By Col. Scott Perry
Although she hasn't starred in a pure horror film as of yet, Alexandra Maria Lara became recognized for playing a character closest with one of history's scariest individuals.
Lara came into prominence with her portrayal of Traudl Junge, the personal secretary of Adolf Hitler in the widely acclaimed Downfall, which chronicled her view of the fall of the Third Reich. One of the film's biggest fans, Francis Ford Coppola, contacted her to star in her first American produced film. Francis Ford Coppola's sci-fi/fantasy/drama Youth Without Youth,in which shestars asthree different and diverse characters, shows the 29-year-old beauty's extensive range as an actress to look out for...To promote Youth Without Youth, Lara took part in a round table discussion to talk about her roles in the film. Looking extraordinarily beautiful, Lara brought a whimsical charm as if she was living a fairy tale, recalling working with both Coppola and Tim Roth, and what the future holds for her. If it's any indication on her work so far, we'll be seeing Lara for many years to come.
You haven't made many English speaking films, yet you're starring in a film by Francis Ford Coppola. How was the experience for you?
I can't tell you how amazing this has been for me, I am so lucky. What I've learned from him so many things, he is so passionate in the intimacy of his work. He's incredible, he loves actors. He makes working very easy. He's a dream director because he would find different things and keep open suggestions. He is demanding without being intimidating.
How were you approached with YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH?
A scene from Youth Without Youth
He [Coppola] saw a German movie called DOWNFALL and then he wrote me a letter and sent the letter to me with the script. This letter said 'After you read the script you can call me.' The number he left was a Romanian number so I dialed the number and it was a message saying it was temporarily out of service. I felt relieved that I didn't have to call Francis Ford Coppola. It couldn't have been him. Anyway, I dialed the number again and it was him and my instant reaction was to hang up immediately. Then he called me back because he must've thought I was insane but he called me back and I apologized, saying that there was a bad connection, I was lying. Then we finally got to meet and he wanted me for the film, and that was my audition. To this day, I cannot believe it.
The characters that you played had to speak a lot of different languages, including some that Coppola had invented. Did you find that to be intimidating?
I was not scared of learning some of the languages invented for the film. The languages were very fascinating to me because it was like learning German song or German lyrics to me. I did love that part of it however what I was most afraid of was this ancient language that Veronica would speak. I didn't know what to expect of it and I also had no idea of what Francis expected from me. I called up all of my old teachers from drama school and I explained to them the situation of the role I was playing, and those calls really brought me back to my studies and made me reflect on the role better.
When you were looking at the script, the scene where Veronica seemed to transform into this other character Rupini in Malta with Dominic seemed very intense. How did you prepare for that going into the film?
At the beginning I had this feeling that it was going to be very smooth, but then my assistant, I never had an assistant before or after this movie, that was new to me, having an assistant. Anyhow, she discussed with me the first scenes as Rupini. I think we did the first scene and I remember Francis saying how we would imagine the scene of Veronica as lifting herself up, making the roof jump he would say, and seeing the reflection of the light which transforms into this other character that speaks out Egyptian. When I read that, I thought 'OK, this is going to be interesting.'
Another scene from the film
And how was shooting that scene?
The good thing is at the very beginning of the film I went to Francis and we discussed this scene intently. He made me feel so comfortable that when it came time to film the scene, I was ready. We shot for eight hours straight where he wanted to see how far I could go. It easily went from fascinating to ridiculous in what I had to say. I remember him saying that I needed to be great in a moment like this. I was hoping maybe he had what he wanted, maybe he wanted me to do it differently, but after all these hours I became more and more brave in delivering the performance and it lasted all day.
How did you feel afterwards?
Afterwards I was happy, it was probably the greatest experience I had on a single day on set. I smoked a cigarette and was the happiest girl in the world. I called my parents and even they couldn't believe how happy I was (Laughs).
Are there other directors that worked with you as closely as Francis did and who would you like to work with that you haven't yet?
He was the closest definitely and I've met all kinds of other people that I'd love to work with. There are some that not a lot of people have heard of but there are the famous directors that I'd love to work with. There's just too many to mention but I've been very lucky to work with the directors that I've had. I am going to work next with James Ivory, a wonderful director. I never thought I'd be in New York speaking a language that is still unfamiliar to me now in talking to you for this interview. I'm just enjoying this.
How was working with Tim Roth?
Fabulous. I adore Tim.
A theme in the film is the conflict of age against time, and your characters all have varying ages. Do you worry about aging?
No, I mean I see my father sometimes and he's 70 now like Dominic was at the beginning of the film and looking at him and remembering the good times and the bad times growing up, I know that aging hasn't been easy for him. I don't know. I can see the beauty in age so it's something I'm not afraid of.
Being that dreams are a common theme in YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, what are some of your dreams, what would you like to do?
One day I would like to direct, this is my dream. I'm not great at writing unfortunately but I love to read and I like to write as much as I can about the character I am portraying, however I am not good at writing a screenplay on my own just yet.
What's next for you?
What's next for me? Well, I have a German film about the Red Army group in the 1970s, they were a terrorist group that arranged assassinations, kidnappings, and bombings in Germany at that time. I'm working with Bernd Eichinger, who co-wrote the script for DOWNFALL. That's going to be very personal. That's coming up and I just finished working with James Ivory as I stated before on a film called CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION with Anthony Hopkins. Then it's wherever, I'm just having a lot of fun right now.
Youth Without Youth Official Site
http://www.alexandra-maria-lara.com/
