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Woody Allen and Scarlett Johansson have returned
to upper-crust London, the setting for Allen’s
masterpiece, Match Point. But this time
we are returning to the comic caper world of Manhattan
Murder Mystery instead of the cynical Crimes
and Misdemeanorish world of Match Point.
And this time the handsome leading man Peter Lyman
is played by Hugh Jackman, a charming breath of
fresh air after Match Point’s brooding
sociopath Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).
Here is a quote from the press release: “In
Woody Allen’s new contemporary comedy, a student
journalist (Scarlett Johansson) for a college paper
visiting friends in London happens upon the scoop
of a lifetime. Along the investigative trail, she
finds magic, murder, mystery – and perhaps
love, with a British aristocrat (Hugh Jackman).”
In Scoop, Scarlett’s character (Sondra Pransky) attends a magic show performed by Woody Allen’s character, Sid Waterman (a.k.a. Splendini). Scarlett’s character (a journalism student visiting London) is picked from the audience to go into a disappearing box (shades of New York Stories here) where she is accosted by Ian McShane’s character, Joe Strombel, a ghost who appears to be on speed. Joe is a journalist who recently died and has been given an incredible scoop by a passenger, Jane Cook (Fenella Woolgar), on his boat across the River Styx. It appears that Cook was the secretary of a handsome aristocrat, Jackman’s Peter Lyman, and she (Cook/Woolgar) was poisoned by Lyman because she discovered that he (Lyman) is the notorious Tarot Card killer. We are then off to the races. Sid and Sondra scheme and plot to enter Lyman’s world and get the scoop. They are helped along in their quest by occasional tips from a frenzied Strombel (who pops in and out of the other world like a crazed Jack-in-the-Box).
Johansson’s character pretends to be Woody’s daughter and this is a particularly brilliant choice. Because Johansson’s depiction of Sondra Pransky is so Woody-like. Yes Johansson is still beautiful, but the character she portrays in Scoop is pretty much an owl-glassed-nebbish-nerd. And that choice creates much of the comedy – the contrast between Johansson’s radiant youthful beauty and her nondescript clothes, scraggly pony-tails and nerdy mannerisms.
Woody Allen never does press roundtables so I was unable to talk with him. But in the productions notes we were given, Allen is quoted as saying about Scarlett, "She's a total joy. It's like I hit the lottery or something."
Allen compared her to Diane Keaton of Annie
Hall fame. "There are certain people I've
worked with over the years -
Diane Keaton was one -- who were just
hit with the talent stick and had it all. And Scarlett
has got it all," Allen said. "It's a treat
to work with her."
The Interview with Scarlett Johansson
Question: How do you feel about being Woody Allen’s new muse?
Scarlett Johansson: Muse is an over-used media created word. But [returning to] working with Woody is like going back to summer camp. You come back and everything is the same.
Question: Do you know what Woody’s inspiration was for your character?
Scarlett Johansson: Woody never shared his inspiration with me. He did say one time that my character was like Judy Holliday. [He also] called her [Scarlett’s character] a twit, kind of an idiot – a lovable idiot.
But the script in Scoop is like our off screen banter molded into a screenplay. We are both from New York and we can banter.
Question: How is it to work with Woody?
Scarlett Johansson: Woody does not do any rehearsal. He just says something like, “Here is the person you are going to fall in love with.” And with [it being] Hugh Jackman, it’s not hard. Hugh is very kind and charismatic. Every woman on the set fell in love with him.
Question: Is your Mom [Melanie Johansson] still your manager?
Scarlett Johansson: Yes, we work very well together. My Mom is very well organized and she can produce.
Question: How well can you swim? [In one of the first scenes of Scoop, Scarlett’s character, Sondra Pransky, fakes drowning to get Jackman’s character’s attention and in a later scene – well you will just have to watch the movie.]
Scarlett Johansson: I can swim.
Question: How do you feel about your character’s use of her sexuality to get a story?
Scarlett Johansson: Woody thinks that is funny – the way people use sex to get what they want. He thinks that years ago sex was more frivolous and fun and now is a more conservative time.
Question: Is Woody generous?
Scarlett Johansson: He is incredibly generous. Woody can [also] shoot one liners a mile a minute.
I rarely stick strictly to scripts, unless it is some kind of period piece like Black Dahlia, where you absolutely need the rhythm.
Question: Speaking of Black Dahlia [it is widely reported that Johansson is romantically involved with her Black Dahlia co-star, Josh Hartnett], how do you feel about the press’s interest in your personal life?
Scarlett Johansson: Rarely is anything that is printed actually true. Most of it is a load of crap. New York is pretty accommodating to actors, even though there are a lot of photographers here. But I know the subway system.
Question: How is it to work with Laura Linney [they are both going to be in the Nanny Diaries]?
Scarlett Johansson: It is great to work with; she can slip in and out of character at will.
Question: What kind of film would you like to work on?
Scarlett Johansson: I would like to do something kind of scary but smart, like Rosemary’s Baby. [Woody Allen’s long time love and mother of his present wife, Mia Farrow, starred in Rosemary’s Baby. Hmm?]
The Interview with Ian McShane
Question: How was it to do a character
so completely different from your character in Deadwood?
Ian McShane: My character in Deadwood is a dastardly American character – a villain from the west. These characters are completely different and will appeal to completely different audiences.
Deadwood is a very cultish show and will never have the audience of The Sopranos.
Question: How was it to play a ghost?
Ian McShane: Playing a ghost is not different; I played him as a live guy.
Question: How was it to audition for Woody Allen?
Ian McShane: It lasted about a minute and a half. He asked me to turn around so he could seem my back. He must have liked my back, because he cast me.
Question: How was it to work with Woody Allen?
Ian McShane: Woody casts people and then he lets you do it. I have always been a fan of his movies.
Woody is a Brooklyn guy, a family guy. He watches sports, plays the clarinet. He does not wait for inspiration, he goes to work. People like working with him. You are at home by four in time for cucumber sandwiches and tea.
Question: How was it to work with Scarlett?
Ian McShane: She was wonderful, very bright.
Question: Where do you live?
Ian McShane: Venice ( California) and Mayfair (
London). I just had a third grandchild and they
are in Mayfair, so I like to get back there.
Question: Did you do any improv during the movie?
Ian McShane: No, I did not seem to need to. My scenes were very stylized.
Question: Where did you train
your voice? [McShane has an incredible voice.]
Ian McShane: The Royal Academy. They had me put all these things in mouth to try to get rid of my accent.
Question: What are you doing next?
Ian McShane: A film with Renee Zellweger [the new
Paramount Pictures thriller Case 39].
Many thanks to Scarlett Johansson and Ian McShane for talking to www.newyorkcool.com.
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