Julia Fox Wants Lucy Liu to Make Another 'Charlie's Angels'
Julia Fox, Lucy Liu, and the rest of the cast of a new film share their experiences working with director Steven Soderberg and discuss the different aspects of being on a film set. Lucy Liu talks about signing on for the project and how intriguing the script was, while Julia Fox discusses the specific and efficient manner in which Soderberg works. The cast also delves into the theme of family within the movie and the timeless appeal of family dynamics in film and television. They also touch on the differences between television and feature film work, with Kina mentioning the magical environment created by Soderberg. Eddie talks about his nerves and excitement for his first big project, while West discusses his experiences in the horror genre. The conversation then takes a spooky turn as the cast members share their encounters with ghostly presences, including strange occurrences in their hotel rooms while shooting the film. The lively and collaborative dynamic between the cast and their experiences with Soderberg add an extra layer of intrigue to this behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film.
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Being on a film set is like different but being on a film set with Steven Soderberg is Different well thanks everybody I have some group questions I have some individual questions we’ll have some fun it’ll be a good time um Lucy I wanted to start what made you want to sign on to this EX project I think when Steven Soderberg calls you and says he wants to have a
Meeting you show up so that was the first thing um and uh he sort of talk talked me through the script um and it sounded so fascinating um and then I mean it really wasn’t rocket science for me to sign on even though I didn’t really know much about it I hadn’t read
The script yet um I hadn’t met the cast you know sort of it was sort of very very beginning of what was GNA become the presence um and then we got to work together which was fantastic and and he works in such a specific manner that um
It made it really exciting because it’s something that I’ve never done before awesome um Julie kind of building off of that what was he like as a director that you hadn’t maybe experienced before just how efficient he is like he gets the shot in two takes um and I think he
Really creates an Environ where you feel really comfortable comfortable enough to surrender to the situation and um and I love those kinds of environments where anything is welcome you can improvise you can change the he really he takes your how you feel and your judgment and your suggestions
Into consideration he respects us all as artists and Visionaries and it’s very much a collaborative effort and and I love that I hate sets that feel like there’s like a dictator like and everyone’s afraid and I I don’t like that at all and he’s the opposite of
That that’s awesome um Chris so this is a movie about family you just happen to be on one of the biggest shows of all time about family Dynamics what about family stories do you think resonates with audiences so much um I think we all we all turn to um
Art to have our Our Lives and our emotions reflected back to us in one way or another maybe to kind of sort through our own feelings to see if we can recognize something in a character or relationship that applies to us that maybe we can apply to ourselves um and
So I think you know the the the family Dynamic um is is timeless when it comes to especially film and television and ghosts everybody loves ghosts totally um Kina so I know you’ve had television work but this is your first future film correct second oh second I apologize dare you Bill I’m so
Sorry it’s I’m so sorry um what would you say is the biggest difference between your television work and Feature work in terms of you know I know you’ve been on big shows and what what do you feel like is the biggest difference being on a film set I mean being on a
Film set is like different but being on a film set with Steven Soderberg is different like he works in such a specific magical way like he really has this genius mind and it’s so I I was really grateful to be there and to see the way he works and to experience all
These SC scenes with these amazing actors and it just felt like a very magical environment where we could like create art and live and experience these moments um yeah it was very different but in the best way possible awesome um Eddie I’m a little nervous about my IMDb
Research now but I believe this is your first big project this is my first professional project okay yeah okay um what was that like you know how did you process getting the feeling like okay my first big project is with Steven Soderberg all these you know industry
Legends like how did you process that when you got the call that you’re in I it definitely took me a little bit to process especially once I learned like who else was going to be on it like Lucy and Chris and Kina and Julia and West like
It was very much I felt like I was going into it as like the rookie um and I think it’s just a testament to like how comfortable of a space like Lucy and Chris made every day on set just like making us feel like a family and making
You feel comfortable to try things and fail and also Stephen as a director he’s just he really trusts you to bring in what you want to the work um and so it really after a few days it just felt natural awesome cool um West I know we
Saw you last year in dark Harvest you’ve done all kinds of different genres of work what about horror is different to you as an actor like what’s your process like going like okay there’s some spooky stuff a foot I need to convey that how
Does that work for you uh for me how I kind of get into like a a spooky really it’s it’s I think it’s the environment surrounding me um whenever I walk on to set like being whether it’s in the corn fields in a dark Harvest and having like
The moon out and it’s like big and orange and and and then you have the Practical monster to something like presence where you have um different elements you know kind of happening in the room um and uh and and different like camera angles and uh and it was it
Was really really like such an incredible I don’t know different it’s it’s such a different vibe on set it’s like you you sort of have to lean into the ghost stories that you would hear when you’re younger you have to lean into what your character it’s like weird
Things are happening around um whether on camera or off camera as we’ve had a few experiences but uh uh it’s uh um you kind of just have to lean into the to the spooky side of that and and that’s when everything really kind of comes to
Life gotta well I have to that leads me to my next question of all of you who has seen a ghost or a presence and do you have any wonderful stories about that should we all just raise raise our hand we’ve all seen who would like to
Share a spooky real life story that they’ve encountered I think your story is no please come on this happened this happened while we were shooting we need then we need to hear that and it involves like these two but basically we we’re staying in this hotel and it was
