Interview with Juliet Landau

Juliet Landau is a person of many talents. Best known for her role in "Buffy" and "Angel", she speaks about her portrayal of the vampire Drusilla and her memories of her work in the Whedonverse. Recently she directed a documentary about Gary Oldman and kindly tells us everything about this new challenge as well as about her other projects like writing and co-directing a short film and co-writing an "Angel" comic book.

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1. "Take Flight" is a documentary about the exceptional artist Gary Oldman and your debut as a director. What can you tell us about it?

Gary directed a music video for the Jewish Hip Hop band, CHUTZPAH, which he shot entirely on cell phones. He asked me to direct the "making–of". When I saw the footage I had gotten, I realized I had a unique perspective into his creative process and TAKE FLIGHT was born. It has truly been a labor of love! The film is now available on: julietlandaustakeflight.com

2. Has directing always been a dream of yours or did that idea come about spontaneously?

I think that I really got bitten by the directing bug, by working on TAKE FLIGHT. As an actor, which I love, you are a singular component. With directing, it really suits my nature. I love having a vision for the whole and then bringing that vision to fruition. I just co-directed the HERO music video for the band Godhead.

3. With "Take Flight", how did you approach this new challenge?

Well, after I said yes to Gary, I realized that even though I have been in a lot of "making-ofs" I had never, ever watched one, not even the ones I had been in. So I started to do some research. I watched tons of movie and music video "making-ofs" and tons of documentaries and director commentaries. I made notes of what I felt was interesting and then made an outline of what I wanted to go after on set. The video shot over the course of 3 days. I had 3 cameras chronicling the action. Between that and all of the cell phone footage, there was 50 hours of material. I watched all 50 hours 3X through. Gary operated one of the "cell-cams" and I became very excited about having such rare perspective of an artist creating. So I asked him if it could develop into a short doc about him, about his process. Then I came up with the structure. In the beginning we get peppered glimpses of his view, towards the middle, longer, more expansive pieces, and by the very end the audience is completely released into Gary's perspective. The footage cuts seamlessly, but I decided to keep the cell phone footage 4X3 and everything else 16X9 so it is clear when we are looking through Gary's eyes. I chose classical music for Gary's internal creative world and the outside world is represented by the music of Chutzpah.

4. How did you manage to turn a "Behind the scenes"-documentary into an insider's portrait of Gary Oldman's creative process?

There is a moment in the film, where Gary says, "I'm just trying to find that right moment..." I think that is the pursuit of any artist, we are searching for that moment where everything gels and takes flight. It is a wonderful thing when that happens. On set and in our footage it was fun watching Gary explore with childlike abandon. Being able to "look through his eyes" while he was doing that, made me want to expand the piece. Gary has masterfully played a diverse range of characters and appeared in some of the biggest mega hits of our time, "The Dark Knight" and "Harry Potter". He is as meticulous and invested, making a no-budget music video on cell phones, as he is in any of his work.

5. Can you tell us a little bit about your short film "It's raining Cats and Cats" and the seven characters you play in it?

It is a dark comedy. Drac studios who just won their 4th Academy Award will design and do the make-ups. ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "Dracula", "Mrs. Doubtfire", "Hannibal") I am raising money for it by selling autographed merchandise in the julietlandau.com store, the way Amber Benson did to make her two feature films. I wrote it and will co-direct as well as playing 7 different characters in it.

6. What has been your most challenging role so far as an actress?

Each role is like it's own little puzzle, which needs it's own list of ingredients.
For "Ed Wood", I did research into the movie stars of the 1950's, because Loretta was a wanna-be starlet. For "Buffy" and "Angel", it was a lot of different elements to pull together in one character, which I loved. I did an episode of "La Femme Nikita", where I played 2 different characters. It was directed by the creator of the show, Joel Surnow, who also created "24". I was switching back and forth between the two very different gals all day long. Maybe the most challenging was a movie I did for Lifetime because I had less than a week to prepare and the character who was Southern, had masses and masses of exposition. Or maybe it was the stage production of Clifford Odets' AWAKE AND SING! at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre. Hennie was an exceedingly tough but emotional character. I had to strike just the right balance. That was really fun.

