Source: Speak Up
Language level: Intermediate
Standard: American
RENÉE ZELLWEGER
Being Beatrix
Peter Rabbit’s author, Beatrix Potter, lived from 1866 to 1943 and her life has inspired a major feature film. Miss Potter stars Renée Zellweger in the title role, while the cast also includes Ewan McGregor (not to be confused with the Mr. McGregor of the Peter Rabbit story) and Emily Watson, Miss Potter enables the Texan-born Zellweger to try not an English accent, something that she has already done in the Bridget Jones movies. Here she talks about the challenge of playing the famous children’s writer:
Renée Zellweger
(Standard American accent)
When people closest to her would describe her, they would describe her as “merry,” or “jolly,” “joyful,” “happy” and “glowing,” that she had a glow, that her…what was it?...her…she had “laughing, brilliant blue eyes,” which was…I mean, so many contradictions when your read the information about who she might have been, you know, she’s this very creative, outgoing…very…expressive person, on one hand and, quite the contrary, she…was very introverted and uncomfortable in public and in big crowds and felt very displaced, didn’t want to be outwardly expressive, that she spoke quietly, but…she was very assertive, you know, she was very certain and yet reserved, I mean, so many contradictions and so much information to choose from, and all of it hearsay, for the most part.
THE LAKE DISTRICT.
Although she was born in London’s fashionable Kensington area, Beatrix Potter preferred life in the English Lake District. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was first published in 1902 and this was followed by more than 20 popular books. Miss Potter’s royalties as an author enabled her to buy up some 15 Lake District farms, which she would later leave to the National Trust.
Renée Zellweger:
I can understand the appeal of wanting to be away from the exchanges that you have on a daily basis, because of the public persona, I understand that you’d want to go to places a bit more remote to that your exchanges are a hit more natural, especially for a person who is so introverted and private, you know. . I completely understand it. And you could see, walking around, the quit that it brings, the quit that she probably craved and …access to all those things that she liked most, the things that inspired her, everywhere. I mean just the colors, I mean, when you think about the colors that she used in her paintings, I mean the light’s just a little bit different and, you know, it just…the quit enables you to sit in it for a while and take it in and you can see how that would just feed this woman’s work and make it so rich. Why wouldn’t she want to be there, you know? You could…feel it.
THE DIRECTOR
Miss Potter is directed by the Australian Chris Noonan, whose last film was a delightful comedy about a little pig called Babe. Renée Zellweger clearly enjoyed working with Noonan:
Renée Zellwegen
He’s probably the nicest man on the planet, we all sort of kind of…we all sort of decided half-way though that he must be the nicest person alive, never raises his voice, is just very gentle, and, at the same time has a very quiet confidence and is curious. He has a lot of fun, he has a child-like curiosity that’s ever present. He’s looking around and wondering, wondering “uhum, what next?” He’s always discovering something as it goes along. And he’s a very likeable man and I enjoyed this. It seemed to, I don’t know, t just, it seemed like a perfect partnership, you know, the…the lady who created these beautiful stories that resonate with children, and Chris and his curiosity and his gentle manner and how he handled the telling of the story. It just…it seemed right.
