Women’s issues fuel new thriller
In the new thriller “Unforgettable,” it’s no surprise that things are going to get nasty between Rosario Dawson and Katherine Heigl’s characters.
But Dawson believes that inevitable face-off could have been avoided.
“It was so fascinating that along the way we kept finding these moments where these women — if they could get past some of the barriers — could just talk and actually find common ground,” says the actress. “The problem of not being able to communicate happens too often in real life between women.”
“Unforgettable” opens with Dawson’s character, Julia Banks, being questioned by the police about a killing. She is covered with blood and appears to have been beaten. The film then flashes back to several months earlier when Julia is leaving her successful job as an online writer in San Francisco to move to Southern California to be with her lover, David (Geoff Stults), who left his financial career to launch a craft beer company.
Unbeknownst to David, Julia had an alcoholic, abusive father and an abusive ex-boyfriend on whom she took out a restraining order. Julia spent years in therapy trying to deal with the scars, but she is still feeling unsure of herself.
Dawson, who is an active member of V-Day, an organization founded by Eve Ensler (“The Vagina Monologues”) to help stop violence against women, notes that “unfortunately,” often both victims and abusers grow up in households where domestic violence occurred.
“Even if you’re supersuccessful, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to deal with all the skeletons in the closet,” says Dawson.
“Unforgettable” is the directing debut of Denise Di Novi, the veteran producer of such films as “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “Focus,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Batman Returns,” “Little Women” and “Heathers.” When the film’s original director dropped out, Warner’s brass urged Di Novi to take over.
“It wasn’t something like I was a frustrated director for many years,” says Di Novi, 61. “I was a happy producer.”
She explains that over the years there were scripts she felt close to, but because her children were growing up it never felt like the right time. She went on instead to
hire women directors, and when the studio suggested she direct “Unforgettable,” she thought, “Maybe I should put my money where my mouth is.”
Di Novi had worked with Heigl before, having produced “Life As We Know It.” In “Unforgettable,” Heigl plays Tessa, David’s ex-wife. She still lives in the house they shared when they were married, along with their 8-year-old daughter, Lily (Isabella Kai Rice).
By the way, much of “Unforgettable, which was shot by the great cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (“The Right Stuff,” “The Natural”), was filmed in Sierra Madre and Pasadena.
When Julia first appears, Tessa appears to be doing the right things, but it’s soon apparent that she is wound too tight. Having spent her life under the thumb of her overbearing mother (Cheryl Ladd), Tessa has tried for too long to be perfect. The divorce was like a slap in the face, and she can’t understand how David prefers someone who is her opposite.
Julia, already feeling her own pressures, grows uneasy, especially with Lily, whom she is desperate to win over.
Dawson sees the story as being about both women facing the same struggles but not seeing it.
“They come from very different places, but they’re both suffering from the same challenges, what I call the tyranny of perfectionism,” she says. “That’s why women feel like you have to look perfect, have the perfect marriage and a perfect kid, and your value comes from being beautiful and desirable.”
Dawson adds that women are often held back from admitting there is something wrong with them because they think it’s unattractive. So while “Unforgettable” may have a “Fatal Attraction” or “Hand That Rocks the Cradle” vibe, it differs in the way it approaches its female characters.
“Off-camera, though, we found that we were a bunch of women who could talk about all kinds of things and feel safe about,” says Dawson.
Women in Hollywood have long had the conundrum of competing with each other or supporting each other to fight for equal conditions.
“I think at the beginning because there were so few jobs spots that we felt that we had to fight for that spot and only one of us was going to get it,” says Di Novi, who says many women thought it would hurt their careers if they called themselves “feminists.”
“Things have gotten better and expanded, and I think everybody’s consciousness is been raised,” she says. “There is more commitment to inclusion and diversity and not just for women and people of color. There’s also a certain solidarity now.”
Dawson, who grew up on Disney films, applauds changes she is seeing in films such as “Moana” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
“Moana is raised to be a chief and not a princess, while Emma Watson’s Belle is a superfeminist,” says the actress. “Disney took another step, and they made it better not just for little girls to watch but for little boys.”
Dawson believes that part of the push against racism, sexism and ageism in the movies comes from audiences growing tired of the same stories.
“People want to see something different,” Dawson says, “and remarkably just from shifting the gaze from the male perspective to the female, you can still tell the same story but it’ll feel fresh.”
Lately, Dawson has been working on Netflix’s shows from the Marvel Comics universe. She plays the character Claire Temple in “Daredevil,” “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist,” “Jessica Jones,” and the upcoming “The Defenders.”
A big comic book fan, the actress says, “It’s really cool. It’s really fun. I’ve been really nervous about television, but this is Netflix. It’s really different. It’s in the Marvel Universe, and I get to be a Marvel character, only I don’t have superpowers. After all these years of wanting to do one, I’m a nurse.”
Dawson is also developing a comic book into a TV show.
“Hopefully, that will happen,” she says. “Seeing how exciting this new world can be and the content you can create and what kind of audiences you can play to has definitely pushed my game.”