Lady ‘born to do it all’
AMBER Tamblyn. Film, TV, stage actress. Also writer, poet, reviewer. Also, first-time director. The film’s “Paint It Black.” Amber: “In 2004, Amy Poehler gave me this novel about two vicious women twisting in distrust, need and losing a man both loved. It’s an emotional story like Ingmar Bergman or Jane Campion would’ve made.
“This vision stayed in my brain all these years. But what does anyone know about being a director? That’s learning on the job. What I had to do was listen to myself. I’m a poet. This to me was a poem.
“Listen, yesterday was my birthday. Today’s my mom’s 70th birthday. I kissed her, then left my 3month-old baby home in Brooklyn with a baby sitter, and here I am. Women are born to do it all.”
This director’s film is “Paint It Black.” Her pants were tuxedos in black. The movie stars Janet McTeer, who wins awards on both sides of the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Ocean, and probably the Gulf of Mexico. As she told me, “I play the grieving mother of a young man,” she was also working her cellphone.
Chris Plummer had just told me McTeer’s terrific in their just-released WWII film “The Exception.” She added: “He played Kaiser Wilhelm. I was his wife, Hermine Reuss of Greiz.” After returning to her cellphone it was, “I’m now working on a TV series for Netflix.
“But I don’t get confused. I just go home and chill. I live in the woods of Maine. Trees and animals. It’s quiet.”
In Maine? Maine people have no teeth!
“They all have teeth!” exclaimed Her Majesty Hermine Reuss of Greiz.
“Paint It Black” costar Alia Shawkat’s familiar freckles and corkscrew hair are everywhere. No TV set exists without her on it. “We filmed this in a great house in LA. I’ve seen this movie twice. My first time watching something I’m in, I see all kinds of things. I’m, like, sensitive. The next time I see it, I focus and have to believe in my character and know I’m playing not me, but somebody else.” Alia’s wardrobe, as colorful as she is, was multicolor silk pants and jacket plus red shoes. She showed me the outfit’s label. It read “Garcia.” “After this, I’m doing a Netflix production, which is sort of a crude thing and which I’m writing. It’s called ‘Duck Butter.’ The thing is, it’s just a little vulgar.” Little? Oy! “Paint It Black” opens Friday. Svedka vodka and Amber’s birthday cake were part of the after-party at Fishbowl, which was lively. Blake Lively. She played SkeeBall in a corner.