Rosario
for Rent
empireonline
March 31, 2005
|
|
Good news for musical lovers! The
(nearly) all-singing, (nearly) all-dancing Broadway show Rent is well on
the way to the big screen. When Empire bumped into the gorgeous Rosario
Dawson recently, we talked to the lady herself about her role in Chris Columbus'
rock opera.
"You know, I’m singing and dancing and… on drugs," she says. But
never fear, Rosario is no Method actor. "It’s not like I went hooking to
figure out what it was like to be a prostitute ringleader [in Sin City], so
I’m definitely not, you know, doing any crack right now!"
“But it’s going really well. We just started shooting, we did our exteriors
– two weeks in New York, and now we’re moving back to San Francisco to do
some interiors, and then we go to LA, and Santa Fe” she says.
For those not of a musical disposition, Rent tells the story of a group
of struggling bohemians – actor, dancer, filmmaker, public access lawyer,
street musician, etc. and their intertwined lives. Also in the mix is their
landlord, who used to be one of them until he married money and bought the
building. Oh, and this being based on Puccini's operatic weepy La Boheme, lots
of them dance, sing and die.
So it's a cheery affair, then? “It is!” says Dawson, laughing. “HIV and
crack! Squatters, and starvation, and dying! Wouldn’t you sing and dance?! But
it’s a great rock opera.”
Dawson is one of only two new additions to a cast that is essentially composed
of Broadway stars (so that's those Justin Timberlake rumours squashed then).
"It’s cool. It’s really wonderful working with the original cast.
It’s only myself and Tracie Thoms who are new. She plays Joanne. And it’s a
little strange, because we’re sitting there and Adam Pascal or Anthony Rappa
starts singing. And as fans, we're just freaking out, and then it’s our turn
to sing, and we’re like… “OK, OK, be professional”.
So how is the singing going? "I’m not gonna be like 'I sound amazing',
but no-one seems to be complaining. I’ve been singing for a long time, but it
does sound really different. It’s one of those things where you get nervous.
As soon as we do something a little different, we start questioning ourselves
– 'am I doing it different because I’m tryin' to be different? Or for the
right reasons?' It’s an interesting experience.
But the real question is – has she seen Team America: World Police,
which features a clear, er, tribute to Rent in the shape of the song
"Everybody Has AIDS"?
"We were watching it as a group altogether, just cracking up. When the show
first came up, they came up with all these spoofs on it, like (sings) “Aaa ooo!
It’s too tight, my pants are soooo tight…” But we’re gonna get it.
We’ll probably still hear it when it comes out, but it’ll be pretty
cool."
For more from Rosario, and full Sin City coverage, check out future
issues of Empire.