Juliette Lewis & a cast of characters

January 18/12.

All my life, I've found it fascinating talking to celebs - movie & TV stars, directors, producers, writers, singers, composers, you name it. They all have such special talents and to learn how they put those talents to use and entertain us is something I never tire of hearing.

Robin Williams with me during our interview for Hook, (1991)

Robin Williams was ALWAYS my favourite. I don't think he could give a bad interview if he TRIED. During the several times I spoke with him one-on-one over the years, he managed to throw me into fits of laughter (when he told me what to expect in terms of pain in the labour room when giving birth to my first baby - warning me to, "Stockpile your medication NOW!", to tears, when he spoke of the horrifying frustration of trying to boost the spirits of his close friend, Christopher Reeve following his devastating riding accident, and had me in both laughter AND tears as he tried to put into words, the perils of fatherhood. The man is simply a genius. I wish I could talk to him every day.

The late Dudley Moore was another man who made every interview special. This shot was taken during my radio days. (Probably around 1978). His comic brilliance and musical talents were legendary but another of his true talents was to make people feel comfortable in his presence. I remember the day I was asked to write and put together his obit in 2002. Everyone at Global said I had to be the one to do it, since I was such a fan.

While writing it, I recall thinking, despite the humour and immense kindness, there was such a sadness to him. It could zap your soul when he looked into your eyes.

And don't even get me STARTED on Jack Lemmon! (1925-2001). Fell in love with him while watching The April Fools opposite Catherine Deneuve (1969) and loved him the rest of my life. This pic was taken when he was in Toronto promoting Tribute (1979).

Years later, after I finally saw him co-star with Marilyn Monroe (and Tony Curtis) in Some Like It Hot, things got even worse!

I wanted to dress like Marilyn,

Tried to, so I could win Jack's heart!  Didn't exactly work out that way. LOL. (me, circa 1979 in Vegas)

Though I did get to spend some time with him over the years! This shot was taken on board a ship during the junket for Out to Sea (1997) - the last time I met him in person. (Though he died nearly a decade ago, I still think he's the world's greatest actor).

At any rate, last night, my friend, Pam Pickard and I went to see actress Juliette Lewis at the TIFF Lightbox Theatre for her "In Conversation With" show. She was interviewed by Artistic Director Noah Cowan all about her eclectic career.

From our front row seat, she looked fabulous! Her hair was red and she was decked out in black leather pants, low cut white shirt, black leather jacket, high heeled black shoes and silver jewellery.

As soon as she began to talk, she told us, "I didn't get enough sleep tonight. Makes me lose my adjectives. I'm going to be extra-unhinged."

She told the audience all about making Cape Fear with director Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro. (1991)  She was just 18. When it came time to shoot the De Niro kiss scene, man, what a story! She's told it before, but I had never heard it.



"I was all instincts and intuition. Scorsese encouraged me to trust myself. I didn't know what De Niro was going to do. He taught me about professionalism".

Lewis says the scene was supposed to involve De Niro walking over and kissing her, but that Scorsese hinted "Bobby" was going to do something else beforehand. She had no idea what it would be. Turned out, he was going to stick his thumb in her mouth. She went with it and the rest is history. According to Lewis, Scorsese used the first take. Wow.

She later talked about her performance in Natural Born Killers opposite Woody Harrelson -  (1994). After we watched the extremely violent Rodney Dangerfield murder scene,



Juliette explained (director), "Oliver Stone did not put any constraints on us." She went on to say if the actors don't do things quite right, "He'll bust your chops in front of the entire set!"  The actress got so involved in her description of the scene that she turned to us and quipped, "Now do you see why I don't do drugs?"

Lewis was most passionate when talking about her music career. (first with The Licks and then with her new band and the release of their CD, Terra Incognita). The video was directed by her brother, Lightfield Lewis.



"I'm working on a documentary of my concerts, touring, musicians, audiences. This has been a radical journey and I'm in a weird place of transition right now. The live show medium was always in my blood. The exchange of energy is unbelievable. I miss it so much. I can't wait to get back to it. My break from the TV show (The Firm) is in May."

