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Interview With Sally Field
Aired July 01, 2003 - 15:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR; The new movie "Legally Blonde 2" is set right here in the nation's capital. Reese Witherspoon returns to the role that she portrayed in the original "Legally Blonde." She's joined by Academy-Award winner Sally Field, who plays a member of Congress. Yesterday I spoke with Sally Field and started by asking her to explain what happens in the movie.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALLY FIELD, ACTRESS: Well, gee, I don't want to spoil the plot.
Well, I am her mentor. She comes to Washington to make some changes and I am the person she looks up to greatly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: This is Elle Woods, everyone -- basically me when I first came to D.C. So make her feel at home. You ready to hilt the ground running?
REESE WITHERSPOON, ACTRESS: Are these not my comfortable heels?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: And when she gets here she learns that the system is not as simple as she once had thought and really not as -- let's see, how do I put this? Not as fair as she was hoping. And my character is not necessarily a good guy, and my character has got to play the game a certain way in Washington to stay in Washington, you know? She has to raise money and she has to appease certain people and it's something we've heard about. And so, basically, she trades off everything she believes in just to stay there.
WOODRUFF: Well, a lot of that -- a lot of that sounds realistic. Not all of it, but a lot of it.
FIELD: Yes.
WOODRUFF: Now, you didn't film it in Washington, but how were you able to capture Washington?
FIELD: Well, we had to go to Springfield, Illinois, which is interesting. Beautiful, actually, because their state capital, their state building, capital building in the interior looks similar to our own, our nation's capital. And it's the only place we could go and shoot it because, at that time, I mean, you can't go in and shoot the nation's Capitol building, anyway.
WOODRUFF: Very picky about security.
Sally Field, tell us also about clearly you and Reese Witherspoon playing two women in very powerful roles in this city. What signal do you think that sends to the young women and girls who are going to be watching this movie, many of them?
FIELD: Reese's character really, in the "Legally Blonde" mode in that it's great fun and, you know, sort of magical in its way. She really says that one person, if you're committed, you can make a difference, and I think right now our country doesn't feel that way any more. We really don't feel that one person can make a difference. I think we feel somewhat defeated in a way against the machine that is politic and that is government. And I know Reese felt really strongly about sending a message to young women, little girls, even, and ones that are long ways from voting to ones that are close to voting to say, Start getting involved.
WOODRUFF: What do you think the fascination is out there with this town? Is it primarily negative? You know, that things don't get done, that people feel defeated? Is there any cintilla of hope or anything positive coming out of here?
FIELD: You know, I don't know. I mean, it is obviously very fascinating because it's extremely powerful and incredibly complicated and I think for me personally, I would like to know more about it, so when I take on certain roles, like when I was doing the thing about the Supreme Court, it was very selfish in that I wanted to know more about the Supreme Court. And it forced me to read more and to throw myself into it in the only way that I know how, because I'm an actor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: Sally Field plays a congresswoman in "Legally Blonde 2," out tomorrow.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 1, 2003 - 15:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR; The new movie "Legally Blonde 2" is set right here in the nation's capital. Reese Witherspoon returns to the role that she portrayed in the original "Legally Blonde." She's joined by Academy-Award winner Sally Field, who plays a member of Congress. Yesterday I spoke with Sally Field and started by asking her to explain what happens in the movie.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALLY FIELD, ACTRESS: Well, gee, I don't want to spoil the plot.
Well, I am her mentor. She comes to Washington to make some changes and I am the person she looks up to greatly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: This is Elle Woods, everyone -- basically me when I first came to D.C. So make her feel at home. You ready to hilt the ground running?
REESE WITHERSPOON, ACTRESS: Are these not my comfortable heels?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: And when she gets here she learns that the system is not as simple as she once had thought and really not as -- let's see, how do I put this? Not as fair as she was hoping. And my character is not necessarily a good guy, and my character has got to play the game a certain way in Washington to stay in Washington, you know? She has to raise money and she has to appease certain people and it's something we've heard about. And so, basically, she trades off everything she believes in just to stay there.
WOODRUFF: Well, a lot of that -- a lot of that sounds realistic. Not all of it, but a lot of it.
FIELD: Yes.
WOODRUFF: Now, you didn't film it in Washington, but how were you able to capture Washington?
FIELD: Well, we had to go to Springfield, Illinois, which is interesting. Beautiful, actually, because their state capital, their state building, capital building in the interior looks similar to our own, our nation's capital. And it's the only place we could go and shoot it because, at that time, I mean, you can't go in and shoot the nation's Capitol building, anyway.
WOODRUFF: Very picky about security.
Sally Field, tell us also about clearly you and Reese Witherspoon playing two women in very powerful roles in this city. What signal do you think that sends to the young women and girls who are going to be watching this movie, many of them?
FIELD: Reese's character really, in the "Legally Blonde" mode in that it's great fun and, you know, sort of magical in its way. She really says that one person, if you're committed, you can make a difference, and I think right now our country doesn't feel that way any more. We really don't feel that one person can make a difference. I think we feel somewhat defeated in a way against the machine that is politic and that is government. And I know Reese felt really strongly about sending a message to young women, little girls, even, and ones that are long ways from voting to ones that are close to voting to say, Start getting involved.
WOODRUFF: What do you think the fascination is out there with this town? Is it primarily negative? You know, that things don't get done, that people feel defeated? Is there any cintilla of hope or anything positive coming out of here?
FIELD: You know, I don't know. I mean, it is obviously very fascinating because it's extremely powerful and incredibly complicated and I think for me personally, I would like to know more about it, so when I take on certain roles, like when I was doing the thing about the Supreme Court, it was very selfish in that I wanted to know more about the Supreme Court. And it forced me to read more and to throw myself into it in the only way that I know how, because I'm an actor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: Sally Field plays a congresswoman in "Legally Blonde 2," out tomorrow.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
