Mel77
14-10-2006, 11:29
L'ho letta ora sul Kro, la trovo davvero splendida!!
Sono felice x lei se ha la stabilità economica e può dedicarsi a progetti che le piacciono ;)
Canadian film is her real addiction
Actress Kelly Rowan has been commuting between Los Angeles and Vancouver to complete work on the indie film Mount Pleasant
She plays a mom with a history of substance abuse on The O.C., but Kelly Rowan says Canadian film and culture are her real addictions -- and she's got the air miles to prove it.
Rowan commuted between Los Angeles and Vancouver last year to complete work on Mount Pleasant, a new film by Vancouver director Ross Weber about the myriad issues that come with gentrification and rising real estate prices.
It wasn't all that much fun, physically speaking -- scooting up and down the West Coast and working on her days off -- but Rowan says the rewards are lasting, concrete and emotionally meaningful.
"I want to support Canadian film," she says, sitting back in a designer divan at a Vancouver hotel. In town for the premiere of Mount Pleasant over the Thanksgiving weekend, Rowan and her castmates Shawn Doyle, Ben Ratner and Tygh Runyan have been making the rounds to rally behind the low-budget indie film which plays the Vancouver festival this week before a January 2007 theatrical run.
"We have so much talent in this country, and we also have a Canadian voice. Some place between the Brits and Americans, we've carved out something that is uniquely our own . . . It's funny, but it can also be incredibly dark. We often seem to write from a place of pain," she says.
"But that's part of what makes the stories so interesting, and why I think there's no reason why we can't have a place in the world market."
Rowan knows quite a bit about that world market in the wake of the phenomenal success of The O.C., a serial drama set against the sun-drenched backdrop of affluent L.A.'s Orange County. A slick mix of cross-generational soap operas involving sex, drugs and fancy sports cars -- as well as forbidden love -- The O.C. has propelled Rowan into a place of personal power where she can pick and choose the projects that are personally meaningful, and use her money and celebrity to bring them to fruition.
She's currently working on a film about polygamy, and what she feels to be the criminal practice of allowing young girls to marry older men.
"It's not a specifically Canadian story -- although it could be -- but when a 14-year-old girl is marrying a 58-year-old man, that's just wrong. It's child abuse," she says. "I have no desire or right to tell anyone how to practise their own religious beliefs, but this isn't about that. It's about human rights and the sexual exploitation of children."
Rowan says she's not a political animal, and she's never cared for soapboxing. "Who really cares what a celebrity thinks on a given issue? And I never wanted to be an actress who complained about the lack of roles for women. There are plenty of things about this business, and about life in general, that are not fair or equitable when it comes to gender, but the only way things are going to change is if we take control and start producing -- which is what I'm doing now."
In addition to In God's Country, the movie about polygamy, Rowan is also developing another Canadian project called Tracing Iris, based on the book by Genni Gunn. The volume of work outside L.A. has prompted Rowan to purchase a pied-a-terre in the Lower Mainland, but she says she still hasn't spent a night in the new "conveniently located" home.
"I'm waiting for a bed and a tea strainer. Then, I can spend the night in my new place."
Given the importance of neighbourhoods to the film Mount Pleasant, and the way it sifts through the different social strata that create the character of each geographical area within the city, Rowan says she was aware of the issues that come with gentrification and displacement.
"But they are issues that aren't specific to Vancouver. Every city in the world is facing similar tensions. I'm familiar with them because they're part of our current reality, and I thought this script did a wonderful job exploring them through character," she says. "That's why I felt it was important to get on a plane and fly out here on my weekends to be a part of this."
Rowan says the movie also gave her a break from playing Kirsten Cohen, the conflicted mother and wife on The O.C., which was another plus.
"Being on a successful television show is a good thing. It's steady work. It's a chance to work with a group of people in an intimate way . . . where you develop a sort of shorthand with each other, and a trust. It's more like being part of a theatre troupe. It really is wonderful, and the cast on The O.C. is such a family," she says.
Rowan says all the young people on the show, from Mischa Barton to Adam Brody, are smart and professional and highly talented. "They're a great group and they're very grounded. There's no need for any words of wisdom from me . . . they've got a great handle on it all."
Rowan says she's found a happy place in show business, too, but mostly because she got into the game with very few expectations.
"I started modelling while I was going to school at Western [The University of Western Ontario] and decided to leave shortly after I got an acting job -- and decided I should study in New York."
Since the 1980s, Rowan found regular work as an actor, but fame proved elusive until The O.C.
"TV has been great. It's a steady job and it's given me the security you need as you get older in this business. I'm so excited about producing -- but it's not easy finding money. There are five women in Los Angeles who can get a script financed . . . and I'm not one of them," she says, laughing.
"But there are stories I really want to tell, and if it takes five years to get the money, then it takes five years. It's important for me to have new challenges and to continue growing . . . and right now, I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to do both."
