Date: September 12, 2003
Written by: Steve Head
Source: IGN Film Force
Frappachinos and The Sound of Music. These are a few of her favorite things.
It was around this time last year that Alison Lohman was introduced to moviegoers as Michelle
Pfeiffers's alienated daughter in White Oleander. And in that film she put forth a solid performance,
holding her own against the more experienced likes of Pfeiffer, Rene Zellweger and Robin Wright Penn.
In Matchstick Men, which opens today, she goes toe-to-toe with the guys, Nicholas Cage and Sam Rockwell.
And in doing so Alison steals more than a few scenes – she's down with the art of the grift as Angela, the
punky fourteen-year-old daughter of a jittery con man played by Nicholas Cage.
Not too long ago in New York, I participated in a roundtable interview with Ms. Lohman. There we mused
about the trappings that go with starring some rather big films, including the yet-to-be-released Big Fish,
the latest fantastic voyage of the mind of director Tim Burton..
Q: Where did grow up?
ALISON LOHMAN: I grew up in Palm Desert.
Q: And what did your parents do?
LOHMAN: My dad's an architect and my mom owned a French bakery for twelve years.
Q: Did you just say to them, "I want to be an actress?"
LOHMAN: At age eight I had been watching The Sound of Music over and over and over again. I kept telling my mom I
wanted to watch it again. And one day they were holding auditions for it and I said, "Mom, I want to audition!" And
my mom was like, "Oh, I don't know." Because I was really shy, like so shy that I would hide behind her skirt when
being introduced to people. But I auditioned and got the part of Gretel. And from then on it was just that whole
theater-family-camaraderie that whole, like, group, that community… I was doing community theater and acting with adults.
I've always loved acting with adults versus like the whole High School feel.
Q: You didn't go out for the High School plays?
LOHMAN: I did one time. I did one play there. But, I didn't like the whole High School thing, it was too
petty and gossipy. Like, whose boobs are bigger and who is sleeping with who.
Q: Just like Hollywood.
LOHMAN:: (She laughs) But I don't see that part of it, yet. I really don't. Maybe because, like, I'm not there so much.
Q: Matchstick Men, this is another big film for you. And in it you play a fourteen year old, and you're twenty-four. How
did you get Ridely Scott to see that you were the right actress for this part?
LOHMAN: The first meeting I was like, I'm going to try and be fourteen, like, I'm going to try and convince him.
Q: Were you nervous about that? Were you thinking, "Am I really going to be able to convince Ridley?"
LOHMAN: I thought, "What the hell, I'll just give it a shot." Because I thought if I can't [convince] him, then I
don't deserve the movie.
Q: What did you do in your mind to get back to being fourteen? Did you listen to records and whatnot?
LOHMAN: Oh, I hung out with my cousin for a month. I did everything she would do. Every gesture, everywhere she went.
Q: What is your cousin's name?
LOHMAN: Can I just say Jesse?
Q: Of course. How old is she?
LOHMAN: Fourteen.
Q: Oh, OK, the exact age. What did you guys do? Did you hang out at the mall or…
LOHMAN: We hung out at the mall all the time. We got our nails done (she laughs), we got like acrylics done.
Went to Starbucks and had frappachinos. We talked about boys... talk about boys. On the cell phone, like,
she'd get a message in her purse and it would be like… huge deal. Messages from friends, you know.
But, yeah... boys, boys, yes. Oh, she's going to hate me.
Q: But you're like a big sister to her.
LOHMAN: Yeah.
Q: Oh, she probably won't read this because she's too busy talking to the boys.
LOHMAN: I know. My adorable cousin Jessica!
Q: So this is really a wonderful time for you. I mean, in the double issue of Entertainment Weekly you've got a
full page on Alison Lohman. You made your big break last year with White Oleander and now [Matchstick Men] and
Big Fish is coming out. So, what is it like to sort of have this all start to happen?
LOHMAN: I don't even really feel like it's happening.
Q: You don't feel like it's happening because people still don't know who you are when you walk down the street?
LOHMAN: People don't know. And, I don't think I like to think of myself that way. I don't think I'll ever be
comfortable with the idea of being famous. I don't really want that. But I definitely enjoy, like, the process.
I enjoy talking with people and all that. I just want to act. I just want to do the work.
Q: But, when you look at people like Michelle Phieffer, don't you say, "That's a great career?"
LOHMAN: I think the opportunities they've had, there's good things and bad things to it. Obviously you don't
want to be anonymous, but you don't want everyone to know your life. I don't know… I don't want
people to know everything about me.
Q: Tell us everything about you.
LOHMAN: (She laughs) Well…
Q: When you say you don't want everyone to know about your life, what do you mean by that? You want
people to know your name. You want people to know your face.
LOHMAN: I want directors to know my name. I want directors cast me in their movies. My private life... Nobody
should care. I think it's weird.
Q: Did you ask Nicholas Cage about this process? Because he's in the papers all the time.
LOHMAN: Yeah, I think he would have liked to have been anonymous, but it didn't work out that way for him.
But he deals with it and he's still very private.
Q: Some people say, when you get famous be careful of this or be careful of that.
LOHMAN: It's like, what can you really do? You just have to, like, deal with it. And it's not a big deal.
It's not like the end of the world or anything. I guess for me it's just to try to look at it in an optimistic way.
Premieres are just like a celebration of the movie, it's not necessarily, like, "Oh, everybody's staring
at me." It's just for the movie.
Q: Do directors know who you are now? I mean, are you getting calls on scripts?
LOHMAN: Some do. Some don't.
Q: Have you been recognized at all though?
LOHMAN: Uh huh.
Q: Have you been stopped on the street?
LOHMAN: I did! I did. I was in Victoria in Canada with my boyfriend and we were sitting at this small
little coffee table and there was a girl next to me and she was like, "You look like the girl Astrid
in White Oleander, a lot like her." I said, "Did you like the movie?" And slowly, when I asked her the
question she realized it was me. I think it was my voice. She was like, "You're the girl!" And I was like, "Aww, OK."
Q: And what did your boyfriend say, "I want to get out of here?"
LOHMAN: (She laughs) No, we were totally intrigued by it. You know what? It's a great conversation starter,
right? You meet friends that way. Sometimes it's a good thing. And then other times, I guess, the
person is just a little too… then you kind of like want to back away. It depends on the person, you know?
Q: There's upcoming movie Big Fish [directed by Tim Burton]..
LOHMAN: I play Ewan McGregor's wife.
Q: In the flashbacks?
LOHMAN: In the flashbacks. It's Albert Finney and Jessica Lange, and then Ewan McGregor and I
in flashbacks. We're the same people.
Q: How did it go working with Tim Burton?
LOHMAN: Great! He's so… when I think of him I just think of, like, crazy hair, like, great hair,
the best hair I've ever seen! And he's just pacing back and forth, like a five-year-old with the
energy and the look in his eyes. He's so inspired by life and by telling stories. You get infected by it. It's great.
Q: And Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney?
LOHMAN: He's charming. He's just really sweet. A real gentleman. And the same with Albert Finney.
He's hysterical. There's just something about him that I love, and just any chance to get to talk to
him, he really intrigued me as a person. So, I'd try and like get over and talk to him.
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