Lost in translation
Emilie de Ravin chats to Deborah Harris about why so many films are just too idealistic, and what she loved about working on new film, Remember Me
Aussie-born actress Emilie de Ravin doesn't fit the blonde, Hollywood airhead mould. She has a lot to say for herself with a refreshing outspokenness that immediately lets you know that she's no ordinary girl. But nor is her latest movie, Remember Me, an ordinary story.
"The thing that really pisses me off with a lot of scripts and films is that they are too idealistic," asserts de Ravin. "This was real and gritty; beautiful and ugly; sexy and sad – but romantic at the same time." And if anyone understands the complexities of relationships it's Emilie who, at just 29, has already been married and divorced, to actor Josh Janowicz. "When I read the script, I knew I needed to play this character. I remember thinking, ‘If I don't get this, I'll quit.'"
In
Remember Me de Ravin plays Ally Craig, a young woman trying to return to normality after seeing her mother tragically killed, when Tyler, played by
Twilight hunk Robert Pattinson, walks into her life. "I think Ally isn't ruling out love, but neither is she looking for it," explains de Ravin. "They launch into something that attracts them not just physically but on a mental and intellectual level, too. It feels very real," she says. So what was it like working with man-of-the-moment R-Patz? "I didn't know who Rob was!" she laughs. Surely not? "Really – I just read the script and fell in love with it." This is typical of de Ravin's attitude to Hollywood: for her, it's more about picking the right projects and being lucky enough to be surrounded by decent people, than being a star.
Emilie's charisma and interest in people suits the often-nomadic lifestyle of an actor, an aspect of the job that doesn't seem to faze her. While filming
Lost in Hawaii, she would regularly fly back and forth to her base in LA, but her ‘home' – where her parents, sisters and their kids are – is Australia. So how does she deal with the separation? "I'll probably go back for a long stay when
Lost wraps, and I'm in constant contact with them, but I wish I was around more."
Ravin feels a debt of gratitude to her family. "When I left home as a teen and moved to America to study ballet, they gave me the freedom to follow my heart." But ballet wasn't the only thing on the cards: de Ravin's first big break came in Canadian TV show
BeastMaster, after which she went on to appear in teen series
Roswell. "My family were very supportive – then and now. I'm lucky."
That's work, then, but what does she do for fun? "You'd think I'd get enough of it, but I love staying in watching a film." It's difficult to keep Emilie off the subject of work, and I wonder whether she likes to watch herself? "I hate watching myself," she says. But though Emilie may not end up watching
Remember Me, she certainly has high hopes for its success, "I really hope people enjoy it. But if they don't," she adds, back to her trademark candour, "that's obviously going to suck."
To read the full interview,
subscribe to Fabric magazine today.
Source
