout performance that signals the first blush of
stardom.
Last year,
Sundance was abuzz over
Elizabeth Olsen (Martha
Marcy May Marlene) and
Brit Marling (Another
Earth). Now it’s 27-year-old Puerto Rican-American
Gina Rodriguez’s
turn as star of the hip-hop drama, Filly Brown. Her
gritty, realistic portrayal of Majo Tomorio, a streetwise young
L.A. Latina woman who spits verses as Filly Brown and faces
divided loyalties over her music amid family turmoil is earning
raves from fest-goers.
The pretty, fresh-faced Rodriguez, an earnest NYU grad who comes
across as worrisomely trusting, seems overwhelmed by the
accolades her performance is drawing.
She’s not wearing any makeup as she sits on a couch in the
Eccles Theatre green room for a chat with the Star.
Either that, or she’s cried it off. Rodriguez was teary during
the onstage Q&A for the standing ovation Filly Brown
received. As we talked, she frequently lifted her enormous
horn-rim glasses to blot her eyes, reaching out for a hug or
becoming emotional when talking about family, her dreams and her
sense of responsibility to her community.
“How can I deny this was a gift given to me by the grace of God
and not do it justice or as much as I could?” said Rodriguez,
her voice low-pitched and raspy.
This is her first major role, following some TV work, including
uncredited appearances on TV soap The Bold and the Beautiful
and a supporting part in 2011’s Go For It!
Filly Brown writer and co-director Youssef Delara (with
Michael Olmos) figured they would have to cast a Latina MC and
teach her to act when they began work on the film, never
imagining they could find the whole package in one actress. Then
Rodriguez showed up and auditioned with a dramatic reading and a
rap she wrote herself. They knew they had their Filly.
“When I was younger, I used to watch TV and movies and I would
never see my face. I would see girls who were either the hooker
or prostitute or the sleazy girlfriend or pregnant teen. But
that wasn’t me.”
Filly may be tough but she’s also intelligent, loyal and heroic
thanks to lessons from her father (Lou Diamond Phillips) who
teaches her the value of being true to herself and her roots.
Like her character, Rodriguez grew up in a socially conscious
home — her dad is a Teamsters’ negotiator, her mom a Spanish
interpreter at the Cook Country courthouse.
“My parents both fought for the people and I wanted to be an
artist. How do I fight for the people?” said Rodriguez. “I have
to be an inspiration for these little girls. I want them to know
if I can do it, they can do it 10 times better and they don’t
have to get naked or starve themselves to do it.”
Although she had never rapped before landing the role, her
surprisingly melodic hip-hop vocal performance in Filly Brown
is also turning heads, so much so that she’s about to start
touring and performing.
“I want to do it all. I want to be an activist, philanthropist,
director, I want to write and I want to be a motivational
speaker. I want to have a platform where I can reach as many
people as possible.”
Sounds like she could end up as this generation’s Oprah Winfrey.
Upon hearing that, Rodriguez bursts into tears. Again.
While Filly Brown isn’t as strong a film as 2005 Sundance
darling Hustle & Flow, which sold to Paramount Pictures
and MTV Films for a then-Sundance record $9 million, people here
are making comparisons between them for the strength of the lead
actors’ performances. Terrence Howard went on to be nominated
for a Best Actor Oscar for playing rapping pimp DJay.
Finding the next big thing is what brings hordes of movie
industry insiders, studio executives and distributors to
Sundance, where they scout for movies you’ll see in theatres
this year.
So far, 12 films have sold, with The Surrogate taking top
dollar at $6 million.
As with the Toronto International Film Festival, I have seen as
many movies as possible in my week at Sundance (23 and counting
since Jan. 20) and am alternately congratulating myself for
picking winners and kicking myself for missing movies that sound
equally engaging among the 90 or so I didn’t get to.
A few thoughts on movies I enjoyed:
The Surrogate
Universally loved at Sundance 2012 and based on the real-life
story of poet/journalist Mark O’Brien who was confined to an
iron lung after contracting polio as a child and seeks the help
of a sex surrogate to lose his virginity, The Surrogate
was snapped up by Fox Searchlight almost as soon as the credits
rolled at Monday’s premiere. Tender, frequently funny and
equally heartbreaking, it’s a study of the need to have human
contact and what we will endure to experience it. William H.
Macy is his liberal priest who advises his parishioner to “go
for it” and Helen Hunt is wonderful as the patient and
compassionate sex surrogate and spends a great deal of the film
completely naked. That’s brave of her and also the producers,
who may face an audience-limiting adult rating on the movie.
John Hawkes is superb as the self-deprecating O’Brien, who
chronicles his journey to manhood, despite being unable to move
more than his head, with insight and humour. There was lots of
muffled weeping in the screening I attended. He and Richard Gere
in Arbitrage are generating the most Oscar talk for 2013.
Battle of the R-rated galpal flicks: Bachelorette vs. For a Good
Time Call. . .
One of the hottest tickets at Sundance was the glossy, gross-out
gal comedy Bachelorette, produced by Will Ferrell and
Adam McKay and starring Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan and Isla
Fisher as a trio of Mean Girls-inspired femmes who can’t
believe the fatty they called “pig face” in high school (Rebel
Wilson) is getting married before them.
But a far funnier version of the Bridesmaids-style bra-mance
(think bro-mance) was found with For a Good Time Call. . .
Lauren Anne Miller (who co-wrote with Katie Anne Naylon) and
Ari Graynor play the frenemies-turned-roomies and Toronto’s
Jamie Travis directs. The gals come up with a plan to pay their
rent — starting a phone-sex business. It’s funny and often warm
and fuzzy, too, as the once-bickering duo discover they have a
lot more in common than they thought.
Indie Game: The Movie: coming to the small screen
Sundance brings all kinds of opportunities to filmmakers, as
Winnipeggers Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky can attest. Their
fascinating study of the driven minds behind the world of indie
game creation has been optioned by HBO to possibly turn it into
a TV series. The doc was a crowd favourite here, by turns funny
and quite dark as Pajot and Swirsky show this is much more than
a game to these dedicated artists of the coded word.
Movies I also enjoyed: 2 Days in New York, Searching for
Sugar Man, BEAR (short film), Lay the Favourite, The Other Dream
Team, Safety Not Guaranteed, Shadow Dancer, West of Memphis and
Your Sister’s Sister (which I saw at TIFF in September).
In Quotation: Sundance films
• “It’s like living in someone’s mouth,” Rebecca Hall in Lay
the Favourite on living in New York City.
• “If you touch one you have to touch the other. It’s an
unwritten rule,” Helen Hunt as a sex therapist in The
Surrogate.
• “If I was busting your balls you’d know it. Truth,” Gina
Rodriguez in Filly Brown.
• “Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!” Kevin Smith mimics a
reversing truck to hilarious effect as a phone sex customer in
For a Good Time Call. . .
• “(Long Island) is like the Valley, except people are pale and
yucky,” Parker Posey explaining New York to Californians in
Price Check. |
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::ENTERTAINMENT NEWS WITH A CANADAN TWIST::
