Findcate

In the final scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, released in 1989, Steven Spielberg has his iconic bullwhip-wielding, snake-hating archaeologist and all the major characters literally ride off into the sunset. “I had no doubts that the curtain was lowering on the series,” recalls the director. Neither did Harrison Ford.

The new instalment also brings back Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Dr Jones’s object of desire in the first film in the series. New to the cast is the Transformers star Shia LaBeouf, as a leather-jacketed sidekick with a not so accidental resemblance to Marlon Brando in The Wild One.

Then, of course, there is Ford – in Spielberg’s view the secret weapon that allowed the series to become so popular. “I remember the day they sent the costume home to see where we would have to adjust and change sizes,” recalls Ford. “I had not worn it for 18 years, but when I put it on it felt like a glove. And I felt immediately ready to go.”

Ford, 65, is not a method actor or someone who enjoys intellectualising his work. He loves his 800-acre ranch in Wyoming. He loves to fly his private fleet of aeroplanes. And throughout his career he has not tried to hide his distaste for the ritual of meeting with the press.

It makes the actor uncomfortable. He also avoids all mention of his private life, including his relationship with the actress Calista Flockhart. When I met him recently in Beverly Hills a few days before his departure for this week’s Cannes International Film Festival, where Crystal Skull will be presented on Sunday, he allows himself some glimpses of introspection, something he does not do often in public.

Tags: acre ranch, actress, archaeologist, bullwhip, calista flockhart, cannes, cannes international film festival, cate, crystal skull, distaste, dr jones, ford, harrison ford, indiana jones, indiana jones and the last crusade, instalment, karen allen, last crusade, marion ravenwood, marlon brando, method actor, object of desire, private fleet, secret weapon, shia labeouf, spielberg, steven spielberg, whip, wild one

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HIGH above the city, in a hotel suite that looks down on
Melbourne’s rooftops, Danielle Catanzariti sits in a plush chair
too large for her tiny frame. Just turned 16, the young actor has
placed her hands primly on her knees, as if called to the
principal’s office. If the archetypal teenage star projects a
veiled knowingness beyond their years, then Catanzariti is the
opposite: an excited child on the cusp of adulthood.
“I’m not a method actor. I enjoy life. My friends at school are
always saying they wish I would be quiet,” she says, tamping down
her exuberant energy with careful enunciations. “If you take your
job too seriously, you’ll never have fun with it. I become the
character and then disconnect and become myself again.”
In her first film, the adolescent-oriented Hey Hey It’s
Esther Blueburger, Catanzariti has the title role. Her co-stars
include the Academy Award-nominated Toni Collette and Keisha
Castle-Hughes, the latter something of a veteran at the age of 18.
But it is Catanzariti who is in nearly every scene, as an oddball
Jewish girl who secretly stops going to private school and attends
the local public instead in a bid for friendship and
popularity.
“I could relate with her being out there and unusual. At school
I dress differently to everyone else,” she says. “I know people
who’ve had the same experiences as Esther, so I could bring that to
the character.”
The debut feature from writer-director Cathy Randall moves,
often unexpectedly, in tone and intent. Coming-of-age angst is
supplanted by humour; the suggestion of sexual experimentation
segues into a song-and-dance number. The task of holding it
together rests with Catanzariti, although she perpetually doubted
her credentials. “I would keep asking Cathy, ‘Am I doing OK?’ I’m
not a very confident person when I’m being myself, which is another
reason why I love acting so much. It’s easier to be another person.
It’s when they call ‘cut’ that I feel vulnerable,” she says.
Six years ago Catanzariti joined the Murray Bridge Players and
Singers, the amateur theatre company in her home town 80 kilometres
outside Adelaide. Her best roles were Molly in Annie and a
fairy in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Little
more than six months ago she was cast by neophyte director Cate
Blanchett in the Sydney Theatre Company production
Blackbird. She appears at the end to make audiences wonder
if the sins of the play’s middle-aged male protagonist are being
visited upon a new generation. Her parents read David Harrower’s
pungent text and let Catanzariti decide if she wanted to audition.
She thought it would be a challenge and accepted.
Catanzariti tells the story well, as she does other anecdotes;
about growing out her eyebrows to play Esther and her difficulties
with break-dancing. But she’s more awkwardly endearing than
professionally charming and is sometimes unexpectedly honest.
“Acting isn’t my passion. When I think of passion, it’s a fire, but
they burn out. This isn’t a passion for me. It’s just me,” she
says. “Acting is already a part of me %26#151; it makes me who I
am.”
Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger is now
screening.

