Casa de Los Babys is the first American film to go ahead and tackle the controversial topic of international adoption. Daryl Hannah, Marcia Gay Harden, Mary Steenburgen, Rita Moreno, Lili Taylor, Susan Lynch and Maggie Gyllenhaal all play American women who go to a Latin America country to adopt a foreign baby. But by law are forced to live in that country for six weeks.
Maggie Gyllenhaal plays the young and wealthy Jennifer, who is constantly on the phone with her husband trying to convince him and probably herself that getting this baby "the easy way", is the best thing for them.
Maggie first spanked her way into Suicide Girl history with her portrayal of Lee Holloway in the S & M love story Secretary. she got play James Spader's slave and then his love-slave. For that film she got nominated for a Golden Glove, an Independent Spirit Award and won the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance.
I got a chance to talk with Maggie in one of her first round of interviews since Secretary got released. She seemed to be handling her new fame well, sporting her new hairstyle and a new look at the future of her career.
Daniel Robert Epstein: What was it like working with John Sayles?
Maggie Gyllenhaal: It's funny because I feel like I've worked with a lot of directors since then. At the time when we shot this I think I was less judgmental than I am now. I was much more trusting. Since then I've had a few experiences that toughened me. My experience on Secretary was so ideal in so many ways I just went into working with John feeling really trusting but I didn't get burned at all. He's very calm. We would shoot tons of script pages a day with six women around a table. That's hard work, we did it easily effortlessly and sometimes we'd even finish early and go home. Leaving early was definitely not part of my experience with Secretary. On Secretary it was a 20 day shoot so we did so much everyday and we were always running out of time. With John it was two cameras and he was very relaxed.
I think it must be a complicated thing to be the writer, director and editor of a movie. Because I think it would be easy to fall into a situation where the movie is only as good as you are which could be a problem. The other thing that he did is that all six of us actresses were living together in this one house while we were shooting in Acapulco. Our social interaction for our short time was so intermingled with the work we were doing. I think he thought that would work out for the best, which it did.
DRE: How was shooting in Mexico?
MG: I had visited before but it was my first time working there. It was my first movie with two languages in it and I don't speak much Spanish. But I just shot this movie with Diego Luna [Y tu mam tambin] and he speaks Spanish.
Being in Mexico was an inextricable part of making this movie especially because it wasn't a big budget movie. It was odd because it was Acapulco.
DRE: Acapulco is kind of America-lite.
MG: I think in the 1970's it was a place where a lot of Americans went on vacation. It is still a vacation town and now it's more of a place where a lot of Mexicans go on vacation.
The only thing we were told to be wary of was kidnapping. Marcia [Gay Harden] had her beautiful blond daughter with her and people told her to be careful. I still don't think Acapulco is that hardcore.
DRE: John Sayles usually gives his actors backstories to help them with the role. What was yours like?
MG: I wasn't really given a backstory. But I was given a letter which started out from John telling me a couple things about my character. Then turned into him writing as the character.. Mostly it expressed a kind of trepidation about getting a baby. I was 24 when I made Casa de Los Babys and I'm 25 now. When I got this part, I thought that I was nothing like this girl and I am too young to deal with things like that. But once I got the part I still didn't understand why John wanted me to do it because I didn't feel that it was right for me at first.
I realized two things about this girl, one is that to be 24 and decide that you can't have a baby is a little suspect but also to decide that she needs to have a baby immediately which is why she's going to Latin America to adopt a baby instead of trying to get pregnant. I feel like that's sign of something broken and desperate. I think how young I was at the time helped give me a level of desperation. She is also not confident in her brain and is not confident like me. I grew up with parents that really valued intellect and that was a big important thing in my house. I feel like I use my brain to protect myself. To play this part I would have to let that go in some ways and acknowledge things that are scarier underneath.
DRE: How much did you know about international adoption before you did this film?
MG: I felt like Jennifer knew nothing about it. Her husband's secretary probably got information packets on Korean, Chilean and they went through it and picked out the Latin America babies. My research on the politics and details of it was informed by what this girl knew.
DRE: How has your career changed since Secretary?