Juliette with co-star Callum Keith Rennie in The Firm.

I even got the chance to ask Juliette a question on mic from the audience. Told her I'd recently had the opportunity to transcribe an interview with Canadian actress

Helen Shaver who is a co-producer on The Firm and also directing some of the episodes. I asked what it's  like being directed by a woman who once played her mother in a small independent film called That Night (1992). Juliette laughed and explained it's been very enjoyable. She loved the experience working with her in that film when she was just 19 and finds it amazing that careers can sometimes change dramatically and an actress can work her way up to directing and producing. Juliette also commented she has no interest in directing, but can't wait to get back to her music.

My favourite part of the interview was when an audience member asked about the risks she takes in life. She responded, "As I'm aging, what I'm holding on to fervently (laughs), feverishly, is, anytime I'm sitting too long and start to get whiney, I have to start generating these opportunities. I get safe and I want things to be cushy, but I try to be open to what the universe opens up to me,

(like Shit Girls Say - above) - being a part of something interesting. Auditioning is really tough for me. It's a real head trip - you're not in a safe place. I'm always chasing the experience."

One more thing. When asked about the cold Toronto weather, she joked, "I LOVE this city, but I'm a wimpy California sunflower!"

Great to "meet" you Juliette!

Heart-thumping day!

June 16/11

Worked hard at Mum's house today. It was fun. Placed the ad - (by phone), with the Toronto Star for the upcoming estate sale on Saturday at 10 a.m. (Ad will appear in the Friday AND Saturday editions). Carrie and I spent hours, cleaning the place, sorting, hanging clothing, and tons of other things.

With "Serenity Sis" - Carrie, cleaning out Mum's garage
Much time was devoted to sorting Mum's precious record collection. Man, we all loved those records. Music was ALWAYS playing! Found a bunch of LPs we could NEVER let go of in a million years. Hard to tell from the glare, but three of them, - (for ME to keep!), included Mum's fave - Beyond the Fringe - (featuring Dudley Moore!), plus, - The Beatles' - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band (NATURALLY!!) and Godspell! - (sigh, - none of us could EVER get enough of Godspell!) Don Scardino, Victor Garber, Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy and on and on. (Just typing their NAMES here, gives me goosebumps!)

While working inside the house, came across a big box of stones. Mum adored rocks and stones. Everyone brought them to her from trips all over the world. Carrie asked if I wanted to keep any of them. I didn't. She kept one, from a special place in Wales. (Mary - you know what I'm talking about!)

Carrie then said, "OK. We're dumping all the stones into a bag now. YOU take them out and put them in the backyard on top of Teddy (the guinea pig's) grave". I obey my sister. (Do what she says, or trouble will follow you to the end of time, hee hee). Carted that bag of stones to the "headless statue". - Didn't think I'd feel ANYTHING. Dumped the stones out and looked at them. Just stared. Lost in space. Saw there were stones, pebbles, shells, cracked crab claws, pieces of God-knows-what, - you name it. Something caught in my throat. Had to run my fingers thru the mixed bag of rocks, touching them, "connecting." Felt the rush, (felt the tears). Said goodbye to the rocks, (to Teddy), and to Mum, who so loved that eclectic collection of stones. Whew. (Who the hell knew a bunch of old stones and shells could GET to you?)

Didn't even mention any of this to Carrie when I came back inside the house. She had ENOUGH on the go! (when I return on Friday, will take a picture of all the stones for the blog).

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Taking a break in Mum's backyard. (The stones are scattered on the ground about 10 feet directly behind me. Beautiful spot).

Going to try and get some rest, (for once!) To all my friends and relatives, (who may feel I've lost it - and could well be right), - thanks for staying up with me night after night, keeping me company in my own personal Twilight Zone! Cue Rod Serling. (don't worry too much! I'm not scared. I always LOVED The Twilight Zone!)

