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When
LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT producer John Davis first read the script
he responded to its comedic and inspirational elements. "I believed
that Lanie was a strong woman who ultimately finds herself, and
I was captivated by the story's humor and warmth, as well as the
emotional journey Lanie takes in the story," Davis comments.
Lanie's
strength and complexities called for an actress who could bring
those special qualities, plus the expected star wattage, to the
character. Davis and Regency Enterprises executives had their sights
set on Angelina Jolie. However, Jolie had planned on taking a break
from acting after the rigors of shooting "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider."
"I didn't want to do another film," she recalls. "I wanted to stay
at home and work and focus on family and other important things
in life. Then I got this script and somebody said to me it's about
everything you've been talking about. So when I read it, I realized
it meant so much to me, and I thought it had a beautiful message
in it."
"Lanie
is very ambitious and takes herself very seriously, but because
she's so serious about perfection she's slightly funny," Jolie elaborates.
"When she realizes she's going to die she kind of flips out and
through that somehow is forced to be broken down to be human, much
like a very pretty princess falling in the mud."
The
film also offered Jolie her first opportunity to star in a comedic
role. "I've never done a comedy and when I read it I thought it
was a challenge because I was thinking there's no way I could possibly
play a woman like this because I'm far too serious," Jolie laughs.
"Then I started to play with the ideas of how she'd look, or things
she'd do, and I couldn't get the story out of my head."
John
Davis, delighted to have Jolie aboard the project, takes special
note of what became the perfect convergence of "reel" and real life
for the actress. "I think the way Angelina embraced the script and
attached herself to the movie is very interesting. She found a piece
of material that helped her complete the transition she was going
through in life and that's one of the reasons why she is so good
as the character."
Director
Stephen Herek worked to seamlessly mix and expand upon the story's
humor and pathos. "The story is about redemption and saving one's
soul," Herek notes. "What we think is important in our lives a lot
of times is very superficial and what we find is truly important
is finding peace within your inner self."
Herek
re-teamed with his Hudson Bay production company partner, producer
Toby Jaffe, with whom he had recently worked on the comedy "Rock
Star." Jaffe offers, "When Steve and I read the LIFE OR SOMETHING
LIKE IT script we both immediately fell in love with it and thought
it was a very funny cautionary tale about the American Dream. When
Lanie is told that she will die in a week, it causes her to turn
her whole life upside down and re-evaluate everything, in a comedic
way, and get back in touch with who she really is and where she
really came from."
Screenwriter
John Scott Shepherd drew inspiration for the screenplay from career-driven
professionals including newscasters and attorneys from mid-sized
cities whom he perceived as craving the limelight as much as advancement.
"I found myself looking around at celebrity-driven professionals
in mid-sized towns who seemed to have decided their life was perfect,"
says Shepherd, a Kansas City resident. "I pondered what is it they
require and decide to declare their life perfect? And then how far
beneath the surface did you have to look to find where the heartbreak
was? Because it always seemed to be there."
The
goal of both Shepherd and co-screenwriter Dana Stevens was to move
away from the common situational romantic comedy. Unlike many modern
romantic comedies built on the notion that one of the two parties
is actively looking for love, LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT looks at
Lanie, a woman in crisis, and the journey she must take. Love is
the reward, not the journey itself.
Dana
Stevens comments: "Lanie and Pete, the cameraman played by Edward
Burns, represent two sides of the argument about what's the most
important thing in life: love, career, work or family? I think that's
a more scintillating way to have a relationship than you often see
in traditional romantic comedies.
"I
think if you were told you were going to die in a week, number one
you'd feel in a certain sense incredibly liberated," Stevens adds.
"Like you can do anything, because nothing matters anymore. But
on the other hand you might also begin to want to make connections
and have important moments that maybe you never got to have."
LIFE
OR SOMETHING LIKE IT also embraces some beloved aspects of classic
romantic comedies. Under Herek's direction, the film evolved to
interweave unconventional elements with the look and feel of the
classic romantic comedies of the forties and fifties, as well as
a rollicking rendition, led by an inebriated Lanie at a union rally,
of the Rolling Stones' ("I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." "The script
has a lot of quick flying banter, lots of insults that Lanie and
Pete hurl at each other, and an old-fashioned romantic comedy relationship,"
Herek explains. "And Lanie has a throwback look of the era."
Davis
admired how the director grasped the script and took it to a higher
level. "It's the director's sensibility that's going to guide the
performance, more comedic, more dramatic and it's his interpretation
that is going to elevate the movie. And Steve came in and elevated
the entire package. That's what you want a director to do. It's
something that doesn't happen very often and when it does it's that
magic that makes a movie work."
Herek
and Regency assembled an impressive cast and crew. For Pete, Lanie's
colleague with whom she has long been at odds following a less than
successful one-night fling, Herek put himself in the position of
matchmaker. He looked to an actor who would not only complement
Lanie but someone who could play the understated romantic lead.
He found just that in Edward Burns, an actor who projects the ease
and comfort of an old fashioned movie star but also has a caustic,
street-smart attitude that Herek knew would fit perfectly for the
role of Lanie's love-hate interest.
