Norah Jones has a small role in upcoming film ‘Wah Do Dem’.
She talks a bit about starring in My Blueberry Nights in an interview with The AV Club:
AVC: The reception for My Blueberry Nights was pretty rough, and some of the reviews singled you out for your inexperience. Did you have any sort of trepidation about going in front of the camera again?
NJ: No, I don’t. I think I did what I was supposed to do in that film, because the director… There was nothing to prepare for. There was really no script to prepare with. He instructed me very explicitly to not take acting lessons. He likes to place his actors or whoever they are, whether they’re actors or not—you know, whether I was good or bad, or whether people liked it or not, I had a great time. I love film, and I would love to be a part of something that people universally love as a piece of film. Sure. Of course I would. And I would love to take acting lessons, and see that side of it someday. But I’m a musician. These two films I’ve done, I’ve done because even though they’re very different, they’re kind of loose and they seemed interesting. I felt like they were just another way to be creative, both at times in my life and career where I’ve been a little burnt out on doing what I do. So they both kind of have had a similar placement for me.
AVC: I’ll be honest, it’s not one of my favorite Wong Kar-wai movies.
NJ: Oh, mine either! [Laughs.] You know, whatever. [Laughs.]
AVC: Wong was clearly working out of his element, and without a lot of his regular collaborators.
NJ: Exactly. And I think for him, the language barrier—he speaks great English, but I think things are always more poetic on subtitles, so… [Laughs.] But I still loved making the film. I loved working with him. And I also loved, just visually his films are so beautiful. That one was no exception. And that was just really fun.
AVC: And whatever else, you get to—
NJ: I get to be pretty. If you’re a female and you get asked by someone who shoots the most beautiful female scenes to be in their film, it’s kind of exciting. [Laughs.] You know? I don’t usually look good like that, so—
AVC: There’s a lot of anticipation for all Wong Kar-wai’s movies, and that inevitably leads to disappointment sometimes.
NJ: He just has such a cult following. And I think, of course, if he’s going to make a movie in America with some famous movie stars, he’s going to get jumped on no matter what. It was great, though. It was really fun. I mean, some of the actors I got to work with, that was a great acting lesson right there. Watching them take what they were given, which was probably not traditional for what they do either. Even though I was out of my element, I felt like everyone kind of was in that film, which made it interesting from my perspective.