One of the perks of this job is interviewing celebrities. Other perks include getting paid to watch television, being invited to cool parties and having Jane Lynch say "Hi" to you while having brunch on a random Sunday morning. But that's another story.
So when I was sent to cover the press junket for the upcoming film, The Runaways, no one had to ask me twice. Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, and writer-director Floria Sigismondi were all scheduled to take our questions, up close, in-person, roundtable-style.
I arrived at a very swanky hotel in Beverly Hills, received my room assignment and milled around with the real journalists in the hospitality suite. I didn't take advantage of the full lunch buffet because the last thing I need is to be assaulting Kristen Stewart with pasta salad breath. Instead, I chose to drink as much free Pellegrino as I could in two hours.
Eventually, I made my way to my assigned room. Other journalists were already seated, so I took the last empty spot, next to two reserved seats. I was reading a text message on my phone when someone pulled out a chair. I looked up in time to see Joan Jett sit down. Next to me.
As you would expect, Joan was wearing a lot of black. When you're a rock star, you're a rock star 24/7.
This interview format has no set rules, other than be courteous to your fellow writers, wait for your moment, and jump in. Here are the highlights of the day:
Question: Did you have [casting] input, and what was your first thought when you found out [Kristen Stewart] was connected to the part [of playing you]?
Joan Jett: My only real input on the casting was to suggest if they could get real teenagers, it would make a difference. 'Cause even in a couple of years, the energy shifts. That was my only comment. I heard that Kristen had been cast – Twilight had come out a couple of months earlier – so, I knew who she was. I had seen her face all over the place. But I had also seen some of her films. I had seen Panic Room, maybe another earlier one, so I was familiar with her work and I wasn't colored by that Twilight label. I was really into it.
Right before she went to start [shooting] New Moon, we had a day together. And I just kind of dumped on her for a few hours about The Runaways and what it meant to me, and why I wanted to do it, anything I could think of, and probably a few things that I wouldn't tell anybody else: private, personal stuff.
I asked her if she was going to cut her hair, and she said, "Yeah!" I really got a sense that there was commitment there, that she really wanted to be authentic. She realized a lot of things: that The Runaways were important to a lot of people, that we were still living – or some of us, God rest Sandy West's soul – so, I think she took it seriously.
Q: What traits did you guys share? As you got to know her, what did you see of yourself, in her?
JJ: [Kristen] is her own person, but I think, energetically, physically, the way we kind of move in a room, is similar. Now, there may be more similarities that I don't know about, that we didn't have a chance to even discover.
But she loves music, she played guitar before we met, she can carry a tune. I thought it was essential that these girls sing the songs, where they could. It's really obvious when you're lip-syncing to an old Runaways' track. I thought they did a really great job.
After Jett left, Kristen Stewart and her co-star Dakota Fanning walked in together. Stewart sat down next to me and immediately jack-knifed her legs up under herself, and put her feet on her chair. Fanning sat with her legs crossed, hands in her lap. Her demure nature was betrayed only by her surprisingly dangerous shoes: wild, black leather, high-heeled dominatrix kicks. Loved them.
Question: What did you think of the wardrobe, hair, make-up and all of that?
Dakota Fanning: I loved it. I was really excited that I got to keep it.
Q: You got to keep it?
DF: Yeah, I got to keep pretty much everything. It became really important to me and I was really protective of my clothes.
Q: Including the lingerie?
DF: Oh yeah! [laughter] I was the most protective of those!
Q: Kristen, Joan talked about the hair. And you told her you were really going to cut your hair. That showed a certain level of commitment on your part…
Kristen Stewart: I love how that's her thing. She really holds onto the hair thing…[laughter] I needed to feel sweat dripping down my face. I would have felt like a fraud if I had a wig on. I've worn wigs in the past. They can look great and a lot of actresses won't work without them. Dakota's wig looks amazing. She would literally be like [sweeps hair back with one hand.] [addressing Fanning] You worked really well with it. Sometimes, they are a serious problem.
Q: Did it help you become Joan Jett?
KS: Oh yeah. How could she feel I was the right person to play her? She's so different from me, really. The wardrobe and the hair, you get on set with everyone else, and it slowly becomes a reality you can believe. As soon as you get there, it all sort of comes together. I can't really bring myself to do anything until I'm on set.
Q: [to Fanning] Did being 15 years-old in the film – the age that Cherie was – help you connect to her and to the character?
DF: Yeah, I think it did. I really liked that it was authentic. And because of the subject matter, I didn't want people to think that I was trying to be older than I was. And to be authentic to [Currie's] age was important. It just worked out.
KS: It's such a Hollywood thing to hired older actors to play younger parts. But, especially with this, [there's an] impact to watching girls that age behave like that.
Q: Can you [both] describe how your friendship has evolved?
KS: It's weird to talk about your friends when they're sitting right next to you. [to Fanning] Go for it. Go.
DS: Oh, throwing me under the bus a little bit. [laughter] Working this closely with someone, you can't help but become bonded with them. It helps when you actually like them and actually get along really well, and become really good friends. I haven't done a lot of movies with people close to my own age to have a good friend like that. So, I was excited to do that and I couldn't have asked for a better person to do it with.
Q: You guys got extra close during the filming of [the kissing/love scene.] How was that?
DF: [to Stewart] I answered the other one, so… [laughter]
KS: [to Fanning] You're blushing a little bit. [laughter] It was cool. I didn't mind. The way that it happened in the script, it was a just moment in time. It was fun and natural and just impulsive. They don't have that type of relationship that's like, "Ooh, they're closer than normal." They were just best friends. It was just that time.
Q: Kristen, [You were previously asked] who was a better kisser: your Yellow Handkerchief co-star or your Twilight co-star? Now we have another one… [long silence]
DF: [to Stewart] She's asking you which one.
KS: I mean, like... Yeah. I don't know. How do you answer that? I didn't answer that [question back then]. I don't know.
AfterEllen: How did you guys feel about Kathryn Bigelow winning this year's Oscar for Best Director?
KS: I thought that was really great.
DF: I loved that movie (The Hurt Locker) too. It was wonderful.
AE: Well, as The Runaways did in the 70s, she's a woman succeeding in a male-dominated genre.
KS: If you make something good, you're going to get recognized for it. But it's so hard to get there. She's obviously really talented, smart and awesome.
Q: Beyond the Twilight phenomenon, how do you imagine your professional lives evolving? And will you miss it when it's gone – that Twilight period.
DF: I'm not a huge part of that. I'm just in a few scenes
KS: [to Fanning] No, come on.
DF: [laughs] I'm just in a few scenes, but I will be sad when I don't get to wear red contacts anymore.
KS: Well, it's the only opportunity I've ever had to do something so concentrated with something I love, so I feel like I could go back to any character [now.]
As Kristen and Dakota were spirited away by their handlers, we all had the sense they didn't want Stewart talking about Twilight for some reason. That was fine with me, but I did want her to answer the kissing question. Guess we'll never know.
Thanks @KstewAngel Rest of the Interview With Joan, Cherie, and Floria Here
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