MICHELLE PFEIFFER: Did anybody forewarn you that I'm maybe, like, the worst interviewee that ever was?
DARREN ARONOFSKY: That's an exciting way to start.
PFEIFFER: I thought it was very clever to have you because I usually don't feel any responsibility to give up anything. I sort of bide my time until the interview is over, and I can be pretty withholding. But now, because I like you, I have to make an effort.
ARONOFSKY: Well, thank you. Now I can finally reveal all of your true secrets. It's interesting—because we just worked together and got to know each other well—there are so many things I know about you. But sometimes I'm going to ask stupid things because people want to hear your story. I don't know if I ever got into it with you, but how did you even know what an actor was?
PFEIFFER: That's interesting. I'm from Orange County, Southern California, and couldn't have been more removed from the entertainment business. In fact, I didn't really even go to the movies much. My mother didn't drive. My father couldn't be bothered. So, I didn't really go anywhere. But what I did do is I would stay up really late watching old movies on television. I can't even tell you what they were because I was so young. But I remember watching what they were doing and saying to myself, "I can do that."
ARONOFSKY: I'm curious if you can talk about things you picked up about your craft that has changed over your career? The skills that you've realized are part of your method, getting ready for a role. Because any kind of wisdom you can send my way ...?
PFEIFFER: I was thinking today, "Why do I hate being interviewed so much? [Aronofsky laughs] How can I explain this to poor Darren who has to do this dastardly interview with me?" And I think it may be that I have this constant fear that I'm a fraud and that I'm going to be found out. It's true. I just got this e-mail from Steve Kloves who wrote and directed The Fabulous Baker Boys [1989], and he said, "How's it going on Murder on the Orient Express?" which I just finished with Kenneth Branagh. And I said, "Oh, you know me. I feel like I'm ruining his movie." Because the first week into shooting Baker Boys, I said the same thing to Steve: "I think I'm doing a terrible job in this."
ARONOFSKY: Oh, God.
PFEIFFER: But I think that's because I started working fairly quickly and I wasn't ready. I didn't have any formal training. I didn't come from Juilliard. I was just getting by and learning in front of the world. So I've always had this feeling that one day they're going to find out that I'm really a fraud, that I really don't know what I'm doing.
ARONOFSKY: Don't worry.
PFEIFFER: I've taken a lot of workshops, worked with some really masterful teachers, and I don't know that my method has actually changed from the beginning. I still work pretty instinctually—it's a little bit like hearing the rhythm of the character in your head.
ARONOFSKY: We should probably talk about this incredible famine we've had without you. What has been the reason for the resurgence, deciding to share your light with us?
PFEIFFER: Well, the first thing that comes to mind is I'm an empty nester now. I've never lost my love for acting. I feel really at home on the movie set. I'm a more balanced person honestly when I'm working. But I was pretty careful about where I shot, how long I was away, whether or not it worked out with the kids' schedule. And I got so picky that I was unhirable. And then ... I don't know, time just went on. And now, you know, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. I'm more open now, my frame of mind, because I really want to work now, because I can. And these last few years I've had some really interesting opportunities. And I have this weird synchronicity with Annette Bening. I was supposed to do Bugsy [1991]. I fell out of that. She did it, so she met Warren [Beatty]. That wouldn't have happened. And then she was supposed to do Batman Returns [1992]. She fell out of that. I replaced her. So, we're always kind of tag-teaming.
ARONOFSKY: It wasn't because of that history that I thought of you; it just made so much sense. We just haven't seen enough of you.
PFEIFFER: Because I disappeared, yeah.
Read the full interview at Interview.
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