Mount Pleasant screens at the Vancouver International Film Festival today at 1 p.m., Granville 7.
Sono felice x lei se ha la stabilità economica e può dedicarsi a progetti che le piacciono ;)
Canadian film is her real addiction
Actress Kelly Rowan has been commuting between Los Angeles and Vancouver to complete work on the indie film Mount Pleasant
She plays a mom with a history of substance abuse on The O.C., but Kelly Rowan says Canadian film and culture are her real addictions -- and she's got the air miles to prove it.
Rowan commuted between Los Angeles and Vancouver last year to complete work on Mount Pleasant, a new film by Vancouver director Ross Weber about the myriad issues that come with gentrification and rising real estate prices.
It wasn't all that much fun, physically speaking -- scooting up and down the West Coast and working on her days off -- but Rowan says the rewards are lasting, concrete and emotionally meaningful.
"I want to support Canadian film," she says, sitting back in a designer divan at a Vancouver hotel. In town for the premiere of Mount Pleasant over the Thanksgiving weekend, Rowan and her castmates Shawn Doyle, Ben Ratner and Tygh Runyan have been making the rounds to rally behind the low-budget indie film which plays the Vancouver festival this week before a January 2007 theatrical run.
"We have so much talent in this country, and we also have a Canadian voice. Some place between the Brits and Americans, we've carved out something that is uniquely our own . . . It's funny, but it can also be incredibly dark. We often seem to write from a place of pain," she says.
"But that's part of what makes the stories so interesting, and why I think there's no reason why we can't have a place in the world market."
Rowan knows quite a bit about that world market in the wake of the phenomenal success of The O.C., a serial drama set against the sun-drenched backdrop of affluent L.A.'s Orange County. A slick mix of cross-generational soap operas involving sex, drugs and fancy sports cars -- as well as forbidden love -- The O.C. has propelled Rowan into a place of personal power where she can pick and choose the projects that are personally meaningful, and use her money and celebrity to bring them to fruition.
She's currently working on a film about polygamy, and what she feels to be the criminal practice of allowing young girls to marry older men.
"It's not a specifically Canadian story -- although it could be -- but when a 14-year-old girl is marrying a 58-year-old man, that's just wrong. It's child abuse," she says. "I have no desire or right to tell anyone how to practise their own religious beliefs, but this isn't about that. It's about human rights and the sexual exploitation of children."
Rowan says she's not a political animal, and she's never cared for soapboxing. "Who really cares what a celebrity thinks on a given issue? And I never wanted to be an actress who complained about the lack of roles for women. There are plenty of things about this business, and about life in general, that are not fair or equitable when it comes to gender, but the only way things are going to change is if we take control and start producing -- which is what I'm doing now."
In addition to In God's Country, the movie about polygamy, Rowan is also developing another Canadian project called Tracing Iris, based on the book by Genni Gunn. The volume of work outside L.A. has prompted Rowan to purchase a pied-a-terre in the Lower Mainland, but she says she still hasn't spent a night in the new "conveniently located" home.
"I'm waiting for a bed and a tea strainer. Then, I can spend the night in my new place."
Given the importance of neighbourhoods to the film Mount Pleasant, and the way it sifts through the different social strata that create the character of each geographical area within the city, Rowan says she was aware of the issues that come with gentrification and displacement.
"But they are issues that aren't specific to Vancouver. Every city in the world is facing similar tensions. I'm familiar with them because they're part of our current reality, and I thought this script did a wonderful job exploring them through character," she says. "That's why I felt it was important to get on a plane and fly out here on my weekends to be a part of this."
Rowan says the movie also gave her a break from playing Kirsten Cohen, the conflicted mother and wife on The O.C., which was another plus.
"Being on a successful television show is a good thing. It's steady work. It's a chance to work with a group of people in an intimate way . . . where you develop a sort of shorthand with each other, and a trust. It's more like being part of a theatre troupe. It really is wonderful, and the cast on The O.C. is such a family," she says.
Rowan says all the young people on the show, from Mischa Barton to Adam Brody, are smart and professional and highly talented. "They're a great group and they're very grounded. There's no need for any words of wisdom from me . . . they've got a great handle on it all."
Rowan says she's found a happy place in show business, too, but mostly because she got into the game with very few expectations.
"I started modelling while I was going to school at Western [The University of Western Ontario] and decided to leave shortly after I got an acting job -- and decided I should study in New York."
Since the 1980s, Rowan found regular work as an actor, but fame proved elusive until The O.C.
"TV has been great. It's a steady job and it's given me the security you need as you get older in this business. I'm so excited about producing -- but it's not easy finding money. There are five women in Los Angeles who can get a script financed . . . and I'm not one of them," she says, laughing.
"But there are stories I really want to tell, and if it takes five years to get the money, then it takes five years. It's important for me to have new challenges and to continue growing . . . and right now, I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to do both."
Mount Pleasant screens at the Vancouver International Film Festival today at 1 p.m., Granville 7.