Everyone's impressed that you didn't chicken out of the underwater scene, even though you had a terrible cold?

Yeah. I'm a martyr. We suffer. (smiles). Here's the thing, we are in this incredible tank, in which they did that George Clooney film Perfect Storm and all those old films that had water shows where they come out with sparkling on their head. It's a tank that is 30 feet deep and they heated it. Plus there is stuff in that water to balance the colour and no chlorine. So you couldn't pee in the water. Everyone says 'Oh I don't pee in the pool.' Everyone pees in the pool. We were in those outfits for three days and by the end everyone was getting really sick. I scuba dive so I thought I'd be fine. But by the third or fourth day you are hypothermic and my hair was bright yellow. It had bleached! It was like Barbie doll hair after 20 years, all matted on one side and the colour of that fruit drink. (Sandra points to a glass of juice on the table) So we thought we were going to cut my hair off and get a wig. We suffer...we suffer. But it was fantastic. You look at the set and the hydraulics and you get over your cold.

Were you scared having to hold your breath under water for 50 seconds?

No. If you turned the camera around you'd see 15 stunt men in their nice warm wet suits just chilling out. No I didn't get scared. I don't like being under water, that's why I learned to scuba dive years ago....to conquer the fear. When I get to the base scuba diving I'm fine, it's when you are treading water and you don't know what's below. I love when you get to the peace of scuba diving. But I didn't for a second get scared. If you are drowning, the camera is A) going to catch it; B) then they'll sell it on extra. But no, there are tons of people there to help you.

Gracie is sent into a tail spin by the end of a relationship?

She got dumped, let's just say it.

So what's the craziest or most irrational thing you've done to get over a break-up of a relationship?

Not that I've been dumped a lot! (smiles) But of course I've been broken up with and it's heartbreaking. It is probably the best thing for you because it does humble you and makes you realise...'Wow, I've done that to other people!' And there is a way to do it, but no-one ever does it the right way. Everyone chickens out and does it in the way that is most painful and when it happens to you, you are in a state. I think what you do, or what I did, is that you do the dialling and hanging up. But now with caller ID that doesn't work any more. If you are online, you check to see if he is online. Is he online? Who is he talking to? But that was years ago...

We had been talking about celebrity magazines and TV shows and all that gossip...

Seventy per cent crap, but there is always a thread of truth.

But how have you managed to protect your private life when other stars have been unable to do that?

I think it is two fold. Some people are far more interesting and sexy as a couple to talk about than me. Some people you look at and you go, oh my god, no wonder they are followed everywhere. They are just beautiful. I make up half the group and this half doesn't live up to the half that exists everywhere else. That's true. If you think about it aesthetically there is just a beauty in some couples that you go...'I want to hear about their sex life!' So there is that factor and the other factor is that some people court it. They do. They show up at the places where they know where the photographers are.

You have been part of some lovely couples.

Here's the thing, I have been so lucky in my love life. I don't talk about it but I would not change a thing. I have done it exactly the way I was supposed to do it. I have great relationships with those people that I love and adore and we are mature enough to go..'You know, that didn't work out.' But the thing is, it's the way it was supposed to have been. Everything that I have had has been to lead me to the next place. I would not be the person that I love in myself today if it had not been what I experienced with those people.

Have you ever been jaded by fame because in the last five years it seems stars are under this huge microscope?

It's also because there are a gazillion more magazines. It's all about the sale. We have cable TV so are there a lot more shows that need to have the clips and the stuff like that. There are a lot more more magazines that don't just use the official paparazzi, it's anyone with a camera phone. Everyone has become essentially a paparazzi. So when you go into a restaurant you can no longer sneak in and out.

Wasn't there room for Benjamin Bratt's character to return in this movie?

That's not the direction we went in. When we came up with this idea this was the idea we had. Ben and I have worked together before and we are going to work together again. He was doing Catwoman. Everything has a place, everything happens the way it was supposed to happen. I didn't want to repeat because you already have the first film. So you don't need the second film to be the first one. But in every one of my movies there is always room for Benjamin Bratt. My brother in law is actually working with Ben right now. We keep him in the family.

Why didn't you do the Tina Turner impersonation?

Thank you! I AM the Tina Turner fan and I have the same name as Tina who is Anna Mae Bullock. And I have a bass from Tina Turner that she sent me. When I was younger people would ask me 'Sandy, what do you want to be when you grow up?' And it was always...I want to be Tina Turner and play the bass. So Tina Turner sent me a bass.

So you produced this movie and didn't give yourself the Tina Turner part?

It was funnier that I wanted to be her but it wasn't appropriate. That's why I loved the line 'I don't see why I can't be Tina Turner' It's not about black or white, I think I'm more suited to be Tina. I have the Tina in me and I still think that.

It's said you were on the phone trying to negotiate music rights for the movie?

Yeah. The whole buying of rights and leasing of songs is outrageous now. It's not what it used to be. It's insane, the cost of music. We set the music budget for this film before we even started shooting. I knew what happened with the first film. They didn't think it was a music film until you realise that a certain song will make a scene funnier. There were several songs that I knew had to be in the film....like Paul Anka's You've Having My Baby. These were songs that when I hear then I either laugh or I have a great time. I was in the trenches with our music supervisor till three weeks ago, trying to negotiate one song. It was a great song and so we called and begged. It's a big business for musicians and it should be because musicians have been screwed for so long. So at least here they get to see actual money.