Next to an old people’s home and it was while we were filming and I heard so we had rooms like right next to each other and I heard like knocks on my wall and I messaged him and I was like are you in and he was like no I’m not and I was
Like this is this is so great and then next morning my alarm would go off like the hotel alarms was really jarring I didn’t touch that alarm ever toilet would like flush without me pressing it it and I was scared at first but then I I started like talking to the presen and
Saying like let’s just coexist and and then they relaxed until them two started pranking me yeah knocking on my door never tell your Coast I was say you were set up I think my I think my hotel room is oned don’t ever tell anybody don’t tell what did what did Stephen think of
That did you give him the rundown I don’t think I ever told did I tell him I don’t think so I don’t think I told him I got to tell him where is he pretty excited he’d be like oh well that’s okay not a lot of time for chitchat on a
Soderberg set of course straight to the point hard work I have to tell him your story though no your story is like crazy that please now the year was 1999 no I that was good enough that’s good enough you’re not got to go through all our ghost stories are you Bill do
You want to hear my ghost story it just seems like people are very excited I’m excited to hear it I love ghost stories I’ve seen some so you know a friend of mine had a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere that he grew up in that was
Haunted so a group of us one one year for spring break instead of going to Cancun or Miami like a normal college student we gathered a group and went to this Farmhouse to see ghosts and uh instantly there was activity activity the entire weekend but
On the final day we all sat quietly in the living room and tried to focus our energy just to see what we could experience across the room for me was a stairwell Pitch Black in this house house is in the middle of nowhere can’t see your hand in front of your face I
Could see a little sliver of a window at the top of the stairs where the moon was coming in sitting there everyone’s very quiet and all of a sudden something moves in front of the window and blocks out the light I stiffen then it moves out from in front of the
Window and moves down the stairs and I just kind of follow it in the dark and as I’m following it I follow it into the dining room and three people on the other side of the room scream turn on all the lights and explain how something has just walked
Behind them into the dining room oh my God crazy have a good day well thank you for that I have to go um tough to follow but um Julia I wanted to ask you you know you iconically were Josh Sappy’s Muse for uncut gems they it seems like him and
His brother are kind of developing different projects these days have you talked to him about working together in the future at all uh not really I haven’t talked to him but we we do talk and yeah he just had a baby and Benny’s taking off and acting and he’s doing
Amazing and I think it was just kind of like a natural progression you know they’re just on different paths but it’s still like love you know totally yeah um Lucy I everyone asked me when I was talking to you now that Cameron Diaz has unretired Charlie’s Angel’s three could
It happen oh my God has there been any chatter we need it you and Cameron okay Drew can do can you do the split yes I I mean I honestly don’t know how that’s going to be feasible um there have been so many iterations even after the fact um but
None whereas could compare to your iteration that’s the iconic it I know but in some ways it’s it’s such a strange thing to to think about it because times have changed so much since then I mean at that time when we were doing publicity they had never before
Had three women on a MAG magazine cover they didn’t even know how to do it you know so it was such a strange thing for for women to collaborate and be seen as as as colleagues and friends and you know I think it was such a it was such a big
Moment in time and now it shifted I mean things even when I was doing aliel they had never been a lead women woman you know in that in that way um obviously there was Mary Tyler Moore and things like that but really the focus has
Changed and I don’t know I I’m not you know in charge of that but I always enjoy the time that I had and then I just I move on I never really dwell on anything like that but I I really would be shocked if that if that
Happened um cool and then the last question I have for everybody so we’re partnered with audible there are good friends working in the studio with us so I have a question about audio storytelling and I’ll just get it out for you um so it’s the 40th anniversary
Of Sundance this year over the 40 past 40 years we’ve seen an expansion of Storytelling through new mediums with formats and distribution platforms still evolving do any of you have any interesting ideas about the future of audio storytelling I know it’s kind of a big question and well podcasts are really doing well
Nowadays I love audio storytelling VR is going to be a thing too I feel like put audio into like a VR headset that would be cool so headphones yeah but you can see it too like but then that’s animation yeah that I think as as the pendulum
Swings with the length of the attention span of an audience you know the the attention span of an audience has gotten very short very quick quick beats swiping shorts you know uh um little 10sec stories or whatever the thing is I think the long format story is is is I
Think like Julie was saying the the the podcast being so popular indicates that the long Format Interview the long format story is something that people are are interested in um investing their time in I love audio books frankly just because when you have a family you know
And you’re you really don’t have as much time to read you know a book so when you’re preparing or doing something you can actually listen to a book and feel like you’re activated and then can sit down and read it if you have the books I
Do both um but it’s it feels like I can accomplish something and feel like I’m you know kind of really still part of the zist of reading and and what’s going on something I like to do um while I read or listen to audiobooks is is um
I’m always I’m very like musically I I I love to like put on different songs and and create soundt trcks for different books um so if there was like I don’t know some way to combine listening to an Audi book and imp lenting like your own
Music or that like audio book comes with a set of like a soundtrack CU I think that’s something that’s so apparent in our industry is like the soundtrack and the music um so if we could combine those elements somehow I when I when I
Had to read The Iliad in high school I I read it I had to read it out loud to myself to the River Dance soundtrack it’s exactly the same thing probably exactly the same thing it’s the only way I could get through it my attention span that’s how you conjured
That ghost a 16-year-old boy alone in his room reading the ilot out loud to himself while Michael Flatley doing the River Dance y anyway listen do what you got to do
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Video “Julia Fox Wants Lucy Liu to Make Another 'Charlie's Angels'” was uploaded on 01/20/2024 to Youtube Channel Variety