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| :: Jessica
Simpson Interviews |
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>> Steve Head
Interview |
The Dukes of Hazzard
marks Jessica Simpson's feature film debut, and for
her, making it hasn't been without its
nerve-wracking moments. Since landing the part of
the flirtatious, scantily clad Daisy Duke, Simpson
has double-timed it on the treadmill, daily. Then
there's the whole acting thing, for which she
diligently prepared – despite the fact that many of
her lines weren't final until the day of shooting.
And most imposing of all was her first day of
shooting, arriving on the set in her "Daisy Dukes"
and acting in her first scene ever with Johnny
Knoxville and Seann William Scott.
Down in Louisiana filming The Dukes of Hazzard, IGN
FilmForce's Steve Head and a group of journalists
spoke with Simpson about bringing Daisy Duke back
into the public eye.
Q: Are you planning to do a duet with Willie Nelson,
or is that just a rumor?
JESSICA SIMPSON: That started out as a rumor. It
was something that I wanted to do and I didn't know
that he wanted to do it. But he asked me on set the
other day to sing with him, so we're trying to find
the best song to do and we'll be recording that.
Q: Do you have any ideas what it might be?
SIMPSON: No, I have no clue. I might be singing
with him this weekend.
Q: You guys wouldn't be doing the theme song?
SIMPSON: No, he did that by himself. You don't
want me on the theme song. (She laughs)
Q: Did you find jumping into acting with your very
first movie very difficult?
SIMPSON: You know, I thought it was going to be a
lot harder, but I think just the atmosphere, the
cast, John and Seann and the director, Jay
[Chandrasekhar], everybody has really made me feel
very comfortable. And they're crazy anyway, so it's
OK if I mess up. It's kind of cool to just go into
my first movie and to have everyone open to
completely just fall on your face. That's just the
personality that they have and what makes them so
good at what they do.
Q: We were told that you really wanted this part;
why is that?
SIMPSON: Because it was important for me to not
go so far away from my persona and what people
already knew me as, and you know, eventually I'll go
there in acting, but for my first role I just didn't
want it to be too far fetched. And I just thought
that it was an amazing character. I wasn't alive
when the Dukes of Hazzard was on, but I did see all
the reruns and I'm from the South and the accent
kind of came naturally. And there's just something
about this all-American girl thing that I wanted to
keep giving people.
Q: Did your experience working on your TV show with
cameras around you all the time make the transition
to acting in front of the movie camera easier?
SIMPSON: I don't even notice the camera anymore,
so I think that's one of the positive things about
having a crew around all the time, it's that they'll
be in your face and you won't even know that they're
there – which is kind of scary, but it's good in
getting used to being an actress.
Q: How did you prepare as an actress, you know,
getting ready and starting to learn lines and that
kinds of stuff ... What kind of things did you do to
get into the movie?
SIMPSON: I shoot on Thursday and I don't even
know what my lines are. (She laughs) So, I'm better
at just going in sitting in my hair and makeup
trailer and while I'm getting my hair and makeup
done just memorizing my lines right there. That way
I don't rehearse them too much and it doesn't sound
like I'm acting and it's more just about how I say
it, instead of saying, 'Oh, I've got to say it this
way here' and then it gets all confusing, and that's
when I think I start trying too hard and becoming
too critical of everything.
Q: You've seen your jeep. Do you have any desire to
be behind the wheel of the General Lee?
SIMPSON: Well, Daisy never really was. She pretty
much stayed in her jeep, and I think Bo really
doesn't let many people drive the General Lee. (She
laughs) But I did go to driving school, and I guess
I just did it for fun because I really don't do any
car tricks or stunts or anything in the movie. But
they wanted me to feel comfortable driving. So I
went and learned how to do reverse 180s in cop cars
and all kinds of stuff. They said I caught on pretty
quick.
Q: So you get to drive a cop car.
SIMPSON: Yes, I'm driving a cop car. (She laughs)
Q: Are you and Enos going to hook-up in this movie?
SIMPSON: Me and Enos... I definitely tease on
Enos a little bit. That's kind of how I get out of a
lot of situations and my cousins out of situations.
Q: Isn't that cruel to Enos?
SIMPSON: Is it cruel? No, because she really does
love him and has a place for him in her heart.
Q: But she doesn't love him love him.
SIMPSON: I don't know. You never know. Maybe in
the sequel. When it was first written they had Enos
and Daisy, but I haven't read that in the new
script, so...
