Sarah Polley
by Sherry Weiner

Canadian actress, 20-year-old, Sarah Polley arrives to the interview holding a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Thin as a rail, it’s hard to imagine her eating them all, but she does manage to eat a couple. Polley’s star is certainly rising. Her face has graced the cover of Vanity Fair and

Entertainment Weekly recently named her a sure-fired movie star for the new millennium. But Polley herself tries to separate herself from all that and says she has no interest whatsoever in becoming a movie star. “Fame is something stupid and meaningless” she says glibly.

Passionate about being a Canadian, she still lives in Toronto and has no plans of moving to Hollywood. The daughter of actors, she began her acting career at age four in the Canadian family show, Road to Avonlea. But it wasn’t until Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter that America took notice of her talents. She has also appeared in Egoyan’s Exotica, David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ and Doug Liman’s Go. Her assured, subtle performances are certainly far from the norm of the insipid teenagers Hollywood has been putting on the screen, of late.

Polley now appears in Audrey Wells’ directorial debut Guinevere that takes an unusual look at a mentor/love relationship which is both rewarding yet opportunistic. Harper (Polley) is an insecure young woman who meets a charming, Irish photographer, Connie (Stephen Rea), thirty years her senior, who sweeps her off her feet and saves her from a life of ordinariness. Acting as both artistic mentor and lover, their complex relationship unfolds. He gives her the pet name “Guinevere” which gains significance later as she learns much about herself and what life is all about.

Polley, dressed in baggy khaki’s looks anything but a young actress. Wearing no makeup, her straight, shoulder-length blond hair is combed simply. Her green eyes stare intently in a gaze that is puzzling. Outspoken, yet guarded, it’s obvious it’s not easy for her to talk about herself-she’s the first to admit she prefers her work to speak for itself.

UNIVERCITY: What do you think the story is about?
Sarah Polley: It’s about a very human, complicated relationship between two very human, complicated people. It’s not about its’ exploitative quality. It’s also not about how idyllic it is either. It’s very dark in places and I think they both get a lot out of the relationship. I think it’s the kind of humanity you don’t see in relationships in movies because it’s a frightening thing to deal with.

UNIVERCITY: There are so many light, mainstream movies like American Pie which have been coming out for younger audiences. Do you feel it’s risky to do a film like Guinevere where the market is more limited?
SP: I think it’s more of a risk to do a movie like American Pie than to do a movie like this one. The kinds of teen movies that are available to do out there will actually lead to a very short-lived career. Putting that aside—because that’s the most trivial way to look at things-I think the most important thing is to select a project that you want to be involved in that tells a personal story, something quite political, that causes people to argue and think and reflect upon things in a serious way.

UNIVERCITY: Do you have any similarities to Harper?
SP: I’m not as generous a person as she is. She’s inherently kind-and I’ve thought of kindness as a weakness. I’ve always been a tomboy and have been turned off by anything that’s the least girly. I think it was her sense of failure or lack of self confidence that I can relate to the most. There are many qualities in me that I’m not satisfied with.

UNIVERCITY: Have you ever had an experience with a mentor-an older man?
SP: Not similar to the one in the film, no. But I have had complicated relationships and there’s certainly a lot in my life for me to draw on.

UNIVERCITY: Can you give us an example?
SP: [smiles] I have a 93-year-old boyfriend and we’re really happy. [laughs]

UNIVERCITY: Most of the characters you’ve played are damaged people who have an inner strength.
SP: I think the way people are damaged is also what makes them strong. It’s definitely what makes them interesting as we see what obstacles they’ve overcome and which ones they haven’t. Life is difficult and everyone’s story is
both beautiful and tragic at the same time.

UNIVERCITY: You’re all over the cover of magazines and it seems you’re on the cusp of stardom. Are you concerned that it will change your life?
SP: I think that it doesn’t have to change your life if you don’t want it to. I think it’s a conscious choice some people make to embrace stardom and others don’t. I’m not all that interested in the baggage that comes with it. I’m interested in acting and the craft of it. I also enjoy learning more about myself through the process. I don’t read things that are written about me. I don’t go to any parties or premieres. I don’t hang around in Hollywood with other emerging young actors..[smiles] I’m a total loser, so it helps. My life hasn’t changed in the slightest actually. I still have a really boring life in Toronto and hopefully it won’t get too exciting too soon. [laughs]

UNIVERCITY: Are you ever pressured by your agent to accept parts in “big” movies that have a lot of buzz?
SP: When I got an American agent and first started doing things, I was really clear about not wanting to do those kind of movies. I was unbelievably clear about what I wanted to do and that I wasn’t interested in doing things that were “good” for me and “good” for my career. I’ve surrounded myself with people who are interested in telling good stories. So I think if you are really focused and really ruthless about creating that environment for yourself, you can stay away from those pressures.

