Articles

Catherine Keener

Reel.com
by J. Sperling Reich

Fans of independent cinema have long been familiar with Catherine Keener, the dark-haired beauty who snagged an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her hilarious, seductive turn as Maxine in Being John Malkovich. She played opposite Brad Pitt in Tom DiCillo's first feature, Johnny Suede, and went on to work with DiCillo again in Living In Oblivion, Box Of Moonlight, and The Real Blonde. In Walking and Talking, she co-starred with Anne Heche, and in Your Friends and Neighbors, she made quite an impression as Ben Stiller's acerbic lover.

Recently, she has been seen in bigger studio fair such as Out of Sight and 8mm. But it is in more offbeat work that she truly shines. It's perhaps not surprising, then, that she possesses a quirky sense of humor, which she displayed when she sat down with reporters during the press junket for Malkovich.

Q: Were you a fan of John Malkovich's before you made Being John Malkovich?

Catherine Keener: Yes. I don't know if everyone feels this way, maybe its just an actor thing, [but] John carries a lot of mystique about him because of his talent. For me, I've always thought, "If I could only act like John Malkovich. If I only had that kind of ability that would be incredible." So when I met him, I was a little daunted. Definitely more than a little daunted. And, I was a little ... it was difficult because my character is not supposed to feel like that at all. She's supposed to just step on him like a bug. Then, being around John and working with him, he was so sort of ordinary. I mean the funny thing is, he's as out there and also as mundane as the character is, in terms of just reading the paper or looking through catalogues. That's truly how John is as well. I still have that, "Oh my ... this is John Malkovich." I still have that even though he couldn't make himself any more normal. [He was] eating lunch every day with everybody, and sitting down on the floor between takes, and playing cards with the crew and — I don't mean to be anecdotal, but he truly is an extremely regular, polite person. I still can't get over it, it's John Malkovich! I kept having to reign myself in: Be Maxine ... Be Maxine!

Q: Spike Jonze has said that you took the liberty of slapping Malkovich's head during a sex scene.

CK: Yeah, he just said, "Hurt me!" His whole thing through this whole movie was, "Hurt me more. Make a bigger fool of me." Because for it to really work, you have to throw the beer can at his head. It was four takes and when the guy finally beaned him with the can, then it was good for him. That was sort of his through line, like it has to be worse. So, okay, "I'm going to slap you on the head." We were laughing whenever we did any of those scenes. It was just ridiculous. There were so many other realities going on that you weren't even going, "Oh God, this is one of those hideous sex scenes that you have to do in a movie." It was good. It was free, very free.

Q: Do you feel as if you know Malkovich as a person any better after working with him? Or is there still this mysterious quality about him for you?

CK: I think both. I know him better as a person but I still have — I don't know if it's my own thing — but he still maintains an aura about him. I know now he has a really incredible sense of humor and will really take shots at himself, which I always like. Like I said, what is surprising is how regular he is. I still hold him in a different kind of esteem. He has a real grace about him.

Q: When you are out in public do you find that you run into the same kinds of celebrity situations as Malkovich's character does in the movie?

CK: No, but I've witnessed it with a lot of people I know who are celebrities. I've seen people come up and it's always from a really good, well-meaning place — like in the movie, the guy in the cab who's like, "Oh yeah, you were really good in that movie." He is putting out something really positive. But what you hear is, "Jesus, I was so bad in the other fifty?!" Or, "You have me confused with that other person that everyone confuses me with," and it's constantly like an ouch!

Q: Based solely on the material he has directed in the past, Spike Jonze could be considered a little peculiar. Is there anything notably peculiar about his approach to directing?

CK: Actually, I think exactly the opposite. There's nothing peculiar about it. He's just completely straight on. Spike seems to me conservative and stuff, which is odd. He doesn't really give a lot away. He's warm, I don't mean to say he's a cold person. You feel okay around him. You know you're going to be all right. You just kind of go along with it.

Q: So you trust him?

CK: Yeah, you do. He doesn't appear to be an eccentric person at all.

Q: Did you have any trepidation about playing such a mean character?

CK: No, I didn't.

Q: Well, would you say she's the type of character that scares people?

CK: Maxine to me was a departure because I think Maxine is a person who essentially is very selfish and only cares about furthering her kicks from moment to moment. That's where she was going all the time, until she met Lotte and it turned out there was something in her — for me, it's how I perceived her — which is the ability to actually be a kind, loving person.

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