Thandie Newton felt her “life draining away” while filming ’2012′.

The British actress admits the disaster movie, which tells the tale of the end of the world, was fun to make but claims she did feel like a “puppet”.

She said: “There was a lot of blue-screen stuff, and a lot of scenes inside the pod-thing where we’d have a tidal wave coming towards us, which was real, and which would somehow magically disappear when they said ‘cut’, to be rolled out again for the next take.

“The mind boggles. I mean, I love 2012, and I always knew I was going to be a puppet on a stage. At times I felt my life draining away. But you know what? You learn something from every movie. That’s why you keep on doing it.”

However, she admits to having a more raucous experience on the set of 2000′s ‘Mission Impossible 2′, and highlights one intimate scene she thought Tom Cruise – who plays the lead character Ethan Hunt in the movie – was aroused.

She told the Daily Telegraph newpaper: “There was the love scene between Tom and I, where we were in bed all day. We laughed till we cried.

“As soon as he got into the bed, I thought he was really aroused. It was terrifying. He was wearing one of those modesty cups. And it was massive. It was almost more distracting than if he’d actually had an erection. Which I certainly didn’t expect him to have – I’ve never done a love scene where that’s even been a remote possibility. So hysteria seemed a perfectly logical response.”

From Contact Music

Women these days are growing more aware of the amount of alcohol they drink with as many as 73% of women who drink, aged between 25-34, now drinking less than the recommended weekly allowance having realised the affect it can have both in terms of long term health and their looks.

The new study released as part of the Martini ‘The Beautiful Drink’ campaign suggests an emerging trend amongst women who enjoy a drink but want to be able to maintain their style & sophistication throughout the evening.

This noticeable shift in attitude to drinking has been linked to women’s desire to maintain their looks and their admittance that they’re ‘always conscious’ of their behaviour and appearance on a night out.

In this video, author of ‘The Drink Less Mind’ Georgia Foster and acclaimed actress Thandie Newton discuss this shift in attitude towards using alcohol as an expression of celebration not escapism and give advice on how to embrace the party season with confidence.

View Video at So Feminine.co.uk

“This movie required a lot of stamina,” says the 37-year-old, London-born actress. “There were huge sets, lots of cameras and it was kind of exhausting. Also, because there were so many people involved, there was less of a family feel to it.

“When I was working on Run Fatboy Run, it was really a tiny crew. We were all hanging out together and much more in each other’s pockets. On 2012, when I’d finished a scene I’d go back to my trailer and just collapse.”

The new $200m extravaganza from director Roland Emmerich uses spectacular computer-generated special effects to depict a global cataclysm that brings the world to an end. Cities crumble and millions die in a series of eye-popping natural disasters while a few survivors struggle to stay alive.

Thandie plays the US President’s daughter who begins a relationship with a geologist, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, while they are fighting for survival.

“Some of the cast are in the thick of the action, like John Cusack and Amanda Peet who are fighting for their lives,” says Thandie.

“But because I play the president’s daughter I’m kept very safe throughout the movie.

“The only really big action scenes I was involved in were two water sequences – one where I’m in a corridor and this huge tidal wave comes bursting down towards us. It was amazing but I forgot to act because gallons of water were rushing down from floor to ceiling towards me. The director had to shout “cut” and all the water went down. I don’t even know where it drained to. Then 10 minutes later we did it again and the water comes rushing round the corner, blasting down the set.”

As we chat, Thandie looks cool and relaxed in her white minidress in a beachfront suite at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Cancun, Mexico, where many of the 2012 cast had been flown for a party and promotional interviews.

Married for 10 years to English writer-director Oliver Parker, they have two children – nine-year-old Ripley, named after Sigourney Weaver’s character in Alien, and Nico, four, named after the Velvet Underground singer.

Despite her success in films – including Mission Impossible: 2, The Pursuit Of Happyness and W – Thandie maintains she never had any special ambitions to be an actress.

Her parents, a Zambian nurse mother and a laboratory technician father, lived in the African country, but Thandie was born during a trip back to England. The family then returned to Zambia, but moved to Penzance in Cornwall when she was three years old.

“There were very few black people in the town and we were almost a novelty,” Thandie recalls. “I always saw being black as a mysterious element I could use to enrich my personality. Then I went into the arts where difference is celebrated so I’ve never really experienced racial hassle.”

