Alfie

with the release of this month’s Being Julia, based on the
novel Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham. In the film, Bening
plays a married, over-the-top British stage actress of the 1930s
who falls for a younger man (played by newcomer Shaun
Evans). When the self-involved Julia realizes she’s not his
only paramour and that her career has suffered due to her
infidelity, she plans a juicy revenge against those who have
wronged her.
Julia is the kind of meaty role that rarely comes around for
female actors who’ve entered the Hollywood dead zone
known as “over 40.” Bening knew she had been handed a gift.
“I read it and said, ‘That’s it, I’ll do it, no question about
it,’” says the actor on her cellphone from Los Angeles. “It was
obviously something that had so much depth and yet was
wildly funny and entertaining. And there were so many layers
to this character that you could peel back.”
Initially, Julia is completely wrapped up in, well, being
Julia, the famous star of the theatre. Here’s a character
“She’s not even particularly
aware of the fact that she’s lost
in her life,” says Bening
famous 33 | october 2004
Bening could channel from her early days on stage.
“Sure, I know some very flamboyant people in the theatre,
you know, they hug everyone, cry too easily, think about
themselves all the time. There are those creatures that are
used to speaking loudly and used to wearing long scarves that
they throw around all the time,” she says with a laugh.
“That’s who Julia is in a way, but you want to love her for
that, not think, ‘Oh my God, what a ham.’ She’s needy and
she doesn’t know why, and she’s not even particularly aware
of the fact she’s lost in her life.”
The film was shot in Hungary by Hungarian filmmaker
István Szabó (Sunshine) and produced by Canada’s very
own Robert Lantos and his Serendipity Point Films. The
gentlemanly Szabo proved to be the perfect director for the
experienced actor.
“He’s a very intelligent, seasoned, patient guy. It was a very
concentrated shoot, we didn’t waste time and yet we didn’t
hurry. I didn’t feel hemmed in by what was going on � �