The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Die Gebrüder Grimm
Interview with Lena Headey
Lena Headey
Although Lena Headey, born in London in 1976, has been working as an actress for fourteen years, she is not that well known beyond the English borders. A thing that is going to change soon: With her leading role in Terry Gilliams new film The Brothers Grimm she may finally get the attention she deserves. In the movie she helps the Grimms to get out of a lot of mischief as the tough horsewoman Angelika. OutNow.CH got a chance to talk to her in Venice.
Almost as bad as junkets
OutNow.CH (ON): Is this your first big interview junket tour?
Lena Headey (LH): Yes. It is a crazy experience. Just mentally exhausting. That might sound terribly lame, but it is terrible. You want to show coolness and to be slightly entertaining and interesting. But after nineteen rooms I do not know what to say anymore. And I am not drunk.
ON: Is this the worst part of the job?
TG: (ashamed) Yes. No, the early mornings are the worst.
ON: How do you like the Biennale compared to other festivals?
LH: I got up yesterday morning at four o'clock, got here at seven and was stuck in these pressrooms all day. Then the party in the evening. So I do not have seen much of it. But I think it is gorgeous. I am only seeing you guys with the yellow books. See, that is part of the cult, everyone has got these yellow books, and it is freaking me out.
ON: I hope we're not too terrible...
LH: No, god you are not! It is the same for you guys. You are sitting in such rooms and asking people the same questions all the time, while you could go to the beach.
Lena as Angelika
ON: Let us have a closer look at your career. You have done a lot of interesting things, but you're not one of the faces everyone knows. So how did it happen that Terry Gilliam casted you?
LH: I do not know. I think this was one of these weird things that happen at the right time when you are around when somebody thinks of you. It is totally out of my control, you probably know what I mean.
ON: How did the screentest look like?
LH: Awful. I was just terrified. I met Heath, Matt and Terry at the same time, it was like "ooookay".
ON: Can you describe us the way Gilliam directs? Does he share his visions with the actors, does he explain a lot?
LH: He does. But you have to hang on him. He is like some crazy runner. You have to grab and run with him. You get information as he is moving, you know what I mean? It is not like we sit down and discuss everything through. You rarely get a private moment with him. But that is exciting about it, you just have to trust and improvise a lot.
ON: He is a hero for some people. Do you remember when you first heard of him?
LH: My parents were Monty Python obsessives. I think I got overkill, so my memories are not too good. But my first kind of meeting with him was The Fisher King.
ON: Your role in the film is a very mysterious one.
LH: Well she seems to exist both in reality and in fantasy. She is just kind of part of the mix.
Looking for frogs
ON: Did you lick a real frog?
LH: I licked the toad.
ON: Was it real?
LH: Yeah, I kissed a few, let me tell you.
ON: How was it to work with Heath and Matt?
LH: They are incredibly different, but both ugly though. That is why I kissed the toad. It was like Matt, Heath or the toad (laughs). And the girl had to kiss something! No they are lovely, and brilliant actors I think. And they kind of fell in love with each other. Real people.
ON: Both Will and Jake are attracted to the character you are playing. Who do you think Angelica prefers?
LH: I personally think she is gay. It is more like a family thing with the Brothers Grimm. She just thinks they are quiet foolish, but she enjoys them, you know what I mean.
Lena Headey
ON: Could you tell us your favourite fairy tale?
LH: Yes, I think I could. My favourite has always been "Three Billy Goats Gruff", it had a troll in it. (Listen to this story here) I like sort of deformed weird things in my fairy tales. I could not imagine a childhood without fairytales by the way. They are too important.
ON: Where did you learn do act?
LH: I did neither train as an actor nor as a horsewoman. So it was all new for me, but that is part of the job I love. Learning by doing. I have been working for fourteen years now, so I have done quiet a few things.
ON: Do still have other plans besides acting?
LH: I do hope to direct in let us say ten years. I think there are always opportunities for everything. I am stupidly undereducated, so I think I am bugged there. But...I do not know.
ON: Have you directed anything so far? Any short movies?
LH: No, nothing. It is really, I mean, trying to get a short film financed or made in London is almost impossible. There is no interest in short movies.
ON: But do you have any ideas?
LH: Yeah, of course. But I do not want to talk about it.
ON: How is the situation in England? Is it a good time right now for films?
LH: No, I think the british cinema has found its feet like ten years ago. Then we started do make big American blockbusters, which was a big mistake. Obviously all the tax money and the incentives were taken away. Now they try to reinstate everything and create opportunities again. I think something is going to be reborn within the industry. It feels quite exciting, but at the moment there is nothing happening, there is no industry being generated.
ON: Is there someone you would like to work with?
Shane Meadows
LH: Yes, there is an English actor called Shane Meadows, who I love. I think he is brilliant. And Pedro Almodovar. I think he is fucking fantastic, though I would have to learn Spanish. Those are the two on my wishlist right now.
ON: What do you like to watch yourself, if you are interested in watching film at all?
LH: Everything, I am quite eclectic. I sometimes take home a really big blockbuster and I am usually disappointed, and then I think why did I do it again? At the moment there is a ton of stuff that I want to see at the theatre. But the independent cinemas disappear more and more, which is kind of disappointing. There are only these large complexes left in London.
With John Malkovich in Ripley's Game
ON: So have you seen anything that stuck in your head?
LH: Lately? I just watched Harold and Maude, a film I always wanted to see.
ON: Did you like it?
LH: Ah, I loved it. I was like oooooh! A real classic.
ON: In what topics and genres are you most interested as an actress?
LH: I think the most interesting things are kind of small scale psychological relationships. And I like dark stuff.
Aberdeen Poster
ON: Is there a movie that has all those things in it?
LH: Well, I did something that is called Aberdeen, about a tough family dysfunction.
ON: What are you going to do next?
LH: I do not know. I just went out to L.A. and did some hearings, castings and all that madness. So I am just waiting to hear from them.
ON: How many countries have you worked in?
LH: Norway, Italy, Spain, England, ... I am doing Europe slowly.
ON: Do you work in America as well?
LH: No, just Europe mainly.
ON: Is this your decision or did it just not happen so far?
LH: I think it is a bit of both. It has not happened and there are some things I am just not interested in, that would have taken me there.
In Venice
ON: How much time did you spend in Prague?
LH: It were five months. It is a beautiful town. But after a while it gets kind of small, you know everybody, you know what I mean? But I definitely enjoyed my time there.
ON: So you prefer big cities for your daily life?
LH: Well, I just love London. And in big cities you can stay anonymous, and I do not say that because I am famous. You just do not have to bump into people you do not want to see. You can just be by yourself.
