BoxOffice® Pro - May 2012

SUMMER TENTPOLE > BATTLESHIP
Earth, I'd be right there. I'd be shooting guns,
I'd be fighting—I love that kind of stuff and I
feel like that's truly me.
And now you've gotten to practice, so
you'd be a step ahead of everyone else.
Exactly! I already know what they're going to
do and what kind of weapons to use.
Your next film is What to Expect When
You're Expecting where you have this May-
December romance with Dennis Quaid.
How different is that role?
My character is so annoying. You want to hate
her. She's the annoyingly perfect character who
goes through pregnancy just perfectly. She's
this kind of redneck trophy wife, but she was so
much fun to play. I fell into her so easily because
I grew up in North Carolina, so it was like, “I
know this woman.” And Dennis and I have this
really heightened, ridiculous, over-the-top relationship
and we just went for it. We were like,
“Let's be gross, let's be disgusting, let's have fun,
let's push the boundaries,” and he and I just had
a blast filming it. It's really different from Battleship,
but I hope it'll bring a couple laughs.
Your first few roles, you were cast as a
model. But now you're getting more interesting
parts. What was that process like to
get filmmakers to see you as more than a
model?
Every role that I've gotten, I've had to audition
for several times. Nothing's ever been offered to
me. It’s all about proving to the filmmakers that
I can do it. I think most people I've worked
with will tell you that I'm incredibly hardworking,
and I get that I'm a new actor and
have a lot to improve on—I'm still learning a
ton—but I think the biggest thing has just been
putting in the work. I've been studying now for
quite a while, and it's definitely going to take a
while for me to earn these roles, but if people
give me a chance, that's all I can ask for. And
I think people are seeing that “Okay, she can
work, she can do this.” So hopefully I'll still be
employed after this comes out.
Do you have advice for the Sports Illustrated
2012 cover girl Kate Upton for her
move into acting?
She's already got The Three Stooges coming out.
She's only 18, and she's kicking so much butt.
I think she's doing just fine.
What's a classic film role that you wish
you could have played?
I really love Jenny from Forrest Gump.
Or Penny Lane in Almost Famous,
because she's this hippie bohemian. But
if you look at Jenny ny from Forrest Gump,
you meet her as a child, and then she
goes through all this teenage angst.
Then she has this issue with
her father, then she grows
into this peace-loving
hippie, then she grows
into a druggie, and
BROOKLYN
then she grows
DESCRIBES HER
into a sweet,
WHAT TO EXPECT
loving mother.
CHARACTER AS
She's like four
“ANNOYINGLY
characters in
PERFECT.”
one role, and I
feel like that's
what acting is
for—to do all
this evolving.
102 BOXOFFICE PRO APRIL 2012