(Alec Baldwin plays Jake Adler in Nancy Meyer?s ?It?s Complicated?)
Q: What attracted you to this project?
A: I liked Nancy Meyers? script and I wanted to work with her. And then when I found out that Meryl Streep was going to be in it, I was very excited about working with her too.
Q: What was Meryl like?
A: It?s easy to work with great talented people, and that?s the case with Meryl.
Q: How do you see Jake, your character?
A: Some men remarry a second time searching for the woman they thought they wanted, but forgetting they had gotten older. And I think Jake acts with that kind of information.
Q: Would you say the situations and the characters in ?It?s Complicated? feel very relatable?
A: Often I hear people say that 10 years after being divorced they regret divorcing their spouse because they have grown up and a lot of the stresses in the relationship have vanished.
Q: Why does Jake go back to Jane then?
A: Because he wants a more mature partner and someone who is less selfish. I feel that Jake is like a lot of men with regrets that bother them; but Nancy Meyers managed to take that and make it funny.
Q: Is that the secret of her success?
A: Nancy is one of the most successful filmmakers when it comes to writing and shooting adult romantic comedies because a lot of romantic comedies tend to be for younger people and the situations tend to be a little more implausible or silly, but what goes on in this movie is very real and honest.
Q: How do you explain Jane?s behavior?
A: We all have our own interpretation of the material, but in my mind Jane doesn?t think too much about going back with Jake until she is forced to think about going forward with Adam.
Q: Why do you think that happens to her?
A: Because the very moment she meets someone who she is attracted to she runs into the arms of someone that she knew. So, as soon as she has feelings for a man ? and this is very common with some people- she runs back to her old love. It?s almost as if she had to take that backward step to be able to move forward.
Q: What do you believe she sees in her affair with Jake?
A: Maybe that it?s comfortable and familiar, though probably not very safe.
Q: John Krasinski is also an important presence in the movie, being the future husband of your eldest daughter in the film and the person who is caught in the middle of everything. He is the first to discover what?s going on between Jane and Jake.
A: He is the loveliest guy! And every day he came in to shoot we knew we were going to have a fun day. I was joking with Steve that Krasinski should be hosting the Oscars? with us.
Q: How do you feel about hosting the Oscars with Steve Martin?
A: The Oscars has two audiences: the television audience at home and the people in the room ? whose life could change that day. And we want to please them both. I predict there will be excitement, tension and women in fabulous gowns!
Q: What was Steve like to work with on ?It?s Complicated??
A: Steve is one of the greatest comic actors in the world. He has made films that are so smart, crazy and even indelible. ?Pennies from Heaven,? for instance, is one of the most beautiful musical comedies shot in the last 50 years.
Q: After all, he is a world-renowned comedian?
A: Yes, but I also loved him in Shopgirl and I am sure that if he finds the right material it would be great to see him do more serious and dramatic roles.
Q: What about your character?s kids in the film?
A: They are fabulous. Caitlin, Zoe and Hunter are so talented!
Q: And Lake Bell, who plays Jake?s wife?
A: She is just wonderful.
Q: Was there any improvising on set.
A: Not really. We were pretty loyal to what was on the page.
Q: What do you like the most about being on a film set?
A: I?ve done this for 30 years and met wonderful people along the way. The movie business is filled with so many talented kinds of people.
Q: Is it hard to balance your careers in television and cinema?
A: I like to do both because I find that movie audiences date you but television audiences marry you. And it?s great when you are sometimes given the opportunity to take your career in a different direction.
Q: In ?It?s Complicated? the action takes place in California, but most of the shoot was in New York.
A: I don?t work in Los Angeles that much anymore, because my television show is shot in New York. So, I was looking forward to going there. It was very pretty to shoot those exteriors of the house during spring in California.
Q: What do you believe should be taken into consideration when dating people that have been married before?
A: I think that if you are the man you should find out the thing the first husband didn?t do. And the funny thing is that sometimes it can be something as simple as holding the door of a car or sending flowers.
?It?s Complicated? is released and distributed by United International Pictures thru Solar Entertainment Corp. In Cinemas 24 February 2010 (Wednesday)
MTRCB Rating: R-13
