Category: Interviews

Here’s to everyone that’s checking out SMASHED this weekend! More great new interviews with Mary has been released where she talks about drinking, Twitter and more in each of the interviews. First, here’s part of her Q&A with Moviefone:

How have you enjoyed the reaction the movie’s been getting so far?
It’s been amazing. I mean, I don’t think I’ve really heard a negative reaction yet, which I know I will. I’m ready, you know? [Laughs] Because somebody’s going to hate it. But it’s been so lovely, everybody’s been so warm and kind. And there’s been a lot of people coming with their own personal stories of recovery. It’s been just amazing to hear their stories, and to hear everybody’s reactions to it.

How much does a role like this stay with you afterwards? Did it change your drinking habits at all?
It definitely stayed with me, the message of it stayed with me. But alcohol’s not something that … I mean, I can barely have more than two drinks. It’s just never been something that’s been a vice for me at all. So it didn’t really make me think about that so much. It more made me think about other things in my life that I do have issues with, and it does make you think about what you’re not accepting, what you’re covering up, or trying not to accept in yourself.

Yahoo! Movies is next:

TA: Why is “Smashed” such a passion project?

MW: I searched for a part that was going to stretch me as an actor and force me to become better. I was becoming a little stuck. I thought I was going to have to work my way up to something like this, I was going to have to do a couple of smaller roles, in a couple of smaller indies, and prove myself in that world. After I auditioned for this part, I thought, “Well, at least I’ve auditioned for these people now. I’ve made an impression. Maybe when they make another movie they will look at me.” The fact that I got the part was above and beyond.

Thelma Adams: In the course of this movie, your character, Kate, discovers she’s more than a party girl; she’s an alcoholic. Do you have any addictions?

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: The Internet and television and social media. I’m always on my cell phone. At home, my husband and I both have our computers out, and we have the TV on, and our cell phones, and we’re constantly using all three at the same time.

TA: How do your fans feel about “Smashed”?

MW: They’re excited. I have a couple of fan sites and they follow my every move; every single photo that comes out ends up on their websites. There’s nothing stalkerish about it. They know this is a passion project, so they’re all really excited about that for me.

More interviews plus the Film Independent video under the cut:

Continue reading More New Smashed Interviews, Smashed Q&A Interview from Film Independent Event Online

Some great new interviews with Mary have come online where she talks about SMASHED which is out in theaters in New York and L.A. starting today. If you live in L.A., they’ll be a Q&A session with the cast. More info about it here. The film will also slowly be rolling out in several other cities. Click here to view when it’ll be released in your area. If the film does well at the box office this weekend, the film could expand nationwide.

Time.com has named Mary an Oscar contender. Click on the link to read the full interview:

You play a very convincing drunk. How did you train?

I didn’t grow up around anyone who was an alcoholic, and I’ve never had any issues with alcohol. So I went to a lot of AA meetings. I found out how much I related to alcoholics’ struggles—to look into the mirror and recognize your faults, to try to love yourself.

“Everything about it. Mainly just the way the characters were drawn so well. They were all so fully flushed out, so real, so complex. They were all just so human. That was the main thing to me that was exciting.”

And finally, here’s some of her interview with Indiewire:

Did you feel like you had to prove something in taking “Smashed” on?

I felt like I had to prove something to myself, because I think like a lot of actors I sat around for years and years going, “Man! If I could just get that role that showcases what I could do, then everything would change.” But I was so complacent about it. I wasn’t really doing anything to make sure that happened. So by the time this time in my career rolled around, I was ready to just go out there and do it for myself. It wasn’t really about showcasing something for other people anymore. It was just to the point where I wasn’t feeling good about what I was doing. Not that I wasn’t happy to have the jobs that I had, and the work that I had — I was very grateful and happy to do it — but I wasn’t feeling like I was stretching as an actor, or growing as a person, so I felt like I needed to do something just for myself. Just to prove that I could stretch beyond my perceived limitations.

Since “Smashed” played at Sundance, you’ve been courting this amazing wealth of buzz. Has it had an effect on your career? Do casting directors see you differently?

I think it’s slowing shifting. People are slowly seeing the movie, but not everyone has seen it yet. I mean my hope is that a lot of young filmmakers will see it and be inspired to make more films like this and, you know, will want to work with me, because that’s really who I want to work with — kind of new interesting people who are forging their own vision and want to sort of go on their own road in this industry. That was why I took this film to begin with, was to try and get in that world.

I feel like the industry is sort of changing and there’s got to be a sort of revolution happening, and I want to be a part of that. I’d like to do a lot more small, performance focused films.