Tags: adelaide, cate, job, method actor, sydney theatre company

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HIGH above the city, in a hotel suite that looks down on
Melbourne’s rooftops, Danielle Catanzariti sits in a plush chair
too large for her tiny frame. Just turned 16, the young actor has
placed her hands primly on her knees, as if called to the
principal’s office. If the archetypal teenage star projects a
veiled knowingness beyond their years, then Catanzariti is the
opposite: an excited child on the cusp of adulthood.
“I’m not a method actor. I enjoy life. My friends at school are
always saying they wish I would be quiet,” she says, tamping down
her exuberant energy with careful enunciations. “If you take your
job too seriously, you’ll never have fun with it. I become the
character and then disconnect and become myself again.”
In her first film, the adolescent-oriented Hey Hey It’s
Esther Blueburger, Catanzariti has the title role. Her co-stars
include the Academy Award-nominated Toni Collette and Keisha
Castle-Hughes, the latter something of a veteran at the age of 18.
But it is Catanzariti who is in nearly every scene, as an oddball
Jewish girl who secretly stops going to private school and attends
the local public instead in a bid for friendship and
popularity.
“I could relate with her being out there and unusual. At school
I dress differently to everyone else,” she says. “I know people
who’ve had the same experiences as Esther, so I could bring that to
the character.”
The debut feature from writer-director Cathy Randall moves,
often unexpectedly, in tone and intent. Coming-of-age angst is
supplanted by humour; the suggestion of sexual experimentation
segues into a song-and-dance number. The task of holding it
together rests with Catanzariti, although she perpetually doubted
her credentials. “I would keep asking Cathy, ‘Am I doing OK?’ I’m
not a very confident person when I’m being myself, which is another
reason why I love acting so much. It’s easier to be another person.
It’s when they call ‘cut’ that I feel vulnerable,” she says.
Six years ago Catanzariti joined the Murray Bridge Players and
Singers, the amateur theatre company in her home town 80 kilometres
outside Adelaide. Her best roles were Molly in Annie and a
fairy in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Little
more than six months ago she was cast by neophyte director Cate
Blanchett in the Sydney Theatre Company production
Blackbird. She appears at the end to make audiences wonder
if the sins of the play’s middle-aged male protagonist are being
visited upon a new generation. Her parents read David Harrower’s
pungent text and let Catanzariti decide if she wanted to audition.
She thought it would be a challenge and accepted.
Catanzariti tells the story well, as she does other anecdotes;
about growing out her eyebrows to play Esther and her difficulties
with break-dancing. But she’s more awkwardly endearing than
professionally charming and is sometimes unexpectedly honest.
“Acting isn’t my passion. When I think of passion, it’s a fire, but
they burn out. This isn’t a passion for me. It’s just me,” she
says. “Acting is already a part of me %26#151; it makes me who I
am.”
Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger is now
screening.

Tags: adelaide, cate, job, method actor, sydney theatre company

Related posts

• Fun with Esther
• Real life’s a rehearsal
• Maternal Cate enjoys staging a return to Australia
• Festival rakes in $6.7m, now for next year …
• Cate set to shine for STC
• Can-do Cate
• Can-do Cate
• Bussell poised to do a Blanchett for ballet
• Blanchett not fit to run our theatre, says actor
• Actors all areas