TV Guide Online - December 20, 1999

TV Guide Online Chat Transcript

TV Guide Online: Tonight we are chatting with Rachael Leigh Cook from She's All That about her new film, The Bumblebee Flies Anyway. The Bumblebee Flies Anyway will be premiering on STARZ! in January. Welcome, Rachael! Thanks for joining us tonight!

Rachael Leigh Cook: Thank you!

Question: Rachael, how did you get started in acting? Do you have any influences?

Rachael Leigh Cook: Can't say that I have any influences. I guess I'm still looking. I started doing print work here in Minnesota when I was young, like real young. Like 10 or 11 or so. I went on this audition when I was 15 for a short film that was shooting locally -- local writer, director, star, the whole bit. And somehow I got the part. We shot it over three weekends in '95. It was a lot of fun. A manager from LA heard that I had done this and saw my picture. She called the print agency I was working for and said, "Bring this girl in, bring her parents, and we'll talk." So I went, and she asked me if I'd like to come out to LA. And I went over my winter break of school and I tried out for The Baby-Sitter's Club. Got that... not sure how. :) And I've been working ever since.

Question: What is your new movie about?

Rachael Leigh Cook: We shot "Bumblebee" two years ago, it's just sorta been going through the process for quite a while now. The movie is about this boy... Elijah Wood, who's awesome, but we'll get to that in a minute. :) He wakes up in a hospital for the terminally ill, and they tell him "Don't worry, you're not sick, we're just doing experiments to regain your memory," because he has no memory of his name or anything. But he goes on to find that he's there because of an experiment trying to find the link between having a terminal disease and KNOWING that you have a terminal disease. He's a guy who's had cancer, gone in and out of remission, for most of his life. So what they're trying to do is find out that his not knowing that he has cancer, if that will keep him healthy.

Rachael Leigh Cook: It's called The Bumblebee Flies Anyway because bumblebees, in all logic, shouldn't be able to fly, that their wingspan-to-body-weight ratio doesn't work. So they shouldn't be capable of flying. But they do anyway. The theory behind the bumblebee and the movie is that what you don't know, can't hurt you.

Question: What qualities do you look for in a role?

Rachael Leigh Cook: Mostly, just because I've started to get a lot of scripts that are alike, is that it's different from what I've done before, and that it's a story that deserves to be told. The thing that I can tolerate the least is bad dialogue, so I look for a script with good dialogue that gives the character a distinctive voice within the piece. Variety is the key. That's all.

Question: Hi, Rachael. I thought that you were wonderful in the movie She's All That. My question is, what was it like working with Freddie Prinze Jr.?

Rachael Leigh Cook: I LOOOOVE Freddie. He's a doll! I think he's probably one of the most, if not the most, genuine guys in Hollywood. It's weird to even say "Hollywood" in the same sentence. He's just the antithesis of what you would think a Hollywood guy should be.

Question: What do you find most rewarding about acting?

Rachael Leigh Cook: I think the most rewarding part is being able to create something... create a person. It sounds kinda weird, and I'm not going to get method on you or anything, but when you've been someone else and felt these things and gone through situations and scenes as this person -- who's in a lot of ways you and in some ways someone else -- you get to miss it when you don't get to be that person anymore. It's kinda like losing a friend.

Question: What is it like working with Michael Caine in Get Carter?

Rachael Leigh Cook: I didn't get to meet Michael Caine! I'm so upset. From what I hear, he's quite a character. Did you know that his favorite show is "Ally McBeal"? Isn't that cool? :) I really wish I could have met him. I really like his work.

Question: You have several films in production. How do you pace yourself, and what do you do to unwind?

Rachael Leigh Cook: To unwind... I don't know. I'm not a very tense person. I'm not one of those actors who gets nuts when you put me in my trailer for half an hour with nothing to do. I just learned to knit yesterday; my mom's teaching me. I like to read. Don't get me wrong, I can party with the best of them, but for the most part, I'm a pretty laid-back person, I think. Yeah, I've been busy. After She's All That, I did a project called Texas Rangers that's coming out in April. And I just finished one about two months ago that was shot in London. It's the new comedy from the writer of The Full Monty, and it's going to be sweet! It's called Blow Dry -- sounds like porn, but it's not. :) I'm not sure when it's coming out, since we just finished it. It's going to be great. It's not just a bunch of hair gags, it's very touching. A great cast, too.

Question: What would you say to someone that wanted to get into the acting business?

Rachael Leigh Cook: I think Oprah once said (yes, it was Oprah... don't laugh), "Luck is the combination of preparation meeting opportunity." You're going to need a lot of luck. It's a lot of right place at right time. There's a lot of rejection... gotta expect that. Other than that, I guess the best advice I can give is not to have a lot of expectations, and just prepare yourself the best you can. Take classes in improv and scene study. Also, LA is a very weird place. I don't want to say "Trust No One," but I will say "Be careful."

TV Guide Online: Thanks for chatting with us, Rachael! We wish you the best and hope you come back soon!

Rachael Leigh Cook: Excellent! I definitely will. Hope you guys like the movie. Bring a box of Kleenex. And guys, watch it with your girlfriend. She'll think you're sensitive. :) Bonus points if you cry. It'll make up for the time you didn't watch Beaches with her.