There is a funny drag queen sequence in the movie and the director said we should ask you about your past relationship with drag queens?

He said you were brought up among drag queens? Oh! He got his story a little wrong. He was probably talking about when I was in college. (jokes) My parents were drag queens, great people. My dad is going to love that. He's going to go...'People are going to think I'm a drag queen'...As they should! I think the director might have been alluding to the fact that when I was at college I didn't have any money for school. I was in the drama department and there were several drag queens in the drama department. There was something called the Tobacco Queen Festival and they decided that winning this would mean taking home some cash. But they were drag queens - they had these beautiful gowns that were torn and they would fix. One guy's partner was Mr North Carolina Drag Queen, so it was like Educating Rita, I was their drag queen. But my poor grandmother from Germany came to this beauty pageant, which my parents did not approve of at all, and I did my Bob Fosse dance routine. I got all all the pamphlets on the tobacco which I thought was cabbage when I first saw it and learned what was in them. But the drag queens had my hair piled up in this great design and my gown was a Bob Mackie with push-up bra. I looked a drag queen. They were so proud. I was like eight feet tall and everyone else was in meringue dresses and were daughters of tobacco farmers. And I lost, shockingly. My poor grandmother was horrified. I have a picture in which I'm crouching down next to her and she's looking at me in shock. But it was genius, these guys took me under their wing and created the ultimate drag queen. It was neat.

What about your transformation in the movie to the grandmother?

Ida, she is my favourite character. I wanted her to be at the press junket.

What did you think when you saw her face in your mirror?

I loved it! She's sexy. She loves her body. Ida is hot and has a lot of boyfriends. I loved getting into make-up for Ida. We had these great dentures mad. There were also age spots and you know that they are going to happen very soon. It was fantastic. We did my make-up with eyelash glue and a hair dryer.

Did you see your grandmother when you looked at yourself as Ida?

No my grandmother was far better looking than Ida. But I have a feeling that this is what I'm going to look like. Face it, the wrinkles were all in the right place. I hope that I'm going to have my own teeth because I have good dental hygiene. But the hair though! I would never wear that visor or the jeans. Apart from that, it's pretty much how I'm going to look. I love it.

After Speed 2 didn't get the response you would have liked was there any trepidation about doing another sequel?

Sure but that wasn't because of Speed 2. I know why that didn't work. It was a film called Speed and we were on a boat that was going at 10 knots. My question to the studio was why not jump off the boat? Also we were rushed. Titanic wasn't finished in time...a lot of factors were involved. But I blame myself. I could have done better. I could have done other things. You make a film and think it's good but sometimes there are elements that don't make it work. Nobody sets out to make a bad film.

This film deliberately doesn't repeat the formula of the first?

Marc Lawrence and I just kept talking about what might have happened to Gracie. We never planned on making a sequel. I think that's a good thing. One day when someone said something, I just said...I wish someone would have told me that and made that cool and inspiring and would talk about what happens to almost every single person when they achieve fame. Even if you stop it in the middle you kind of get caught up in the thing and think 'What am I doing?' So it just happened. It wasn't forced. The studio wasn't asking us to make a sequel. There were some ideas and Marc said he was putting something down on paper. I liked it and said the fun stuff I'd like to do. It just worked. There wasn't any planning for it, which is probably healthy. We didn't make it at the same time as the first because there was money involved. I just wanted to make people laugh.

What about filming in Las Vegas?

I am not a gambler but I love it. I am a Wheel Of Fortune lover but don't gamble the big bucks. If I lose 40 bucks a day that's it for me. I like watching people in Vegas and the noise and the shows. It's fascinating. And the shopping...to die for!

Your next roles are very different...playing Grace Metalious in Grace about the creator of Peyton Place and Harper Lee in Every Word Is True about Truman Capote writing In Cold Blood.

We are waiting for a second script draft for Grace and I've just finished Harper Lee. Toby Jones who plays Truman Capote is fabulous. That and Crash have been the best written screenplays of ensemble pieces that I've ever read. I loved Crash so much. I loved what it said and that people leave feeling shocked, angry, crying, arguing, I worked with Paul Haggis on Crash - he's amazing - that's what got me excited about doing acting again. I took about a year and a half out. I was producing and doing other stuff. I don't feel the need to be on camera. This stuff (interviews) is like tooth surgery to me. When I get through this month I'll be so happy. I like going to work to be productive...I don't like showing up here. I don't feel like I'm working. It is another part of the job but you leave wondering whether if you have sold and supported the film in the right way. I will leave the room in a manic panic, not thinking that I have done my job. It's like you are selling yourself. It's not that it becomes too intrusive because I can deflect that.

It's a bit like the trauma of doing an Oscar acceptance speech?

I don't know how those people do it. In the end there are five people nominated and you can't compare performances. I think the Oscars should stop at the five nominations and then just have a big party.

Now you are working with Keanu again I'm very excited!

We have seen each other since Speed, we've been in touch with each other. But I'm a little embarrassed and shy and going 'Oh god I'm going to work with Keanu' (claps her hands) We haven't worked together in 10 years! The director brought his name up and as soon as he said it I was very excited.

(C) 2005 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.



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