Entertainment
THE HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS ON BEING NERVOUS AROUND JUDI DENCH AND WHY SHE HATES WATCHING HERSELF
It’s been a few years since Hollywood heavyweight Michelle Pfeiffer has graced our screens, but she’s back, and 2017 has been a corker of a year for the 59-year-old. With roles in Mother!, The Wizard Of Lies and now in Kenneth Branagh’s remake of Murder On The Orient Express, Michelle – married to major TV writer and producer David E. Kelley – gets candid with New Idea about her mistakes, being a perfectionist and why Judi Dench intimidates her.
What was your experience of working with Kenneth? It was wonderful. He had a lot to keep track of on this film, with so many actors. I don’t really know how he did it, whether he has a photographic memory, but he would remember everything, and at the end of a take, he would give me a note, even though he had 10 other actors to give notes to as well.
What was it like working with such an incredible cast? It was a little intimidating, honestly. The first day of filming, I had to do a close-up and all the actors were there. I remember thinking, ‘I’m bombing in front of Judi Dench (laughs)!’ Maybe I wasn’t actually bombing, but you know it’s hard when you’re in awe of other people’s talent. Everyone is so unbelievably accomplished.
Tell us about your character in the film, Mrs Hubbard. She is fun-loving, she loves to travel, has seen a lot of the world and has developed very big opinions. And if you give her a moment, she will tell you all about it! She’s friendly… perhaps a little too friendly at times.
Why do we all love to get caught up in a great mystery story? People like being challenged. I’m obsessed with figuring things out in everything, and I drive people crazy. I think I should fix everything. If there’s a problem on the set, I want to figure out how to fix it. I’ll actually get up and move furniture, I’ll adjust people’s wardrobe (laughs). I can’t help it.
How do you find watching your own performances back? I am definitely a perfectionist and it is hard for me to watch myself. I tend to be a little self-critical, well a lot self-critical (laughs). But the thing is, there’s nothing perfect about acting or about any art form, so it’s kind of strange I would choose this career. But I get bored quickly, and with acting you can keep yourself interested.
Do you have a specific approach to your work and career? I’ve made some wrong choices in my life, and what I have found is whenever I’ve done things for what I considered to be the wrong reasons, I have paid a huge price, in terms of the experience and a lot of other things. That’s why I now spend a lot of time on my decisionmaking. Many things can go wrong in a film, even when everyone has the best intentions. But if you’ve decided to do something because you really believe in it, that will support you. If you believe in your character, if you believe in the project, if you believe in the people, no matter what happens from beginning to end, you can live with that, and you can continue to support the project throughout the whole process. That has been my guiding force and it has worked well for me.
‘I am definitely a perfectionist and it is hard for me to watch myself. I tend to be a little self-critical’