Fans of the hit television show Lost might know Emilie de Ravin
as Claire Littleton -- the woman who disappeared in the fourth season
only to return in the sixth. The rest us will be introduced to her this
weekend when she stars alongside Twilight's Robert Pattinson in the romantic drama Remember Me.
She plays Ally, a young college student who has never healed from the
loss of her murdered mother. De Ravin says that she "couldn't put the
script down" after it was handed to her and was very "passionate about
it from the get-go."
"It's very grounded and honest. All of the
characters are so well developed and you find out so much about each
individual. It's so organic the way everyone interacts and how these
situations in life, and tragedies and relationships, affect one
another," she tells CityNews.ca.
Originally her role was written
as a Hispanic part, a detail that changed only weeks before filming
began. Being brought in late in the game meant she had to work extra
hard to get to know her two main co-stars, Pattinson and Chris Cooper.
Cooper plays her overprotective police detective father in the film and
they needed to look like they had been through a lot together.
"Chris
[Cooper] and I spent a lot of time getting to know each other so that
we could really bond onscreen naturally. The father and daughter
relationship we wanted to make very believable and unforced. Same with
Rob and I in the film, their characters meet and become so close so
quick that we wanted to make sure it came across just how connected
these two people are," he says.
When asked to compare working in television and film, she cites time to develop the role as the biggest difference.
"The
luxury of film is not just having more time to prep and rehearse, but
having that script in front of you from day one. With its beginning,
middle, and end all there. You're not constantly finding out week after
week new elements of your character that you didn't know before. That's
something I really enjoy about film."
Although her mother inspires her life in many ways, she adds that on the set of Remember Me
it was the "insanely talented people" that kept her pushing from scene
to scene. When asked who her favourite actors or directors are she
answers; "I'm not really the type of person to have a favourite this or
favourite that."
She does have a list of people she would like to, or have liked to, work with.
"I
would have loved to have worked with [Alfred] Hitchcock. I've been a
fan of his since I was a child," she says. "I'd love to work with the
Coen Bros. I think they're geniuses the way they tread the line between
genres. Their films are always unique in that fashion. [Martin]
Scorsese would be amazing to work with too."
As for the message she wishes people get out of Remember Me it's to slow down and enjoy life.
"We're
so caught up in work and go, go, go. Just take that second and sit back
and appreciate life and don't it for granted," she says.
Ravin heads back to Hawaii soon to finish the last season of Lost and lends her voice talents to Zack Snyder's animated feature Legend of the Guardians later this year. Remember Me is in theatres on March 12.
brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com
Top image: A scene from Remember Me. Courtesy E1 Entertainment.