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Interview: Cher and Stanley Tucci know how to show you a good time

Cher and Stanley Tucci hadn’t ever met before they were cast in Burlesque, but judging from their banter during the press junket for the film, the two could easily be longtime friends. That friendship is evident on screen, too, as Tucci plays Burlesque club owner Cher’s gay BFF in the film, which revolves around a group of dancers that finds new success after Christina Aguilera comes waltzing through the front door.

From joking that Cher has a “filthy” mind to one-liners that Tucci isn’t impressed by her humor, the pair discussed everything from playing gay – “you play a person” – to the loyalties of the gay community, as well as all things Burlesque during their shared roundtable interview.

AfterEllen.com: Cher, We haven’t seen you on screen in a long time. What was it about this movie that drew you back?

Cher: I wanted to sing in a film. It was my heart’s desire always, from the time I was about four. I didn’t want the film immediately; this was a process. They did have to beg me. I thought that [Tess] could be a good role. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted in the beginning, but she did turn out to be who I thought she should be. And [Tucci] and I, we set the pace for it. She changed from the first reading to the finished film.

AE: What do you love about your character, Tess?

Cher: I like her, she’s my kind of girl. I love that she’s working really hard and she’s not getting anyplace, but she’s not giving up. I love the relationship she has with all the girls and with him [Tucci]. She’s a very likable character, so it’s not like you’re taking a big risk.

In the beginning, she was not likable – she’s complaining and yelling at the girls all the time – and I just thought somebody like this would have just sold the club. That’s a no-brainer. She would have just said, “Fine, I don’t want to be here either.”

AE: One of Tess’ best moments is “You Haven’t Seen the Best of Me.” How do you personally identify with that song?

Cher: Stanley and I were talking about this. If you’ve been in this business, you know what being down is and if you keep going then you know what struggling through down means.

AE: This is an incredibly gay movie, without question.

Cher: [Laughs] One guy said, “This is gay Fantasia!”

AE: How does this rank among the gayest things you’ve done in your career?

Cher: Not even anywhere! It doesn’t even rank anywhere! I don’t think of it as a gay film, but of course gay guys love musicals and it’s fun. It’s just really fun, so I think that’s what appeals. Gay guys like to have fun, so I think that’s what it is.

AE: Do they, Stanley?

Stanley Tucci: How would I know? [Sarcasm]

Cher: He’s just an actor!

AE: You’ve played gay now for Cher and Meryl Streep. Who’s the better boss?

ST: [Pointing to Cher] Well, she’s much nicer.

Cher: Meryl was horrible! [Both laugh]

AE: Cher, gay men have always been such a big part of your career from the beginning. Can you reflect on that?

Cher: Gay men either love you or they don’t even notice that you’re alive on the planet. If they do love you, they stick with you through thick and thin, even when you’re not popular. I think they recognize kindred spirits that don’t really fit in to society, either. And of course, there’s sequins.

AE: Looking back at Silkwood, how do you think your performance playing gay stands up over time, especially compared to gay characters that we see on screen now?

Cher: I don’t think you “play gay.”

ST: You don’t.

Cher: At least you don’t play gay. I didn’t. If you look at her and you didn’t know, she was just a person. You just play a person. I think for Stanley, it was more of a stretch, but the truth is we giggled like in that first scene all the time. He makes me laugh hysterically. I just don’t think you play that. In The Lovely Bones, I don’t think you played a murderer; you play a person.

AE: Do you have any plans to make an It Gets Better campaign video with Chaz?

Cher: We haven’t talked about it. She – he, I do this all the time, the pronouns are just f–ked – he’s doing the documentary and this book, so that’s been taking up all the time.

AE: The transition from pop songstress to actress – many have tried and failed. You’re one who has done it spectacularly. Do you have any advice for Christina?

Cher: She had been working for a long time before she and I started working together. I think a couple things had to happen for her to feel comfortable with me because she didn’t know me, we met a week before [filming began]. I think she had to realize that I was going to be there to support her and not do any kind of weird actress crap.

