I've always been a fan of honest assessments in interviews -- I'm talking about those fleeting moments when an actor, actress, director, or anyone else in film backs out of the marketing machine for a second and speaks about their work honestly. It drives me up a wall when I see a talented person lather a bad movie/role in platitudes as if we won't figure out that they're lying. Sure, they have to help buzz for their projects, but sometimes a spade is just a spade.
Katherine Heigl has ticked off many recently for removing her name from Emmy contention because she doesn't feel the material she was given on Grey's Anatomy was worthy of consideration. It may be a bit too truthful, but isn't it accurate? Her character arc isn't the stuff of Emmy nominations. We complain when actors are given nods they didn't really deserve, but are equally put off when someone pulls their name out of the running for that reason. Or, is it just because she admitted it publicly? Or, that she's been very honest before? I wasn't entirely thrilled with the portrayals in Knocked Up, and was relieved that she admitted so herself, even if the film has given her a lot of success.
But she's not the only one. MSNBC has posted a jab thrown by Mark Wahlberg at the Ocean's crew. He was up for the part of Linus Caldwell before Matt Damon, and he turned it down. Thinking back, he says that yes, it was worth refusing the role because "the second one sucked!" He went on to say: "People tell George Clooney it's great, but we all know it sucked. I made two bad movies instead -- Planet of the Apes and The Truth About Charlie -- but doing that was better than sitting with Brad and George, telling the press how great everybody is! ... I do love those guys, but I had to step out on my own." Does this rub the wrong way like Heigl? Or is it okay because Wahlberg also chastises his own decisions as well?
Personally, I'd rather have honesty -- whether it's snooty, or something I completely don't agree with. And no, I'm not talking about people like Jennifer Lopez who chastise the talents of others and stroke their own ego. Just the moments of honesty that say: "Hey, I didn't like how this turned out," or "That was really, really bad."
Thoughts?
1. I like the honesty. it's such a superficial setting in Hollywood where you have to act like your project is the best thing ever, even if everyone and their brother knows its less that stellar.
I think Marky Mark has every right to saw the last two oceans films were bad (mainly because they were terrible, and a new precipice of Hollywood superficiality). He and us both know he isn't innocent when it comes to making terrible movies so why shouldn't he be able to point out other movies that were bad?
Marky Mark also didn't point out any films that weren't bad. Heigl's remarks seemed a bit unapologetic and "diva" like. She seems like she doesn't know what she is talking about. I don't believe her.
Posted at 7:29PM on Jun 18th 2008 by Poppascotch