Jacinda Barrett: Firefighter's Daughter

She's the hot Aussie who landed the role of Joaquin Phoenix's wife in the firefighter tribute Ladder 49 and her own dad was in a firefighting unit in Brisbane so the actress knows the pressures that the wives and children of firemen deal with. Joaquin Phoenix can't say enough about how hard she worked and researched her role. The pretty young actress, who looks a lot like Kate Bosworth, was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in People magazine's 1997 issue when she was just starting out.

Jacinda is classically trained at the British Academy of Dramatic Arts in Oxford and did a short stint on American TV as the daughter of a senator in "Citizen Baines". After Ladder 49, you can catch this talented newcomer co-starring in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason with Renee Zellweger and in the next volume of the Ripley saga, Mr. Ripley's Return. We sat down to chat with pretty Jacinda in L.A.'s Century City and she looked very stylish in black boots, magenta blouse and a long black skirt.

TeenHollywood: Your dad is a firefighter, but Jay [the director of Ladder 49] didn't know that when he met you?

Jacinda: Jay didn't know when he saw my tape and I got a call that they were really interested. I had a meeting with him and he knew then. He knew before I got the part but I still had to go test and there were other girls testing with Joaquin.

TeenHollywood: Were you worried about your dad going off to do something dangerous when you were a kid?

Jacinda: I didn't have that. I always had a sense that it was special and every morning, he'd get up and he'd have his uniform on and I said goodbye to him, and I have such memories of seeing him with his hat and hugging him goodbye and just thinking that he was special. He did something different than other people did, and you know, as a kid you take your trip to the fire station when you're in like grade 1 and you're made aware of what these men do, so I was... it was in my consciousness.

TeenHollywood: Was part of your motivation in doing the film to pay tribute to your dad?

Jacinda: Definitely a part of it. Also, there was a great arc for the character so as an actress it was very exciting. And then (it was working with) John (Travolta) and Joaquin and the director. There were lots of elements. The movie is a tribute to these guys and their families. If it can open people's eyes just a little bit to what they do and the sacrifices they make and the extraordinary gift that their families give by allowing them to do it, then it's worth it.

TeenHollywood: Did you do research with your own parents?

Jacinda: Yeah. Dad's retired. He was a fire chief. He was the head of the airport crash and rescue for 33 years. So he was really highly ranked and he won medals of valor. I asked my mom and my dad to write these mini biographies of the early years of their marriage and how they felt about the risks and the fears, and from my dad, what it was like being a firefighter in the early years. And that was my research, my jumping off point for my character. I definitely got insights into their life and learned things I never knew anything about.

TeenHollywood: Did you find any of your dad's experiences similar to those in the script?

Jacinda: Yeah, I did. There was something where a character falls through the roof and that happened to my dad. He went through two stories and landed in all that wreckage. And, I remember one time my dad was really quiet and my mom said 'your dad needs some quiet time'. It wasn't until much later that I found out that he witnessed two planes crashing and there were no survivors. There were a lot of things. Firefighters, in general, the ones who've seen [the film], are finding they know someone or they themselves have gone through something like the situations in the movie.

TeenHollywood: What was his reaction when he heard that you were going to do the film?

Jacinda: He thought it was great. You know my Dad is like a lot of fire fighters that I met, he's just so humble about what he does, and they all, the guys that I know anyway, seem to have this sort of quiet dignity and strength. My Dad doesn't think that it is some great big thing he does so I guess he doesn't really see it in that heroic way. So he was like, "OK, that sounds like fun". He didn't see it that differently than me doing a movie about whatever.

TeenHollywood: You were the only actor who didn't have to go through (fire) training. How much time did you have to spend making the movie?

Jacinda: I was there a month or so before doing research. And flying in and out. So about four months. I talked to firemen's wives. It's always surprising when they don't feel the fear. It's always surprising when they don't have those concerns about their husbands. Maybe it's partly denial. It's easier to deal with it that way.

TeenHollywood: Is it sort of a sisterhood of wives?

Jacinda: It's a bit like that. Then there are always people who aren't like that. I didn't have that when I was growing up where my mom was really good pals with the firefighters' wives. It's all different. Some are like that and some aren't. The guys are like that. It's a brotherhood, through and through. And the actors took that on.

TeenHollywood: So you didn't pal around with any of the real firemen's wives?

Jacinda: Well, in Baltimore, I became really good friends with one of the girls and spent time with them. It's the only movie I have ever done where the people we were telling the story about were so integrated with the filming. They were on set, we hung out with them before, they are in a lot of the scenes... you know the scene with the fire fighters, where there are like 300 fire fighters lining the road, they are all real fire fighters.

TeenHollywood: It's kind of like two movies; the fire action and the at home story with you and Joaquin. Was it like making two different movies?

Jacinda: Yeah, the guys were in one movie and then Joaquin and I were in this very quiet sort of emotionally character-driven movie. It was like two separate things. I think they knew the script but they kind of forgot my part in it in a way because they were never around for any of that stuff. It's kind of the way it is with the firefighters. There's a real sense of boys being boys and they're doing it just with the boys. I think the actors did that too off-screen.

TeenHollywood: You and Joaquin have some heavy scenes. What was it like working together?

Jacinda: He's such a great actor. You become a better actor by working with people like him. We would talk on the morning of [shooting] but we didn't rehearse at all which is exciting and frightening at the same time because you just throw yourself into it. We had to be vulnerable and non-judgemental and take big risks with each other. We did that and we had to evolve the relationship and evolve our physical beings to span eight years. It was thoughtful but fun work.

TeenHollywood: Most of the actors from Australia say they pick up American accents by watching American movies and TV there. Is that what you did?

Jacinda: When I started acting I had to do an American accent for the first part I ever did so I worked with a dialect coach a lot and then in addition to the technical work I also had to practice, practice, practice, listening to the radio. I'd drive around and repeat what was on the radio. That helps. It's like learning a different instrument, I find, anyway. The musicality of it affects your performance.

TeenHollywood: You are also in the Bridget Jones sequel movie. Who do you play?

Jacinda: Everyone's back from the first film. It picks up two months after the first one left off. I play Rebecca Gilles and I work for Colin Firth's character, Mark Darcy, There are some twists in it, especially for my character and you know, it is seen through Bridget's crazy insecure view of the world.

TeenHollywood: You play an American in "Ladder" and an upper crust English girl in "Bridget" but you're Australian. What do you miss most?

Jacinda: I miss the wide open skies, like just that sense of really being able to see the world that you have there. And the smells and the sounds, and I don't miss the cane toads. (laugh) I just saw a special on cane toads. They are very weird, awful animals.

TeenHollywood: You are also going to be in Mr. Ripley's Return. Matt Damon isn't playing Ripley again is he?

Jacinda: No. Barry Pepper is playing Ripley and then there's Alan Cummings, Tom Wilkinson, William Dafoe and Claire Fulani in it. I play Eloise, who is a French heiress – different accent again.

TeenHollywood: I see a nice engagement ring. Is your fiancé an actor?

Jacinda: No. He's American but he is not an actor.

TeenHollywood: Was that a big relief to your family back home?

Jacinda: Their world is just so different. They are not in the entertainment world... obviously in Brisbane they are just not connected to it so they just don't have the same kind of fears.

TeenHollywood: If your family is so disconnected from entertainment, where did the actress in you come from do you think?

Jacinda: What I think it comes from is that I wanted to travel. Like when I was out of high school I started travelling. I wanted to live in a lot of different worlds and experience a lot of different lifetimes in one life. And I love literature for that reason, and I love visiting, even museums, for that reason or visiting other cultures and acting is one of the only jobs that lets you do that.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.