Up In The Air - Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick interview

VERA Farmiga and Anna Kendrick talk about starring in the Oscar tipped Up In The Air, working with George Clooney and confronting the film’s many themes, especially its issue of unemployment. They were speaking at a UK round table held during the London Film Festival.

Q. Vera, how did you pitch your character when playing her? What attracted you to her?
Vera Farmiga: What attracted me most about her and the portrayal of her was female desire. It’s libertine, unapologetic, shameless and demanding. But I thought it was really cool to see it portrayed that way. To me, it was challenging to walk that line and honour that power and prowess. And yet not appear frightening to the audience. It was a wonderful tightrope to walk. But again, Jason Reitman was such an incentive and the script was hilarious; the dialogue was incredible. But your dance partner makes all the difference and George [Clooney] was perfect.

Q. Anna, speaking to a room full of people, as you do in your first scene, would be daunting enough in real life. So, chronologically where did it come for you during filming?
Anna Kendrick: Of course that was one of the first things we shot! I think George [Clooney] makes you feel really comfortable immediately… even though he’s one of the most famous people on the planet you have known him for only three days and the other people I’ve known for 30 seconds, so oddly he seems like the most friendly face! I remember that the day in question was mostly a lot of talking from a lot of angles, so I was more concerned about that than anything else… keeping my energy up and remembering the lines. It was more of a technical concern for me.

Q. At what point did it become work? When did you get past the “I’m acting with George Clooney” feeling?
Anna Kendrick: I guess a few days really. He knows how to be really charming and to really put people at ease. You can’t get over the fact he’s George Clooney. But the fact that he makes the effort makes you feel like it’s OK for you to relax. So, it gets pretty easy after that.

Q. One of the issues in the film is the feeling of getting “let go”. Is that something, as an actress, you feel a lot? Or does it make you tougher than most when it comes to that kind of situation?
Vera Farmiga: Sure, I think a tough skin comes from having to… it’s always such a finite job and you’re always having to be on the search for the next role. So, you do have a tougher resistance and need a tough skin.

Q. How good are you at being in between jobs?
Vera Farmiga: There are a lot of good days. I’m interested in a lot of things other than acting and this industry. I have other focuses. So, I occupy my time with that. The last bad day I had I went online… my husband knows how to deal with me in those situations. So, we ordered the finest goat semen in all the world! And we decided to inseminate artificially our goats. We waited for it to come, it arrived in a big nitrogen tank and then waited until the next day to begin investigating what we had to do next. We then discovered it wasn’t going to be easy.

It’s hard enough to clip their toenails and to sheer them when it’s time. So, we went online and discovered we were amateurs. We realised it probably wouldn’t be viable anyway because the transfer of goat semen to freeze was very important… and I don’t mean Hagen Dazs ice-cream style freeze; I mean deep freeze! So, this is how I occupy my time when I’m not working [laughs]. It takes my mind off all the bullshit.

Q. How many goats do you have? And was it successful?
Vera Farmiga: We have four and we haven’t tried it yet. I was thinking turkey baster but there’s a whole spectrum of things that are supposed to be involved!

Q. Are you OK with flying, or do you have a fear of it?
Anna Kendrick: I don’t have a fear of flying but I don’t care for air travel – being at the mercy of other people, or giving up my belongings or personal control.

Q. How are you with luggage? Are you a good packer?
Anna Kendrick: I managed to do carry-on only to London, which I’m very proud of…. and that’s with premiere dresses and shoes bitches!

Q. Including make-up and bottles?
Anna Kendrick: I only brought a little bit of make-up and stuff. But my bag, my purse and literally only one pair of jeans and two T-shirts for Vancouver.