UNIVERCITY: How did you find your experience in Doug Liman’s Go, your first American, bigger-budget film?
SP: It was a great experience. Go was not a typical Hollywood film. Just having Doug Liman as director made it atypical. He’s out of his mind running around with the camera on his shoulder. I didn’t sit down once or go to a trailer once. It was totally manic on the set and was definitely an experience that I won’t forget. That said, I always knew that I wasn’t the right person for that part and maybe I shouldn’t have done it. Christina Ricci was supposed to play it-and I think she could have done it better.

UNIVERCITY: Were you surprised the film didn’t do better at the box office, despite getting such good reviews?
SP: I’m always amazed by that kind of question because in Canada no movie ever makes its’ money back. So, I’m always shocked when people don’t think a film does well when it makes back its’ money-that’s amazing. So, no, I wasn’t surprised or disappointed at all.

UNIVERCITY: What other films are you working on now?
SP: I’m doing a movie called The Weight of Water directed by Kathryn Bigelow. I’m also doing a movie in Canada with John Grayson, The Law of Enclosures. It’s based on the novel by Darryl Peck about a married couple at age twenty at the most exciting time of their life and then at age fifty when they’ve become jaded, cynical and sadistic.

UNIVERCITY: After the success of The Sweet Hereafter and Go, did you get a lot of offers from Hollywood for some big roles?
SP: I got some offers.

UNIVERCITY: Did the offers give you pause for thought or weren’t the roles right for you?
SP: Generally, it’s not even that I wasn’t interested in the films, but I have a really specific idea of what I think I can do and what I think I can’t do. I have a strangely tight sense of my own limitations. If I look at a part that I think I could do or would be a challenge to me, I generally won’t do it if I think there are a lot of actors out there who could do it better than me. I have to have a very personal reaction to a project to involve myself in it. So, it’s rare that something meets those criteria for me.

UNIVERCITY: You recently wrote and directed a 7-minute short that played at the Toronto Film Festival and was well received. Are you more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it?
SP: [laughs] I don’t know yet. I know it’s something that I loved doing. The shoot that I did was two days long and was the most fulfilling two days of my life. The film itself was unbelievably flawed-but I don’t mind-it was still a great experience. So, it’s something that I’m definitely interested in exploring further. But, I think, there are too many actors out there who feel ready to direct a feature and I’m not one of them yet. [laughs]

UNIVERCITY: You began acting at a very young age. I don’t think that at like age four you decided to become actress, did you?
SP: I sort of did in a way. [laughs] My parents are both actors but were not at all enthusiastic about the idea of me doing it. I think I just bugged them enough until they gave in and let me do it. They were definitely not stage parents. They were reluctant parents who had their kid in a film. At that point, I thought it was just fun and I never thought it would be something that I would do when I grew up.

UNIVERCITY: How old were you when you did Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen? Did you have any idea of all the craziness that was going on?
SP: I was only eight and it was my first big movie, but I did have an idea of the craziness when explosives went off in my face. I had to be taken to the hospital and have my heart pumped. [laughs] Yeah, I had a sense there was something going on. I was sent home for two weeks when everything got shut down on the picture. The whole thing was a complete nightmare and was a really formative experience for me. I don’t think I could ever be convinced that acting is a glamorous thing to do with your life.

UNIVERCITY: Were the explosives that went off for special effects?
SP: Yeah. It was a bunch of explosives going off underwater. We were in a boat and there was a horse in the boat because it was a Terry Gilliam film. [smiles] After a couple of explosives went off, the horse jumped out of the boat and caught its’ hoof on the bottom of the water tank where the big explosives were. The plastic explosives surfaced and went off in my face. Don’t worry, the horse survived-but it had to swim to safety. [laughs]

UNIVERCITY: It seems like that experience could have deterred you from acting.
SP: It did. I vowed when I was eight never to do another movie with special effects in it.

UNIVERCITY: And that’s what pushed you to do so many indies?
SP: Yeah, I think when I hear a car door slam I still have a bit of a shell-shocked reaction. It was really scary. I lost my hearing for two days afterwards.

UNIVERCITY: You wouldn’t do another special effects movie, but would you do another Terry Gilliam film?
SP: [laughs] I think that might be difficult. I have too many traumatic memories.