This week's Please Give returns Catherine Keener to the fraught, funny world of Nicole Holofcener, marking their fourth collaboration since 1996's Walking and Talking. This time, the crisis on hand is as social as it is personal -- the epidemic of white liberal guilt that wallops her Kate into a new, unusual variety of midlife crisis. Making matters worse, Kate's daughter Abby (Sarah Steele) has bad skin and a jones for $200 jeans, while husband Alex (Oliver Platt) has only slightly more compunctions about the affair he's having with his neighbor's granddaughter (Amanda Peet) than he does about waiting for the neighbor to die so he can expand their apartment.
Such are the concerns of Holofcener's frazzled elite, and few -- if any -- know them better than Keener. Ahead of Please Give's Tribeca premiere, she spoke with Movieline about her relationship with the filmmaker, the sublime appeal of working with young actors, and the psychological advantages of splurging.
I generally start by asking actors how they got involved with a project, but when it's you and Nicole Holofcener, I think the more appropriate question is: At what point of Nicole's process does an idea or character come to you?
I'm not really sure. Let me think about that. With Walking and Talking, it was when the thing was completed. When I got to it, the script was already written, but she had seen me in... I think it was Johnny Suede. She responded, and it was early. And then with Lovely and Amazing and Friends With Money, I think those probably came during the process of writing. And this as well. I've heard her say sometimes that she can hear my voice when she's writing.
What do you think of that as actor? Does it add pressure?
It doesn't add pressure. But it adds... Well, maybe that is pressure. Maybe it adds anxiety sometimes: "What the heck did you think writing about me? Are you out of ideas?" But it's not really for me or with me. I'm not her muse at all. I'm just her sort-of live voice from her imagination. Her life, her pages, you know? Maybe that's what she means. But I really don't think of it as writing inspired by me at all. It's more kind of her very keen way of looking at things: her open eye all the time. She's attentive.
With that in mind, to what extent did you relate to your character in Please Give?
A lot. I related a lot. I think about things that I hope are not as narcissistically concerned, although I might be. I don't know. But I think I've gotten past that kind of guilt and self-absorption about being a "have" person, and I shouldn't complain because there are so many have-nots and that whole thing. But I definitely understand it. And I think in this day and age we're definitely more aware of it. Sacrifices have to be made.
I talked to Nicole about this yesterday, and she said that she sensed a heightened realism for you with this character. The emotional stakes that Kate lives with every day, and particularly the scenes where Kate attempts to do things like volunteer. Did you sense that as well?
Not in the approach, but when we were doing it, definitely. I could feel it was more invested. It was heightened. It was sort of doubled -- not literally by two, but there was another layer on top. I think it's because of the subject matter and everything. At the time, I guess it struck me as though the situations were more important or grave or dire or something or necessary. Attention must be paid, in famous other words. But I think that's way the movie was. It's not like I took it there; Nicole invested that much feeling, and I felt it when I was doing it.
Do you think Kate made the right decision at the end of the film? Do you think she caved with her daughter?
No. I think she did the right thing. Why? Do you think she caved?
Not necessarily. But at the screening where I saw it, people were actually muttering at the screen: "Don't buy her the jeans. Don't buy her the jeans!"
Really? I've never heard that! That's an interesting thing to think about. But look: At some point you've got to call reality. And she walks around in these beautiful clothes, and she wants to give this homeless man $20, and her daughter's there saying, "You want to give this away? Why not to me?" It's like she's teaching her a lesson: It feels a little contradictory. Like, what's the big f*cking deal? Just give her the jeans. It's not about having expensive jeans. It's about walking out and feeling like a beautiful girl who's growing -- who's in the pharmacy looking at things privately, looking at things that are part of her maturing into adulthood. It's beautiful. And the jeans are symbolic of that.
It's interesting, because in the last year you've played the mother of three troubled young people in Max [Where the Wild Things Are]. Percy Jackson [Percy Jackson and the Olympians] and now Abby in Please Give. She's more conventionally troubled than the others, I guess, but still: Is there a continuity in these choices?
God, you're right. And there was An American Crime, and there's another one now in The Oranges... Jesus. Honestly, I look at the writing, the director and the part. And those things are most important to me. And the DP for some reason. I always... I don't know. It's interesting to me who's going to shoot it. I'm not sure that's really a concern; I just want to know what the feel of it is. I want to make sure...
What it's going to look like?
Yeah! What they're going after. Everybody counts, obviously. But that's funny. I guess it's just what's interesting. Maybe it's because I was a troubled youth. [Laughs] I don't know! There might be something to that. There might be something to ironing out that kind of complexity in relationships, you know? Or not ironing them out, but exploring them. But if there were other parts that came? The reality is I do see other scripts with different characters, but they're probably not what I like.
The family in this film fascinates me. It's just right. I've been a fan of Sarah Steele's for a while--
Oh my God, she's f*cking... She's great. She's beautiful.
What was it like working with her? Is there a sense of mentorship that you feel with young actors?
Well, Sarah is great. She's on her feet, and she's going. But if I were to generalize with younger actors, you know, I have worked with a lot. And I'm being genuine here: It's an incredible learning experience for myself. I just realize that they risk so easily, and it's just fantastic. It's what you have to do. What I think they need from me is to respect it, and to be challenging to them. And to feel secure while challenging them -- to say, "Let's bring it up. Let's go." And I just have the best experiences with them. I love working with kids, young adults... I love it.
It shows.
Thank you! That's good to hear.
What can you tell me about The Oranges?
[Laughs] The Oranges. It's such a strange, great, well-written movie. It's odd and a really great cast, and this director, Julian Farino, it's his first feature, and we all really love him. He knows precisely what he wants and how to talk to actors, so it's been a really great experience. But Oliver Platt and Allison Janney are best friends of mine and Hugh Laurie's, and we live across the street from each other. And we both have daughters who are about 20. They were best friends until they got into high school, and then... that's Alia [Shawkat] and Leighton Meester. We're all very tight and very fond of each other, and that's why it's so good. But Leighton... I don't want to give too much away, but...
I know she sleeps with Hugh Laurie's character.
OK, good. Well, I go a little mental. And that's all I have to say.