Interview with Laurie Holden from "The Majestic"

by Rebecca Murray and Fred Topel

Laurie Holden is Adele who rekindles her love with Luke Trimble (Jim Carrey). Photo by Ralph Nelson. Photo @2001 Castle Rock Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures.

LAURIE HOLDEN (Adele)

Tell us about your journey to this role.
I went to McGill for my freshman year of university and I started out thinking that I was going to go into investment banking. It was a very short amount of time which made me realize that that wasn’t something that my heart was set on and I just fell in love with acting. It’s something I’ve always dabbled in as a kid but I really embraced around my sophomore year of university. So, I went to theater school at UCLA and, uh, and have been working intensely with Larry Moss for a few years, who I’m sure you all know was Jim’s acting coach on the film. He was really instrumental in terms of my development as an artist and my embracing of my authenticity, my love for this craft.

Was it daunting to go into this project?
It still is. It’s very surreal. I don’t think that it’s actually going to hit me that I’ve done this until I walk down the red carpet with my dad at the Premiere.

What have you learned from your own father?
Well, my real father has passed away, so this is my stepfather who’s raised me since I was a little, little, little girl. He has the kindest heart of anyone I’ve ever met and the most generous spirit. I think just by example I’ve just aspired to be the best human being that I possibly could because I have this wonderful role model in terms of my family, who are so kind and loving.

Were you a fan of Jim Carrey and how did he compare to your expectations?
So different. He’s so funny and I’ve seen all of his films and I have a very similar wacky sense of humor, so I expected him to be a lot wackier when I met him. He’s just a real sweet, as normal as Jim Carrey can be since he’s a big movie star, but he’s just a real nice normal guy and has a kind heart and I knew from the first day of filming that we were on our journey to tell something really beautiful, because we both had to be so vulnerable and open up our hearts and he was so generous as an actor and he was so open and brave. It’s like we held hands and said, "Okay, here we go. Here’s Luke and Adele. Let’s just tell the story." And it was magical.

What was your reaction when you got the part?
I was shell-shocked. I was actually - I think the excitement began a few days after, but Frank Darabont called me at home out of the blue and said, "On your screen test, you said Tooly Wentworth. It’s Tahly Wentworth." And I said, "Okay, Tahly Wentworth." [He said,] "Oh, congratulations, you got the part." And I think I dropped the phone. I was so – oh my God, oh my God. I couldn’t really – I think I stopped breathing for about a minute and it’s so funny because afterwards I ran into Frank and he said, "God, you’re the calmest person I’ve ever met. You’re just so calm and cool and this is just water off a duck’s back," and I said, "I think I’m still in shock." Then finally the shock wore off and I called everybody on the planet and couldn’t stop giggling, I felt pretty happy and blessed.

Do you have any moments you’d like to forget?
No, because we are the culmination of our experiences and there’s been a lot of great times and there’ve been some not so great times, and I am who I am today because of that, so it’s good not to forget.

What was your first big scene with Jim?
It was, I believe, when I walked in the diner. The whole segment of walking in the diner and walking down the street, so it was absolutely perfect for that to be our beginning. Sometimes you show up on a set and you have to do the kissing scene, and we were very lucky that our first couple of days were all about looking at the other person and saying, "Are you my love?"

What is it like to kiss Jim Carrey?
Oh God, if I thought about what it was like to kiss Jim Carrey, I don’t think I could have done it. I think that we were both so engrossed in our characters. I was Adele, he was Luke [or] Pete/Luke, we were really just focused on the love, and I didn’t see Jim. I saw his character. And I don’t think he saw me either.

What did you like about working with Frank?
Oh, he is not only an incredible artist, he is the quintessential gentleman, one of the kindest men I’ve ever known in my entire life. He is such an actor’s director in the sense that he has the patience of a saint and he has the best communication skills of anyone I’ve ever met, ever. And he’s so respectful and has so much appreciation for every aspect of the production that it really was an ideal working environment.

