TONI COLLETTE'S BIG `NIGHT' A BIG SECRET.Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer Toni Collette can't talk much about her latest movie, ``The Night Listener.'' Or rather, she could, but she really shouldn't. And in the interest of preserving the secrecy of key plot elements within the film, we kind of don't want her to. On the other hand, here's the quite affable Australian actress, 33, with two movies currently in theaters (``Little Miss Sunshine'' is the other) and another three that she plans to film by the end of the year. With a little luck, ``The Night Listener'' -- opening Friday -- could end up one of those sleeper buzz flicks that moviegoers could be dissecting dis·sect tr.v. dis·sect·ed, dis·sect·ing, dis·sects 1. To cut apart or separate (tissue), especially for anatomical study. 2. and debating for quite some time. ``When I watched the movie, I kind of made myself nervous,'' says Collette, treading carefully. ``I think there was something about me that was so freaked out by the character I was playing. I was kind of in denial in denial Psychiatry To be in a state of denying the existence or effects of an ego defense mechanism. See Denial. that I could do this without being affected by it.'' Having played tough characters or difficult scenes before -- she first made her mark in America in the 1994 hit ``Muriel's Wedding,'' for which she gained 40 pounds -- Collette says she knows not to take the work home with her. ``I'm not a method actress. I'm pretty easygoing eas·y·go·ing also eas·y-go·ing adj. 1. a. Living without undue worry or concern; calm. b. Lax or negligent; careless. c. ,'' she says with a laugh. ``It's funny how we compartmentalize com·part·men·tal·ize tr.v. com·part·men·tal·ized, com·part·men·tal·iz·ing, com·part·men·tal·iz·es To separate into distinct parts, categories, or compartments: "You learn . . . experiences to get through them.'' Asked for a comparable experience, the actress flashes back to her work on the 1998 Australian film ``The Boys,'' which found her playing the girlfriend of a man who participated in a horrific act. ``We all had a really good time. We laughed our way through it,'' she recalls. ``You have to make light of it in order to get through it. Between `Action!' and `Cut!' it's all there, but on the sidelines On the sidelines An investor who decides not to invest due to market uncertainty. on the sidelines Of or relating to investors who, having assessed the market, have decided to avoid committing their funds. you kind of, I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. , make light of it just to get through the day.'' Based on the novel by Armistead Maupin Armistead Jones Maupin Jr.[1] (born May 13 1944) is an American writer best known for his Tales of the City series of novels based in San Francisco. (who co-wrote the screenplay) and inspired by events that actually happened to the ``Tales of the City'' author, ``The Night Listener'' follows a developing friendship -- exclusively over the phone -- between a radio show writer and a 14-year-old boy who is dying of AIDS. Robin Williams plays author Gabriel Noone, Rory Culkin is the kid, Pete, and Collette plays Pete's adoptive mother, Donna Logand, who serves as the frequent go-between for Gabriel and Pete when the boy is too sick to get on the phone. Noone is no live-wire role for Williams. If anything, it's Collette's character who gets to play things close to the edge. ``He was very caring and protective of me,'' Collette says of her co-star. ``For a lot of the film, I'm wearing contact lenses, so he's kind of walking me around to make sure I was OK.'' More about Donna Logand we won't say. And Collette gets it. When she played Lynn Sear sear 1 v. seared, sear·ing, sears v.tr. 1. To char, scorch, or burn the surface of with or as if with a hot instrument. See Synonyms at burn1. 2. , the mother of the kid who saw dead people in ``The Sixth Sense'' -- the ultimate ``don't spoil it'' movie -- she and the rest of the cast were careful not to upend the psychological house of cards house of cards n. pl. houses of cards A flimsy structure, arrangement, or situation that is in danger of collapsing or failing: "The collapse of the rupiah . . . erected by writer/director M. Night Shyamalan Manoj Nelliattu Shyamalan (born August 6, 1970), known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, /'ʃæ.mæ.lɔːn . In that movie, however, Collette's character was somewhat on the periphery of the twist. This time around ... No, we won't go any further. ``It's just a really good story, a fascinating psychological labyrinth,'' says Collette. ``To play someone who was so needy and so smart and used it in such a destructive, manipulative kind of way was interesting to me.'' Author Maupin, who had dealings with the woman on whom Donna is based, has high praise for Collette. ``She's such a distinctive actress,'' he says, ``and she knows how to make it just creepy enough, but you still understand her before it's over.'' Collette is by no means done with projects containing a certain intensity. In Karen Moncrieff's ``The Dead Girl,'' Collette is among a large ensemble (her scenes are with Piper Laurie and Giovanni Ribisi) arranged into a series of vignettes revolving around -- yes -- a dead girl. She will also appear in the post-tsunami HBO/BBC TV project ``Aftermath,'' and will play a tightly wound Jewish-Australian mom in the Down Under-shot family film, ``Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger'' opposite ``Whale Rider's'' Keisha Castle-Hughes. When it's suggested that the time might be ripe for an all-out comedy, Collette smiles and proclaims, ``There's `Little Miss Sunshine.''' (The film goes wide Aug. 11.) Uh, yeah. In ``Sunshine,'' Collette plays the matriarchal ma·tri·arch n. 1. A woman who rules a family, clan, or tribe. 2. A woman who dominates a group or an activity. 3. A highly respected woman who is a mother. glue that holds the Hoover family together ... albeit just barely. Stacked up next to the failed-motivational-speaker father, the Nietzsche-worshiping son, the horny horn·y adj. 1. Made of horn or a similar substance. 2. Tough and calloused, as of skin. grandfather, the suicidal gay uncle and the chubby optimistic daughter looking to win a child beauty pageant, Collette's never-say- die Sheryl Hoover is the closest thing the film offers to normalcy nor·mal·cy n. Normality. Noun 1. normalcy - being within certain limits that define the range of normal functioning normality . Funny, yes, but even Collette admits that this comedy is at times a bit grim. < ``That movie in itself has so much depth and poignancy and out-and-out broad-stroke comedy, it's between laughing your head off and something quite real and quite dark,'' she says. Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson@dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) At right, Toni Collette attends the premiere of ``Little Miss Sunshine'' in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of ; that film opened July 28. Above, she portrays Donna Logand in ``The Night Listener,'' opening Friday. WireImage.com |
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