Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson and Chris Noonan Miss Potter Press Day Regency Hotel Manhattan December 10, 2006 Written by Wendy R. Williams

Chris Noonan’s Miss Potter tells the story of Beatrix Potter, the creator of the beloved “Peter Rabbit” books for children. I saw the film and attended the press conference.

Here is a copy of my review (scroll down for the press conference):

Chris Noonan’s
Miss Potter
Opens January 5th New York City

Starring: Renee Zellweger; Ewan McGregor; and Emily Watson.

Reviewed by Wendy R. Williams

Chris Noonan’s (of Babe fame) Miss Potter tells the story of an odd little duckling named Beatrix Potter, who grew up to become the writer and illustrator of some of the world’s most beloved children’s books:"The Tales of Peter Rabbit" and "Jemima Puddle-Duck."

Beatrix was born in 1866 into an English middle class family which had aspirations to be upwardly mobile socially. Beatrix’s mother planned to have her daughter advance the family by making an advantageous marriage.

Beatrix, however, had been a lonely child (her mother was overbearing) and had retreated into a world of fantasy. And it was a world of fantasy that sprung from her love of nature and the land. She would spend long hours in her room, practicing drawing her many pet animals. And all this drawing culminated in the first illustrated Peter Rabbit book which she “womanfully” kept presenting to publishers, only to be rejected time and again.

But as in all good stories, finally there is some light. She takes the book to Warne Brothers Publishers and while one of the brothers thinks the book is silly, another of the brothers thinks that this simple little book would be a fine project for the youngest brother of their family, Norman (Ewan McGregor).

Norman, however, likes the book and what’s more, he likes Beatrix. He introduces her to his family, including his feminist sister, Miller (Emily Watson). And what’s more, he collaborates with Beatrix, giving her opinions the respect that she has never received at home. And they fall in love, much to the chagrin of her parents who are horrified to think about their daughter marrying a man who works for a living. There is a true irony here because by the time Beatrix and Norman truly fall in love, Beatrix has become a widely popular children’s book author with her own income, so she is also working for her living.

The movie then follows Beatrix through the rest of her life as she buys a farm and moves to the Lake District and recreates in her life the fantasy world of nature that she loved as a child. During her time in the Lake District, Beatrix bought many farms to prevent them from being purchased by developers. And when she died, she gave these working farms to the National Trust.

This movie is charming. The actors give quiet nuanced performances and Chris Noonan (with the help of Richard Maltby’s skillfully written script) tells a beautiful story about one of literature’s favorite authors. It is also beautifully filmed; the scenes in the English countryside are gorgeous.

And this film will definitely find an audience. At the press conference, actress and producer Renee Zellweger was adamant that this is not a chick flick. She felt strongly that the film has universal themes about overcoming obstacles and finding love and would appeal to a wide audience. But I walked away from the film filled with feelings of nostalgia for the charming Potter books that I read to my children and also for Potter’s charming drawings which I had purchased to hang on the walls of their nursery. And I bet if I attend a screening after it opens, the audience will be filled with women just like me.

The Miss Potter Press Conference

Question about whether you need to be eccentric to be an artist:

Renee Zellweger: The strangest thing about me is that I am an actor. [But] I have talked to several actors and creative people who need their medium to give them stability and purpose. I don’t think it is that for me, although it has become an important outlet.

Chris Noonan: Beatrix needed her creativity as an outlet, she was so reserved in every other aspect…..she created her own friends.

Question about the psychological back ground of the film:

Chris Noonan: I researched her [Beatrix’s] life extensively and then filled in the gaps. When you talk about the psychological aspect of a character, you necessarily have to invent.

Question about what effect reading Beatrix Potter’s books had on your own childhood:

Renee Zellweger: I did read some of her books as a child.

Chris Noonan: I had a relatively Beatrix free childhood. We did have some of the crockery.

Emily Watson: I had her books and they had notes written in them from my aunts and uncles. Having these books is common in a British household.

Ewan McGregor: I had them read to me and I read them to my kids. Being a boy, Mr. McGregor resounded with me.

Question about marketing the film with its lack of sex and violence in the film:

Chris Noonan: We actually had a lot of sex and nudity in the film............. You make a film and hope it finds an audience. James Bond has an audience. Beatrix Potter does not have a built in audience, but we made the film we love.

Emily Watson: [But] there is a place for violence in movies. There needs to be; there is violence in society.

