Sunday, June 07, 2009
A+E, In this Issue..., Movies, Q&A

Away she goes

Maya Rudolph stretches her dramatic wings in new film

Francois Duhamel/Focus Features
John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph in “Away We Go”

“AWAY WE GO”
John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph
Directed by Sam Mendes
Rated R
Opens June 12

BY BERT OSBORNE

Zany sketch comedy will always be a part of Maya Rudolph’s life, but in "Away We Go" (opening June 12), the 36-year-old "Saturday Night Live" alum reveals heretofore hidden dramatic resources. Written by novelists (and real-life couple) Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, and directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes ("American Beauty"), the film casts Rudolph and fellow TV vet John Krasinski ("The Office") as a young pregnant couple that hits the road in search of the perfect place to settle down and raise a family. Different episodes feature Jeff Daniels and Catherine O’Hara, Allison Janney and Jim Gaffigan, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as friends and family members they visit along the way.
 
During a recent interview in Los Angeles, Rudolph admits she could relate to her character on several levels—for one thing, the actress is currently four months pregnant with her second child by "Boogie Nights" director Paul Thomas Anderson—and she relishes the opportunity to explore her "more serious" side (after eight seasons on "SNL") with a juicy starring role (after bits parts in such movies as "50 First Dates" and "A Prairie Home Companion").
 

 How did this project come to you?

 

I first read the script a couple of years ago, long before anybody was signed on to actually direct it. I heard this awesome rumor that Dave and Vendela wrote it with me in mind. I knew who they were, but I’d never met them, so I was shocked and totally blown away by that. Somehow I managed to get a copy, and I couldn’t believe how beautifully written it was. I just fell in love with it. It was such a great, very specific character, and I loved the relationship between them, not to mention the whole pregnancy aspect. Once I heard Sam was going to be making it, I just kind of stalked all of them for a year or so, just trying to get in there and meet with them, and I eventually did. It’s pretty incredible and amazing how lucky I was.

 

Did you know John Krasinski beforehand?

 

I’d met him and seen him around, because we had mutual friends through "SNL." I loved his work, but I didn’t really know him at all until we met with Sam for that first reading. There was lots of laughing going on. John’s so funny and sweet and nice. It was just so easy to be with him.

 

The film could’ve seemed liked a conventional road movie or just another romantic comedy-drama, but the characters and their relationship feel fresh and unique.

 

Yeah, I appreciated how realistic this was. It wasn’t a movie version of romance. You don’t get one of those typical fight or break-up scenes, followed by some kind of cheesy musical montage sequence of him trying to win her back, where they end up getting married and walking off into the sunset. It felt more normal. Everything isn’t neatly wrapped up at the end. I loved that it was a story about two people trying to figure out their lives, and things are never perfect. There’s no such thing as perfect, and that’s OK.

 

How much of that dynamic between the characters was written in the script, and how much of it was the result of what you and John brought to the roles?

 

Oh, I think it was totally there in the script, which is why I felt so strongly about it. When do you ever read anything like this, that’s fleshed out in such a simple way, in the way that two people who know each other really well kind of speak their own language? You could tell it was written by two people who really knew each other and got each other’s sense of humor. That chemistry was there on the page, which is what made the characters so immediately loveable. Just from reading it, their love was infectious. You come to trust them completely, and that’s what makes you willing to go on this journey with them. I felt like that was what we were trying to bring to life, the believability that they brought out the best in each other, that they’re the most alive when they’re together. It just felt really right.

 

How much of that screen chemistry is just natural, and how much of it is about acting ability?

 

In our case, I think it was natural. We had such a great time working on this together, being there for each other. I just loved so much having a partner like John. He was totally in it, totally interested in making it the best it could be. He loved the characters as much as I did, so I felt we were completely dedicated to making this great. So much of it is just about the two of us, we really had to be there for each other. He’s an exceptional person, and so damn talented. He takes his job seriously. It means a lot to him. He wanted this to be great, and I really felt that drive.