Q: So that's not coming up in the next couple weeks?
SIMPSON: I already had my big scenes with Enos.
Most of them are in bikinis. (She laughs) Thank God
those are over.
Q: You really got yourself into shape for this role;
can you talk about what you did to prepare for the
bikinis and the Daisy Dukes?
SIMPSON: Immediately when I found out that I had
the part I was like, 'OK, this is it.' It's the best
to be able to have something to work towards,
otherwise I'll stick to fried food and Taco Bell.
(She laughs) But to have a goal is awesome. So I ate
my last piece of chocolate cake when I found out,
and ever since I've tried to cut sugar out of my
diet, except fruit. But pretty much I just eat
health and I work out close to two hours every day.
Q: Sticking to that?
SIMPSON: Yeah, I'm addicted to it now. Now I
actually feel better and I have so much more energy
and work is so much easier. But I'm also not
traveling every day of my life, which I am so used
to. And that's one of the main differences in doing
this movie.
Q: Did you have a choice as to what jeans you would
be wearing?
SIMPSON: Yeah, oh my god! You can't even imagine
how many pants and jeans I tried on for this movie.
Most of them were jeans that we just cut off and
made them as short as we wanted to, which is more
than probably I would wear them. (She laughs)
Q: What brand is the lucky winner?
SIMPSON: Lucky. And then Levis are in one shot,
but the main Daisy Dukes are Lucky.
Q: Have you thought about doing your own line of
Daisy Duke-style jeans?
SIMPSON: Yes! I just signed a big merchandising
deal, and my mom and I are doing it together. So
we're going to have a line of jeans called Britches.
... I have a perfume line out called Dessert and
then cosmetics will come out and, yeah, all kind of
things will come. (She laughs) But yeah, I'm hoping
to do a line of jeans called Daisy Britches.
Q: I heard that you had some fun shopping while you
were here and that you ended up with a lot of
luggage to bring back to LA?
SIMPSON: Yeah, you know, it's so weird for me
because I like to be comfortable, but I also like to
put together outfits. So, you never know what you're
going to feel like that day so you don't know what
to bring. And the sad thing is that my closet at
home in LA is completely full. You would not know
that I have like so much luggage out here. But I do.
We're going to have to end up shipping things home.
And it's funny what you think is cute when you go to
a small town because now it's... well, I'm so used
to shopping at a major designer, and what what's so
great it were just so excited to go to a Target and
get a new hooded sweatshirt. (She laughs)
Q: As a result of the TV show and the media
attention, what do you think is the number one
misconception about you that people get?
SIMPSON: I'm definitely ditzy, and people think
that about me, and that's OK. But I'm not the Anna
Nicole Smith-type. (She laughs) I definitely have my
stuff together. I'm just a very determined person
who works very, very hard and a lot of that gets
lost in the chicken and tuna comments. But that's
OK, because it's done really well for me. (She
laughs)
Q: I've heard that Cooter (played by David Koechner)
is your first on-screen kiss.
SIMPSON: Cooter is my first on-screen kiss. (She
laughs) That was great. I really just kissed him on
the cheek, and he might have tried to slip every now
and then, but. And that was my first day on the set.
Q: I heard he was covered in grease, too.
SIMPSON: He was covered in grease. Our makeup
artist had to wipe it off every time. It was just a
peck. (She laughs)
Q: Is the movie going to in any way involve
Newlyweds?
SIMPSON: They haven't really had clearance
because you never know what MTV is going to put
together. (She laughs) They could shoot a whole day
and make a whole different movie out of it. So,
they've come and sat in my trailer with me. And they
went and did the whole car training and fight stuff
with me, so you'll definitely see a lot of
behind-the-scenes stuff.
Q: Do you get to do some fighting in the movie?
SIMPSON: I do. I have to kick some ass with a
pool cue. Thank god it was break-away, but it might
as well have not been because I felt so bad because
I don't think that people thought that I had it in
me, and I ended up leaving welts on this guy's back.
(She laughs) So I felt kind of bad, but Daisy kicks
ass.
Q: Have you had the chance to talk with Burt
Reynolds?
SIMPSON: One of my first days on set with Burt,
he was so sweet, he had went out to an antique store
and he bought me a ring that was a daisy and blue
sapphires; he just made me feel real comfortable. I
just had kind of a scene with him already. But I've
a couple scenes with Willie Nelson and he's
unbelievable. Both of them are great.
