Mara Wilson said she had quit film acting, but saying this kind of indicates that she would not be particularly against acting on TV. As I predicted, she wouldn’t mind having a guest appearance on Girls. She said she enjoyed acting in theater more than films. Additionally, she has acted on the internet. When talking about her decision to quit film acting, she said she didn’t like having to do lots of takes and not having much creative freedom. She said Anna Kendrick, Ellen Page and Jen Lawrence can do better than what she can do. Sure, Anna can sing and dance better. Granted, Ellen’s melancholic face lends itself better to drama, while J-Law has a gift for comic facial expressions which surpasses any actress.
However, Mara’s face is a perfect balance between cuteness and cynicism which the others don’t have. It’s as much to do with physiognomy (i.e. the way that the face looks when it’s not doing anything) as facial ability. She may not be Sleeping Beauty, but she can play the ugly duckling (à la Kristen Schaal). If Mara had not rejected the chance to audition as Maeby from Arrested Development, she may have been cast in Juno à la Michael Cera and Jason Bateman. Juno turned Ellen into a big star because of these two stars from Arrested Development. Whip It and Super weren’t as profitable as Juno because the posters didn’t feature Cera.
When Mara was a child actress, she wanted to play a bad-ass. She was something of a tomboy back then. It never happened. If she was cajoled to do a comeback, John Woo (ironically) would be the person to do so – even if it ends up being a one-off. In a book titled John Woo: The Interviews, I came across an interview which was conducted by Karen Kondazian (an actress). He mentioned that he lets actors improvise and change dialogue. He also mentioned that while some actors like to do twenty or thirty takes, he will only do one or two. “One-shot John” was his nickname in Hollywood. John likes to get know the actors before shooting. His preference is to write the scene based on who they are, which means that they become more convincing.
A man on Twitter had asked her if she would like to reunite with Danny DeVito for her final mainstream movie. She replied that it was possible. Coincidentally, I have written a novel where the main character is a writer who works in the Italian fashion industry, so Mara could draw from her experiences as a writer in the adaptation. She could even write the screenplay, which would strengthen her performance. Danny could play a CEO who only speaks Italian. If Mara starred in one more movie, there would be less people asking her about Matilda. As for an audition tape of sorts, here is an impersonation of a book store employee.
As for the casting portfolio, the producers and casting directors should look at the below images…
Befuddled:
Ebullient:
Ecstatic:
Morose:
Mortified:
Offended:
Scared:
Shocked:
Sly:
Troubled:
Vindictive:
Vicious:
Worried:
She has more expressions than Kristen Stewart (the female Keanu Reeves).
Pop Cult Master 