MG: Mona Lisa Smile happened before Secretary came out. A lot of things have changed for me. I just did Strip Search [for HBO] and I felt a new confidence doing that film. I think acting demands confidence especially as a young actress. The biggest challenge I've been facing recently has been finding a way to demand collaboration despite the fact that I'm a 25 year old girl. I realize that on everything I work I have a specific artistic opinion. I don't want to give that up despite the fact that there are directors that are not interested in collaboration with me. I also realize how to pick then out and then avoid working with them.
At first when all this Secretary stuff happened it was great, I was thrilled and surprised. I was very happy I made Casa de Los Babys before it happened because it took the onus off of me on to do something great after this splash. Then I was working on Mona Lisa Smile when it was coming out so I was working everyday. I didn't have time to get too wrapped up in the hype although I did enjoy it. Then after the Golden Globes I got a little freaked out because it felt like it got out of my control. Then it mellowed out. But in terms of work I have definitely been offered some very interesting things with interesting people. I have also not gotten to do things I have wanted to do because there are people ahead of me in the game. I have also been offered some bullshit things that weren't good at all because they thought I would did their "crazy" movie because I did that "crazy" movie. Secretary was a great script about something political and interesting. I've run into a lot of people who can't see it that way and I don't understand them.
DRE: Casa de Los Babys is also a very political movie.
MG: You'd really have to be an idiot to not see Casa de Los Babys as political and I am definitely interested in doing political movies. But I'm not interested in doing distilled political messages. I'm interested in movies that can find a way to make politics emotional and allow all the gray complicated areas of them into the issues.
DRE: Are the women in Casa de Los Babys selfish for going to Latin America to get themselves babies?
MG: I can't speak for the other actresses. But someone else asked me what I hoped would happen to Jennifer and without even thinking about it I said I hope she doesn't adopt a baby, goes home and fixes her relationship with her husband. She's not in a place to be a mother and I know. I played her and I wouldn't want to be her daughter.
There is the storyline of the homeless kid who has to steal to live. Even though she has a lot of money that doesn't make it appropriate to be selfish. How much of a home can she actually provide or is that an entitled way of looking at from the perspective of people who have a roof over their head and enough to eat. Should she just take this kid just to give him better amenities at least. This is why this movie is interesting because there are no balck and white answers to any of these questions.
DRE: You have a big following with the Goth and punk crowd due to Secretary. Have you ever encountered those fans?
MG: Kind of. I go to Williamsburg [for the theatre festival] and walk down the street and I feel much more famous than I do [in New York City]. Up there is my demographic [laughs]. This suburban woman came up to me the other day where I was shooting in New Jersey, told me she loves Secretary and she thought it was inspiring. A friend of mine came up to me afterwards and said "How exactly do you think she was inspired by it?"
DRE: Did you think Secretary was daring thing for you to do?
MG: I definitely think so. Having seen Casa de Los Babys I think it was daring as well especially in the last five minutes of it. In order to make Casa de Los Babys I feel like I risked more than I ever had before. I said when I finished this film, that I really don't care if it's successful artistically or commercially because I was so moved by the making of it.
I mentioned Strip Search which is about this American graduate student in china that's accused of ebbing part of this terrorist organization. She's taken to a Beijing prison cell and strip searched. That was the most daring and scary thing I've ever worked on. That really tested me more than Secretary.
DRE: How so?
MG: With Secretary I was working from a different and less unconscious place. I thought I had it all down with my brain, mapped out every moment of the script and was safe. I don't think I realized until after the making of the movie that the most interesting things about that performance were the things that came out despite my mapping out the script.
DRE: Are you on purpose trying to pick studio films and then independent films?
MG: I don't think about it too much. I'm about to do Tony Kushner's new play Homebody: Kabul in LA then hopefully it will move to New York. That's not too commercial but with HBO movie I've had to do a lot of press. I'm really proud of it. I do think I would like to do a movie that a lot of people will see about something interesting but it's been really hard to find something like that. Most of the interesting things I've attached myself have been tiny films.
DRE: If you got a great script that had elements of S & M in it would you do it? If yes then I have one with me.
MG: [laughs] I was broke and I got offered this movie that was pretty good. It wasn't the best but they were going to pay me a bunch of money for three weeks. I thought I could make it interesting but there was a little S & M in it. The movie fell apart but I didn't think I wanted to be the S & M actress. I think the S & M in Secretary is a metaphor for something else. It would be weird to do another movie like that though.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
Maggie Gyllenhaal plays the young and wealthy Jennifer, who is constantly on the phone with her husband trying to convince him and probably herself that getting this baby "the easy way", is the best thing for them.
