BoxOffice® Pro - May 2012

love to model yours after?
I take inspiration from a lot of different
people and kind of compile it into one thing.
I really love Audrey Hepburn, Meryl Streep,
Natalie Portman and Grace Kelly.
What are the types of roles you’ve turned
down because you didn’t think they were
right for the career path you want to be
on?
There are definitely a lot of girl-meets-boy, boy
and girl fall out of love, and then they get back
together. There’s nothing wrong with it at all,
it’s just that I love really deep and interesting
projects that are nothing like me. I love getting
roles that are so different from me as Chloë,
because I feel automatically that if I do a role
that’s just like me in the movie for five months
of my life, I’m going to get bored because I’m
almost playing myself, which is what I do every
day. I want to play something that’s going to
excite me when I go to work. I want to feel,
“I’m so excited to do this scene. I’m so excited
to express these emotions that normal people
really can’t.” And if you’re having a bad day,
you have this emotional outlet to direct all our
feelings to and therapeutically and healthily let
them go. I love playing dark characters.
In your upcoming Emily the Strange,
there’s two identical characters: the dark
and depressing Emily, and then Molly,
who’s super over-the-top girly, something
you rarely get to play. Will you get to play
both?
We’re still getting the script together, but
yeah, I’d play both characters. It should be
really interesting. But Molly’s so girly, she’s
almost like a sociopath. She’ll be fun.
What do you think the deal is with tabloids
watching over young actresses and
hoping they don’t mess up but at the
same time hoping they do? Boys don’t get
that same scrutiny.
I have conversations with other actresses all
the time about that. They don’t try to pit
young boys against each other like, “Who
wore it best?!” They aren’t like, “Who wore
the Dolce suit better?!” No one does that with
boys. But with girls, for some reason, they
love the drama in it. It’s their high school
ways coming out. I’m really good friends with
Abigail Breslin. She’s a little bit older than me
and we’d always known each other, but we
became really good friends a little bit ago. It’s
funny how they’re always like, “So-and-so and
So-and-so battling it out!” No! That’s not the
way it is.
You have four older brothers. When work
gets overwhelming, are they good at teasing
you and cutting the tension?
I’m always kept down to earth by my brothers
and my mom. They’re always keeping me in
my place and showing me that this is a privilege.
I’m incredibly blessed to be able to do all
of this, and that’s the way we have to look at
it. A lot of people will get in over their heads
and start realizing how much press they’re
getting. They start reading the comments,
and what my mom has always said is, “If you
believe the good, then you’re going to believe
the bad.” So I try to just keep on my path and
we follow our instincts, which is definitely a
gamble, but it’s what I love doing so it’s worth
it.
What would you be doing if you weren’t
acting?
If I wasn’t an actor, I’d probably be a normal
girl. But I think I would definitely be a part
of this industry in some way. When I’m older,
it’d be producing or directing or writing—
which I still want to do if I’m not successful as
an actor, which I pray I am.
MICHELLE PFEIFFER ON HER
20-YEAR REUNION WITH THE
DIRECTOR WHO TRANSFORMED
HER INTO SELINA KYLE
MAY
2012
BOXOFFICE OFFI
PRO
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