(Lynn Collins, left, and Heather Goldenhersh in The Merchant of Venice.)(I did this interview with actress Lynn Collins for Venice Magazine a day after the premiere of The Merchant of Venice at the AFI Film Festival in 2004. Her work in the film was excellent, although few outside the festival circuit and the Shakespeare die-hards seemed to see it. It took a few years for Hollywood to catch up with her, but it's nice to see her landing some big studio roles now, such as last year's X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the upcoming John Carter of Mars. She also had a stint on "True Blood" last season. And now that she's done some real populist entertainment, her next on-screen shot at Shakespeare should get the attention that her work in Merchant deserved six years ago. She was great as Portia. )
LYNN COLLINS
The Lady of Belmont Keeps It Real
By Terry Keefe
Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins. One of those names might not seem to belong with with the others at first glance, but that will likely change when director Michael Radford's The Merchant of Venice hits theaters in December. Even if you caught 13 Going on 30 and 50 First Dates this past year, you might not remember Lynn Collins for her small roles in those films. But you won't easily forget her work as Portia in this latest Shakespearean adaptation. The term "revelation" is thrown about a little too easily at awards time, but there are occasions when it's entirely appropriate to use. Lynn Collins' performance in the film is one of them.
The plot of The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's most complex, and it is also highly challenging for any creative team to pull off properly. The brash young aristocrat Bassanio (Fiennes) has nary a cent, but still wishes to win the hand of fair Portia. This will require money which he does not have, thus, he goes to his friend Antonio (Irons), the wealthy merchant of the title, and asks him for financial backing in his romantic quest. Antonio agrees and goes himself to obtain a loan from the Jewish money lender Shylock (Pacino), who has a deep animosity for Antonio. Anti-semitism pervaded 16th century Italy, and Shylock has felt his share of discrimination at the hands of Antonio in the past. Nonetheless, Shylock agrees to the loan, with one condition: if Antonio defaults, Shylock will be entitled to take "a pound of flesh" from the merchant. Newly flush with borrowed money, Bassanio travels to Belmont where he must pass a test laid out in advance by Portia's late father: the man who is to marry his daughter must correctly choose one of three caskets. Portia has already fallen in love with Bassanio at first sight, and when he does choose correctly, she is thrilled. But Bassanio must then travel back to Venice because Antonio's ships have been destroyed, and Shylock wants to exact this pound of flesh. Like many other Shakespearean heroines, Portia dresses up as a man, specifically a judge, and follows Bassanio to Venice where she attempts to save Antonio's life.
Despite numerous stage and small screen productions, "The Merchant of Venice" has rarely been mounted as a major theatrical film. It's not hard to understand why that is the case. The play is a mix of heavy drama and comedy. It also takes place in two very different locations, the gritty streets of Venice and the almost mythical land of Belmont, where Portia resides. And any film adaptation must be handled with extreme care, because the wrong tone could cause the play itself to be interpreted as anti-semitic, rather than a story which takes place in an anti-semitic time. Director Radford does a skillful job of balancing all these challenges. While his adaptation is largely faithful to the original text, he has made some key excisions and has also added a largely dialogue-free opening sequence in which the source of the animosity between Shylock and Antonio is very clearly presented. And in Collins, Radford has made a true find. Portia must be a charming, romantic figure during her introductory scenes in Belmont, but she must also be an empowered, sharp, almost modern woman when she arrives in Venice. She is the character who bridges both worlds, and in that sense, is the glue that holds the entire film together.
Although this is her breakthrough film role, Collins is no stranger to Shakespeare, having performed his works extensively while a student at Juilliard. And after graduation, she played Ophelia in "Hamlet," opposite Liev Schrieber at the NYSF Public Theatre. She has also played Juliet in Sir Peter Hall's production of "Romeo and Juliet" at the Ahmanson Theatre.
Landing the role of Portia was a huge coup for you, as you were virtually unknown outside of the theater world. How were you cast?
Lynn Collins: Originally I auditioned for (Shylock's daughter) Jessica. And Michael Radford saw it and said, "No, this is Portia." So they put a lot of me on tape, and Michael sent the tape to the producers and to Al Pacino, and everyone approved me. And they basically spent two and a half months convincing the financiers that there were already enough Oscar winners in the production. [chuckles]
Although you were well-versed in Shakespeare in the theater, did you require much coaching to develop a film technique for performing his work?