Maggie first spanked her way into Suicide Girl history with her portrayal of Lee Holloway in the S & M love story Secretary. she got play James Spader's slave and then his love-slave. For that film she got nominated for a Golden Glove, an Independent Spirit Award and won the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance.
I got a chance to talk with Maggie in one of her first round of interviews since Secretary got released. She seemed to be handling her new fame well, sporting her new hairstyle and a new look at the future of her career.
Daniel Robert Epstein: What was it like working with John Sayles?
Maggie Gyllenhaal: It's funny because I feel like I've worked with a lot of directors since then. At the time when we shot this I think I was less judgmental than I am now. I was much more trusting. Since then I've had a few experiences that toughened me. My experience on Secretary was so ideal in so many ways I just went into working with John feeling really trusting but I didn't get burned at all. He's very calm. We would shoot tons of script pages a day with six women around a table. That's hard work, we did it easily effortlessly and sometimes we'd even finish early and go home. Leaving early was definitely not part of my experience with Secretary. On Secretary it was a 20 day shoot so we did so much everyday and we were always running out of time. With John it was two cameras and he was very relaxed.
I think it must be a complicated thing to be the writer, director and editor of a movie. Because I think it would be easy to fall into a situation where the movie is only as good as you are which could be a problem. The other thing that he did is that all six of us actresses were living together in this one house while we were shooting in Acapulco. Our social interaction for our short time was so intermingled with the work we were doing. I think he thought that would work out for the best, which it did.
DRE: How was shooting in Mexico?
MG: I had visited before but it was my first time working there. It was my first movie with two languages in it and I don't speak much Spanish. But I just shot this movie with Diego Luna [Y tu mam tambin] and he speaks Spanish.
Being in Mexico was an inextricable part of making this movie especially because it wasn't a big budget movie. It was odd because it was Acapulco.
DRE: Acapulco is kind of America-lite.
MG: I think in the 1970's it was a place where a lot of Americans went on vacation. It is still a vacation town and now it's more of a place where a lot of Mexicans go on vacation.
The only thing we were told to be wary of was kidnapping. Marcia [Gay Harden] had her beautiful blond daughter with her and people told her to be careful. I still don't think Acapulco is that hardcore.
DRE: John Sayles usually gives his actors backstories to help them with the role. What was yours like?
MG: I wasn't really given a backstory. But I was given a letter which started out from John telling me a couple things about my character. Then turned into him writing as the character.. Mostly it expressed a kind of trepidation about getting a baby. I was 24 when I made Casa de Los Babys and I'm 25 now. When I got this part, I thought that I was nothing like this girl and I am too young to deal with things like that. But once I got the part I still didn't understand why John wanted me to do it because I didn't feel that it was right for me at first.
I realized two things about this girl, one is that to be 24 and decide that you can't have a baby is a little suspect but also to decide that she needs to have a baby immediately which is why she's going to Latin America to adopt a baby instead of trying to get pregnant. I feel like that's sign of something broken and desperate. I think how young I was at the time helped give me a level of desperation. She is also not confident in her brain and is not confident like me. I grew up with parents that really valued intellect and that was a big important thing in my house. I feel like I use my brain to protect myself. To play this part I would have to let that go in some ways and acknowledge things that are scarier underneath.
DRE: How much did you know about international adoption before you did this film?
MG: I felt like Jennifer knew nothing about it. Her husband's secretary probably got information packets on Korean, Chilean and they went through it and picked out the Latin America babies. My research on the politics and details of it was informed by what this girl knew.
DRE: How has your career changed since Secretary?
MG: Mona Lisa Smile happened before Secretary came out. A lot of things have changed for me. I just did Strip Search [for HBO] and I felt a new confidence doing that film. I think acting demands confidence especially as a young actress. The biggest challenge I've been facing recently has been finding a way to demand collaboration despite the fact that I'm a 25 year old girl. I realize that on everything I work I have a specific artistic opinion. I don't want to give that up despite the fact that there are directors that are not interested in collaboration with me. I also realize how to pick then out and then avoid working with them.
