Freida Pinto has made just seven movies, all since 2008. Yet the directors she has
already worked with include Woody Allen, Michael Winterbottom, Jean-Jacques Annaud and Julian Schnabel
(the artist Julian
Schnabel).
It has been a stratospheric rise by anyone’s standards, and one marked by an intelligent
choice of scripts, roles and, above all, directors. It was Danny Boyle who first cast her in
Slumdog
Millionaire after spotting her as a model and TV travel show
presenter. It was a huge hit and one that cast her into Hollywood. As Immortals
and Rise of the Planet of the Apes continue to
earn huge amounts at the box office, and Trishna
receives plaudits from film festivals, we ask the
star how she is enjoying such an incredible journey.
Q&A: Freida Pinto
Slumdog put you on a
global map practically overnight. You are dating someone [British actor Dev Patel] who was also in the same
movie — is that helpful in a relationship?
It is because only the two of us know what it felt like. Even if I try to explain to,
say, my closest friend, she would understand but I wouldn’t even have to explain it to Dev, because he
already knows.
Do you advise each other on which projects to pick?
We talked to each other when the script for Rise of the
Planet of the Apes was sent to me. Dev was down with me in Montreal, I
was towards the end of Immortals and I
said, you know what, I was planning on coming to London and taking this break for the summer, but this script
has come my way and it’s amazing — what do I do? And he’s like, what’s the script, and I [say] it’s
Rise of the Planet of the
Apes, and he’s like, don’t be silly
(laughter) —
don’t even ask me such a stupid
question. So yeah, we do talk about it.
Do you still keep in contact with other actors from
Slumdog
Millionaire? They were not all as lucky as
you.
Some are much too young, some of them have their educations in front of them, but I do
keep in touch with them. When you watch the film, the boy, the middle boy, he’s one of the boys I keep in
touch with. I just think he’s a lovely kid, and to be there to sometimes guide him through questions like
“Why didn’t it happen for me?” I know it’s kind of vicious in a way that I have gone through that question
for him sometimes, but it’s nice that I can be there for him in whatever possible
way.
You could have made blockbuster romantic comedies; instead you chose political projects.
Is that something you are particularly interested in?
I am, because I feel that anything that makes me interested in thinking one step
further, or thinking out-of-the-box, thinking of something that I never thought of before [is good]. For
example, doing because then all the intelligent bit that you wrote about is going to vanish.
(laughter)
Do you think there are more interesting opportunities for you in Hollywood than there
are in the Indian film industry?
I would like to say that the Indian film industry is catching up, so soon it is going to
be on par… The opportunities are going to be intermingled anyway, so I feel yes, in terms of technology,
Hollywood is ahead, definitely ahead.
How was it working with Woody Allen in
You Will Meet A Tall Dark
Stranger?
Woody Allen doesn’t talk much, but when he does,
it’s very interesting. I had a good time with working with everybody on that film set, because it was very
different from what I had done the two prior films. It was a lot of improv and it was all very new to me —
very daunting and I got really nervous in the first couple of days. But I did realize that it was a kind of
blessing in a way because he was giving me freedom, on my third film ever, to change the lines and to make
them more realistic and to make them sound like they were coming out of my
mouth.
Who is your character in the film
Trishna?
I play Trishna — the Indian Tess, from Tess of the
d’Urbervilles.
So, you make films with Michael Winterbottom and Woody Allen and Julian Schnabel, which
are more independent arthouse cinema, and then you do those action flicks with a lot of running around, like
Immortals. Do you feel
you need that variety?
Yeah, definitely, because I feel I’d be depriving myself of all this amazing technology.
Like Immortals, to be
able to be on a set that looks like a living Greece but actually will look completely different in post. And
the joy with working with someone as amazing as Andy Serkis [in Rise of the
Planet of the Apes] and with Tarsem [Singh, in
Immortals]. I
feel that is all the experience of being an actor, and I get to dabble in all these various kinds. If I get
the opportunity, it would be silly to say no.
There was some criticism that you are not doing
enough for India. How do you feel about, let’s say, the weird response to
that?
I feel it’s sad. Every time I respond to this
question, it gets misconstrued, and then by the time it trickles down from the place of origin to India, it’s
a completely different story, and I’m like, I didn’t say that, for crying out loud! And it’s very depressing
at times. But my answer to your question might have been “upsetting” initially because I’m much too young and
at the start of my career to understand how to deal with it — but this kind of forceful growing, pushing me
to grow faster, has made me realize that instead of being bitter about it, try and understand what they are
trying to say. So I just look at it and think about it as maybe it’s a sign of curiosity. Where did she come
from? How is it that her career path is different from what we see the other actresses doing in India? So I
guess I’m trying to look at it in a positive light, and that helps me keep my sanity, and it works for
me.
How do you see the rise of an economy like India? It opens doors in the U.S. Do you
believe that it’s easier than 20 years ago [to find work in the industry]?
Definitely;
it’s definitely getting easier. I wouldn’t say it’s the easiest, but it’s definitely getting easier and also
because I feel that it’s American cinema or Hollywood as you call it. I think the British cinema has always
been open to different ethnicities, and has history with India, so maybe that one we should keep out of it.
But I feel the reason why this change is also happening is because we are realizing that it is a global
world, together.
Freida Pinto's
Filmography
IMMORTALS (2011)
Role: Phaedra
Director: Tarsem Singh
BLACK GOLD (2011)
Role: Princess Lallah
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
TRISHNA (2011)
Role: Trishna
Director: Michael Winterbottom
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
(2011)
Role: Caroline Aranha
Director: Rupert Wyatt
MIRAL (2010)
Role: Miral
Director: Julian Schnabel
YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER
(2010)
Role: Dia
Director: Woody Allen
SLUMDOG
MILLIONAIRE (2008)
Role: Older Latika
Director: Danny Boyle
The Real
Slumdog
Millionaire
In October 2011, 27-year-old Sushil Kumar, a government clerk from a humble background
in northern India, won $1 million US on the Indian version of Who Wants To
Be A Millionaire?
On Kaun Banega Crorepati, he answered the question: Which colonial power ended its
involvement in India by selling the rights to the Nicobar Islands tothe British on Oct. 16, 1868? The answer:
Denmark.
In the final moments, which can be seen on YouTube, presenter and Bollywood superstar
Amitabh Bachchan screams the answer and Kumar pours water over his head.
Bachchan, one of India’s biggest stars, wrote on his blog: “An incredible feat! This is
what the common man is all about. This is what KBC is all about — given an opportunity the common man
has the strength, the ability and the acumen to prove to the world that he is the best and second to
none.
“The pulsating excitement on the set and among the crew was unimaginable. It was as if
they had won the hugest prize ever in the history of Indian television.”
•
Photo Courtesy: Jan Thijs © 2011 War of the Gods, LLC.
