USA: STARS ARRIVE FOR LA PREMIERE OF "THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD".

Record ID: 392717

  • Title: USA: STARS ARRIVE FOR LA PREMIERE OF "THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD".
  • Date: 18th May 2002
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES (MAY 18, 2002) (REUTERS) SOUNDBITE (English) ASHLEY JUDD SAYING: "I think that there was a feeling I had about Vivi, that involved integrity. And that this woman deserved to be played with all of the flamboyance, grief and honor that I could muster."
  • Embargoed: 2nd June 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABVX4TXCXXRUW4PTDAXWOUM9JY
  • Story Text: In "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" a group of friends band together to repair a relationship between feuding mother and daughter. On the red carpet at the Los Angeles premier the film's stars came together to interact with fans and speak with the media.
    You'd think Hollywood would jump at the chance to turn a best-selling novel into a movie. Think again. In the case of "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," it took the begging of one passionate producer and a small group of relentless females to bring the titular 1997 cult novel about the friendship of four eccentric U.S. Southern women to the screen.
    Why? Because "Ya-Ya" has the derisory term "chick flick"
    written all over it and even though women make up half the population, Hollywood still needs convincing that chicks bring in big bucks.
    Five years in the making, "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" opens at movie U.S. theaters (June 7) in a classic counter-programming strategy that pits the feisty females against an array of celluloid superheroes, action men and space clones.
    To generate interest in the movie, the stars of the film greeted fans and spoke to the media at the Los Angeles premiere. Ellen Burstyn plays Vivi a highly dramatic and eccentric mother. The Oscar winning actress spoke about the benefit of taking ones family to see her latest project.
    ""I think it would be a very good idea to see it with your parents because it really is about finding ways to communicate,"
    Burstyn said.
    The film covers three different time periods, the late 1930s and early 40s, the 1960s and the 1990s. Ashley Judd takes on the role of Vivi playing the high-spirited beauty at a younger age, as the character struggle to raise her children. The leading lady, a fan or the original novel, commented on screenwriter Callie Khouri's abilities.
    "I thought that Callie without degrading the book in anyway, somehow distilled it to its essence and made it shine," Judd said.
    James Garner took on the role of the long-suffering husband married to Vivi. His character is relatively quiet but on the red carpet Garner spoke up about keeping secretes.
    "Why is it hard to keep a secret? Because, everybody is nosy and everybody wants to show they are in the know," Garner said.
    Sandra Bullock plays opposite Ellen Burstyn, taking on the role of Vivi's daughter Sidda. It is Bullock's characters actions that are miss interpreted by Vivi causing an argument between mother and daughter. Enter the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, longtime friends who band together to repair the strained relationship. When asked about keeping a secret, Bullock remarked, she would rather not be told confidential matters for fear of slipping up and revealing hidden information.
    The movie's stars hope the word gets out that the "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" is ready to entertain theatergoers.
    -ENDS-
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