|
Taken From
Romanticmovies.about.com
On Relationships, Singing, and
Making Movies
What’s it like to be
the unpopular new kid in town? Hilary Duff admits she doesn’t have much
experience in that regard. But in the teen drama “Raise Your Voice,” her
character goes through that and more in her quest to follow her dream of being a
singer.
The idea for "Raise Your Voice" came from New Line music executive Mitch Rotter.
"We had wanted to do a truly music-driven film, something just short of a 'sing
at the drop of a hat' musical, where the music was as much a part of the
narrative as any of the other elements,” says Rotter.
Hilary Duff was approached for the starring role
in "Raise Your Voice" before cutting her first album, and after finishing her
"Lizzie McGuire" movie. Producer Sara Risher feels the camera really loves
Hilary and says, "She has such a dynamic screen presence and it was just very
serendipitous that it all came together and we were able to cast her in this
film." Once Hilary was onboard, the film, which had been stalled in the
pre-production phase, began picking up speed.
Co-stars, including
Oliver James, John Corbett, and Rita
Wilson, were cast and filming began
in January 2004. While filming, Duff
had the difficult task of balancing
her acting career with her singing
career, but managed to handle both
despite her seemingly non-stop
schedule.
INTERVIEW WITH HILARY
DUFF ('Terri'):
Is it normal for you
to have so many projects going on in
one year?
You know what? It seems kind of
normal now. I think that there’s
really no way to prepare yourself,
to say, “Oh, I’ve got all this going
on.” You just do it. It’s like I
want to be able to do all of these
things, and I have to be really
prepared to do it. It doesn’t really
bother me, every day thinking that
I’m going to have to switch modes to
singing or acting or traveling, or
this, that and the other. You just
kind of do it. It’s just kind of
natural.
Is it the nervous,
raw energy that keeps you going?
I think so. The energy is addicting
almost. Even though it’s really hard
work, I don’t think you could do it
unless you loved it. I love it, but
it definitely keeps me going. A new
place every night – doing this,
doing that – it’s crazy.
In “Raise Your
Voice,” you’re playing the outsider.
In real life, you’ve been a star a
while. How do you get those feelings
of not belonging to come out for an
acting job?
It was hard. People have been asking
me today like what the most
challenging part of the movie was,
and it wasn’t the crying scenes. I
think that’s much easier than trying
to make people laugh. Crying on
command is not that difficult. But
the parts that were harder for me
were after the tragedy happens to
Terri in her life, it’s kind of like
just like a closed-off, numb
feeling. She doesn’t feel any
emotion – no happiness, no sad.
She’s kind of like nothing. That was
the hardest thing for me. And then
going to the school and feeling like
the outsider, I kind of learned how
to do that a lot with Lizzie McGuire
because she was the dork that didn’t
really fit in. And everybody kind of
made Terri feel very unwelcome at
the school at first.
Do the singing scenes
reflect your real process as far as
what you go through to get to a
certain point with your voice?
I think so. It’s a little more
difficult in this movie because I
was singing arias and stuff I never
have to sing for the type of music
that I sing. But there’s definitely
times that I get that frustrated
when I can’t sing something that I
want to or I can’t hit a certain
note that day. There’s definitely a
process where I’m writing and I’m
like, “This is stupid. Why did I
write this? Let’s start from the
beginning.” And I’ll end up throwing
something away that I really did
like, just because it didn’t sound
that great that day. There’s
definitely some challenging parts.
Are you active in
lessoning to tapes or are your
producers so good they find your
material on their own?
On the second album I worked with a
lot of people that I worked with on
the Metamorphosis album. And when I
worked on Metamorphosis I was so
nervous and shy about going into the
studio and working with people, they
eventually toward the end made me
feel so comfortable and so secure
with myself. I loved working with
them. I have a great relationship
with them. I talk to them [all the
time]. When we started talking about
the second album, I was like, “I
want to work with all the same
people.” They knew what was going on
in my life, what I was going
through. I would call them and say,
“I feel like this right now. I want
a song about this…” I never really
felt like I had enough time to write
my whole album and I don’t know if
I’m secure enough with myself to do
that. But I wrote three songs on the
album, one I wrote with my sister.
It’s so personal and these people
really got what I was going through
and how I feel inside. I think
that’s what makes it good and that’s
what makes me relate to them.