My coaching really came in watching everyone else. Having done so much theater, it was about taking that energy and not decreasing it, but focusing it even finer, like a laser. And I watched these men, who were all also theater actors, do that. It's also funny how much you can learn if you're willing to take your ego out of it. There's an actor in the film called Charlie Cox, who plays Lorenzo. I remember at the read-through that he was so natural in his delivery of his lines in Shakespeare. And I was like, "I'm going to add a little bit of that." Then, I watched the way that Joe Fiennes can combine the poetry, and it's so lyrical in what he does. And then I saw how Al brings such earthiness to it. Everybody had their own thing, so I was just thinking, "Okay, I can take it all." I was so lucky to have such amazing actors to work alongside of. In that way, all I had to do was to remember to focus on them.
What was your biggest personal challenge of the production?
I felt very secure in my handle on Shakespeare, since I had done so much of it (in the theater). I was a little worried about not knowing how big or small to be on-screen, but that was taken care of immediately. I was really able to trust Michael with everything. The dramatic timing, the amount of any sort of energy, movement, or emotion. I think the bigger challenge was working with these men who I had grown up idolizing, and really sort of having to “own” what maybe I had apologized for a lot of my life, which is my strength and my intelligence. And walking into a room and not apologizing for those things, but in fact, having to really own them. Because you can’t fake Portia’s journey into her power. That’s something, as an actress, you have to go along with. You can’t not be doing the same thing as her. Which is why every young actress should at least work on one of her monologues, because the way Shakespeare wrote her, it’s almost haunting what it does to you. It really sort of possesses you. It was a pleasure to dance with her for a while.
(Lynn Collins in publicity shots for last year's Wolverine, above.)
Did you find that playing Portia affected the rest of your life outside of the film?
Oh, absolutely. Michael and I were doing DVD commentary last night, and we were in the car on the way to the studio. He said, “Wow, a year ago we started rehearsing this. You’re a really different person now.” And I said, “Really? Why?” He said, “Well, you ride in the back of limos.” [laughs] And I said, “No, I don’t! Only for this.” Then we actually got into it, and he said, “No, you became a woman.” He hired a girl and at the end of the shoot, said goodbye to a woman.
Portia had to be a lot of things at once. She had to be witty and kind. Sweet but strong. Was there a process by which you were able to find that balance?
Michael would be like, “She’s innocent but knowing. Go!” [laughs] We made jokes about it, because of the dichotomy. He'd be like, "I want her to be really fresh but wiser than everyone else. Go!" These sort of impossible dichotomies. I remember one day realizing that it's not so difficult, because that's how we are as human beings. Changing all the time and 100 different personalities. I sort of had to tap into myself, because I'm all those things. In one moment, with my significant other, he can be like, "My god, you're so vulnerable and sweet, almost like a child." And then something will happen and he'll be like, "Where the hell did that come from?!" [laughs] So it was more of accepting those facets of myself, and allowing myself to be fully innocent and in the next take, be completely in command.
Let's talk about shooting the scenes when you dressed up as the male judge.
It ended up being so sort of bizarre. The meeting of the fantasy world of Belmont and the earthy, gritty, dirty Venice, the combination of those two things is Portia dressed as a man. So there is this suspension of disbelief, fantasy/almost grotesque quality about it. Personally, I had loads of fun. I remember when my manager came to Venice to visit on set, he didn't recognize me. I was standing next to him for a while. With my boyfriend, I relished kissing him with the mustache. [laughs] Those are the weird things you didn't think you'd enjoy. And yet there were moments when I'd look at Heather Goldenhersh (who plays Portia's handmaiden Nerissa in the scene, also dressed as a man) and say, "I'm feeling really sort of emotional, and I'm not sure why." And she'd be like, "God, me too." And it's because there is something sort of unnatural about facing that part of you. I looked like a boy. Convincingly or not, it was, to me in the mirror, showing that side of me that, unless you're an actor, you never see. It's like a "glitch in the Matrix" sort of thing. [laughs]
You basically had to carry much of the courtroom scene, with the performances of Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes revolving around yours. Did you allow yourself to feel the pressure of that?
You know, Michael was very, very clear and adamant about [my] losing any sort of awe about working with these guys. As far as status was concerned, [Portia] is the highest status in the film at every moment, regardless of whether she realizes it. Michael said, "You, Lynn, need to start inviting that now. You have to be assuming this status all the time, so get comfortable with that." So I think the other actors, the guys, knew that. Power cannot be taken, it's only given. And they really allowed me to spread my wings and strut like a peacock sometimes. [laughs] And I'm so grateful to them for that.