Dudley Moore

May 12/11

Only one more day to go before getting the pathology results. So how can I kill a little time and take my mind off cancer till then? Hmmmmm. I'm going to think about Dudley Moore! (What's wrong with that? I just like to think about Dudley Moore, OK?)

When I worked at Global TV and interviewed thousands of stars, I would go into "mini-obsession mode" while researching that person. Actor, actress, director, screenwriter, stuntman, musician, singer, - whatever the case, I just had to know EVERYTHING I could about that person before speaking to them.

Some obsessions were much bigger than "mini". Like the one I had for Dudley. I thought (and still think) he was absolutely brilliant and hysterically funny. (not to mention, adorable).

Dudley and me - back in my radio days!

Guess that love was handed down to me from Mum. She first knew of "Cuddly Dudley" from his days in Beyond the Fringe and quoted lines from that show all her life. Most especially, a line delivered by Peter Cook in his very funny monologue about life as a coal miner. The line was:

"What, me drop this great 'eavy lump of coal on my foot? You must be out of your......aaaaoohw"!

The more I saw of Dudley, the more I fell in love. There are scenes from his movies that I've watched over and over, just to see the expressions on his face and the way he delivered lines.

As a fan of physical comedy, my favourite of his films is Micki & Maude,(1984), directed by Blake Edwards and starring Dudley with Ann Reinking and Amy Irving.

I had the chance to interview Dudley several times. He was so charming, very engaging and I was always sorry when the conversation had to come to an end.

One time, I wrote a letter to Dudley, telling him about some of my favourite scenes in Micki & Maude and how much I enjoyed the emotional music he wrote for Six Weeks. I also reminded him that the last interview we did together was sitting on the floor! (this was actually when I was a radio reporter. He was tired of sitting on the couch, and since there was no camera involved, he asked if we could have our chat on the carpet. I had no problem with that! In fact, it was great!)

One of the scenes I asked him about in Micki & Maude features Dudley, working up his courage to let his wife (Reinking) know, that there's another woman in his life. Before he can spit it out, she reveals she's pregnant and is SO happy. Dudley has to change his expression from serious and concerned, to loving and happy about the baby. When he received the letter, he wrote back to me from his home in Venice, California, to tell me all about those scenes. I've always treasured it. Here's a transcript of the letter from December 1984.

Dear Elaine,

Just wanted to thank you for your really delightful note. I must say that it was truly warming to learn about the scenes that you loved in my various films. They are certainly amongst the favorites that I have myself. Each scene that you quoted of course made me smile. I'm glad they all brought a smile to your lips too. Also, it's nice to know that you enjoyed the music in SIX WEEKS which was certainly a labor of love for me.

The interesting part about the look in my eyes when Ann Reinking tells me about the pregnancy is that we did the scene in 2-shot first of all, then we did my reactions, and finally, Ann's close-up. My reactions were a little broader when I did them first, but when I saw the way Ann did her part, I said to Blake, "We have to do my reactions over, because how could I not be anything except floored, paralyzed & very moved by her attitude & statements about the closeness of our marriage?" - so he let me re-do my reactions on the basis of what she had already done. I'm glad we did that, otherwise, we would have been stuck with inappropriately comic reactions!

Thanks again for writing such a thoughtful and tender note. It was much appreciated. I look forward to meeting you again soon, & next time, let's do an interview on the ceiling! Much more exciting!

All the very best as always from,

Dudley Moore

I remember the day Dudley passed away in March 2002. I was just getting into a cab outside the front door of Global to rush off to interview a comedian. Someone from the newsroom raced out to stop me, telling me Dudley had died and that I had to cancel the interview and come back inside to prepare the news obit about him. (they knew I had to be the one to do it, since I'd spoken to him so many times). I was glad to have the chance to put together a heartfelt tribute to him, to honour him in some small way. I was crying as I worked with the editor. I still miss you in this world Dudley (but I think of you often to take my mind off other things!)

Meeting Dudley again! (am I happy, or what?)