Did you say you felt like a princess?
Oh, I think there was just this one particular evening. It was the scene when we were on our way to the dance and there were all these wonderful period cars and Jim was there and Martin was there and David Ogden Stiers and I was wearing that beautiful dress, and I remember it was on that particular evening that it hit me that I was part of something so magnificent. And that's when I felt like a princess because I just felt like the luckiest girl in the world to be a part of it.

Is the media attention daunting?
It’s kind of surreal because even before I started shooting this film, my family, my friends would call me up and say, "Oh my God. You’re starring in this movie with Jim Carrey. You must be so scared. Aren’t you nervous?" And I’d say, "Well, you know, I was fine until you called." I’ve always just been so in love with this story and so loved this role that I never really have thought about the other element. And I was just part of making something creatively beautiful. Now that the film’s completed and we’re promoting the movie, it’s a bit surreal to be part of any of this, that and the other, but I guess that’s all a part of it. It’s kind of new for me.

Is there more pressure now?
I want to be doing this when I’m 80 and I’m not here for five minutes, so I kind of think it’s really dangerous to buy into all the hype. I hope everybody embraces the film and they love it and I’m really proud of it, but I’m not in any hurry and I don’t feel like I have to live up to God knows what. I’m just a girl who loves what I do who got a great break and wants to continue doing this forever.

Has the social significance struck you?
I think so, definitely. I saw an early screening of it, very early. I think they cut 40 minutes out of it since I last saw it, so I haven’t seen what everybody else has seen, but I remember seeing it and thinking, "God, this is such a beautiful movie but it could be perceived as being a bit corny, because it’s a very old fashioned film." And after September 11th, I don’t think that people will feel that because this is a film about being your best self, love of one’s country, honor, courage and I think we’re all striving in the world to hold onto what’s important. And I think it’s a beautiful reminder of who we really are and what we aspire to be.

What would you say to get the audience to see this film?
That it’s the feel good movie of the year.

What’s your favorite movie of the era? In terms of preparing for this movie, I watched all the movies from 1925 up until 1951 so that I could get a sense of the movies that Adele grew up watching, ones she liked as a kid and what she watched during the war, because I think film and theater really influence us in terms of who our role models are, what we aspire to be. There are many movies that I loved during that time. Obviously, "It’s a Wonderful Life" which this sort of reminds me of. I love Gene Arthur and Bette Davis. One particular movie that really struck a chord with me was "The Best Years Of Our Lives," which I thought was just such a heartfelt movie that really beautifully told the story of what it was like when men came back from the war. In terms of preparing for this role, it gave me that perspective and that mindset.

What are you doing next?
I don’t know. I’m reading everything and taking a ton of meetings.

You must be getting a lot of offers.
It’s a bit crazy, yeah. But I want to do something that I believe in and I love as much as this movie. I got spoiled this time around, so I hope that I find something that touches my heart like this has.

Were movies always your goal and what movie turned you onto it?
Well, this is actually kind of an interesting question which hasn’t come up today. You know how Adele says that "The Life of Emile Zola" made her decide that she wanted to be a lawyer. Well, the irony of that, which is why I felt like this entire movie experience has been so kismet, is that my grandmother is Gloria Holden who played Paul Muni’s wife in "The Life of Emile Zola." So, since I was a little girl, I’ve heard nonstop about "The Life of Emile Zola." So, when I was on that cliff with Jim talking about how this movie changed my life and that’s when I knew I wanted to do, this is my blood memory. This is something that I’ve heard about since I was 13, so life/art, very similar, very much the same.

Did that movie do it for you?
"The Life of Emile Zola?" Not that particular movie for me personally. My grandmother’s experience in it definitely, because it was one of those family things that was brought up at the dinner table. But I loved "Dr. Zhivago" and that really touched my soul. I just thought Julie Christie was the best.