It has been nearly two weeks since my trip to New York City and I still haven’t even scratched the surface of the amazing opportunity that it was to be in New York at Christmas with Disney/Dreamworks and a group of talented bloggers.
The day after our group attended the world premiere of Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, we were able to meet with Emily Watson, who plays Albert’s mother, Rose Narracott, in the film. I shared some of the interview on 5 Minutes for Mom this week, but there was so much more that we discussed during our hour with Emily that I thought it was worthy of an additional post.
When Emily sat down with us, we jumped right into the discussion with her. She reminded me, once again, that mothers are the same everywhere, whether they are mom bloggers, actresses, or presidents of an international company.
What is your greatest accomplishment as a mother?
Emily: I think that your children kind of learn things from you by osmosis, don’t they? There are things that you don’t realize that you’re doing that are good. I went in to school a few weeks ago and had a meeting with the teacher. And she said, “You have a lot of books in your house, don’t you?” And I was like, yeah, how’d you know? She said, “Juliet is just absorbing stories and literature from you having a lot of books and reading a lot in the house.” It had never really occurred to me that that was in any way unusual. I guess that’s something we’re doing right. It’s hard, though, isn’t it?
Have your kids seen WARHORSE?
Emily: They’re too young now. I think I might let them when they’re older, but for now, maybe the first 20 minutes and then enough.
I had my nieces there last night. And they’re 11 and 14. And the 11-year old said it’s a bit loud. It was a bit loud, wasn’t it? But I think maybe eight, nine, would be appropriate. I think it’s a great way to learn about war.
It was great that it wasn’t gory.
Emily: Yes, Steven Spielberg did it specifically so that children could see it.
How did you find Steven Spielberg as a director compared to other directors you’ve worked with?
Emily: It’s totally different every time you do it. I just have to say – Robert Altman, what an amazing man. What an amazing experience, I’m privileged to have known him let alone have worked with him. He was so young at heart. Right until the end of his life. He was 78 when we did GOSFORD PARK. And he kind of he adopts people – me and my husband he just kind of said, “hey guys, come on in, be part of my life, be part of my family.” And he was sort of just wicked and naughty and funny and, uh, very democratic. Very irreverent. Just a really fantastic thing to have had in my life.
Then… Lars Von Trier. I mean, as an actress that was the most incredible experience and I didn’t really know what acting was before I did that. And the way that he works, he allows you to go to extremes. But not in a dangerous way. But it’s just so all consuming. He allows you to go to a place that’s really very extreme. And that’s such a stretch as an actress.
Steven Spielberg, very different from other directors I’ve worked with. There’s a huge unit, there’s massive crew. Steven has obviously done a lot of incredible technical feats and he’s a great action director, but he’s still very focused on performance. But I’d say the thing that those three very, very different people have in common is that they are all completely compelled to tell stories.
And they would probably die if they didn’t. I think that it’s it’s like a calling. Robert Altman was like, “Vacation, why’d you wanna vacation …” it’s like, he’d be just on to the next, on to the next, on to the next.
It was a pleasure meeting Emily. As we took the group picture, someone in our group asked Emily if she read any blogs. Emily responded, “Not really. I don’t have the time.” I told her I didn’t have the time, either…
Photo of Emily Watson was taken by Louise from MomStart, one of the fellow bloggers on our trip. Our fearless leader, Marshall, took the group shot of all of us after the interview.
Disclosure: Disney/Dreamworks sent me to New York City to attend the world premiere of War Horse. I am eternally grateful that I was able to go on this trip. It was both an adventure and a deeply moving experience. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I did not receive any monetary compensation for the time I took to go to New York or write these posts.
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