The Big Picture Interview with Ali Larter

After starting out with a whipped cream bikini in Varsity Blues, Ali Larter has appeared in the Final Destination and Resident Evil flicks, plus her starring role on Heroes. But she's always fought for good. The rules have changed for her new movie, Obsessed. Larter plays a temp who falls for her boss (Idris Elba), only the feeling's not mutual. Having Beyoncé Knowles waiting at home might have something to do with that. The Big Picture talked to Larter about fighting with one of the world's most recognizable women and playing a certifiable lunatic. Big Picture: Cynically, you could say that characters like Lisa come along fairly often in movies and they all seem to hit similar notes. How did you go about creating something new here, especially since she does kind of have to hit those same notes to meet the audience's expectations? Ali Larter: I had a lot of discussions with the producers, figuring out why she does what she does, and making sure that this character was believable so you could understand her point of view. The movie on the whole to me is an imaginary office romance that has disastrous consequences. We tried to examine the different points of view of the people involved. We had to figure out what made her feel what she feels and we had to make Derek - Idris Elba's character - gives her enough reason to believe that he was in love with her. She kind of goes down this path of delusion and the audience might find it's irrational behavior, but to her it has to be completely rational. Even though you don't play genteel characters a lot and they always have an edge to them, we've never seen you as a full-on antagonist. Was that a relief to step outside your comfort zone and get to know a new kind of character? I'm usually the one beating people up (laughs), so this movie humbled me a little bit. I had to take one for the team. You know, I think of this character as the classic femme fatale, and that is what drew me to this movie. And also, you know, she really gets lost in her psychosis, so understanding how this woman went down this path of believing one thing when another is probably true. So for me it was interesting to figure out her complexities and what makes her tick. And it's also a three-hander; you get to see the three different points of view of people in the same situation. Plus, it's color blind. Not once is race mentioned and I thought that was one of the most appealing things about it. I understand you shot the movie and Heroes concurrently. Were you able to juggle the schedule or was it literally like 24 hours of shooting some days? The typical thing was for a couple months, I was working seven days a week about 12 hours a day. That was by far the most trying thing. I'd be going from one character and one tone and hopping into another while I'm driving from one set to the next. But I was so excited that I got to play this character. I love these movies, the sexy thrillers like The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Fatal Attraction. The scheduling brings up another element of this movie. Lisa's not always fully clothed, so were you able to take time out and train because you had these more revealing scenes? You've seen the trailer. How do you think I looked? You looked great to me. Yeah, baby! (laughs) The fight scenes between you and Beyoncé is probably going to be one of the more talked about components of the film. You've got plenty of experience with it, but barring some backstage brawling with Kelly Rowland, I don't think Beyonce has a whole lot of training. So how do you start that process with a relative newcomer? We do a lot of physical stuff on Heroes and you know, it seems like I always end up in some kind of fight in whatever role I'm playing (laughs). We start off with getting the best stunt doubles we can find - and I have an amazing girl I work with - but the other side is that I like to do as much as I can. You can really tell when the actor isn't there. We spent about a week really breaking it down, you know, "You hit twice" or "I'm gonna hit you three times!" And watching Beyoncé charge you...that's one of my favorite moments.

Comments

[Aaron Leaman]

Random Question, Was it a over the phone interview?

[Get The Big Picture]

Yes.

[quixRuitteE]

y'r really nice guz