7. You're a person of many talents, acting, directing, voicing, writing, singing in musicals. Is there any one of these your heart is set on the most?

I love being creative in all different ways. I am passionate about performing, whether it's acting, voicing characters or singing. But I also love directing and writing, which involves having the overview and the vision I discussed earlier. I have always approached acting like that to some degree, anyway. When you are shooting, you shoot scenes out of sequence. It is important to have an overall arc, to know where your character has come from in the prior scene and where she is going in the next. And to have an understanding of how your character services the whole, what she means in the context of the themes of the movie, play or television show.

8. You recently co-wrote two "Angel"-Comics that featured your unforgettable character Drusilla. Were you given plenty of room for the creative work?

I was given plenty of room, which was fantastic. I came up with the story, then co-wrote the issues with Brian Lynch. I was very involved with the artwork. I worked closely with Franco Urru and brought in Mr. Sam-Sam Shearon and Mike McHaley to do some of the covers and additional artwork. It all felt like a natural extension of having inhabited Dru for such a long period of time.

9. The fragile, poetic and yet puissant, ruthless Drusilla is the most exceptional female vampire-character of all time. Was there a lot of your own interpretation in your portrayal of the character?

Thank you! It was a wonderful collaboration. When I was cast, Joss told me that he'd had Spike and Drusilla running around in his head for 10 years. He described what he wanted. The writing was amazing! I got to play, bringing all that delicious physicality, her noises and so much invention to her.

10. You're a professional ballerina which shows in Drusilla's composure. This combined with her childlike attitude makes her a very loveable character despite her evil features. Do you love the character yourself?

Yes, I do very much.

11. With playing Drusilla you became part of the Whedonverse. Do you like still being connected to this? Or does it seem bigger for the fans than for the actors themselves?

It is wonderful. The fans are extraordinary. And we, who worked on the show have remained friends.

12. You worked with a lot of people from the Whedonverse. Who did you enjoy working with the most?

It is hard to pick. I worked mostly with James, David and Julie. I loved working with them all. I didn't work with Sarah as much, but she was tremendous... hard to pick.

13. What's your fondest memory of shooting "Buffy" and "Angel"?

Another thing that is hard to choose. I have so many fond memories. My three favorite episodes are #2.03 Schoolhard because it is Spike's and Dru's first, #2.13 Surprise because Drusilla gets strong and #2.10 Reunion because Darla and I team up and wreak havoc in Los Angeles.

14. You and James Marsters as Drusilla & Spike were one of the most impressive TV dream couples ever. Would you like to work with James again? What film or play would it be?

Thank you! I would absolutely work with James again. We have an incredible acting chemistry. There are so many different types of material we could do. How about a musical since we both sing and I was a professional dancer?

15. Twitter and Facebook are platforms that offer artists and fans from all over the world the opportunity to get in touch with each other. How important is it for you to get feedback from your fans and followers?

I love being able to connect with people. It is an amazing exciting time where so much is changing in that regard.

16. Via Twitter you told your followers about an Interview with "Smallville" legend Lex Luthor aka Michael Rosenbaum. Can you give a little bit away what this was about?

I am shooting a campaign that is going to time out with TAKE FLIGHT being available. I am interviewing friends/colleagues/experts/people in the business about their creative process and then asking them how they would market a film about Gary Oldman, Jewish Hip Hop and cell phones?! Michael is amazing in the interview. He's so funny and interesting and talented! We met for the first time doing an episode of "Justice League Unlimited". I interviewed a bunch of cool folks for it. Look for them on Youtube.

17. Do you have any other new projects you can tell us about?

I just did an adorable kid's movie called "Monster Mutt". I play the blonde, Russian villainess. I have a number of other things that are brewing, but I should probably wait to talk about them.

18. Since myFanbase is an online magazine about TV series, do you have a favourite show?

David Fury, who I know from "Buffy" is Exec producer of "24". He got me hooked on the show. I particularly love Season 5. Jean Smart and Gregory Itzin were incredible.

Nicole Oebel - myFanbase