Lizzy Caplan Interview - BlackBook

BlackBookMag.com has an interview with Lizzy Caplan, who plays Marlena Diamond, aka LenaDia.

BB: What can you tell me about Cloverfield? Is that even the name of the movie?

LC: I can’t even tell you that. It’s so weird, and I’m fully aware of how obnoxious it is.

BB: Have you seen it yet?

LC: No. I saw the newest trailer, though, which should be coming out in a few weeks. I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised, because this is a much bigger trailer [than the existing teaser], with more explosions and whatnot. It’s either going to be really good, or really disappointing. I don’t think that there’s much chance of gray area.

BB: What drew you to the character in the first place?

LC: Well, we weren’t exactly clear about the characters we were playing when we signed on. The producers sat us down and we auditioned with scenes that aren’t in the movie. Some were from “Alias” and some had been written specifically for the audition. And they were all very misleading.

BB: So, in casting, you read from Jennifer Garner’s lines?

LC: I’ve never really watched “Alias,” but I think they were Jennifer Garner’s lines. I had to plunge a syringe into some guy’s chest, and we were in France, and I didn’t have any idea what was going on.

BB: What convinced you to take the part?

LC: I’m a fan of “Lost.” That was it. During the first few weeks, it was like, “Oh god, this is what we’re doing? I had no idea. I’ll never sign on to another film again not knowing full well what it is.” But honestly, if Woody Allen or Wes Anderson called me today, and said, “Hey you want to do something? You don’t get to read the script,” I’d be like, “Yes, yes, yes!”

BB: How did J.J. Abrams ensure that the story wasn’t leaked? Did you get to take the script home with you?

LC: They’re actually coming by to pick it up today. We had to swap out every new set of pages with the old pages. They’re bright red, the scripts, and watermarked with our names. So, nobody wanted to be the one to accidentally leak it. They’re pretty hardcore about all of that. I don’t know how they’ve managed to keep it so secretive, though, because people obviously want to know more. And nobody knows anything. The speculation is very inaccurate.

BB: What are some of the more ridiculous speculations?

LC: There’s all this YouTube stuff about analyzing the trailer. People are seeing things that aren’t there and making up stuff that isn’t true. There’s this one still of me and Jessica Lucas, who’s another actress in the film, and people thought there was some crazy lion behind us. But people are wrong.

BB: Have the paparazzi been diligent about trying to get on set?

LC: There have been a few instances. The movie has gone though a bunch of different, strange names so that people don’t catch on. At one point, the title was Chocolate Outrage. But it’s interesting because nobody in the movie is famous. The movie is the celebrity. So it was almost like we were existing in the belly of Julia Roberts, where nobody cares about us. They were just taking pictures of this person that we were living inside.

BB: How has this project been different from, say, your experience with Mean Girls?

LC: The physically demanding elements were definitely different, and it’s shot in a very specific way. There’s no turning around, no close-ups, and no coverage. Also, because there were no recognizable names in it, the movie looks like it cost 150 million dollars even though it doesn’t. It was done really cheaply. People trying to make large-scale movies are going to be forced to do them for a lot less money after this comes out.

* Thanks to Vernon for emailing me about this!