Is your relationship
with your mother similar to the
relationship your character has with
her mom in this movie?
My relationship with my mom is so
amazing. We never got to have that
stage that people go through, like
when you’re 13 and you think you’re
too cool for your parents. When
you’re embarrassed by them and
stuff. We never went through that
because I was constantly working and
she constantly had to be there. We
just because best friends. I tell
her everything. She’s really my role
model and my inspiration. She’s such
a good person and such a strong
person. A lot of people give her
flack for being strong and being
smart, but I think I envy that in
her.
Did you have curfews
growing up?
I still have curfews and sometimes I
get grounded, which I is kind of
weird to me.
For what reason?
Like if [my mom's] asked me to do
something more than once or twice. I
always get in trouble for not
pulling my car into the garage,
because if I don’t pull my car in,
her car won’t fit. So I get in
trouble for that, but it only lasts
for a day. Usually it’s an excuse so
I’ll stay home and hang out with her
(laughing).
What time do you have
to be in?
It all depends. It depends on where
I am, it depends on what I’m doing.
It depends on if I have to work the
next day. She gives me a lot of
freedom and I think that it must
scare her, you know? Having me leave
the house by myself, with my car. I
don’t take security around with me
just because it’s like I don’t want
that. I want to be able to be free.
She has to have a lot of faith in me
and trust in me to be able to do
that, even though it must scare her.
But she does. She gives me so much
freedom. I can be home at 1 or 2
sometimes. And if I’m working the
next day, I’ll be really good and
come home at 10.
What did you learn
from working with Rita Wilson?
So much. She’s amazing. Most of my
scenes with her were more dramatic
and literally she would take a
breath and it would all come and
show on her face. I would look at
her and it would just make me start
crying because she’s so talented and
so beautiful, and such an inspiring
person. [She’s] just really honest
and really real, and I love that.
You have good
onscreen chemistry with Jason
Ritter. What’s your relationship
with him?
I loved working with Jason. He’s
really good at making everybody
laugh. He’s really fun, really
lighthearted on set. We really did
have a good time together. We didn’t
get to work together that much, but
I think it came across good
onscreen. Kind of like the sneaky
brother and sister relationship. I
think the scene in the car, even
though it was really sad because he
doesn’t end up sticking around for
long, was really fun. Singing
together – I totally do stuff like
that with my sister in the car.
How important is it
to kids to pick up musical
instruments now?
I think so much of that has gone
away. So many schools are getting
rid of music programs and it’s
really sad because I know that when
I started singing and stuff it was
something that I always wanted to do
and I never believed in myself to be
able to do it. I think it’s so
important. It opens someone up and
you’re able to learn about yourself.
You feel worth something when you
can learn how to do something that’s
so… I know that when I got into
music, I started feeling very
motivated because I wanted to
achieve this challenging thing. I
think it’s really important if it’s
the piano or the guitar or the bass
or drums or singing or anything,
it’s so important to have music in
your life.
Do boys approach you
like Oliver James does in this
movie, or is it more complicated
because you’re famous?
I hate that word – the ‘f’ word –
but I guess it’s more complicated
because of that. It’s really sad. I
don’t have a boyfriend and I’m not
dating anybody. I read that I’m
dating new people all the time but
I’m definitely not.
Like the singer from
Good Charlotte.
Actually we’re good friends. I like
his band and everything. It really
sucks that people say I’m dating
this person, I’m dating this person…
and make accusations that aren’t
true with my personal life. Then of
course everybody has their opinion
on what’s right and wrong. It’s hard
some times, you know? I’m not dating
him and I don’t have a boyfriend.
I’d like to date someone normal but
how am I supposed to date someone
normal when I don’t go to regular
school, I’m never in town, and I’m
always traveling? Nobody normal will
ever come up and talk to me.
Why is the ‘feud’
between you and Lindsay Lohan still
big news to people?
I have a feeling that if I was a
normal girl that went to a normal
high school, the high school would
probably talk about it for two days
and then it would be over. But just
because people know who I am and
people know who she is, everybody
loves to talk about it. I don’t know
her. I don’t care. If you read all
the interviews, I haven’t said
anything about it. I try and keep my
mouth shut. That’s all I can say. |
