Lifetime Movie Network sent me a copy of the upcoming
film "Lies in Plain Sight" and then I got to speak briefly with one of
the stars, Rosie Perez. Most of us who are over 35 remember that she was
in many great movies as well as being the choreographer for the Fly
Girls in "In Living Color" about 20 years ago. Her first big
screen movie was Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing", which I saw in the
theater when it first came out. She is a really good actress, of course,
and attractive, and is known for her very thick accent.
In this movie, Rosie plays the mother of a girl who has
committed suicide. The star of the movie is Sofia (played by
Martha Higareda), a blind girl who was best friends with Eva, the dead
girl. She comes home from college and starts figuring out that Eva lied
to her for many years. At first she is angry, until she discovers the
real truth that Eva hid from everyone. It is based on an Israeli movie.
Eva's mother plays a pivotal role in the story, especially the ending.
Rosie's performance was outstanding, as was Higareda's.
There were only about 4 or 5 of us on this conference
call. The first reporter was from a Latino newspaper, so she asked her
about how the industry has changed for Latinas and about being a role
model. I did not get a transcript for this call, so I will just tell you
that Rosie believes that things have changed in Hollywood for the better
since she started out, and she likes how actresses like Sofía Vergara
(of the TV show "Modern Family") don't shy away from showing their
accents. She is very flattered that anyone would consider her a role
model.
I had read about her accident on the set of Law & Order:
Special Victims Unit last year, and how she had to have a ton of surgery
and was in a wheelchair, so I asked her how she was doing and whether
she was feeling better. She says she is much better but it's still a
struggle, a slow process of healing and recovery. She was annoyed
that she could not do this
John Guare play at Lincoln Center but realizes that focusing on her
health is more important than doing work. I assumed that the movie was
done before the accident, but she corrected that the movie was done
after the accident, which surprised me. You certainly could not tell by
watching her in the film. She said it was difficult and she would have
had a lot more trouble if they had not had to give her lots of cortizone
shots. She mentioned that she was bloated in the movie from the shots,
but she did not look bloated at all to me, which I told her.
I asked her what drew to this movie, and she said that
it was the subject matter of abuse. She confessed that she didn't see
the original movie, but what she liked about it was how it had such a
display of grief and shock, but not in a melodramatic way that can be
typical of movies or TV. She lost her father, so she was able to draw on
that grief and knowledge in her portrayal. She mentioned that the
grief in the movie had a more human level, where you can't scream. She
knew the director would allow her to express that type of muted grief.
Another person asked her about the similarities between
herself and her character. It was clear that she hadn't really thought
of that before, and her immediate response was "not too much".
After some pondering, she said that both she and her character do not
care how they look when they are at home. The character was dealing with
grief, so Rosie did not wear any makeup, and in fact they asked her if
she would mind doing that, to take that risk to look bad on screen (as
if she could!). She is that way in her real life, at home - no
makeup and wears whatever is comfortable. She added with a laugh that
when she goes out her door, though, she is a true Puerto Rican and must
have her makeup and hair done up!
She was also asked what lessons viewers could take from
the movie. She suggested viewers look for the signs of abuse in their
family, get the knowledge about what those signs are, and allow the
children the freedom and opportunity to tell what has happened, as well
as protect them. This led to discussion of her activism, including
a group she sponsors that deals with children and their artistic side.
She spoke at length about her background and how it inspired her to be
an activist, particularly when it comes to inner city children. Her
motto, which she tells children, is "You gotta push through your fears
and step into your greatness".
The last question she was asked was about what she
thinks of today's dancing, especially on shows like Dancing with the
Stars. She said that she likes that show, that it has horrid costumes
but great choreography. She mentioned long-time friends that work on the
show. She did admit that her favorite show like that was "So You Think
You Can Dance?". She said they have some choreography that's really bad,
but mostly it is outstanding. She loves when they have guest
dancers and choreographers on the show.
I hope you enjoy the Lifetime Movie Network's
production! It is worth seeing. The acting and the emotional revelations
in the script are great, and it is difficult but important subject
matter.
ACADEMY
AWARD®-NOMINATED
ACTRESS ROSIE PEREZ
TO STAR
IN LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK’S
LOS ANGELES, CA (September 8, 2010)
– Academy Award®-nominated
actress
Rosie Perez (Fearless,
Do the Right Thing,
Pineapple Express), ALMA
Award winner Benito Martinez (The
Shield, Saving Grace),
Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill),
Christoph Sanders (Ghost Whisperer),
Martha Higareda
(Street
Kings) and Yul Vásquez (The
A-Team)
star in
the Lifetime Movie Network Original Movie,
Lies in Plain Sight. The
film
will premiere
Sunday, October 3, 2010, at 8pm ET/5pm
PT, on Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime’s sister network.
Lies in Plain Sight
tells the story of
Eva and her blind
cousin Sofia (Higareda), who were inseparable as children, with Eva the
loyal companion who helped Sofia through her tough adolescent years.
When Eva suddenly commits suicide, Sofia rushes home to her father
Hector (Martinez) and Eva’s parents Marisol (Perez) and Rafael (Vásquez)
to find answers. But as she delves into Eva’s life, questioning her
past boyfriends Ethan (Murray) and Christian (Sanders), the more Sofia
realizes that their childhood was actually filled with dark disturbing
secrets.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Lies in Plain Sight
is produced by The
Konigsberg Company and Fish/Corb Films S.L. for Lifetime Movie Network.
Frank Konigsberg (The Last Don,
Deep in My Heart), Yan Fisher-Romanovsky (Pathology)
and Roger Corbi (Ben Hur)
executive produce. Patricia Cardoso (Real
Women Have Curves) directs the script by Teena Booth (Amish
Grace). The original movie is based on the acclaimed Israeli
feature film Out of Sight.
ABOUT LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK
Lifetime Movie
Network is the sister network of Lifetime Television. On the heels
of having its highest-rated and most watched year ever in 2009, the
first quarter of 2010 was Lifetime Movie Network’s most watched quarter
in its 12 year history among Women 18-49, Women 25-54, Women 18-34,
Women 18+, Adults 18-49,
Adults 25-54, Adults
18-34, Total Viewers and Households. Recently, Lifetime Movie Network
reached more than 78 million U.S. subscribers, making it the industry’s
fastest growing channel.*
Lifetime Television®,
Lifetime Movie Network®, Lifetime Real Women® and
Lifetime Digital™ (which includes
myLifetime.com,
Lifetime Games,
Roiworld.com,
DressUpChallenge.com,
MothersClick.com and
LifetimeMoms.com) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC,
a subsidiary of A&E Television Networks, LLC. A&E Television Networks
is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst
Corporation and NBC Universal.
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