In between her film commitments, the actress has returned to Africa on several occasions and she taught at Oprah Winfrey’s school in South Africa for 10 days in July. But for now she has high hopes that filmgoers will appreciate the ingenuity that has gone into making 2012.

“It’s just extraordinary to be able to create an illusion that takes you on a journey like this,” Thandie smiles. “To have been able to push the boundaries like this is a real achievement.”

2012 is out today.

From the Mirror

In an interview with TOI Thandie who’s done films like Mission:Impossible II, The Pursuit of Happyness and Crash, admits that an actor has little control over the way the film shapes up. Excerpts from an interview:

You’ve constantly juggled between small films and bigger movies like Mission: Impossible II. Is it part of a grand design with your career?
Oh there’s no grand plan (laughs). But it’s nice to be able to do a little of both. I wouldn’t ever just want to do one kind of thing. When I was starting out on my career, if I did a movie about say, slavery like Jefferson in Paris, I’d then get sent every slavery script going. But that doesn’t happen so much anymore. Hopefully I’ve established that I can do lots of different things. And you know, the way I work and when I work is actually more to do with being a Mom than ‘what do I want to do next?’ If I’ve worked on a big film, I don’t then want to go and do another big film because of the kids and school and that kind of thing. It’s a bit boring, but that determines the job more than anything else.

You played Condoleeza Rice in your last release W. Did you have to research a lot for a role like that?
Yes, absolutely, especially with regards to how she (Condoleeza Rice) was involved. And I read a lot, it was great, I haven’t researched like that for years for a role. And even though the movie was small and my role was fairly small as well, I’d done more work for that than I’d done on anything, practically. I knew that Oliver (Stone) would want to just be spontaneous. When you’re working on real life characters that are so firmly in the public eye, you don’t want to get it wrong as there are also facts that people know about. And also satire isn’t good unless you really mimic bang on. So I wanted it to be high satire.

So have you had any feedback from Condoleeza Rice after the film released?
No. But I hear she’s joined my agency William Morris. You never know what might happen. Maybe I’ll bump into her in the corridor.

Your forthcoming release sees you back in the Oval Office. How different is it this time?
I just made sure my accent was in good shape, because really, no matter whom I was playing, the story is about a world in disarray. I literally finished my last scene in W, which was with Josh Brolin in the Oval Office, and two weeks later I was on a different set for 2012, in Vancouver, on another set for the Oval Office, playing a president’s daughter. And obviously the Oval Office really exists and the production designers are very careful and they match everything up to make it look as authentic as possible. The only thing I noticed was that the carpet was a slightly different shade in our Oval Office in Vancouver, but everything else was exactly the same. My new movie is a popcorn crowd pleaser. Someone asked me ‘do you think this movie is going to help people sort of be more aware about the environment?’ I don’t know. The characters had to be clearly drawn and they were.

The movie is based on the Mayan prophecies predicting the end of the world December 21, 2012. Does it scare you?
I was a bit nervous to be honest when I first heard about the Mayan prophecies. Reality can be shocking enough and things happen all the time. I think the film is about appreciating the moment and the challenges we face — like, for instance the economic crisis we’ve been going through —hopefully make us appreciate the simple things and the value of relationships and the value of the people that we love.

Do you like watching your own movies?
Only if they’re good.

So which are the good ones?
I’m not going to answer that. I mean, there are lots that I really, really like, there are some I feel didn’t work in ways that I’d hoped, but then, you never really know, you have very little control as an actor really.

From Times of India

IN the upcoming anticipated disaster flick 2012, British screen beauty Thandie Newton plays Laura Wilson, whose daddy Thomas (Danny Glover) happens to be the 45th President of the United States. It seemed that the celluloid US administration loves her.

Just last year, Newton was in cinematic White House to play (former) US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in Oliver Stone’s controversial bio-pic W.

Known for balancing her roles between that of a big-budgeted commercial mainstream and the more independent British fares, Newton has starred in a string of big films (Mission Impossible 2, The Chronicles of Riddick) and not-so-big ones (Beloved, Run, Fatboy Run, The Truth About Charlie).

A story about the world’s destruction, humanity and survival, 2012, directed by Roland Emmerich also stars John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oliver Platt and Woody Harrelson.

Here’s an interview with Newton courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing International. The movie 2012 opens in cinemas here tomorrow.