Q: What is the best part about Daisy's character?
SIMPSON: That she gets everybody out of trouble.
I think that's what's so fun about it is that people
kind of lean on Daisy to make things happen and to
use, whether it's her sexuality or her personality,
it's really fun. Because you never really looked at
Daisy and think she would do this. Especially when
you looked at the clothes back then that she was
wearing. I mean, it was so skimpy and nowadays you
would go, 'Oh, God! I can't believe she wears that
walking down the street.' But Daisy Duke can pull it
off because she always has a smile when she does it.
It's not ever anything that's too seductive.
Q: You're testing the water; where would you like to
see things go?
SIMPSON: I want to do the romantic comedies. You
know, the stuff that Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts or
Reese Witherspoon would choose, of course. But I
also love the movies that movie you and make you
cry. So, whether it's a drama, I don't know. I'm up
for anything. I don't know if I'd be any good as a
coked-out drug addict. (She laughs) That's kind of
hard to identify with, but maybe one day, you never
know. (She laughs)
Q: Apparently there's going to be a Daisy doll.
SIMPSON: I don't what Warner Brothers has
planned, but I know we're doing some stuff with them
for sure.
Q: Has Ashley come down here to visit while you're
filming?
SIMPSON: She hasn't come down. She's actually in
rehearsals right now for a tour and I'm so happy for
her. She's got like a sold out tour all across the
states. She's just getting ready for that. She's in
voice lessons three hours a day and she's working
out just getting ready for the tour. She might come
out here with my mom sometime next week.
Q: There's word that Dukes producer Bill Gerber has
a movie he's developing with you. He's producing it.
SIMPSON: Yeah, it's Bill Gerber's, and he is
amazing. He has been such a great connection. He was
actually the first person I ever met with on The
Dukes of Hazzard and it was so long ago, it was like
two years ago or something. And he's just put so
much behind this project. He's just one of the
coolest producers I've ever been around and I wanted
to do my next thing with him because he had this
really great project that's very Private
Benjamin/Goldie Hawn type of thing. It should be
really good.
Q: And it has been mentioned that Catherine Bach
(the original Daisy Duke) may appear in the film.
SIMPSON: I've heard some rumors. You know what's
really weird, my mother, she had a house for sale
and my mom had no clue who it was and my mom ended
up going to look at her house. And she told my mom
that she heard a rumor that they wanted me for the
Dukes of Hazzard and that she hopes I get I get it.
I've heard a rumor about it, I hope so, but I don't
know.
Q: Does this mean you won't be touring?
SIMPSON: I'm actually going to be touring,
probably this summer. Literally we have like two
more weeks left of shooting and then I'm going into
the studio with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and I'm
working on a new record. And them I'm also doing
some stuff on the soundtrack for Dukes, and then I'm
going out on tour I think this summer. I'll probably
be doing some fairs, and it will be kind of a cross
promotion. It's never really been done before with
the movie, so I'll have songs where I come out as
Daisy Duke. (She laughs) Why not?!
Q: You must be getting used to the wardrobe by now.
SIMPSON: Oh, I'm so used to it.
Q: Are you going to get to keep Daisy's Jeep
Rubicon?
SIMPSON: I'd rather have one of the General Lees.
(She laughs) There's lots of those.
Q: That's Daisy, you know, she can get anything she
wants.
SIMPSON: Exactly! I'll see what I can do.
We've had so much fun just playing pool and doing
karaoke and going bowling and stuff that I probably
wouldn't do in Los Angeles. All of this has really
brought me back to my Southern roots.
Q: What was your karaoke song?
SIMPSON: Oh, I haven't gone up there yet. (She
laughs) But my best friend's really good at "Crazy
in Love." (She laughs)
Q: And Willie asked you to perform another song with
him.
SIMPSON: Willie asked me to sing a song for the
wrap party, "White Lightning," George Jones.
Q: How's it been working with Johnny Knoxville and
Seann William Scott?
SIMPSON: Seann and Johnny are great! And I just
had to give them a thank you note after my first day
on set because I was so nervous. They just were
funny the whole time and just crazy. And so
encouraging. They would tell me how great I was
after every take, even when I blew lines. They
really were very encouraging, and that's really what
has gotten me through this movie and through my
first experience and coming out with confidence.
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