USA: BRITISH ACTRESS EMILY WATSON PROMOTES HER LATEST FILM AMERICAN COMEDY "TRIXIE"

Record ID: 389710

  • Title: USA: BRITISH ACTRESS EMILY WATSON PROMOTES HER LATEST FILM AMERICAN COMEDY "TRIXIE"
  • Date: 15th June 2000
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 15) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) EMILY WATSON SAYING What was great about the accent was the attitude of it because it's a kind of speak before you think. Just say exactly what you mean, of course, Trixie doesn't, it means something else but, you know, really, and it's very un-English, because everything we say is very c
  • Embargoed: 30th June 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, US AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAXNXQGKVWRTXICKGK5SG0TQQS
  • Story Text: Taking a break from the dark and tormented roles that made her famous and garnered her two Oscar nominations, actress Emily Watson branches out into farcical comedy in her newest film "Trixie," directed by independent film icon Alan Rudolph.
    After receiving Oscar nominations for her performances in "Breaking the Waves" and "Hilary and Jackie," Emily Watson wanted to move away from the serious and tragic and try comedy.
    Her chance came when writer/director Alan Rudolph approached her with the script for "Trixie."
    In the film, Watson plays Trixie Zurbo, a blue collar detective working undercover at a small casino. Her enthusiasm for her job and dedication to rooting out wrongdoers is exceeded only by her ability to single handedly massacre the English language.
    Carried away by her fervent zest for crime fighting, Trixie soon finds herself tangled up with a host of shady characters, including a powerful politician played by Nick Nolte, a corrupt land developer played by Will Patton, a raffish would-be cassanova played by Dermot Mulroney and a washed up lounge singer played by Nathan Lane.
    "Trixie" is the seventeenth film from writer/director Alan Rudolph, best known for such films as "Afterglow," "Mrs.
    Parker and the Vicious Circle" and "Choose Me." His newest film is also his latest collaboration in a long line of movies with producer Robert Altman.
    Although "Trixie" defies simple classification, Rudolph likes to call it "screwball noir" since it follows in the tradition of classic gumshoe detective stories while taking a decidedly farcical bent.
    One of the defining characteristics of the character of Trixie is her unique mis-usage of cliches and colloquialisms.
    In the course of the film, she utters such seemingly nonsensical phrases as "I'm a little green behind the ears"
    and "it's time to fish or get off the pot" and refers to herself as a "private defective."
    In scripting the film, Rudolph wrote these lines to make a point about language and communication, specifically that no one speaks the truth except those who speak their own truth.
    Combine the unorthodox dialogue with Trixie's heavy Chicago style American accent, and the role posed quite a challenge for British actress Emily Watson.
    "Trixie" is now playing in theaters throughout the US.
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