Norah Jones: move over, Norah Jones, softly pleasing practitioner of the jazzy, whispery, adult contemporary slow jam. Make way for Norah Jones: edgy chameleon, irrepressible risk-taker, and star of the year's wildest American road trip movie, My Blueberry Nights

Interview, Feb, 2008 by Natalie Portman

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For as long as there has been a United States, people have been taking to the American road. The phenomenon of folks looking out at the landscape and seeing nothing but potential--whether they're running away from something or setting off in search of something else--is as indigenous a practice to the country as tailgating at football games and not believing in monarchies.

So it's appropriate that for his first film set in America, Chinese director Wong Kar Wai--the man behind Chungking Express (1994), In the Mood for Love (2001), and other edgy, idiosyncratic masterworks of Asian cinema--has chosen to make a road movie. Shot on location throughout California, Nevada, New York, and Tennessee, My Blueberry Nights tells the story of a heartbroken young woman, played by singer-songwriter Norah Jones, whose failed relationship sets her off on an archetypal American journey--one fueled as much by the desire to leave the past behind as it is a yearning for adventure, escape, and reinvention.

Jones makes her acting debut in My Blueberry Nights, flanked by a quartet of heavyweights comprising Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, David Strathairn, and her interviewer here, Natalie Portman. The 28-year-old New York City-based Jones recently made a cross-country connection of her own with Portman, who was shooting a new movie in New Mexico.

NATALIE PORTMAN: Let's get down to business. How did you meet Wong Kar Wai?

NORAH JONES: His office called and wanted to meet with me. I didn't know anything about him.

NP: Really?

NJ: Yeah. I'd never seen any of his movies--so I watched a couple of his films and I thought they were amazing. But I didn't know what he wanted when they called me. I thought he wanted music from me, so I met with him. And you know how he is--he's kind of intimidating. He's very tall and he's got those big glasses, and he's kind of quiet. He just sat there and stared at me. Then finally he asked, "So, Norah, do you want to act?"

NP: [laughs] And what did you say?

NJ: I said, "Uh ... I don't know if I can, but I would like to try." [both laugh]

NP: Did he explain why he came to you?

NJ: No, he never did. And I didn't ask because I was nervous.

NP: That's hysterical!

NJ: I know, but I just sort of trusted him. I just had some blind faith. I thought it'd be fun. I was off the road and thought it would be a good opportunity to try something new.

NP: Did he tell you anything about the story or the character that he wanted you to play?

NJ: No. He didn't tell me anything. For a while I was getting a little nervous, like, "What the heck am I going to be doing? Is he ever going to tell me?" [Portman laughs] About a month before we started, he had a very loose treatment for the movie--and, of course, it changed completely. Then, about a week before we started filming, there was finally a script.

NP: Did you do any preparation?

NJ: I found an acting coach and took a couple lessons, and then I asked Kar Wai what I should start working on--you know, because I knew nothing about this character. And he said, "No, don't take acting lessons. I want you to be natural." So I said, "Are you sure? Are you crazy? You've never even seen me act."

NP: [laughs] Did you have any input into who got to play your love interest?

NJ: No, I did not. But Kar Wai kept teasing me with names of these wonderful, handsome, totally hot actors.

NP: And then you got the greatest.

NJ: Yeah, Jude Law was just perfect. Kar Wai was really excited that Jude was going to do the movie. He kept not telling me and then he finally told me. Jude was so fun.

NP: What was most surprising to you about the process?

NJ: Pretty much everything was surprising to me because I had no idea what to expect. I mean, I'd done music videos, so I knew a little bit about how things worked. But, really, it's not the same thing.

NP: Also, this movie is different from any other movie. You're not usually at the Best Western getting your script, like, five seconds before you shoot.

NJ: I thought it was exciting. It made me feel more comfortable that everyone else was not in their element a little bit, like I wasn't just the new kid--even though I was.

NP: Did the experience change at all how you think about your music?

NJ: I don't know. It didn't really change the way I think about music--I guess because I'm already so into that world and my thoughts about music change all the time anyway. It did affect it in some way, though.

NP: Did you write anything while we were shooting?

NJ: I wrote two songs. I wrote one when we were in Las Vegas on that one day off for the Fourth of July. I hadn't played music in a couple of weeks and I had brought my guitar, which Kar Wai laughed at--the director laughed at me for bringing my guitar.

NP: Really? Why?

NJ: Well, he said, "When do you think you're going to have time to play that?" He was right--I didn't have any time. But I did write a song on that day off. It's kind of cheesy. Nobody will ever hear it. And then I wrote another song later on during the shoot, "The Story," which they actually ended up using in the movie.