Photo: BEImages/Jim Smeal
So, how was working with Mark Ruffalo?
“A long time ago, Mark and I did a really classic movie together that was shockingly snubbed by the Oscars called A View From the Top. We’ve been friends for awhile, and working with him now was just as amazing as working with him then. We have good chemistry, and he’s very easy to work with. He’s a lovely man and an excellent actor. I love him.”
Your character in the movie has pet peeves, like not letting the food on her plate touch together. Do you have any personal pet peeves like that?
“No, as far as food goes, we’re a mixed food household. If the food isn’t touching on the plate, something’s wrong. I think her pet peeves were what made her so fascinating. They were an interesting manifestation of her control issues, and then subsequent eating disorder. But, as far as my personal pet peeves go, no.”
You’ve said before that you’re more interested in making films of this caliber rather than sci-fi fantasy films. Can you speak to that?
“Well, it’s not that I wasn’t interested in fantasy movies, it’s just that I often don’t get it. I’m just not into aliens or am not intelligent enough to appreciate sci-fi — maybe I’m missing something. Don’t get me wrong, I loved doing Iron Man. Working with Robert Downey Jr. is an absolute blast! But, this kind of thing is a whole new approach, and I love the fact that this movie is about ‘real’ people. I think these kinds of films show off what we should all be doing: bumping up against things and getting to know other people.”
So, you’re more interested in humanizing stories then?
“If you’re looking for a metaphor, you’re always going to find them in the fantasy archetypes. But, I think a movie like this — that is so intelligent and so original, it can really make an archetype out of the everyday. Again, I loved doing Iron Man; I love doing action movies, but I enjoy learning lessons through common-day stories. Acting becomes an extension of your own life at that point rather than a full-fledged escape into a character.”
Speaking to the movie, do you think you could you stay in a relationship with a sex addict?
“I’m an extremely open-minded person, so I think if it was something I knew I was getting myself into, I wouldn’t let it deter me from exploring the relationship.”
What about the majority of women? How do you think other women might handle it?
“I think it would be hard for me to be one of those wives who finds out there’s been something going on behind my back twenty years in. I’d imagine you’d begin to question your life. It would definitely make things harder, but I believe that if there’s authenticity and honesty right off the bat, things will be okay.”
Cheating and sex addiction are similar, but still very different. Could you stay with someone who cheated?
“I think that if the idea of being committed to someone is important to you, you begin to value certain parts of your social life over another. No couple is the same, and as such, every couple takes on different challenges. I would like to think that I would be forgiving and/or forgiven, but I can’t give an honest answer as I haven’t really experienced that.”