Tell me about "Blow"?
It's about George Jung, the guy who inadvertently became the biggest coke dealer in America, played by Johnny Depp. He was the right guy in the right moment in the right time. The guy's in jail now. In the early Eighties, he was worth $500 million. He escaped from America, and went down to Panama to get his money, and the banks have just been nationalised, and his account is closed. So he had to deal one last deal to make some money, and ended up in Long Island prison.
Who do you play?
I play Johnny's mother, so I age from 21 to 70, along with Ray Liotta, who plays his father. You do have to have patience in the make-up trailer, but it was pretty interesting mapping a life like that.
You also did "My Best Friend's Wedding" in the US. Do you like the kind of films Hollywood makes?
I have to be honest and say that the films I've most enjoyed have been American films, even if they've been done by British directors. Like "American Beauty". I love Peter Weir and Ang Lee's work in America. I'd love to work there more, but sometimes it's just hard to get onto a plane and go to a third country.
You recently directed a short called "Roundabout". What's that about?
It's about a man who is having a breakdown. The whole male depression thing is a real big issue in Australia at the moment. We have the second highest male suicide rate in the world. I think Australian men are even less likely to talk about their emotions than English men. I found English men do talk more to each other, and not just about football and shagging.
Read an interview with Ted Demme the director of "Blow".