Time.com also named Mary an Oscar contender. Click on the link to read the full interview:

You play a very convincing drunk. How did you train?

I didn’t grow up around anyone who was an alcoholic, and I’ve never had any issues with alcohol. So I went to a lot of AA meetings. I found out how much I related to alcoholics’ struggles—to look into the mirror and recognize your faults, to try to love yourself.

 “Everything about it. Mainly just the way the characters were drawn so well. They were all so fully flushed out, so real, so complex. They were all just so human. That was the main thing to me that was exciting.”

The interviews keep on coming! Check out this just released interview with Mary featured on Interview Magazine. Click the link to read the interview in its entirety:

KEELY WEISS: How has the journey of this film been for you? The hype has been building steadily ever since Sundance.

MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD: I mean, even getting into Sundance, I was screaming and jumping around the room because to me that really was just the pinnacle of everything we were trying to do. We just hoped people would see the movie in some capacity, that it would find some audience and maybe at least a small distribution company would pick it up or something, and every step of the way it’s just been growing to bigger and bigger proportions than I expected. You end up doing more press for a little film like this than you do for the really big ones, which is not quite what I expected, but I’m happy to do press for a little movie that you’re really trying to get people to see. I’m not one of those actors that hates press and gets really groan-y about it—I always like talking about films—but it’s just been a really refreshing experience to get to promote this film because it’s very easy to talk about.

WEISS: This film is pretty much entirely focused on your performance, and I imagine that must have been a lot of pressure, but it also must have been very liberating.

WINSTEAD: Yes, yes, both. When I got the part I had the realization that, you know, I’ve really never done anything like this before and I’ve got a lot to prove to others and myself, so it was a little bit scary. It was a huge challenge. But everything about it was so liberating, just playing a part where there’s no makeup and I didn’t have to be pretty at any moment—or anything other than whatever was most truthful for the character.

WEISS: How do you see Kate as a character?

WINSTEAD: I love Kate. She’s a good person who makes mistakes, who picks herself up again and continues to try to be a good person and continues to make mistakes [laughs] and continues to pick herself up again. I think those are the kinds of people that we all root for and that we all love because nobody’s perfect. Anytime I’m given scripts where I’m sort of the fantasy girl, it’s hard for me because that’s not real and I don’t think it’s a great thing to put out there consistently.

It’s no secret that in Mary’s upcoming film Smashed, Mary’s character is an alcoholic. Screen Crave sat down with Mary and discussed playing a drunk and working on the film. As always, click on the link above to read the full interview:

Can you talk a little about playing drunk and not overdoing it?
Mary Elizabeth Winstead: It’s really daunting. Even the best actors – it’s just really hard. The whole thing about being drunk is that you’re out of control. If you’re acting you’re in control because you want to know what looks right and believable. It defeats the whole purpose of making it authentic. James (director/co-writer) found a book called The Power of the Actor, which is just a great book on acting. It has an entire chapter dedicated to playing drunk.

I used the author’s method and it worked really well. It’s almost like hypnoses, in a way. You take yourself through all the steps of what it feels like to be drunk and it plays a mind trick on you. You feel loose and out of your body. It helps me let go of the fear of worrying about whether it feels real or not. I felt really loosened and buzzed for sure. One of the author’s tricks is that you pretend that your left leg doesn’t work or your tongue doesn’t work. Something about you doesn’t work and you’re trying to compensate that and hide it.

When Smashed debuted at Sundance, the big buzz about it was you. Did you ever think, ‘God I should’ve done this sooner’?

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: (Laughs) Yes and, well, a similar thought. I always wanted to go there. I wanted to get one of those indie movies where you can really get a great performance and it goes to Sundance. That’s what I wanted. I rarely got those scripts and when I did, I didn’t get the part. I just think I wasn’t meant to do it sooner. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to play a role like this five years ago. I just don’t know. Back then I would like to have thought that I could, but maybe I couldn’t. And if I tried, it might’ve not worked out as well as it did this time. The years of working and growing as an actor – it all just came at the right moment for me. I felt like I was confident enough and ready enough to do it.

What was different in your preparation for an indie?

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: Not just it being an indie, but it being such a complex character and such a real person more-so than anything I had played before. Typically I’ve played things that feel more like they’re in the fantasy realm in some way. The preparation was much more exhausted for this because I’m playing a real person that’s going through something real. I can’t just pretend or wing it. It just wouldn’t be respectful to the material. It was a lot more prep work.