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Thank God He Met LizzieAbout The Casting
The casting of the film, Cherie says, was critical to guarantee audience satisfaction: "We could not have done it without Richard Roxburgh, Frances O'Connor and Cate Blanchett. They are such good actors," Cherie says. "I really discovered what acting was all about on this film and how much actors contribute to a film. I am very grateful to them."
Cate Blanchett, one of Australia's hottest actors, was cast first as Lizzie. She joined the set on completing the Bruce Beresford feature Paradise Road with Glenn Close and exited on wrap to star in Gillian Armstrong's Oscar And Lucinda with Ralph Fiennes.
Cherie had originally conceived of Cate auditioning for the road of Jenny, but she read for Lizzie instead.
"My decision to cast Cate was almost instantaneous, it was all I could do to stop myself offering her the part before she opened her mouth. Later, she told me that she'd thought about how Lizzie would walk into the room and greet me. So she literally 'walked in' as the character. I barely required her to speak. That's the sort of casting moment you hear directors talk about all the time and hope to God it happens to you.
"Cate was intrigued by how enigmatic the character was on the page. It gave her and me a lot of room to create Lizzie and the Guy/Lizzie story. The end result is a rival character and story counterpointing the Guy/Jenny relationship that is critical to the film being a satisfying experience.
It's interesting to me that Cate is happy and interested in playing characters who are not necessarily the hero of the piece.
"I had seen Cate in practically all of her theatre roles so I knew what she was capable of - which is everything! I saw her in Kafa Dances - her first production out of NIDA (The National Institute of Dramatic Art) - where she gave an extrordinary comic performance.
"She is luminous, incredibly intelligent and very funny."Cate recalls clicking immediately with Cherie. She says they both laughed their way through her audition....and that the laughter continued on location.
"Cherie is so irreverent and has such a great unaffected sense of play that we spent a lot of time giggling. For me it is very important to have that relaxed sense of play on a film set, especially when the film is a comedy, albeit a black comedy."Playing Lizzie gave Cate the opportunity to work again with Richard Roxburgh, who plays Guy. She played Ophelia in the recent Belvoir Street Theatre production of Hamlet in which Richard starred. Richard describes Cate as an actress of great care and intelligence, bringing a vital humanity to a character such as Lizzie who risked being unlikeable and unsympathetic.
Cate says Lizzie is a very recognisable and pragmatic woman. She was attracted to the film because it is one of the few scripts which made her laugh out loud. She also found Lizzie's pragmatism quite distressing.
"I was told about the film by a friend who was auditioning for it. He had felt sad for weeks after reading the script and I was intrigued at the thought of a comedy which could leave such a bitter aftertaste," she says. "I was interested in its bitter-sweet way of looking at love and decision making. Guy and Lizzie, in many respects, make a decision to love each other and that challenges romantic ideas about love.
"There were so many moments making the film when we were laughing madly one moment and were then on the verge of tears," she says.