Woody Allen’s newest comedy, Whatever Works, stars Larry David as fatalist and all-around curmudgeon Boris Yellnikoff who doesn’t see the point of doing anything, much less find time for intimate relationships. By chance, he meets Melody (Evan Rachel Wood), a young, naïve runaway from Mississippi, who challenges Boris’s gloomy outlook, turning his life and the lives of everyone around them upside down. Buzzine was invited to speak with Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood and Patricia Clarkson — who plays Melody’s mother — about their experiences with intimidation, returning to one’s roots and working with Woody Allen.

“[Woody] does very big, long takes,” Patricia Clarkson opened. “You have to be prepared and you have to do your homework. You have to know your lines. You have to be able to improv. An actor prepares with Woody.” Wood and David echoed Clarkson’s observations. “It’s hard, but it’s also character-building.”

David, who’s used to riffing and jazzing with the dialog on Curb Your Enthusiasm, expressed his initial shock with his role in Whatever Works. In the opening scene of the film, his character, Boris, delivers a monologue directly into the camera for five minutes. “It was hard,” David says. “I opened the script, I saw the first page…full of Boris. Then I turned to page 50 and I saw Boris on page 50. Then I turned to the last page…”

“Boris again!” Clarkson finished, as David slipped into Yiddish and rolled his eyes.

“It was king of daunting,” David added, “to have to learn all that, to tell you the truth. As far as improvising goes, that was another aspect to it that I found daunting because I am used to improvising and making up most of it as I go along, and it was challenging and I don’t really care for challenges.”

Woody Allen and Larry David during the shoot

On Woody Allen’s intimidation factor, Clarkson says, “You get over it and you get past it. [Woody] is so monosyllabic in his response and he’s very judicious in his praise.”

“He once said to me, ‘It wasn’t horrible.’” David recounts. “That made my day.”

“My favorite was always, ‘That was actually a lot funnier than I thought it was going to be.’” Wood laughs.

The actors agree that no one wanted to be the one to screw up Woody’s movie. “And you don’t want to be the one to screw up a take,” Clarkson says. “It’s a different way of working than most directors who start and stop and shoot in pieces.”

“It’s unpredictable,” adds Wood. “If he gets it in one take, then it’s done.” She and Clarkson commiserate over a challenging scene for a moment. “My Southern accent is coming back just thinking about it.” Discussing the building of her character, Wood says, “Luckily, I’m from the South, so I kind of based [Melody] off my stepmother, slightly. Not IQ-wise, but just that sweet Southern hospitality and seeing the good in everything. It was hard. I didn’t want her to be annoying. I wanted her to be endearing. I thought, ‘I want my accent to be right.’ It just happened. Once you get that hair going and the nails and that outfit, it’s hard not to become a different person.”

Patricia Clarkson

Clarkson, whose roots also reach the South, says it was “divine” to go back and play such a “delicious character.” Audiences can expect very vivid acting from Clarkson, who plays the ultra-Conservative, ultra-religious Marietta who comes looking for her daughter, Melody, who is now surrounded by very Liberal thinkers. “It was a character that required all my Southerness in all its glory and all its fanaticism. It was nice. I got to let it all hang out, so to speak.”

Whatever Works opens on June 19th and stars Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley, Jr., Michael McKean and Conleth Hill. Whatever Works is rated PG-13.

Look for Buzzine’s review soon!