For the past five years, movies with a teenage bent have been revitalized, partly thanks to the presence of 23-year old actress Julia Stiles, who has gone from films such as 10 Things I Hate About You to independent films such as The Business of Strangers. Her latest motion picture, The Prince and Me, opening Friday, brings Stiles back to the teenage-skewing films that brought her to popularity.
During a recent conference call, Stiles (who is in London, currently rehearsing a role in the David Mamet play, "Oleanna") talked about her past and current performances, dealing with college and film acting (she is a student at Columbia University), and even which prince she would marry (for those interested, she said "the rock star Prince").
For someone enrolled at Columbia, or at any college, it's a bit daunting to take on such a day-to-day job, but Stiles said, "I am lucky that I don't have to be searching for what I want to do after school. It is more something that I can do for my own enjoyment." Even still, the actress didn't think her celebrity affected the way people treat her nowadays. Her current enrollment in college also helped her choose the current film, as she plays a college student. She said, "I related a lot to the character but it was a stretch for me to come to terms with certain aspects that were similar between me and my character."
However, if Stiles has critics, they would point out (and rightly so) that, for the most part, she tends to stick to a certain type of role, the girl-next-door. The actress admitted that "I think it is very easy to be pigeonholed and have people offer you the same sort of parts because it was a repetition of what was successful. But I feel like all I can do is keep making choices based on what will excite me about going to work every day." Stiles then went on to say that, no matter what, each of her projects is picked simply because it's something she wants to do.
One role that, while incredibly minor, gained her acclaim was in the 2002 action film The Bourne Identity, with Matt Damon. Before coming to London, Stiles finished filming her part (a bigger one this time around) in the sequel, The Bourne Supremacy. She described her role as having started a "new life over again... Jason Bourne knows that I was the last link to the CIA so he is trying to get me to tell him about his past." The film is set to be released in July of 2004.
Something quite interesting that came out of the conference call had to do with Stiles' co-star in The Prince and Me, British actor Luke Mably. Someone pointed out that Mably said the two actors hadn't really rehearsed much, but Stiles put that to rest by telling the group of reporters, "The way I usually work is I like to bond with the person that I'm acting with so that we can feel like we trust each other and then." She found it a bit surprising that Mably had said this, whether it was meant well or not.
Of course, in past years, there has been a glut of romantic royalty-themed films, but Stiles promises that her latest is different: "I think underneath that it is really just a love story. You have two people who bond over completely different, for different reasons other than their circumstances."
Although she was a bit reluctant at first, Stiles did open up a bit about her personal politics, which are liberally-based. She said, about the political dialogues at her campus, "I was really excited to be like up until 5:00 in the morning talking about Israel and Palestine with my floormates who were really heated about or were really attached to that issue and there were countless other issues to talk about." She also said that she supported the Planned Parenthood organization.
Julia Stiles may be afraid of being pigeon-holed, but her diverse choices of roles and her charm and personality, which even come through after a long day of rehearsing a play in London, are sure to keep her afloat in the Hollywood scene.
Josh Spiegel is an entertainment reporter for the Web Devil. Reach him at Joshua.Spiegel@asu.edu