I really saw as we went on, our scenes together just got better and better. I think she really has the talent to keep going. I would have never done this. The first thing that was on film [in my acting career] was an ensemble piece, but my first film, I had no idea what I was doing and Meryl [Streep] was holding my hand through it. When I started, my part was infinitesimal. I was the comic relief. I had no idea. It was easy for me.

AE: How was it for you and Stanley to connect as characters?

Cher: We don’t get along to this day. [Laughs].

ST: It’s awful; they’re paying me for these interviews. [Laughs] It was great. I was very nervous to meet Cher, there’s no doubt about it. Once we started working, we got along very well and we had a great time. They had to wrangle us in to stop us from laughing the whole time.

AE: Did you improvise at all?

Cher: There’s that part where we’re at the rack hanging clothes and at the end he grabs me with his legs – that was so not expected.

ST: No one would actually write that in the script.

Cher: I remember when I opened the rack and he looked at me – I just started laughing hysterically. That wasn’t in [the film]. None of that was in the script. We would go off on our little tangents. It was fun for us and I think when you’re having fun on the screen, people get it.

AE: The moments you share on screen are great. What was your relationship like behind the scenes?

ST: What you saw on screen is exactly what was happening off screen, I’m not kidding. What ever that relationship was, is the relationship that this is.

Cher: He makes me laugh hysterically and I just make him smile. [Both laugh]

ST: It’s true, because she’s really filthy. [Both laugh]

Cher: No!

ST: I’m going to show you a text … no I’m not.

AE: Cher, did you get to wear any Bob Mackie in the film?

Cher: One: In “Welcome to Burlesque.” That was done specially for the film. I don’t happen to have those things [in my closet]. I have a lot. In my auction, I gave the ones I didn’t really love away, but the ones I love I’m going to keep until they fall apart.

AE: You wore something to the VMAs that was very similar to the “Turn Back Time” video. Was that something you planned?

Cher: I wear that every night. [Laughs] I just had it and I didn’t have time to think of an outfit and thought it would be fun.

 

AE: Stanley, how do you approach a role like this as opposed to something more dramatic? Is there a different process for you?

ST: Yeah. Everything was really there on the page and I knew it had to have a lightness to it. You don’t want to try to create this elaborate character or something like that. You just want to keep it simple. The character is there to support these people and as an actor you have to go in and do that as well.

I can’t say it was easy, but I had to be playful. Where something like The Lovely Bones that took a lot of research and time to figure out what I wanted him to look like and finding the right accent and movement, stuff like that, that took awhile.

AE: Clint said you tried to pull out of the film. Was that just because you were trying to mold the character into a different person?

Cher: Yeah. In life, I don’t know what I want nearly as much as what I want in a character. I complained a lot about the hours – we had many 16-hour days in heels and it was murderous.

AE: What’s next for you?

Cher: There’s an album, but I haven’t been able to get to it. That’s the next thing I really want to do, unless a movie with Stanley is coming out.

AE: You also voice a character in Zookeeper, which is also coming up.

Cher: I do. I voice a lioness married to Sylvester Stallone. [Laughs] It’s not a big part. It was my first voice-over and it was really great. That’s how they cornered me: I’d been there for hours and I was really tired and I walked out the door and there was [writer-director] Steven [Antin] and [Screen Gems president] Clint [Culpepper] and Clint got down on one knee and said, “You have to come to the office.” So I did.

AE: Cher, if you could look back at your early career and give yourself one bit of advice about the industry and what was going to happen, what would that be?

Cher: To shut my mouth! [Laughs]

ST: You would shut your mouth?

Cher: Yeah, I would shut my mouth a lot more than I have in my life. I wouldn’t have done anything different because you just do what you do and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but you have to keep going. Mistakes are just mistakes.

Burlesque opens nationwide Nov. 24.

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