Question: 2012 is a blockbuster event movie. Do you have to be careful that the effects don’t swamp the story with a film like this?

Newton: Yes, you do, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen when I read the script. Roland really cares about the story and he cares about the characters — it’s actually a very human story. I’m the president’s daughter.

I’m part of the president’s family and suddenly none of that matters. And for all the characters in the film, it’s the same — whatever you thought was important before doesn’t matter anymore.

When the floods and earthquakes start, it’s all about trying to save your life and the lives of other people. It comes down to the fundamentals of being human and it asks what that means and what really matters.

It’s an amazing arc for all the characters and certainly mine. Some, the lucky few, will survive but it’s also about the moral guidelines that the survivors will have.

Because, even with all the panic that ensues there is still this grappling for power — even when everything is being destroyed — and it’s like “look, if we are going to be the survivors of the human race we have to establish moral guidelines.” And that’s really interesting stuff to explore in a big film like this.

Q: Does it involve a lot of action?

Newton: Yeah, it does. I spent a lot of time incredibly wet (laughs). Absolutely soaking wet. It was miserable and I’m such a little girl about that sort of thing.

I didn’t complain about it but inside, I was thinking “oh no, not again!” There’s one sequence where the waves are coming in and I have to scoop up this little girl and save her. Which is all great but inside I was thinking “f***** hell! Can this please just be it!”

And the little girl was having a great time. In between scenes I’d wrap myself in a towel and she was swimming around and loving it.

And bless the crew because they’d even made the water warm for us, which is amazing. But after a long day doing that, you really look forward to some dry clothes and a good night’s sleep.

There was one sequence, again with water, where we were in a corridor, and they had created a tidal wave that came around the corner, and it wasn’t CGI obviously, it was the tidal wave! (laughs). And before it reached us, “cut!”.

The water would drain, somehow go back to a huge tank, and then on action, it would come around again. Incredible.

Q: Wasn’t that scary? Several tonnes of water coming towards you like that?

Newton: You just have to put your faith in these people, who are really, really professional and talented. The standards that they set are very high, so no, it would never occur to me to feel nervous about it.

Q: Did you do anything to lighten the atmosphere?

Newton: Not in this one. When you’re in a soaking wet sweater and your trousers are wet and they happen to be (designer) Alexander McQueen and you’re thinking, “well, this has ruined them…” They weren’t mine, but I was hoping to take them away at the end of the movie — not anymore! But no practical jokes.

Q: So lots of working in water. But presumably a lot of running and dodging flying debris and that sort of thing …

Newton: Actually, John (Cusack) and Amanda (Peet) had a lot more of that kind of thing to do. I do a lot with Chiwetel (Ejiofor, who plays White House scientific adviser Adrian Helmsley) and our stuff was less action driven.

A lot of our stuff is dialogue about what is going to happen. John and Amanda were being thrown about every day! But don’t forget, I did the water (laughs).

Q: In a big special effects film, it’s easy for the actors to be swamped by the huge set pieces. Did you think that your character was well drawn?

Newton: This movie is absolutely a popcorn crowd-pleaser. Someone asked me “do you think this movie is going to help people sort of be more aware about the environment?” Is this movie really going to encourage people to turn their taps off while they’re brushing their teeth? I don’t know.

But I do know that it is such an amazing spectacle — it’s massive, out of this world and it’s there for your enjoyment. And the characters are very clearly drawn out. I guess my character represents moral goodness and social awareness.

Chiwetel’s character is about scientific knowledge and the importance of that and John’s character is about redemption — about trying to be forgiven for not being a good dad. Amanda is about keeping the family together and is a good mother.

These sort of movies only work when the audience is drawn emotionally to the story — then you are more terrified because you don’t want to see Amanda sucked down a tube or my character drowning or whatever.

It works because you care about these people. So yes, the characters had to be very clearly drawn and they were. And you know, there’s a lot of room for subtlety here, which is good.

Q: Did you pause for thought when you first heard about the Mayan calendars (which ends on 2012, after which, a new world begins)?

Newton: I was a bit nervous when I first heard that the Mayan prophecies (about the end of the world). Reality can be shocking enough and things happen all the time.

I think the film is about appreciating the moment and the challenges we face — like, for instance the economic crisis we’ve been going through — hopefully make us appreciate the simple things, the value of relationships and the the people that we love.

From New Straits Times