Inside Natalie Wood

PB: It's a real life, but it isn't real in terms of what other people know. Generally I feel biopics are difficult to do because it often doesn't feel as though the people are in show business. It seems like it was written and acted by people who don't really know what it's like. And I think we tried to overcome that.

JW: Well, you were very determined to make things as low-key as possible, which was wonderful.

PB: The other thing that we dealt with a lot was the relationship between her mother and her, how it affected her from the time she was very young through the end. You can say that everything she does in her life is majorly affected by her mother.

JW: Having her sister, Lana, executive produce was really helpful. I had a couple of great conversations with Lana about what she thought was going through Natalie's mind at any particular point in the script. And Lana had dresses of Natalie's that I could wear, anecdotes to tell and mannerisms of Natalie's that she thought might be use ful. It was so reassuring to know that she was keeping an eye on things. I'm not sure how I would react if I was involved in the making of a film about my sister, but she was just so generous, humorous and gracious.

PB: Getting her approval, or getting her to feel that we were on the right track-- not only with you, but with Alice Krige playing Maria, your mother was very helpful. That she could say, "Yes, that's what my mother was like," was very helpful.

JW: One of the most fascinating things for me, just not knowing much about Natalie's life before we started filming, was the issue of Natalie being Russian-American. What was her great name? [Pauses] Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko.

PB: That's something that people don't really know about her. And of course, she spoke Russian fluently.

JW: You know, she was first-generation American, and there was such a strong Russian influence in both her personality and the way she was brought up.

PB: Yes, the Russian aspect of it was very, very interesting.

JW: And, of course, I was terribly concerned about the American accent because it would be awful if Natalie sounded English, and we were filming in Australia, so it would be even worse if she sounded Australian! Let's just say I took a crash course in dialect coaching.

PB: The funny thing is I never met you as an English girl until we wrapped the picture.

JW: And then, what did you say?

PB: Suddenly, you started speaking with a British accent and I didn't know who you were! "What happened to Natalie?!"

JW: I got rather shocked, too, actually-- I'd spoken with an American accent for so long, it was like losing a personality.

PB: Well, I know you had to struggle to keep the American accent--you spoke it all through the picture whether we were shooting or not. Your sister lived in Sydney, and your parents came to visit, and they were all very upset that you wouldn't speak to them in your normal accent.

JW: Well, who can blame them?

PB: What would you say was the most difficult thing for you to do besides the accent?

JW: I think it was the singing that killed me! It was definitely the embarrassment of having to sing in front of 400 people on the set. And singing in a bikini--that was quite tough, too.

PB: You did awfully well. You had extraordinary confidence with it.

JW: What did you find was the toughest scene to shoot?

PB: The ending. The most painful was when she falls in the water and she is trying to save herself. I thought that was emotionally disturbing because I, by then, had sort of fallen in love with Natalie, with her persona. I felt terrible for you because it was difficult to do all that and terrible for the character, realizing that she'd been through something so horrible.

JW: I just remember watching the interview tapes that you sent me in London and being impressed by just how strongly the people in her life felt about her-- about her work, the way that she lived her life, the decisions she made as a wife and a mother and what great friends she really had.

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