08 giugno 2006
A doctor and an architect living two years apart communicate by way of letters left in a mailbox in
The Lake House starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves.
Bullock, no stranger to the romantic movie genre, views The Lake House as an epic love story. In Bullock's
words, The Lake House is about "possibilities and impossibilities and the decisions we make on our way to
finding the right person."
Sandra Bullock's approach to her character: "If something is written well, I think the inherit tone is right
there for you. Like I can read something and go, 'I can understand this. I can understand this level.' And then I'll
argue with myself while I'm there - or the director or Keanu.
I think I naturally find it.
I think every human being, every biological creature has a level of melancholy in life and in general. Levels are
different. It was pretty much written to a certain degree, and once we started working together and figuring out the
environment and why would she allow herself to be drawn into something like this without giving the exposition of,
'You're a doctor. You're logical. Why are you allowing this to happen when it makes no sense?' It was fun to sort of
figure out the levels and the balances."
Bullock continued. "I could sort of push it a little and it was completely wrong - and it felt like wrong. Then we
would do it again and talk it out and, you know, pace and find another way to do it and then it would feel absolutely
right. Sometimes it's natural and other times you just have to fight to figure out."
Nailing the film's tone: Bullock used the original film, Il Mare, as reference material. "I saw it,
just because when I signed on I didn't know what the tone was. I wanted it to be a tone like what we have. I didn't want
it to become a goofy set-up and commercial. It was presented to me not like that. I wasn't looking to see what they were
doing. I was looking at it to see what the tone was. When I saw the tone it made me say, 'I want to dive into this.'
I think the same with Keanu. It's something that's so different. This isn't your commercialized packaged project. The
fact that the studio said let's try something unique and everyone got on board out of passion for the project.... It's
not like one of these big money blockbuster things. You don’t take the money. Everyone sacrifices and gets into the
project. It's so worth it."
Working with director Alejandro Agresti: "He's a painter. In a day when our visual medium has become a talky,
edited, slice it down to an hour and thirty minutes because of the attention span of whoever's watching', that doesn't
exist in his world nor should it. You don't do a film like this and think, 'This falls into this category,' which it
doesn't really fall into. I say hats off to a studio for allowing someone like him who is not the mold that studios like
to have, go on that journey, letting us just battle it out."
Bullock's co-star Reeves said Agresti would get what he needed and move on, without picking up the shot from different
angles. The studio might not have appreciated the technique in case they need to cut the film differently, but it's the
way Agresti works. "It's a double-edged sword, but again, it's not a big budget film," said Bullock. "I think
a studio took that on going, 'It's different. We're going to let the artists do what they do.' They weren't circling
like they usually do. At some point they came in with, 'Where's the coverage?' But in the end, it's hard when there is a
leader who has it cut in his head and on the floor, to parlay that and go back to the studio and say, 'Oh, I've got this.
It's going to be fine.'
He's busy creating the template. Each scene is a painting. We would not shoot the entire day and we're going to shoot it
at 3:30 until 6 o'clock because the light is right at this point, which expresses this emotion, which gives you this visual
palate. That's right. That's the way it should be. It's a visual medium. It's a painting. The environment was just as
important as the characters in it."
Reuniting with Keanu Reeves for The Lake House: Bullock said they were just waiting for the right film to
come along. "Often people will say, 'You and Keanu should do something. It would be great to have you guys...' It came
out of nowhere. It came at us from two different directions. It was at a strange time and I was like, 'I'm not ready to
do this.' I read it and I went, 'Wow!' Actually, I found out about it through another director friend of mine, Paul Haggis,
who said, 'You should read this. It's brilliant.'
They don't make movies like this any more. It's too risky and it doesn't have the formula that you can hang something on.
But, I think that you don't have to spend a lot of money to make something moving. If it works, money will come later. But
everyone does things for love. Eventually, you're going to get something out of it. It might not be Batman but it'll
be what it's supposed to be."
The possibility of another Sandra Bullock/Keanu Reeves film: Will it take another 12 years to get the two back
together on the screen? Bullock said maybe. Reeves answered the question with a question of his own. Reeves wanted to know
if the fact it took 12 years to reunite really mattered, prompting Bullock to respond, "Does age matter? Time, time doesn't
matter. As we say in this film, 'Let go of time and your preconceived notions of time and just be.' And if you write that
literally, if you don't say she said it sarcastically, we'll personally come to your homes and destroy your landscaping."
Destiny, fate or something else entirely: Bullock believes the two central characters in The Lake House chose to be
together rather than were destined to be in love. "I think they chose to be together," Bullock said. "They chose
to accept this situation, and allowed themselves to let go and be a part of it. And allowed themselves the joy of what can't
be explained by society."
What about Bullock's personal beliefs? Does she believe in destiny? "I do believe in choice, the freedom of choice and
carving out your own happiness." She also believes a good astrological chart can be incredible. "Whatever choices
are being made through astrology, and destiny and faith, I have no control over. I have the control over saying yes or no
to the experience. I don't know. I hope there's something amazing and bigger. There's a lot of coincidences and things that
have happened in my lifetime where I go, 'Did you just see that? Did that just happen?' I believe there's bigger things at
work than just me (giggles), which is odd for an actor, I know. But I believe - I know there's big things that are happening
and you have to choose whether you are going to be open enough to see them."
The advantages of waiting for love: Were there different things she looked for in a relationship as she got older?
Bullock replied, "Very clever way of masking the whole getting married question. Very clever. Very good. Uh, I never
waited. I seized the opportunities in love. I had so much love. I had so many... not so many... but a few incredible
relationships. To me, it seems like a lot because you have four years with someone, and to me that's just the same as having
been married to them. But it was a part of my life. I never waited for anything. If you're talking about getting married, I
never wanted to get married. It was a death sentence to me."
Marriage is a death sentence? Bullock explained her comment: "Oh my god.... How many marriages do you see that you really
admire? (silence) Thank you! How many people who in a marriage go, 'Oh my God, I have the greatest relationship. I'm so
happy.' Or, 'I married too young' or 'I have kids and they're taking away from my life.' I want to enjoy everything that I do
and be the best of myself. So being married wasn't like a 'thing'.
I wasn't raised with the 'have a white dress and a wedding'. That wasn't the way we were raised. I was raised with 'have a
good life and push yourself and achieve what you want to achieve in happiness'. I never waited for anything. I was blessed
enough to be loved the way I was loved in my lifetime. I hope when I'm 60 I can still look at myself and say, 'I'm lucky to
be loved and healthy and happy.' So I never waited but I think I stayed open to all possibilities and had the greatest of
love and wouldn't change anything that I did, any step of the way. You know, things I look at mistakes then led me to right
here this day, and the best thing that ever happened to me."
A possible future project: Bullock was rumored to be attached to star in and produce a movie based on the life of
Peyton Place author, Grace Metalious. "We're still developing it," confirmed Bullock. "We've been developing
it for a couple of years. We're still working on it."
Metalious, a housewife with three kids, wrote one of the sexiest novels in history. Instantly famous, her life was destroyed
due to the book's success. Bullock says that taking on the project is both scary and inspiring. There's so many things that
people don't know and the media made up that aren't truths. The research has been astounding. The situation is tragic and it's
also inspiring. Again, the tragedy sells more paper than actually the accomplishments and the overcoming of massive hurdles
of that time. The accomplishments and all those things get overridden by, 'Oh my God, she died so young!' See, that's tragic.
But, again, that's what sells rather than listing the accomplishments and heralding someone. We're still working on it and we
don't want to put anything out until it's just right."
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