Understanding Jennifer Morrison

To understand Jennifer Morrison is to know that she is intensely driven at everything she does, an attitude that doesn't go un-noticed in the entertainment industry.

In her first year since graduating with honors at Loyola University in Chicago (an institution renowned for its expertise in theatre and acting) Jennifer has lived a lifetime of goals within a few short months. She recently spent ten weeks acting with Chicago's legendary Steppenwolf Theatre Company and is already being considered for future theatrical productions on Broadway. As if that somehow isn't enough, Jennifer is starring in her first headlining movie role as Amy Mayfield in Urban Legends: Final Cut. This second installment in the Urban Legend series is being touted as an original movie, completely un-related to the first, and will open Friday, September 22nd, nationwide.

Acting success came early for Jennifer. In 1994 she starred alongside Richard Gere and Sharon Stone in Intersection. By 1999, the chance to act in another major motion picture came with Kevin Bacon in Stir of Echoes. Having found her way into Hollywood's circle, Jennifer is ready for her nurtured talent to bloom.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Jennifer, what did you like best about your Urban Legends character, Amy?

Jennifer Morrison: I just liked that she's very down to earth, she's a character who's going to school to pursue her dreams, something that's really special to her. It's really cool to play a character who's pursuing her dreams in the same way I'm pursuing my dreams in my own life.

What did you learn about acting at University?

Jennifer Morrison: Well, it's really hard to pinpoint what you learn in the theatre program, I was just given the opportunity to perform in some really intense roles on stage. The best way to learn how to do something is to actually do it, so, I was just given the opportunity to play some great roles and to work with directors who pushed me to keep searching for more every time.

Has this theatre experience given you an edge as an actress in Hollywood?

Jennifer Morrison: I believe so. I think the more classes you can take, the more you are open to learning all the time, the better you're going to be as a performer. Hopefully, the better you perform, the better people respond to you as an actor.

You're saying 'actor.' What's the correct term for you, actress or actor?

Jennifer Morrison: Well, you know, I don't really know what the technically correct thing to say is. I've never been bothered by being called an actor, I've just always thought of that as being a woman or a man, so I don't know. However that works...

Ok, sure. Has it always been your intention to become a movie actor?

Jennifer Morrison: I think that just because I got involved with it so young, it sort of became a natural part of my future. Of course, I've had to work really hard for it and have auditioned like crazy. At the same time, having Intersection happen when I was so young, I was thirteen turning fourteen on set, that became a part of what I pursued for my future.

That was your first big movie role?

Jennifer Morrison: Yes.

Jennifer, how would you describe yourself?

Jennifer Morrison: Hmm...as a very down-to-earth, caring person. Very determined and goal oriented, but very sensitive at the same time.

And those are the qualities that have enabled you to get into the entertainment industry?

Jennifer Morrison: Yeah, I think so.

To fill in some background on yourself, what's been happening in your life lately?

Jennifer Morrison: Well, I finished filming Urban Legends last fall, I had one semester of school left, I was still in school while I was doing the movie, so I went back to Chicago and finished my last semester of school. This past summer I spent ten weeks at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago; they audition across the country and accept 24 people, put them together as an ensemble for the summer, and you get to work with incredible directors, you get to perform several different roles. It's great. It was the first time I had a conservatory sort of experience. It added another level of experience to what I've done onstage.

What was the reason behind getting into Steppenwolf Theater, was it just for the experience?

Jennifer Morrison: Oh, totally. I just felt it would help me be a better actor. I knew my life was going to get really hectic in the fall because I'd finally finished school, and it was really my last opportunity to take ten weeks for myself to do something like that.

Are you glad you're done school?

Jennifer Morrison: Oh, absolutely. I'd like to go back to school eventually and get my masters or PhD.

Would a masters and PhD. be in theatre as well?

Jennifer Morrison: I don't know. It would either be in acting or directing, or writing.

Can you tell me about filming Urban Legends: Final Cut. Was it a positive experience for you?

Jennifer Morrison: Yes, a very positive experience. I got on really well with the director. We had a sort of unspoken communication. He would say, "Can you do that like this..." and I'd say, "Like this?" and he'd say, "Yeah!" so it was nice to work with someone you connect with really well. Everyone on set was really kind, and excited, wanting to be there. It was nice to be surrounded by people devoted to the project and interested in what was going on.

Does the final outcome of a play or movie really affect how you got along with the actors or director while filming?

Jennifer Morrison: I'm not sure exactly. The more time there is between working on something and actually viewing it the less there is of that going on. When I saw pieces of the movie edited together early on, there were a lot of memories as to how my day on set was. The further I got from that, the more I was able to just watch myself as a character.

Do you enjoy watching yourself act onscreen?

