Multi-tasking actress has plenty of choices
Fighting a cold and
LOS ANGELES sleep deprivation from an all-night session with her toddler son, Bodhi, Teresa Palmer apologizes for her dishevelment.
Only occasional sniffles tell the tale, though. The Australian actress seems as energetic as ever.
The 29-year-old discusses her role in The Choice, the latest Nicholas Sparks’ romance novel made into a movie.
She plays Gabby Holland, an intern at a small-town hospital who ends up falling in love with her next-door-neighbour Travis Parker (Benjamin Walker). Travis, of course, is a smooth-talking playboy type but Gabby is equal to his every move as they fall for each other.
Needless to say, things get seriously complicated when an incident changes their lives forever.
As usual, Palmer immerses herself into the role as she had previously in a series of films, including her breakout in The Grudge 2, later Warm Bodies and in the redo Point Break released last Christmas.
Besides saying motherhood has made her a better actress, Palmer offers her thoughts on:
Becoming a quick study for
The Choice part: “I was cast two weeks before the movie started shooting,” she says. “I didn’t
have any prep time but luckily I am very familiar with Nicholas Sparks’ films, so I knew the sort of story I was telling.” Her teen obsession with Sparks’
The Notebook: “I was hardcore obsessed with The Notebook. I had The Notebook stationery and a board game and books, and a poster on my bedroom wall of Ryan Gosling as Noah.” Being relieved she connected immediately with her co-star Walker:
“When I met Ben I thought, ‘Thank God.’ If I didn’t like this person, the movie wouldn’t work. But we had such good chemistry from Day 1.”
Her co-star’s positive attributes:
“Ben is open and honest and generous with his spirit, and I trusted him that we could be in this together,” Palmer says.
Improvising some of the dialogue: “When Ben would throw (lines) at me, I would throw it back to him.” The atmosphere during the shoot in Wilmington, N.C.: “I call it the rainbows-and-butterflies movie because every day was so much fun to go to work,” she says. Her intense schedule the last few
years: “I had my son, and then I did Point Break and on to The Choice, and that was the end of that year,” Palmer says. “And then I did four films the year after that. As long as I could bring my son, I was doing it.”
Why she over-worked herself: “I am just realizing now how crazy it was that I survived it,” she says. “But I was finally given (roles) that I didn’t have to audition for.” Two more Palmer films to anticipate in 2016: Mel Gibson’s war movie Hacksaw Ridge and the thriller Berlin Syndrome:
“I am this woman who sees her husband off to war (in Hacksaw Ridge) and in the other one, I am a woman who is held captive.”