We've talked about your personal challenges playing Portia. What do you think were the biggest challenges facing the overall production?
I think Michael's adaptation is the reason this film turned out so lovely. Even as a play, "The Merchant of Venice" is incredibly difficult. Because you have the fantasy of Belmont and the opposition of this gritty Venice. And they're two so distinctly different storylines that cross at one moment and then leave each other again. For a director and a producer, I think that poses just an immense amount of, you know, brain hemhorraging. [laughs] I think Michael's adaptation sort of brought it all together. Bits and pieces that he added, that he fleshed out the skeleton of the story with, really brought it to life. I think we're also showing a slice of history, and sadly enough , it was incredibly anti-semitic in Italy at that time. It was sort of the beginning of what really created anti-semitism. I think people can get easily confused by thinking that this is an anti-semitic play. That's sort of like thinking that Schindler's List is an anti-semitic movie. Because it's showing a piece of history, which is definitely what Michael chose to do. We've had a lot of questions like, "Do you think it's anti-semitic?" Well, Michael's mother is Jewish, so technically, he's Jewish. He would not be making an anti-semitic movie. We were all adamant that we make it as realistic as possible. I can only speak for myself in this; I can speak for everyone else but I'm not going to. I hope that people leave this movie inspired by many things, inspired by the positive things in it, but having learned something. And more than that, walking out going, "We haven't actually changed that much. It was in 1595. What is the difference?" And there isn't any.
Let's talk about your background a bit. You were born in Texas.
But my family actually moved to Singapore when I was four, and I was there until I was ten. So it was sort of Singapore-via-Texas. Then I went from Singapore back to Houston. And I graduated from high school in three years, because the culture-shock of returning did not really leave me. I was really a fish-out-of-water in Texas. I was exposed in Singapore to every different situation, race, religion, everything. I was a minority as an American there. And to come back to the white-bread Republican, right-wing town I came from was really difficult for a young girl. To have been opened up to everything and then in a way to be told, "Forget everything you saw, because this is the way it is now." I just didn't adjust very well. [laughs] I basically came to New York as fast as I could.
What was it like doing high school theater in Texas?
Texas is incredibly competitive. The football teams are just insane. But also in every other area. Academics are very competitive. The drama department I had was the best in the state, so that was also very competitive. The drama teacher sort of scouted me out. He had seen me doing something in junior high. I don't know how good I was in junior high, but he saw something that he wanted to nurture. My first role at 14 was as Ophelia and, ironically, I played Ophelia in my first professional job, as well. It's interesting. Shakespeare has sort of been the first on a lot of things for me. He's sort of taking my virginity on all levels. [laughs]
From Texas you went to Juilliard.
Well, because my high school drama department was so intense, the amount of time I was spending on the craft in high school was comparable to that of Juilliard. I think my first two years at Juilliard were very difficult because I came in very young and did not know who I was. Not that we ever know that, but I was especially aware of my personal, physical, emotional, and spiritual boundaries. And it can really bring out the worst in you and you have to grapple with that at an age where you may not have the tools to. So I went into an extreme depression after my first year and really went to some dark places. But in the end, I came out so grateful that I went to the school. The last two years you're able to perform for an audience. And then there's this thing called "Repertoire," which is at the end of the spring. They do one play one weekend, then they break it down and do the next set. And you do them basically in three weeks. Because I had leads in every one of them, I was terrified. I didn't know how I was going to remember everything. But it ended up being the groundwork for probably the rest of my career. Even if the training is actually never utilized, you have the mental belief that, "Okay, I'm trained. I can do whatever I'm asked to do." It's sort of the psychological backbone that it gave me, and I'm so thankful for. At some point, I hope they'll let me come teach.
It feels like Hollywood is on the verge of really discovering you. Are you being swept up in that whirlwind right now and offered a lot?
Yeah, it's good. I'm so grateful to have had the experience to do this film. It's so lovely that it's being received so well. Having learned so much from the process, I want to continue to do work of its caliber. That's the tricky part now. When you're given such a huge opportunity, you have to be careful about what you do next. I'm excited and ready to work again. But I have a lot of people to keep me grounded. So being swept away like you said, I try not to believe too much of the hype. I try to keep it real. [laughs]
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