Jennifer Morrison: I'm not bothered by it. Some actors are really bothered by it. I tend to learn a lot from it. Maybe it's because my image of who I am or what I look like is so different than what I see onscreen that I don't have so much trouble with it. When I'm watching myself act I can either be self-critical or just ok with what I'm seeing. I'm not looking at it as if it's me, I'm looking at it like it's Amy Mayfield. It's not something I trained myself to do, I've just always been like that.

When you're acting, do you become this character Amy, or are you still Jennifer acting in a role?

Jennifer Morrison: I'm always still Jennifer when it comes down to it. I think because I've done some roles that are really intense, potentially psychologically damaging if I lived them out. I've learned how to step in and then step away. But at the same time there are little things that run over, like my taste in clothes changes every time I do a new part. So the way my character dresses will creep into the way I'll dress for a while. It's little things like that, not psychologically hanging on to who that person is or anything like that.

Many Hollywood actors are typecast into certain roles. You're at the start of your career, do you have a fear of this happening to you?

Jennifer Morrison: Because that's a scary thing for any actor in the business, I'm really excited that I got to do a film like Stir of Echoes before I did Urban Legend. I was able to prove I can play a character so obviously different from who I am and pull it off. And even though Amy Mayfield isn't me, and I definitely had to do my homework to create her character, she could be attributed to being a lot closer to who I am.

I'm hoping that in making a couple of films like that, showing that I can play characters who are really different than who I am, will be to my advantage in avoiding being typecast.

In the past, many roles for women have been as mothers or love interests for the leading man. That's changing now, and I'm wondering what opportunities you're seeing for actresses that weren't available before?

Jennifer Morrison: I think that there are more opportunities for women to play intelligent and strong characters. Like you said, sometimes you just see the woman as being the girlfriend of the main actor. I think the character I just played in Urban Legend is in some ways really exciting, because it's a horror film with this girl who's intelligent and together, and that's really unusual. I think that's a sign of what's happening in the business right now. More and more scripts that I read have strong willed women who are making strong choices, or are even making choices not to be with the leading man. I think that's really a reflection of what's going on in society right now. The positive of that is that women are finding their own voice, in a sense.

So, what do you think of the statement, "Television defines society while the movies merely reflect society?"

Jennifer Morrison: I suppose you could make a case for that. When you say something like that it scares me to think of how popular the WWF is. (laugh)

Jennifer, who are your influences?

Jennifer Morrison: My family. Both my parents are teachers and have been incredibly inspiring as people to me. In high school I had an acting director named John Markett, a fabulous actor and totally inspiring man. He's the reason I've become the actor I am now. He definitely gave me the foundation to go on the path to where I am right now.

Has your family always been supportive of you becoming an actor?

Jennifer Morrison: Well, they always wanted me to keep my options open. I think they were really glad that school was important to me. The more you know, the more you learn, the more you push yourself to become a better actor because you're going to know more about the world and the people out there. Knowing that I was serious about school, knowing that I was serious about acting, knowing that things were starting to fall into place at a young age made it easier for them to be supportive.

What are your interests besides acting?

Jennifer Morrison: I read a ton. Every chance I get I'm reading. And the last year or so I've done a lot of writing. I've definetly found my enjoyment in reading and writing.

Are you writing screenplays?

Jennifer Morrison: My last year in college I took several creative writing courses. I had a class where I was writing short stories and had another where I was writing screenplays. I'm about 75 pages into a screen play right now and I have the first act of a play that I'm writing and revising, hoping to get a second act out of my brain. I do a lot of slice-of-life type writing with my short stories.

Broadway, something most theatre people aspire to, what about yourself?

Jennifer Morrison: I'd love to and I hope in the near future...I've had some meetings with casting directors on Broadway, all of whom are interested in working with me because I have experience in dancing. I've danced since I was three years old. I think something with that will fall into place when I have the time to go to New York. That will hopefully happen in the next year or so.

What does the future hold for Jennifer Morrison?

Jennifer Morrison: Whatever's going to come my way. A lot of people ask me that and it's hard to say I'm going to be here or there, or I'm going to be doing this. Right now I'm in the middle of working on an independent film in Chicago, they gave me a couple weeks off to come here and do all my Urban Legends stuff, and I'll go back and finish that up at the end of this week. After that, it's just a matter of what comes my way.

Urban Legends: Final Cut comes out this week, are you nervous?

Jennifer Morrison: I guess so. It's weird having the pressure, thinking that I have the responsibility if people like the movie. I've had all these films come out and it hasn't really changed my life in any way, it hasn't made me famous. But everybody keeps building this up and it's hard for me to believe that it's going to be this big deal, but it very well could be. Hopefully it will open well.

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Check out the Urban Legends: Final Cut web site at www.spe.sony.com/movies/urbanlegends/.