Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 18, 1994 TAG: 9403180219
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEVE MURRAY COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In the comedy, the most mainstream of her brilliant career, the two-time Oscar nominee ad-libbed a lot of her spats with screen hubby Kevin Spacey. ``The crew got hysterical at times,'' she says, crediting Spacey's wild improvs. ``He's extremely funny, and he at times gets a bit like a wild child.''
As for stand-up comic Denis Leary: ``He'd get a bit edgy if we were hanging around too long. You could see the energy getting pent-up in him.''
Davis has Woody Allen to thank for ``The Ref.'' After an '80s string of dramatic roles, his ``Husbands and Wives'' showcased her crack comic timing, earning her a best supporting actress Oscar nomination and new Hollywood attention.
``He's not at all precious about his writing,'' she says of Allen. ``With Woody, we could have taken any scene in any direction we wanted to, and he would not have stopped us. But you'd be crazy to throw any of his material out.''
Living in Sydney, Australia, with actor husband Colin Friels (``Darkman'') and their 6-year-old son, Davis takes her Oscar nominations in stride (she was also up for best actress in '84 for ``A Passage to India''). ``Day to day, I'm not sure it's made a whole lot of difference. What does make a difference is the quality of your performance - the critical reception and the box office.''
Since her early-20s arrival in ``My Brilliant Career'' (``I found that film rather inane, frankly,'' she says), Davis has had great critical reception. But not much box office. That's not why she signed on for the new film. ``My agent wasn't saying, `This is bound to be a hit and you must do it.' I just found it very funny. And I wanted to do another comedy. It seemed accessible, about ordinary people in extraordinary situations.''
In September, she'll return in ``The New Age'' by writer-director Michael Tolkin (author of ``The Player''). One film you won't see is River Phoenix's last, the psychodrama ``Dark Blood,'' which was filming at the time of his death. ``There was nothing to salvage,'' says Davis, who isn't sorry: ``I think it was going to be a most peculiar film.''
With her penchant for independent films, Davis has already had her share of those. She flirted with Mugwumps in ``Naked Lunch,'' seduced Chopin in ``Impromptu'' and got stabbed to death in the Coen Brothers' ``Barton Fink.'' Among her favorite roles are the shrill spinster of ``Where Angels Fear to Tread,'' the wayward mom of ``High Tide'' and her role in ``Husbands and Wives.''
Now 38, she says, ``Finding roles for a woman at any time is a difficult thing. You're always trying to find one that is not a cliche, and that process starts from the time you're 18 till, I'm sure, you're 80. It's hard to find a role that isn't defined by the woman's function in terms of the man.
``You pick up any script, they always describe what a woman looks like. Not often the man.''
As for this year's Oscars, will she watch? ``Uh, will I?'' She pauses. ``Well, there's always a lot of commercials on, and it drives me crazy, a bit.''
by CNB