Dominic West On Working With Julia Roberts: "No One Seemed To Enjoy It"

Dominic West, the underappreciated lead of the HBO show "The Wire", gave an interview to today's London's "Guardian" (the fifth season is about to debut in the UK) and talked about working with Hollywood actresses Renee Zellweger (he implies she doesn't eat) and Julia Roberts.

On his role opposite Julia Roberts in "Mona Lisa Smile":

"The movie didn't make much sense. We would be given new scenes to film out of the blue which, it transpired, had been written by Julia's agent, who was doubling as a producer," he says. "I don't know what anyone was doing there. No one seemed to enjoy it. Especially not Julia. She had just got married and just wanted to be off having sex with her husband. Trouble was, she had married the cameraman on the movie. You can't really relax in a sex scene when the husband is staring right at you."

On costarring in "Chicago" opposite Renée Zellweger:

"I learned a lot from working with her," he said. "She was so tough. I would hear the director say, 'Cut' and then wait for instructions; she would demand another 15 takes until she was absolutely happy with the scene. These leading ladies have it tough: they have to be girly enough to remain attractive but retain a steeliness to get their own way too. Plus, they seem to starve themselves all day to stay in shape."

Read the whole interview here. Below is a photo of Dominic with Renee Zellweger in Chicago, before her character Roxie Hart killed his Fred Casely.

Comments

[janinem]

How disappointingly misleading is that headline? Here I was hoping someone was spilling the beans on that husband-stealing, remorseless witch Roberts...

[RJII]

the Wire was the best show ever. I never noticed Dominic until The Wire.

[JoshuaF]

Aw, come on Huffington Post. This headline is sooo US Weekly. From the content of the article it's very clear that the headline took a quote completely out of context. Mr. West wasn't saying that no one seemed to enjoy working with Julia Roberts. He says that no one seemed to enjoy that particular movie. I'm no Julia Roberts apologist, but this is a disingenuous headline.

[frankky]

Just because actresses behave like divas it doesn't mean they are tough. Divas are arrogant and
spoiled and whine to get their way, this isn't toughness, my mother is tough.

[yngcelt]

I totally agree. They should run headlines that address real issues like Al Gore's hypocrisy when he criticizes Americans for driving non-environmentally friendly autos while he himself rides around in an SUV and a private jet to every one of his "global warming" events.

[Raymondf]

From what I've read she is miss queenie on the st . Everyone hates to work with her, Julie Roberts, that is.

[DevilAdvocate]

how is this story anything close to the headline!!!?

[peaceplez]

That headline should be flagged as "abusive" !

[booker52]

Sounds like this should be a lesson to other, don't let your camera man and your leading lady work the same job if married to each other!!!

[QueenOfViolets]

Unfortunately, the way it works in real life is: if the leading lady is married to the cameraman, she's not going to go on location unless he comes too.

[Bill C]

This is becoming very NY Postish. Or, Enquirer and the glossy taabloids. The headline is misleading. I will stop reading this section if you don't change this.

[InjunTrouble]

So many of HuffingPost's headlines are misleading if not outright lies.

Either the people generating these headlines are stupid or they will do anything to get people to read the articles - it is deceptive and also unfair to the people in the news.

In this case, those who just read the headline and don't bother the read the article will get an incorrect impression about Julia Roberts.

[crossuab]

You are so right. They made it seem as if no one liked working with Julia Roberts. I think that title is a lie.

[lainey]

Agreed. Misleading articles take away credibility. By the way, loved The Wire. I already miss it and Jimmy, the leading character.

[BadgersBite]

I can't wait for Eric Roberts book about her!

[hypnus]

It's a coloring book.

[Paris]

This is not just about poor journalism-if you can call it that on the entertainment pages, but also about a lack of respect for the reader. Why do you lie to me with these misleading headlines?

[davefoc]

I agree. There is at times some humor in HuffPos's misleading headlines. And the occasional partisan slant is to be expected given the partisan nature of the site, but his headline is just mean spirited and unfair to Julia Roberts.

[Rockwell]

Headline implication: "nobody likes working with Julia".

Article Fact: "nobody liked working on Mona Lisa Smile, including Julia."

You know, I'm all for summer employment for High School Sophmores, but does HuffPo really have to use them for writing all their headlines?

[andyboy]

I love these headlines! It makes you want to read the article. Great job HuffPo. Your entertainment section is top-notch!

[langstonhughesfan]

This headline is totally out of line. It does indeed imply that Julia was a huge problem, when in fact, nobody liked making the movie--including her! I like HuffPo, but there's really no reason for this kind of headline.

[ylpatriot]

Lets face it .... kinda getting the feel of a tabloid eh ?

[gurukalehuru]

The headline was a great big porkie. He never said he didn't like Julia Roberts. He said that he, Julia and everybody else in the cast of Mona Lisa Smile hated making the movie. Which I understand. It was pretty painful to watch, too.

[truthyguy]

You are right, gurukalehuru, about the headline.
HuffPo does misleading headlines quite often. Someone there should look into it because, if the headline has its intended effect of having the viewer read the story, the reader only (like you) gets pissed that they have been suckered.

[OhComeOnNow]

Totally agree! This is more like National Enquirer than anything else. I am no longer a fan. And this happens all the time now. So much for resposible journalism.