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In a new interview with Hampton’s magazine, the 28-year-old pregnant actress says working with Café Society director, Woody Allen, was “very empowering”.
“It’s really cool to work with a director who’s done so much, because he knows exactly what he wants,” she said. “The fact that he does one shot for an entire scene with eight people and one to two takes – it gives you a level of confidence because when he’s got it, he knows he’s got it.”
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Upon the film’s Cannes premiere in May, things got less-empowering-and-more-awkward for Allen. Just one hour before the red carpet, The Hollywood Press published an article written by the director’s son, Ronan Farrow, questioning Allen’s “PR engine” who had reportedly deflected from Allen’s abuse of his daughter, Farrow’s sister.
““… even at 5 years old, [I] was troubled by our father’s strange behaviour around her: climbing into her bed in the middle of the night, forcing her to suck his thumb — behaviour that had prompted him to enter into therapy focused on his inappropriate conduct with children prior to the allegations.”
Lively, however, continues. “[Allen] also is really encouraging as to why he cast you, so he’ll say, ‘Say the dialogue that’s written and then you can improvise for a while.’ And his dialogue is so specific, and it’s speaking in a 1930s dialect and [with period] references, so it’s intimidating to think, ‘Oh, let me just improvise there and hope that my words blend seamlessly alongside Woody Allen’s.’ Which they clearly wouldn’t and don’t. But he’s very empowering.”
I’m not sure co-stars Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenburg would use the same adjective. Amid allegations against Allen, the pair reportedly got together and discussed whether they should remain on the film.
