NOVEMBER
FA
LLMOVIE
PR
EVIEW
can have ownership of
complicated, raw, ugly,
beautiful, sexualized—or
asexual!—damaged, vul-
nerable characters. And
don’t have to be type-
cast because of one role,
or because of ageism.
You’ve worked with
so many great directors,
from Spielberg to Scor-
sese, David Lynch, Robert
Altman. Would you ever
direct a feature film?
You know, I’ve tried my
best to figure out if I’m
gonna hurl my passions
into that while raising
these amazing creatures
that live in my house.
[Dern has two teenagers
with her ex-husband,
musician Ben Harper.]
But now that they’re get-
ting older, I would love
to consider that. I know
I could never do it unless
it’s a story that really
feels like home to me.
Enlightened ended after
two seasons in 2013,
but your character, that
“woman on the verge of
a nervous breakthrough,”
feels so prescient now.
How do you think she
would play in this moment?
When it first came out a
lot of journalists were like,
“What’s wrong with Amy?
But if the comparison is
me wearing high fashion,
then I’m really comfort-
able continuing to play
these women, because
it’s awfully fun.
You’ve gotten to take on
so many meaty, complex
roles over the past 40-plus
years. Is finding those
parts harder or easier at
this point in your career?
Oh my God, I thought
harder. And I was scared!
Hopefully, there’s been
this paradigm shift in
every industry now where
everyone’s voices matter,
and women can be in
charge, women can be
paid the same, all of those
fights. But in terms of
[acting], also that women
Do you like playing a bipo-
lar character?” I was like,
“She’s not bipolar, she’s
just angry!” And nobody
else seems angry, you
know? About Monsanto
and Big Tobacco and the
ownership of all our rep-
resentatives in D.C. Now I
just feel like we’re all Amy:
Her rage is our rage. In
fact, you’re inspiring me,
I gotta reach out to HBO
and tell them they should
show it right now. [Laughs]
What haven’t you done
yet, project-wise?
A musical. That would be
really inspiring and scary
and wonderful. But I
was also raised on the
films that made me want
to bring social justice
to storytelling.... Network,
Norma Rae, Silkwood.
[I want to show] that
longing for a better world,
someone whose voice
doesn’t matter, and then
suddenly has to. Like
my own Mr. Smith Goes
to Washington.
Mrs. Smith?
Yeah! [Laughs] Yeah.
—Leah Greenblatt
LADY AND THE
TRAMP
Puppy
Love
DIRECTED BY Charlie Bean
STARRING Tessa Thompson, Justin
Theroux LAUNCHING Nov. 12 (Disney+)
DIRECTED BY Noah
Baumbach
STARRING Scarlett
Johansson, Adam Driver,
Laura Dern, Alan Alda
IN THEATERS Nov. 6
↑
Th
es
pa
gh
ett
iinc
ident:
Ladyisthebe
lleo
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me
at
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all
↑ Laura Dern and Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story
EW VISITED THE SET OF DISNEY’S
live-action Lady and the Tramp.
Here’s what we learned from our
trip to the doghouse.
1
Lead animal coordinator Mark
Forbes scoured pet adoption
sites until he found Tramp (voiced
by Justin Theroux) in Monte, who
wandered the streets of New Mex-
ico before being rescued.
2
Monte and Rose (who
played Lady, voiced by Tessa
Thompson) started with basic
commands like “sit” before gradu-
ating to more complex behaviors.
“They were not trained at all,”
director Charlie Bean says. “[Now]
they are incredible actors.”
3
Rose and Monte spent
months rehearsing their
iconic date scene, learning how to
stare into each other’s eyes and
nose meatballs across a plate.
For the actual “kiss,” cooked pasta
was too breakable, so the props
team swapped in vanilla licorice.
—Devan Coggan
EW ● COM NOVEMBER 2019 57
MARRIAGE STORY
: WILSON WEBB/NETFLIX;
LADY AND THE TRAMP
: K. C. BAILEY/DISNEY
