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Her director Oliver Stone calls her a “headstrong colt”. Maggie Gyllenhaal (in picture) plays Allison Jimeno, wife of Will Jimeno (Michael Pena), one of the two Port Authority officers trapped under the rubble in Stone’s World Trade Center, currently running at city theatres. The movie also stars Nicolas Cage who plays the other officer.
Stone feels Maggie surprised and captivated him, albeit in a different way. “Everything was in suspension for Allison, a wife coming to terms with the fact that she will have no husband and that she would be raising her two young children alone. Maggie went along, we trusted each other more and more.”
As it turns out, Maggie too felt an intuitive connect with Stone. “I didn’t know what to expect when I met Oliver, he’s such a personality, his reputation precedes him. As we talked, I felt a real instinctive connection to Oliver, which remained throughout filming,” she says. “It was such an intense, unbelievable experience.”
“He’s pushed me more than any other director ever has,” Maggie continues. “A lot of Oliver’s movies are like operas. They’re painting a really emotional, really committed portrait of a time. That’s what he pushes you to — a really committed, honest opera.”
Allison and Will Jimeno felt that sometimes Maggie produced a movement or a glance that was, as Will puts it, “so Allison it was spooky”.
Maggie adds that the reason she was so keen to do the film was because the screenplay touched her profoundly. It’s something, she says, that doesn’t often happen.
There is really no place like home, especially when it’s the small town of Stuckeyville. From the writer-producer of the Late Show with David Letterman comes a new season of the romantic comedy called Ed on STAR World.
The serial revolves around Ed Stevens (Tom Cavanagh) and his group of friends in the quaint yet quirky midwestern town of Stuckeyville.
After his return from New York and his failed marriage, Stuckeyville and his unique work environment allow Ed to see his hometown and its eccentric citizens with fresh eyes.
He befriends the beautiful woman he never had the courage to date during high school (played by Julie Bowen) who, along with her best friend Molly (Lesley Boone), teaches at the local high school.
The series won a People’s Choice Award for Favourite New Comedy Series and, in the first season, Cavanagh won the TV Guide Award as Actor of the Year in a New Series. Ed has also won three Emmy Award nominations.
Catch Ed this Wednesday, starting with two back-to-back episodes, from 8 pm on STAR World.
