QUESTION: You appear in five mini movies within Bedtime Stories. Which were
the best and worst to do?
KERI RUSSELL: Oh boy! My favourite always involves anything in which Adam
Sandler was wearing a long, flowing blond wig! That was highly enjoyable for me.
I think the mermaid was the most fun. I felt like every day was an Adam Shankman
talent show...today you are going to do and Adam Sandler is going to do that.
Like I was in a mermaid costume and Adam had a long wig on and then elephants
come out! It was hardly work though. There was not a lot of preparation it was
just fun. You just rolled with it.
QUESTION: How was it being in all the oddball costumes?
KERI RUSSELL: It was hilarious. It just got crazier and crazier...from space to
strange goblin outfits, to the mermaid. We were laughing the whole time because
it was so larger than life.
QUESTION: Daryl Hannah said in Splash her mermaid costume was so tight it almost
stopped her circulation. How was your your outfit?
KERI RUSSELL: They did actually manufacture a whole tail but I only wore it
along my hips because the mermaid was digitally created so my costume was
glittering hair extensions and blue tights. Adam joked that I looked more like
someone who was going to a Grateful Dead concert than a mermaid. So I did not
have that problem.
QUESTION: You were in the Mickey Mouse Club - how was that as a basis for our
career? And who were you on the show with?
KERI RUSSELL: When I was on the Mickey Mouse Club there was Brittany Spears,
Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling and Christine Aguilera. But there were 12 and
I was 17 so there was a bit of an age difference. It was a training ground, like
a little kids' Saturday Night Live only not as funny.
QUESTION: Did you feel that your pals on the Mickey Mouse Club were destined to
become pop super gods?
KERI RUSSELL: No we were all little nerds! When you are 16 you are supposed to
be doing cool things, like sneaking alcohol, not living in Disney World and
doing skits about mice. But it was a unique way to grow up and it is interesting
to see what has happened to everyone who was on it. Two of the girls that I grew
up with on that show are still my best friends...one is a lawyer and the other
is an actress. The show was full of wonderful, talented kids.
QUESTION: How do you cope with being an actress, a wife and a young mom?
KERI RUSSELL: Just day by day. It's like anyone with a career, there are
compromises and you try to do your best each day. There are harder months. This
is a harder month because I am away from home, travelling on the road a lot. But
the next month I will not work at all, so there are give and takes.
QUESTION: Where is home?
KERI RUSSELL: My husband is a carpenter and we bought the cheapest Brownstone in
Brooklyn and he ripped it apart and renovated it. He has done a beautiful job,
doing everything from the roof to the floorboards. He even made furniture for
the house, he's very gifted. When we were first dating he made me a little
jewellery box. He comes from Martha's Vineyard and he carved an illustration of
that on the box. It's very sweet.
QUESTION: Doing a Disney film means that you'll have a DVD for your baby son.
That must be great?
KERI RUSSELL: That is why I signed on for this movie. I had never met Adam
Sandler before and I was very pregnant at the time when Adam called. He said he
knew I was pregnant and he had children and that he wanted to make a movie that
his kids could watch. He said he thought I should do this movie with him and
that it would be fun. So I said ok. Six months later the script showed up and we
shot the movie. I am so pleased that he called me because at that time we shot
the movie my baby was crawling and it was sunny in California and he had his
kids on the set too. It was a fun and easy return to work. I adored working with
Adam Sandler and I hope he chooses me again.
QUESTION: What is the special thing about him?
ADAM SANDLER: He is just great. He is so normal and easy and he has done a great
job about controlling his environment. He is very specific about it. He comes
off like everything is very casual but he is very specific about things.
Everyone who works with him are friends from college. He surrounds himself with
people with whom he is very comfortable and that's how the set is. I am glad I
fit into that group.
QUESTION: The film suggests that parents should be wary of becoming over
protective. What do you think?
KERI RUSSELL: Everyone has to do what they are going to do. Kids end up doing
what they want. Adam is so sweet in this movie. I think it really shows who Adam
really is. It was nice partnering him and Disney. It has brought out this
charming vulnerability in Adam.
QUESTION: As a child did you invent stories?
KERI RUSSELL: I am sure but I don't know that I really remember. And I am sure
someone told me bedtime stories but for some reason I can't remember. I am
positive I was not a neglected child. I remember reading The Jungle Book and The
Sleeping Beauty. What I love in this movie is that the adult starts the bedtime
story and the kids interject their own thoughts. Being a parent I think it is a
clever way of finding out what is on their mind or what they might be afraid of
or excited about.
QUESTION: Is parenthood going to affect our career choices?
KERI RUSSELL: I'm sure it trickles into the thought process. But I am still
interested in what I am interested it; it is not the sole deciding factor. But
in watching Bedtime Stories for the first time in California - I saw it in an
audience full of laughing kids. Afterwards Adam and I talked about it and we
were almost crying because it makes you feel so good. So it is more on your
radar than before you have kids.
QUESTION: Where do you keep the Golden Globe for Felicity?
KERI USSELL: I don't know where it is. We just moved into our house so it is
probably in a box somewhere. We will find it eventually.
