USA: Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin and Jason Patric walk the red carpet at the world premiere of their new film, "My Sister's Keeper"

Record ID: 220311

  • Title: USA: Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin and Jason Patric walk the red carpet at the world premiere of their new film, "My Sister's Keeper"
  • Date: 29th June 2009
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JUNE 24, 2009) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ** ) ACTRESS CAMERON DIAZ, ONE OF THE LEADS IN THE FILM "MY SISTER'S KEEPER" ON THE RED CARPET AT THE PREMIERE OF THE FILM VIDEOGRAPHER VARIOUS OF DIAZ ON THE RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) CAMERON DIAZ, LEAD ACTRESS IN THE FILM, "MY SISTER'S KEEPER", SAYING: "We didn't play house, we played our characters on screen and we had a wonderful script that supported those relationships. So, it wasn't really difficult for us. After we got off set we were all just - I was Cameron, Abigail, Sofia, Jason, Evan, we were all just who we are. And it was very organic and I don't need to be these girls' mother, they have a mother."
  • Embargoed: 14th July 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA4WYZ9MPYDW5KDQM7841P88AY3
  • Story Text: Actors Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Sofia Vassilieva and Jason Patric walked the red carpet in New York City on Wednesday (June 24) at the world premiere of their new ensemble film, "My Sister's Keeper."
    The tragic drama is adapted from a best-selling book by Jodi Picoult. It stays largely true to the book with some twists and turns thrown in.
    The film sees Diaz and Patric play the Fitzgeralds, a married couple whose daughter Kate suffers from leukemia. Kate is played by 17-year-old actress Sofia Vassilieva, best known for her work in the NBC TV series "Medium".
    To save Kate's life, the Fitzgeralds use genetic engineering to conceive Anna, a baby designed to provide stem cells and other genetic material needed by her sick sister. Anna is played by 13-year old actress Abigail Breslin, who was nominated for an Oscar in the 2006 film, "Little Miss Sunshine"
    "My Sister's Keeper" sees Diaz play a mother for the first time. On the red carpet, Diaz, who does not have children, underlined that she really enjoyed working with Vassilieva and Breslin but did not try playing mother to them on or off the sets.
    "We didn't play house, we played our characters on screen and we had a wonderful script that supported those relationships. So, it wasn't really difficult for us. After we got off set we were all just - I was Cameron, Abigail, Sofia, Jason, Evan, we were all just who we are. And it was very organic and I don't need to be these girls' mother, they have a mother," said Diaz.
    Diaz, better known for comedies such as "There's Something About Mary", returns to the dramatic genre with this film. Her last film was the light-hearted "What Happens in Vegas", which was released in 2008. Diaz, however, emphasized that she doesn't think she's been away from serious dramas all that long.
    "Over the years I've done, "Being John Malkovich", "Gangs of New York", "Vanilla Sky", "In Her Shoes", "Any Given Sunday" - I've always sort of peppered in films every other or two, comedies, I put something in there. So it just feels very natural to the rhythm of what I've been doing for the last fifteen years, for me anyhow," said Diaz.
    As she walked the red carpet, Breslin spoke about what drew her to the role of Anna.
    "I think that she's put in a really difficult situation from the day that she's born, of having to choose between her sister and her family. And she's been helping her sister and she's being doing it gladly. But now she has to make this really painful decision and I think she doesn't really know who she is in the family or what her place is," said Breslin about the character of Anna.
    While for her role as a leukemia patient in the film, Vassilieva shaved not just her head but also her eyebrows. She said that shaving her eyebrows was more difficult and isolating than shaving her head.
    Meanwhile, co-actor Jason Patric and director of the film, Nick Cassavetes, were all praise for Diaz.
    "She's a gamer. She's like a good broad, somebody you'd have a drink with. And she went through a difficult time, but didn't ask for any sympathy and she was there," said Patric. He was referring to the difficult patch for Diaz in 2008 when her father died unexpectedly.
    When Cassavetes, who has also directed the 2004 dramatic romance, "The Notebook", was starting out on "My Sister's Keeper", some people suggested that he approach actresses like Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett for the film, given its dramatic and tear-jerking content. But Cassavetes said he thought Diaz had what it took for the role of Sara in the film - a passionate mother who is sometimes tunnel-visioned.
    Speaking of Diaz, Cassavetes said, "She felt to me like the way I felt when I was young. She's awesome. I knew in my heart that she had a great performance, a really great performance in her for this movie. It was interesting to me, it was really interesting."
    Cassavetes' own daughter has suffered from a congenital heart defect and the director brought some part of that experience into directing this film. It opens in theaters on June 26th.
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