At first when all this Secretary stuff happened it was great, I was thrilled and surprised. I was very happy I made Casa de Los Babys before it happened because it took the onus off of me on to do something great after this splash. Then I was working on Mona Lisa Smile when it was coming out so I was working everyday. I didn't have time to get too wrapped up in the hype although I did enjoy it. Then after the Golden Globes I got a little freaked out because it felt like it got out of my control. Then it mellowed out. But in terms of work I have definitely been offered some very interesting things with interesting people. I have also not gotten to do things I have wanted to do because there are people ahead of me in the game. I have also been offered some bullshit things that weren't good at all because they thought I would did their "crazy" movie because I did that "crazy" movie. Secretary was a great script about something political and interesting. I've run into a lot of people who can't see it that way and I don't understand them.
DRE: Casa de Los Babys is also a very political movie.
MG: You'd really have to be an idiot to not see Casa de Los Babys as political and I am definitely interested in doing political movies. But I'm not interested in doing distilled political messages. I'm interested in movies that can find a way to make politics emotional and allow all the gray complicated areas of them into the issues.
DRE: Are the women in Casa de Los Babys selfish for going to Latin America to get themselves babies?
MG: I can't speak for the other actresses. But someone else asked me what I hoped would happen to Jennifer and without even thinking about it I said I hope she doesn't adopt a baby, goes home and fixes her relationship with her husband. She's not in a place to be a mother and I know. I played her and I wouldn't want to be her daughter.
There is the storyline of the homeless kid who has to steal to live. Even though she has a lot of money that doesn't make it appropriate to be selfish. How much of a home can she actually provide or is that an entitled way of looking at from the perspective of people who have a roof over their head and enough to eat. Should she just take this kid just to give him better amenities at least. This is why this movie is interesting because there are no balck and white answers to any of these questions.
DRE: You have a big following with the Goth and punk crowd due to Secretary. Have you ever encountered those fans?
MG: Kind of. I go to Williamsburg [for the theatre festival] and walk down the street and I feel much more famous than I do [in New York City]. Up there is my demographic [laughs]. This suburban woman came up to me the other day where I was shooting in New Jersey, told me she loves Secretary and she thought it was inspiring. A friend of mine came up to me afterwards and said "How exactly do you think she was inspired by it?"
DRE: Did you think Secretary was daring thing for you to do?
MG: I definitely think so. Having seen Casa de Los Babys I think it was daring as well especially in the last five minutes of it. In order to make Casa de Los Babys I feel like I risked more than I ever had before. I said when I finished this film, that I really don't care if it's successful artistically or commercially because I was so moved by the making of it.
I mentioned Strip Search which is about this American graduate student in china that's accused of ebbing part of this terrorist organization. She's taken to a Beijing prison cell and strip searched. That was the most daring and scary thing I've ever worked on. That really tested me more than Secretary.
DRE: How so?
MG: With Secretary I was working from a different and less unconscious place. I thought I had it all down with my brain, mapped out every moment of the script and was safe. I don't think I realized until after the making of the movie that the most interesting things about that performance were the things that came out despite my mapping out the script.
DRE: Are you on purpose trying to pick studio films and then independent films?
MG: I don't think about it too much. I'm about to do Tony Kushner's new play Homebody: Kabul in LA then hopefully it will move to New York. That's not too commercial but with HBO movie I've had to do a lot of press. I'm really proud of it. I do think I would like to do a movie that a lot of people will see about something interesting but it's been really hard to find something like that. Most of the interesting things I've attached myself have been tiny films.
DRE: If you got a great script that had elements of S & M in it would you do it? If yes then I have one with me.
MG: [laughs] I was broke and I got offered this movie that was pretty good. It wasn't the best but they were going to pay me a bunch of money for three weeks. I thought I could make it interesting but there was a little S & M in it. The movie fell apart but I didn't think I wanted to be the S & M actress. I think the S & M in Secretary is a metaphor for something else. It would be weird to do another movie like that though.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
VIEW 25 of 39 COMMENTS
squee_:
Great interview. I think she is one of the best actresses out there. And I like how carefully she seems to choose her roles.
phedg:
She is so confidently sexy. I love the look she gives The Joker in The Dark Night trailer. Like, "You don't fucking scare me."