 

Everyone reaches some point in their life when they ask themselves, as these characters do, "Am I a f**k-up?" Have you ever had one of those moments?

 

Oh, God, yes. I think I had one this morning [laughs]. Absolutely. Just from the experience of having a child myself, I know there’s that defining moment when you realize, "S**t. I’m not just responsible for myself anymore," when you know you can’t get away with the medium-level bulls**t, that you’ve got to clean up your act—mentally, physically, spiritually—and start taking things more seriously, because you’re responsible for somebody else’s well-being. At some point, you’ve got to reexamine your life, get your s**t together and stop f**king around.

 

It’s odd that Sam Mendes is British, and yet all his films tell such distinctly American stories.

 

Yeah, but I kind of felt that less with this one. On the one hand, it’s a road movie, and we see so much of the country as we follow them on their trip. But, on the other hand, because it’s a relationship movie, it sort of took away the idea of Sam looking at America from the outside or whatever. It’s like music or clothing. We can all relate to romantic relationships. Hopefully, we’ve all had them in our lives, so that gave this a kind of universal feeling. When we were working on this and rehearsing it, we were all on the same page, because it was so well-written.

 

There are some obvious similarities between you and your character—both of her parents have died, and your mother died when you were a child; she’s "mixed race" and so are you. [Rudolph’s father is music producer Dick Rudolph, her mother the late singer Minnie Riperton.] Did that make the role easier or less challenging to play?

 

No, just more interesting. I’m sure if she had a crazy Irish accent and walked around on stilts, it probably would’ve been more exciting or challenging in an acting sense—"Gee, how do I do that?" She loses her parents when she’s in college, and I lost my mother when I was 7, so our situations are totally different. As for the whole race issue, it’s something I never bring up, because it’s not an everyday part of my life. I loved that she was mixed, but that it wasn’t essential to the story. That was cool, and it really stood out for me when I read the script. It was written that he was white and she was mixed, but that was it. They didn’t sit around talking about it. It wasn’t like, "How’s your meatloaf, and how do you feel about living with someone who’s mixed race?" It was part of her makeup but it wasn’t part of the story, any more than a character’s hair color would be. I was fortunate enough to be raised by hippies and musicians who didn’t make race a big deal, who wanted me to feel normal. Of course, I grew up in beautiful Los Angeles, where I haven’t had a lot of problems or faced a lot of adversities. I’ve been very lucky in that way. I’m sure it would’ve been different it we’d stayed in Gainesville, Fla. [where she was born].

 

This seems like a real departure for you, as someone who’s primarily known for her work on "Saturday Night Live." It’s a big leading role with a lot of dramatic dimension to it. What sort of pressure does that put on you, or what do you anticipate the movie doing for your career?

 

The way I look at it, I’m sort of off the hook now. My first day of shooting was the first scene in the movie [in which Krasinski performs oral sex on her]. That’s the most pressure I’ve ever had, and now that I’ve lived through that, everything else is easy in comparison [laughs]. Because most people know me from and associate me with "SNL," I think they expect me to be like that all the time. It’s like, when I’m at the grocery store and someone comes up to me and says, "It’s you! Do some crazy stuff!" I’m like, "Hey, I’m just here to buy oatmeal, you know?” [She laughs.] It’s funny.

I didn’t have the talent or the balls to write this movie myself, but I think I always imagined or hoped that I could do something like this. "SNL" truly is my first love. I always wanted to be a part of that show, and it’s part of my fiber and my very being. That will never change, but it’s nice to be able to show more of myself. People get used to you being on that show—doing comedy and playing sketch characters—and sometimes they feel like you’re abandoning that, if you try to branch out and try other things. Don’t worry. I guarantee there will be more goofing off in my future. I can’t help it. That’s part of my genetic makeup. To me, there’s still some incredibly funny stuff in this movie. It’s just a lot quieter. SP