At the movies this weekend, “The Last Word” asks the question: How will you be remembered? Shireen, of course, will be remembered for having more shoes than there are days in the year. Deco’s memorable man Chris Van Vliet may be remembered for his profanity laced interview with the stars of this movie.
We should point out that one of those stars is an 83-year old Hollywood legend, and the other is eight months pregnant. I flew to L.A. to chat with Shirley MacLaine and Amanda Seyfried.
Shirley MacLaine (as Harriett Lauler): “The thought of leaving my obituary to chance is just unreasonable to me.”
In “The Last Word,” Shirley MacLaine is Harriet Lauler — a woman who is used to having control of absolutely everything — and now she wants to control how she’ll be remembered after she dies.
Amanda Seyfried (as Anne Sherman): “Well, I am the obituary writer, so when the times comes, I will be writing your obituary.”
Shirley MacLaine (as Harriett Lauler): “I want you to write it now.”
Amanda Seyfried (as Anne Sherman): “Huh?”
She hires the local obituary writer, played by Amanda Seyfried, to craft the ultimate obituary, but realizes it may not be that simple.
When I asked why Harriet was such an awful person, it turned into a bit of a therapy session for Shirley’s character.
Shirley MacLaine: “I think from the beginning, she had a mother who wasn’t exactly strong, and she wanted to overcome that. I think she has a streak, probably dictated by some past life, that she wanted to be wealthy and she wanted to be successful.”
As the movie goes on, the two women develop a friendship and find they can learn from each other.
Amanda Seyfried (as Anne Sherman): “The problem isn’t with my writing. That was just me writing about your life.”
Shirley MacLaine (as Harriett Lauler): “My life is not over yet.”
Chris Van Vliet: “I was interested to see that this movie was rated R.”
Shirely MacLaine: “Was what?”
Chris Van Vliet: “Rated R.”
Shirley MacLaine: “It was? Hey, why?”
Amanda Seyfried: “So many [expletive] bombs.”
Shirley MacLaine: “Oh that’s of course. We say [expletive] a lot.”
I know we censored it there, so you don’t really know what they said, but I’m sure you can use your imagination.
Chris Van Vliet: “Do you guys have a favor swear word?”
Shirley MacLaine: “[Expletive] will do.”
Amanda Seyfried: “Yeah, it’s fine.”
Chris Van Vliet: “This may be the most [expletive]-bombs in an interview that I’ve ever done. So thank you.”
Amanda Seyfried: “Sure, if you like it. Yeah.”
Amanda Seyfried (as Anne Sherman): “Harriet, you are a piece of work.”
Shirley MacLaine (as Harriett Lauler): “I am who I am.”
The whole movie is about carving out your legacy, so I asked them both if they consider their legacy when they choose movie roles. They both pretty much laughed at me. I thought it was a good question!
“The Last Word” is out now in theaters.
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