NYU Professor Richard Brown interviews Jennifer Anniston, Jennifer Connelly, Julianne Moore and Sigorney Weaver as part of an on-going series dedicated to sharing their experiences with his class. Each interview is about an hour long and focuses on their pre-cinema/television careers as well as previews their upcoming work (most of which was dated by the time I watched it.)
The first interview in the set is Jennifer Anniston. I went in without a lot of "respect" for her body of work. No offense to her - I enjoy Friends and I think she is great as Rachel Green. I just never put a lot of faith in her talent. I learned however that at age 11 she had a painting hanging in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. I am obviously not the most well versed person when it comes to her life but I also learned that her dad (John Anniston) is an actor on a Soap Opera and has been for years. I am sure many out there are aware of that nugget of information but I wasn't. I originally felt like Jennifer would be the odd-duck in this line-up of fairly well established film stars who experiment with different roles. I think after watching the interview and because of Brown's in-depth questioning I found myself most pleased with the Anniston segment. The conversation between the two was very eye opening and I think even dug deeper than I think she was expecting.
The second interview was Jennifer Connelly who I felt was kind of boring. Even with top notch questioning she fell a little flat. She talks about her desire to work in film and how she was discovered but overall nothing all that interesting to note. I have long felt that she has been on a downward spiral since her days of singing with Bowie and dancing with muppets - I think this just about clinches it for me. If you ever get a chance to watch these interviews you can just pass this one up.
I am a huge fan of Julianne Moore. She may be one of my top five living actresses. She came out about how her parents supported her through her wishes to become an actor but also strongly cautioned that she prepare herself for failure by getting a degree that could lead to a graduate program down the future. While it doesn't look like she will ever need to take her parents up on that advice it was well taken and could be useful for hundred of people out there struggling to do what they dream. Her interview is completely uninhibited and she talks frankly about her set affair with her now husband and how she will feel when her children stumble upon the fact that she had done some nudity in her films. Overall I would say she was the interview I was most hyped up for and it delivers unquestionable.
Lastly we see Sigorney Weaver who obviously has a spectrum of work from Sci-Fi to Comedy to Drama. She is just about everywhere. She was a lot less intimidating and commanding as I thought. Perhaps I bought into the Ridley Scott persona a bit too much but she seemed to be just surprised and pleased with her career. She doesn't take it for granted or too seriously while at the same time seeming dedicated and well educated about it. Along with Anniston this interview changed my mind about the person involved because it opened up a human side of them and showed the struggles and hardships they went through to get where they are.
For those of you interested in acting or the art of acting this would be an inciteful viewing for you. Well researched by Professor Brown and well recieved by the audience this is a winner that easily compares to Lipton's Inside the Actor's Studio which gets far more noteriety. I can't wait to watch the rest of the series.