Den of Geek: Congratulations on this very, I would say, primal performance.
Jennifer Jason Leigh: Thank you!
Thats a great way of putting it.
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You were in the audience for the reading that Quentin did of this, right?
Do you remember anything from that night?
I just remember it being like a great, great night in the theater.
First of all, Quentin read all the stage directions.
There were a few times where he stopped the performance and directed the actors.
I cant remember who it was exactly, but he would say, OK.
It changed the room.
And it was riveting.
I just loved every second of it.
I would say it was one of…Ive seen a lot of theater.
It was one of the great nights of theater for me.
How did this role end up coming to you?
Then I went to his house and then I got the last chapter.
And then we read together from that for my audition.
After watching him direct that reading, how is it to work with him directly?
I mean he has so much enthusiasm that infects everyone.
Hes kind of a genius in the way he works with actors.
He demands the best of you and he gets it.
And he gets it in very different ways.
Obviously you know he has a brain like no other.
But hes so smart in the way he wanted very much for Daisy to come from inside.
He didnt want to go for any kind of result that was on the page.
He just knew he had to find her with whoever the actress was that he hired.
So it was a slow evolving process.
At one point, I flew up to Telluride to do some hair and makeup tests.
He said, You know, I dont really need to do a hair and makeup test with you.
I want to play a piece of music.
And he played me a piece of music.
He said, Id like you to play the guitar and sing that song.
Do you play guitar?
I said, No.
Ive never picked up a guitar in my life.
He said, Well, I have faith that youll be able to do it and youll learn it.
Ill get you a teacher.
you might do it.
Thats one of the most striking moments in the movie.
Was that your way into the character?
Thats what Im saying.
I knew he wanted me to find it organically.
I knew he wanted it to come from inside.
How do you get that from an actor?
I spent every free moment I had on that guitar.
And it got me so internalized.
Daisy will do anything to survive.
It just locked me in, in that way.
And it gave a life to her, an internal life to her.
I used to write diaries all the time for characters.
This was so much better because it physicalized it.
So he made me Daisy without ever doing it in words.
It wasnt a thought process.
So it was just brilliant.
It was such a smart thing.
She has to do so much also without dialogue.
Theres a lot in playing Daisy you do without speaking.
But I always had that song to go to.
Do you still play guitar?
You know, he gave me a guitar from like the 1890s, a Martin, which I have.
I love it so much.
And I do want to continue playing.
My teacher on the movie is playing with Cirque du Soleil right now in Mexico.
So he is not here.
But I want to continue playing.
And I actually want to learn classical guitar.
Daisy goes through some pretty brutal stuff in this movie.
And thats Kurt Russell.
He was always there for me.
And he never breaks.
So it was really…it was kind of amazing.
Thank God, because can you imagine having to play this part with someone you didnt trust?
I couldnt have had a better dance partner.
Theres just no one like him, I think.
Im really so grateful, because I could never have been Daisy without him.
It was kind of like a marriage.
For better or worse, theyre stuck together.
It was really, really something to play with him, and really fun.
How would you respond to that?
I dont like a lot of violence in movies.
A lot of the times its too hard for me to watch.
I could never watch that show about the serial killer.Dexter.
I couldnt watch it.
It turned my stomach and I just was too queasy for it.
But I love Quentins movies and I can watch them over and over.
Theres something about his violence that is…its explosive and cartoonish.
And its not real to me.
And the writing is so much fun.
Its fun to watch.
It doesnt feel real.
It doesnt impact me in a way that upsets me.
Its like a ride.
And its a ride that I want to go on.
Its not like watchingStraw Dogs.
I find his movies such pure joy to watch.
And I find his violence hilarious.
So it was never a concern.
And Daisy is one of the guys.
The flower in the group is Mannix (Walton Goggins).
I just caughtAnomalisaa couple weeks ago.
Originally it was calledTheater for the New Yearwith Carter Burwell.
And it was these staged readings to his music.
I had originally seen them at BAM.
Charlie did a different play and it was paired with a Coen Brothers play.
Then they wanted to do it at Royce Hall, but the Coens were not participating.
So Charlie needed to write another play to take up the other section of the evening.
And it had to be three characters.
So he wrote it.
And he wrote it for me and David and Tom Noonan.
And it was such a beautiful role.
And David and I had been wanting to work together since 25, 30 years ago or something.
We had become friends, and we had been in Cannes together, coincidentally.
When he came to L.A. sometimes he would stay with me.
We always wanted to work together and we never had the opportunity.
Then here is this piece that is so powerful, and emotional, and beautiful.
It was too brief.
There were rumors of going to Australia with it, etc.
I love the movie.
When I saw it felt really like I was a part of something groundbreaking.
A film has never affected me like that.
I felt like I was watching a film for the first time, in a way.
I was experiencing a new medium.
It was really exciting.
Im really proud to be a part of it.
Also, in my family I was the person who didnt have a nice voice.
I dont have a beautiful voice.
A lot of people in my family can sing beautifully.
And I never thought that would happen for me in any way.
Lisa is very, very ordinary, but it is all about her voice.
So for me it has a lot of personal resonance.
You are doingTwin Peaks, too, right?
Im not allowed to talk about if Im doing it or if I even know about it.
What roles do you get asked about the most?
It depends on the persons age.
Ive done all kinds of movies.
Then there are the people who loveDolores Claiborne.
Maybe its on TV or in the zeitgeist in some way.
Its been mentioned a lot lately, people coming up to me and talking about it.
I dont know why exactly, but I would say thats the one right now.
And that pleases me tremendously because my mom wrote that movie and I really love it.
I think thats kind of an underrated movie in some ways.
What do you remember working on that with Kathy (Bates) and Taylor (Hackford, director)?
Kathy is just a phenomenal, phenomenal actress.
It was really exciting to work with her.
And I had a great time.
I mean people talk about this movie being cold.
This movie is nothing next to Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia.
They call it Blue Rocks for a reason.
It was soooo cold.
So I remember that.
And it was such a small town that everyone was staying in peoples houses.
There were days where we couldnt shoot a frame of film because the weather kept changing every 10 minutes.
John C. Reilly and I played a lot of poker.
Wed have Risk games that went on forever.
I have a lot of really fond memories.
The Hateful Eightopens on Christmas Day in 70mm road show presentations before expanding in January.
