CraveOnline: That’s an even bigger message than the specific issues in the movie, to just live without judgment. I like that. Did you learn how to sing and play guitar for this movie?
Rumer Willis: No, I already knew how to sing. They had talked about doing the scene and having a song and I had written a couple of songs, so I asked that one that I wrote be used in the movie. So that’s actually one that I wrote. The guitar, I wasn’t as well practiced as I had hoped but I think it came off really well.
Could there be a soundtrack for The Odd Way Home with you on it?
I think that’s a possibility.
Are your songs similar in style to the song you wrote in the movie?
Actually, I do a little bit of a mix of both. I sing a lot of covers of rock songs and different kind of jazz tunes. It’s a really fun place to explore and try out different things and see where I’d liked to go with it.
Did you audition for Odd Way Home or was it an offer?
I auditioned. I came in and met with the director, Raj[eev Nirmalakhandan]. Then I had to come back and do a chemistry read actually with someone else but then they ended up telling me that I got it. I was very excited.
A chemistry read with someone other than Chris Marquette?
It actually wasn’t with him.
Just because of who your father is, was action heroine ever something you were interested in pursuing?
Oh, totally. I think I got to do more stunts in this and that was probably my favorite part of the whole movie because of the first scene where I’m just getting beaten to crap. I would have loved to do have done a couple more stunts but it was definitely a good introduction. I hope I can do it more in the future.
Has no one ever pitched you on turning you into the next action heroine?
No, not really. Not yet but you never know.
It seems like films like this and your TV work have been a lot of dramatic parts. Would you like to do more comedy like The House Bunny?
Yeah, I’m a huge fan of both. I think if an opportunity arose to do another comedy or something like that, I’d be very excited and would jump at the chance.
I understand you come from an acting family, but did you ever take traditional acting classes?
I didn’t for a long time but now I currently am. I studied with Janet Alhanti for a long time and I just started studying with Diana Castle.
What sorts of new things are you learning through that?
Lots. It’s just really opened up my eyes in a way of thinking about things and the backstory. One of Diana’s main things is you’re not just trying to memorize your lines. You’re trying to create memory so that when you go into a scene it doesn’t matter. Everything is very specific for you and everything has a meaning greater than what it might seem to everyone else.
You must have grown up on movie sets. When did you stop going to movie sets besides for work?
I love going on movie sets. Whenever I got a chance when I was a kid to go and visit my parents while they were shooting, I loved it because it was such a different world. It’s really incredible to see a place where everything’s just about creating a fantasy world whether that be an action star or being in the military, whatever it may be.
When I went and saw my dad on The Fifth Element, it was just amazing to me that you could create a whole different world like that. The brilliant thing about movies is the writers and the production designers and everyone who is part of making the film, the actors, everybody else who does all the other works, creates an entirely different world. So that when we’re going to the movies, we get to live in this world, and watch these actors play things but also things that we can connect to and move and change us.
Do you live in L.A. then?
I live in L.A.
Was that an important decision, having grown up in the midwest?
Well, I grew up in Idaho but I came to high school out here. After that, when I started working and auditioning, it just made sense. I have three dogs so I enjoy having a backyard.
What’s coming up for you?
Right now I’m currently doing a dinner theater show here in L.A. called “For the Record.” I have my residency at The Sayers Club. I sing there every week but I just booked a pilot on E! called “Songbyrd.”
What are you going to play on “Songbyrd?”
I play a girl named Mickey. She’s the sister of a Grammy award winning singer-songwriter and it’s just about trials and tribulations of songwriting, falling in love, how that affects your work. Bethany Joy Lenz is in it with me and right now they’re currently casting the other roles.
You’ll be playing her sister but will there be an opportunity to use your music?
Yes, I think so. One of the things we had to audition is we had to sing. I’m hoping that this could be the best of both worlds for me.
Did you shoot The Ganzfield Experiment?
Yes. I play a drug addict as well. It’s about people in a house doing this crazy experiment. It’s about depriving yourself of sound, sight… It’s very sci-fi, very out there but it should be fun.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and Shelf Space Weekly. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
