HOPPING GLAD
‘ Peter Rabbit’ voice star says she spent ‘ glorious’ summer sampling Chicago’s jazz scene
‘‘ I … BECAME A BIG FAN OF THE GREEN MILL. I WENT THERE EVERY CHANCE I GOT.’’ ELIZABETH DEBICKI, ‘‘ Peter Rabbit’’ voice actress on her love for Chicago’s jazz scene
LOS ANGELES — Elizabeth Debicki says she spent a “glorious” time in Chicago last summer filming “Widows,” the action crime drama
“What I loved best about Chicago was your wonderful music scene,” the Australian actress said. “It’s fantastic. I’m a big jazz fan, and while I was in Chicago during that nice and steamy summer last year, I also became a big fan of the Green Mill. I went there every chance I got. I heard some terrific musicians, and I can’t wait to get back to your city to go back and hear some more!”
Besides Chicago’s great jazz world, Debicki also was pleased to note Our Town “is about the only place I’ve ever been where people — men in particular — didn’t go up to me and gawk and say, ‘ God! You’re so tall! Do you play basketball?’ That didn’t happen to me once in Chicago. . . . So refreshing!” said the actress, who is nearly 6- foot3 in her stocking feet.
She’ll next be heard, but not seen, in the animated “Peter Rabbit,” opening Friday. As the voice of the adorable and cuddly Mopsy, she’s part of that triplet trio that includes Flopsy ( voiced by Margot Robbie) and Cotton- Tail ( Daisy Ridley).
“Peter Rabbit” is just about the first comedy and certainly the first kids’ film she’s been in. Generally known for action dramas and thrillers, including “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2” and Netflix’s new “The Cloverfield Paradox,” she smiled as she agreed, “It was so different, but so charming and sweet to be in this film. But it was surprising too. I was delighted the dialogue was so witty and sharp and fast.”
◆ TV host and Broadway veteran James Corden, who voices the title character in “Peter Rabbit,” also had a Chicago story to share. On his sole visit to town, he explained, “we were driving by this place and I saw a sign that said ‘ Deep Dish Pizza,’ and we had to stop. . . . It wasn’t even one of the good ones, one on the good pizza lists they tell you about. But even so, it was the greatest pizza I have ever eaten in my life. I could have stayed in that moment forever!”
Pursuit of justice a twisted journey for Pullman
Even though Bill Pullman is an excellent horseman and owns a ranch, “The Ballad of Lefty Brown” is one of the rare Western- themed films in his long list of films and TV projects. With the exception of “Wyatt Earp” in 1994 and the 2000 television movie “The Virginian,” Pullman admitted Hollywood “doesn’t seem to think of me that way, just because of the roles I get offered. They seem to see me as the effete WASP guy, or the guy they need to play the president or some other politician,” as we’ve seen Pullman portray in such things as the two “Independence Day” films, the “1600 Penn” TV series, “LBJ” ( in which he plays Texas Sen. Ralph Yarborough) or the upcoming “Backseat” film about Dick Cheney, in which he’s cast as former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller.
“Besides that, I also get those roles where I appear to be the nice guy on the outside at the beginning, but underneath maybe not so nice?” added Pullman. However, when he learned writer- director Jared Moshe was insistent on wanting him for “Lefty Brown” ( opening Friday), Pullman was thrilled. “He got the fact that I could play this guy.”
This guy is Lefty Brown, a laid- back cowboy in the Old West who’s always been the sidekick and something of a court jester to a good friend ( Peter Fonda) newly elected to the U. S. Senate. A horrible crime sends Brown on a journey to seek justice.
Joining Pullman for the interview, Moshe pointed out that having observed Pullman over the years, he was convinced he “had the versatility as an actor to make the transformation that Lefty had to make as a character. He could go from someone who no one takes seriously and become a guy who finds the power and the hero within himself by the end of the story.”
For Pullman, the biggest challenge of playing all that was tied to how movies are made. “As you know, they are usually shot out of order. Since I was playing a fellow who was changing so much as this went along, I had to constantly be aware of exactly where he was in each scene — and not play the early Lefty if we were shooting a scene that was going to be closer to the end of the movie.”
That said, Pullman did confirm that playing a totally fictional character like Lefty Brown “was a total delight. I’ve played so many real people recently — like Jack Kramer in ‘ Battle of the Sexes,’ Ralph Yarborough in ‘ LBJ,’ Jamie Dimon in ‘ Too Big to Fail’ — it was wonderful to not have to worry about dealing with the issues you face when you play a real guy.
“Frankly, I didn’t want to do this Cheney movie — playing Rockefeller — and didn’t even want to talk to [ director] Adam McKay, because I like him and I knew he’d talk me into doing it. Of course, I did and he did! … But that’s it. No more real people for a while!”