Question about how Renee Zellweger found her character:

Renee Zellweger: [Beatrix Potter] this is a woman who was not overly sentimental. I did not want her to be smaltzy. Chris told me, “I don’t do smaltzy.”

Question about the lesbian undertones in Millie’s relationship with Beatrix:

Emily Watson: It is hard to impose our present system of judging these things. If you had said to Millie, “You are a lesbian,” she would have been horrified. But in another age, perhaps not….

Renee Zellweger: [Regarding Millie’s feminist protestations] it was a way [for her] to meddle and have opinions.

Question about Millie being enthusiastic when she learns the Beatrix and her brother Norman are planning on marrying.[Always before, Millie had declared that she was against marriage].

Emily Watson: I think the lady dost protest too much. She finds a place of generosity and happiness [in her heart] for her friend. [Regarding Millie’s aversion to marriage] In that period of time, marriage was a financial transaction and you could end up with someone you did not like.

Question about the use of animation in the film:

Chris Noonan: The original script had them [Peter Rabbit and the other animals] jumping off the page; they would have needed names! The movie was based upon some delicate human relationships and the animation made it seem a little loopy. But using some animation gave us access to Beatrix’s inner life without having a voiceover of Beatrix saying, “I was feeling depressed at that time.” The bits of animation needed to be introduced in a witty way.

Renee Zellweger: I don’t think she [Beatrix Potter] was weird when she talked to her work [the animals]. I love her eccentricity. I think she is brilliant. I would have loved to have known her.

Question to Renee Zellweger and Ewan Mc Gregor about working together again [they were both in Down With Love.]

Ewan McGregor: We had such a great time together on the set of Down With Love. I am very proud of that movie; but it was very stylized.

Renee Zellweger: We did not have a point of reference for the stylized type of acting [in Down With Love]. So it was really wonderful to just “be” in this film [Miss Potter].

Ewan McGregor: Renee called me to read for Miss Potter.

Renee Zellweger: My plan was to beg and grovel and then to beg and grovel some more. There is a scene where Beatrix and Norman are alone in her room for the first time [no sex - all four feet on the floor] and there is so much subtext that needs to be communicated and I knew Ewan has such a gift for communicating these things honestly.

Question to Renee Zellweger about which authors inspire you:

Renee Zellweger: I love Cormac McCarthy and Charles Fraser. I can smell the words of Charles Fraser. I love African American writers like Langston Hughes. I love southern writers; there is such a passion for things.

Question about whether Miss Potter is a chick flick:

Renee Zellweger: I don’t think it is a chick flick at all. I think that underestimates it totally.

Chris Noonan: In the eyes of Hollywood if the film has violence, it is a male movie. If it is a love story, then it is a woman’s film. I think we have moved on.

Question to Renee Zellweger about how she picks her parts and how she has never been an action heroine:

Renee Zellweger: I don’t like to go somewhere I have been before.

Question about what you do as an outlet for the stress created by the tabloids:

Renee Zellweger: I go the gym.

Question to Chris Noonan about the decade between Dave and Miss Potter:

Chris Noonan: I sort of sat in a hole and was depressed. I was offered some scripts, but they were all so derivative. I am interested in films that are different from anything that is out there. [With Miss Potter] It moved me because the emotions were so genuine. I first read the script three years ago but when I saw it, it was five or six years into its process of development.

Question to Renee Zellweger about the costumes:

Renee Zellweger: There was a subtle change in Beatrix clothes that paralleled the change in her character. When she moved out of her home, her clothes became bigger and looser.

Question to Renee Zellweger about whether she shares Beatrix Potter’s environmental concerns:

Renee Zellweger: I knew nothing about her environmental concerns and was amazed by what I learned. She was instrumental in the founding of the National Trust which has more than 4,000 acres of working farms in England. She did not want tourists to take over the Lake District.

Emily Watson: There is no wilderness in the United Kingdom. I love to go on holiday and stay in properties that are owned by the National Trust.

Question about when the film will open:

Emily Watson: It opens on December 29th in the US (since changed to January 5th for New York) and January 5th in England. Films do not open over Christmas in the UK. People just stay home with their families, eat turkey and throw up.

Question about why there are no kids in the film:

Chris Noonan: Beatrix wrote for kids and was drawn to kids but there is evidence that she found them annoying. Circumstances kept her own kids out of her life. But I have never seen anything written that says that she regretted not having children.

Many thanks to the cast and director of Miss Potter for talking to www.newyorkcool.com.