The
two roles are clearly opposites. Lanie craves celebrity and success
while Pete has shunned loftier ambitions and a successful New York
network job as a cameraman, electing to relocate to Seattle to be
near his ex-wife and young son. Burns explains, "Pete's attitude
toward life is different than Lanie's in that he has given up the
hardcore career aspirations. In the past, he probably focused on
being the best in his field, now he's got a different set of priorities
such as trying to be a good dad to his son."
Coincidentally,
Burns had worked on the assignment desk at a news show in New York
after graduating from college. A noted director, producer and screenplay
writer himself, Burns offers, "I was first attracted to the script
as I am somewhat familiar with the world of local television news.
I'm also a big fan of old-style romantic comedies and Steve Herek
is taking a genre that has lost a lot of fun in the last couple
of years and he played with it in a fun way."
For
the pivotal role of street seer Prophet Jack, Herek looked to Tony
Shalhoub. Prophet Jack may or may not be a homeless madman, con-man
or a real prophet. But to Lanie, he is the voice of doom when he
tells her that she only has a week to live.
Although
Prophet Jack's antics and predictions bring local color to the downtown
streets of Seattle, he doesn't necessarily love what he's doing.
"He'd rather be doing something different such as pick Lotto numbers
and just get out of this whole thing, but he doesn't really have
any choice," Shalhoub explains. "The messages just come to him at
random." He adds, "There's something sort of spiritual about this
guy and playing him kind of helped me to get back into a more meditative
head and slow down a bit, so that's been good."
Prophet
Jack's portend of doom for Lanie sends her on a personal and professional
whirlwind ride, taking her to a big opportunity in New York, as
reporter for the national morning show "A.M. USA." Her first assignment:
interview one of the nation's most influential, powerful television
personalities, Deborah Connors. As Lanie's professional role model,
Connors plays an unexpected defining role in Lanie's personal journey.
Stockard
Channing, who takes on the role, was intrigued by the opportunity
of working with Jolie and was flattered to play a legendary and
charismatic character. She offers, "I like Angelina's work and I
think she's a very interesting actress and since most of my work
is with her I thought that would also be interesting."
Working
alongside Lanie is her friend and "That's Seattle Life" anchor,
Andrea, played by Melissa Errico. Lanie and Andrea's friendship
is shallow, extending no further than daily workouts together at
the gym, counting calories, and dreaming about being a celebrity.
Not as glamorous as Lanie, Andrea looks to her with admiration.
"Andrea gets a little excited when she's around Lanie," notes Errico.
"She sees Lanie as perfect, fabulous. At their daily gym get-togethers,
they workout constantly on the treadmill. But they're really on
the treadmill of success, the treadmill of life. hey are trying
to get ahead. They want to be Miss American Fabulous."
Lanie's
relationship with her boyfriend Cal, played by Christian Kane, runs
no deeper. Cal prefers not to think about the complexities of the
woman he will marry; instead, he sees only a beautiful, successful,
thin partner to complement him, and he is uninterested in looking
beyond their mutual superficial interests of celebrity status, teeth
bleaching and looking good at hip restaurants.
ABOUT
THE PRODUCTION
In LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT, Angelina Jolie portrays a woman who
sees the world and herself through rose-colored glasses. Her perfectionist
personality is revealed through her extensive, expensive wardrobe
and accessories. But as she embarks on her personal journey, her
style reflects the dramatic changes she at first resists, but then
embraces.
Working
together closely with Jolie was Academy Award®-nominated costume
designer Aggie Rodgers ("The Color Purple"), who previously collaborated
with Herek on "Rock Star", "Mr. Holland's Opus" and "Holy Man."
Working with Jolie's long-time hair stylist Colin Jamison and personal
make-up artist Janeen Schreyer, Rodgers transformed Jolie from a
brunette to a stunning platinum blond, complete with a wardrobe
and hairstyle that evokes the look of a fifties-era movie star bombshell.
"Angelina
was clear from the beginning, that's how she wanted to look," says
Rodgers. I also think Angelina's choice to wear the Dolce Gabbana
line was a really good one. They are beautiful suits, strong colors
and great textures that fit her just perfectly." The suit's long
arms, very narrow ribcage and pencil late-fifties skirt, complemented
the actor's enviable figure and the image Jolie envisioned for Lanie
Kerrigan.
Filming
on LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT began in Seattle, with the production
then moving on to locations in Vancouver and New York City. The
filmmakers solved one of their biggest location challenges by setting
up at Seattle's KOMO-TV studios, which ensured the production's
"That's Seattle Life" set looked authentic. Among the thirty-plus
locations used in Vancouver, the Art Deco Marine Building served
as the New York-based "A.M. USA" offices, where Lanie hopes to realize
her dream and work as a major network reporter.
Lanie's
one-week journey of laughs, self-discovery and redemption are impressive.
But they hardly compare to the real-life honor bestowed upon the
actor who plays her, Angelina Jolie. After wrapping LIFE OR SOMETHING
LIKE IT, Jolie earned the title of goodwill ambassador for the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. While filming "Lara Croft:
Tomb Raider" in Cambodia, Jolie met former refugees who told her
about the UNHCR. When she called requesting information, the organization
offered to make her an ambassador on the spot. Rather than immediately
accept, Jolie paid her own way to visit Africa, Cambodia and Pakistan
to meet relief workers and refugees, after which she accepted the
title.
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