THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503300030
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Interview
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
SO WHO IS Muriel, and why should we go to her wedding?
``Muriel's Wedding'' is the hit Australian movie comedy that successfully crossed the Pacific. And Muriel is Toni Collette.
OK, who's Toni Collette?
The press and the movers in the movie industry are wondering just that. Toni Collette is, in fact, the toothy Australian actress being interviewed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles - minus the 40 pounds she put on to play Muriel.
``I love the character Muriel,'' Collette said. ``She's so open. No matter what is flung at her, she picks herself up and keeps on going.''
Muriel lives in a small town called Porpoise Spit, where nothing ever happens. She spends much of her time going to bridal shops and trying on wedding gowns, telling the clerks that her nuptials are upcoming. Muriel wants a wedding gown and the groom that goes with it.
Collette, 22, doesn't identify with Muriel's wedding obsession. ``I've only had one boyfriend in my life,'' she said, ``and he broke my heart. He's history. Besides, I don't agree with marriage anyway. It's archaic and hypocritical - a piece of paper that often binds two people who no longer want to be together.''
Collette was one of hundreds of young actresses who auditioned for the role of Muriel. Actually, she was the first one of the hundreds to apply, but she didn't get the role until three months later. P.J. Hogan, the film's director, said that he felt Collette was right for the part ``but I had to see these hundreds of others anyway. Finally, I went right back to the first one.''
``Muriel's Wedding'' was born when Hogan and his wife were sitting at a restaurant across the street from a bridal shop.
``These girls would go in looking like plain things,'' he said. ``The minute they put on the wedding gown, they were transformed. They became radiant. It's just a kind of social dream that we wanted to satirize.''
Collette claims other similarities, as well as differences, from Muriel. ``I grew up in a town that was much like Porpoise Spit, only we had no ocean,'' she said. ``It was so slow there that it slowed my brain. My best friend was my grandmother. I was about 12 when she died, and I mourned her death for a long time. She never saw anything I did, any play or movie.''
Unlike Muriel, though, Collette was never shy. ``To the contrary, I was outrageous,'' she said. ``I shaved my head. People would look at me in disgust when I walked down the street. I loved that. I think I've toned down a bit now, but I was always showy and loud when I was younger.''
Muriel is not your conventional heroine - not the usual plain girl who finds a Prince Charming. She lies and cheats along the way. ``I like that she's imperfect,'' the actress said. ``She's not judgmental of anyone else. Just herself. I think what the movie is saying is that we don't have to live for anyone else. People throw hundreds of `should-n'ts' at us. You shouldn't do this. You shouldn't do that - just because that's their rule. There are no rules in life. Be who you are. You don't have to live up to anyone else's expectations.'' by CNB