Alice Eve
Like her latest romcom movie, Alice Eve may be “out of our league”, but at least we’re not afraid to admit it – unlike her secret admirer in Cyrano. Felicity Harrison meets the up-and-coming British actress.
You shot Crossing Over with screen legends Harrison Ford and Ray Liotta. What was it like working with them?
I did most of my stuff with Ray and it was fantastic. He was a very generous actor, very present in the scenes and very professional, which is really all you want.
And I gather you had to do some quite confronting scenes with Ray. How do you prepare for scenes like that?
Yes, his character was cajoling me into having sex with him so that I could get a Green Card – it’s sleazy situation. I prepared as you would imagine. You get yourself in that state of mind, and you do it.
You played an Australian actress. How did you find the accent?
Because there are so many people from Australia in London, I didn’t find it too difficult but I did do some work to specify the region I was from [Melbourne], rather than coming in with some generic Aussie accent.
Is there anything you wouldn’t do in a film?
Oh, lots [laughs].
So, what are your boundaries?
Infinite.
Who would be your pick for an on-screen romance?
My boyfriend. We’ve been together about six months, but he’s not an actor, so it wouldn’t work.
An ideal date with your man would be..?
A day at the beach.
You’re currently rehearsing for Cyrano in which you play Roxanne along side Joseph Fiennes as Cyrano. How is that going?
Fantastically. Jo is a dream.
What do you like about working in theatre?
You can eat twice as much food because you are working twice as hard as you normally do. That is probably the main upshot – it is so demanding that you need to fuel it.
Cyrano is an epic love story about a secret admirer. Have you ever had a secret admirer?
Oh gosh, I wouldn’t know.
Have you ever sent a love letter?
I have sent a love e-mail. Unfortunately our romantic stories are destined to be lost in cyberspace.
So it wasn’t anonymous, then?
I guess not. When I was 14 and at school, on Valentine’s Day everyone had to write to someone. It ended up being a bit of a competition to see who received the most. I suppose I must have written one then.
And you’ve just shot a romantic comedy, She’s Out of My League. Do you look for humour in men?
I look for humour in everyone, I think. It is boring otherwise.
What directors do you dream of working with?
All of them. I am happy working with the director I am working with [Trevor Nunn] and I am always happy to meet a new one. There are directors whose films I love to watch but they are not necessarily the directors that would bring the best performance out of an actress. They are two different things and often you find it is a newcomer that does an amazing job getting a performance out of an actress. It depends on the time and place. There are films I like to watch and directors I like to watch but that, for me, is a different question.
How do you spend a day relaxing?
Usually, I like to see some sun, but that isn’t always easy in London. This weekend was beautiful – I did some yoga and I saw some sun. Perfect!
Where would your ideal holiday destination be?
Well, they say the Maldives are sinking, so I suppose I’d like to go there. And I would like to see Cuba before it changes, too.
- Alice Eve treads the boards with Joseph Fiennes in Chichester Festival Theatre’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac, from May 8 to 30.
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November 10th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
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