We are so excited to see Ender’s Game on the big screen. Tell us about your role and how you landed it.
I play Theresa Wiggin, the mom of Peter, Valentine, and Ender Wiggin (the movie’s central character). Theresa and her husband are brilliant scholars and researchers who were allowed by the government to have a third child—Ender–in hopes that he would be a useful member of the International Fleet. Theresa is a mother through and through, devoted to keeping her family together while trying to understand and respect the dictates of the government. I won the role through an audition process that included a pretty extensive audition/work session with writer/director Gavin Hood. He really put me through my paces- guiding me through different levels of emotion in the audition scenes, asking questions about how I saw Theresa and her struggles, and then taking it all and bringing it down to a simple, simple performance. I was so nervous when I walked in, but working with Gavin and feeling how collaborative he is made me much calmer…as calm as you can be in that situation I suppose. Auditions are never fun, but this one felt more like a rehearsal.
Is there a specific scene you are excited for fans to see?
I can’t talk about specifics, unfortunately, but I will say that I’m excited for fans to see the version of the future world that this movie presents. We’re so accustomed to seeing science fiction movies with cold, harsh, purely technological environments. The future world in Ender’s Game is beautiful—a world worth saving.
The book is very teenager heavy, as one of the only adults in the film, how was it working with Harrison Ford and Viola Davis?
Amazing. They’re both such pros, but also incredibly down to earth. Viola and I are about the same age, so we bonded over the challenges of being of-a-certain-age in Hollywood (and happily doing our best to redefine it). Harrison has just seen and done it all, but always generous with a compliment, encouragement, or a joke. I have a particularly emotional scene, and when it was over he stopped me on our way off the set to tell me a blonde joke/story (with him playing all the parts) just to lighten the mood. Very Han Solo. 🙂
As you may know, we are a fashion magazine and we hear you recently attended some New York Fashion Week shows. How was it?
I love Fashion Week, and it’s truly awe-inspiring to be in the middle of it. To experience the cutting edge of fashion and to see first-hand the looks that we’ll be seeing on the street in the months ahead is incredibly exciting. I’m a huge fan of Carmen Marc Valvo and the elegance, sophistication, and womanliness of his clothes. So to be on the front row of his show at Lincoln Center and see the details of his Spring 2014 collection—from the shimmer of the technology-inspired lace to the black tips on the white nails of his models—was a dream come true.
We noticed you are a big traveler. What are some of your beauty and fashion must-haves on the road or in the air?
Moisture can be hard to come by but is absolutely essential to surviving travel days, so water, water, water. That extends to products, too, so if I’m going somewhere where I know my skin will be sensitive (like the cold) I swear by Dr. Haushka Rose Day Cream. I was actually introduced to this by my makeup artist on Ender’s Game—I had just come from a vacation at Winter Carnival in Quebec City, and my skin was feeling the week of freezing wind and snow. The Rose Day Cream soothed my skin like nothing else could, and now I don’t go anywhere without it. I’m also a fan of Rosebud Salve and Genes Vitamin E Crème, which I buy by the tub.
Who are some of your favorite designers? Favorite trend?
Carmen Marc Valvo, of course. Prabal Gurung has some fantastic shapes. I love Julia Jentzch’s use of beautiful fabrics and figure-flattering cuts. Clover Canyon’s prints are so much fun—I wore a two-piece for a photo shoot that had white tigers and flowers all over it, which just made me smile. My taste in fashion is classic but a little adventurous, so I always love something that has a little twist to it. I’m also pretty active and work out, so clothes have to respect real bodies as well. I appreciate that more and more designers are offering shapes that work well on athletic builds.
Within your career, you must have had some long days on set. If you could only bring one beauty product out of your trailer to have on you, what would it be?
I don’t guess coffee is considered a beauty product, is it? In that case, I think I’d go for Burt’s Bees Lip Balm. Especially if you’re going through a lot of makeup and lip color changes in a day. It’s a lifesaver that can make everything just feel better.
What is next for you?
I appeared in the new CW series, The Originals, this fall. Then during the holidays I’m playing Cheri Oteri’s sidekick in Christmas in Conway, which is premiering on ABC on December 1st.
Follow Andrea on twitter @AndiPowell