Vancouver Sun Interview with Neve Campbell for The Company 1/30/04

So good that it hurts
Katherine Monk
Vancouver Sun 1/30/04

    Although widely known as an actor since joining the cast of the TV show Party of Five in 1994, Neve Campbell says she has always felt like a dancer - and most likely always will. Campbell, a National Ballet School alumna, says dance isn't something you can do and then leave behind. It's an all-engrossing mental and physical commitment - yielding little money, broken bodies, arthritis and a lifetime of eating disorders. That's exactly why she was so adamant to return to her roots and make a movie all about the personal price of dance.
    Called The Company, it is directed by the legendary king of crosstalk and emotional subtlety, Robert Altman. When it opens, audiences will have a chance to see Campbell doing what she loves best. And what hurts most.
    "Right before we started shooting in Chicago, I broke a rib - and that was no fun...Just getting ready for this role involved months of intense physical training. For 4 1/2 months, for over eight hours a day, I worked at it. After 9 1/2 years off, that's what it takes to get back into dancing shape," says Campbell, who took time to talk about the movie during the Toronto International Film Festival.
    With her tied-back hair and predominantly black attire, Campbell could easily be mistaken for that lithe knot of sinew and muscle called the ballerina. She would be if she weren't one of the most recognizable celebrities, thanks to her six-year-plus stint as Julia Salinger on Party of Five and her career-making turn as Sidney Prescott in the popular Scream franchise.
    "I think part of me was always thinking of going back to dance, but I kept getting acting work. It was a difficult transition to go through. I'd been at the National Ballet School since I was nine, doing ballet since I was six. It's been such a big part of my life that until this movie happened, I'd always felt a certain sadness about leaving dance behind. This movie helped me deal with that."
    The Company, a slice-of-dance drama that focuses on Campbell as a rising young star in the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, also stars Malcolm McDowell as the flamboyant director and many real-life members of the Joffrey itself.
    For the Guelph, Ontario born Campbell, who spearheaded the project and co-wrote the script, it was important to populate the picture with real dancers - and as few stars as possible. "I didn't want the whole movie to be about [my character and her love interest]. There are no stars in the Joffrey system - everyone is a star."
    Campbell also says she didn't want to play in to negative stereotyping about dance by having a completely self-centered bitch at the center of the story, such as an updated version of All About Eve.
    "This is less about jealousy and competition, and more about the unique lives of dancers. Dancers are great people, and just being around dancers again was a completely cathartic experience for me. It let me be with my body again, and that's not always possible when you're acting, because you're in your head a lot."
    Asked to explain the underlying sense of melancholy in the film, Campbell unleashes the tiniest sigh and says: "The thing about being a dancer is that you always know it's going to end. It's not an if, but a when. You're body simply gives out, and you can't do it anymore, so there's this feeling of never having enough and wanting more," she says.
    "You won't find a lot of self-satisfied people in dance. Dancers always think they should do more. They strive for perfection, even though they're only too well aware of their own limitations. So it's a constant struggle."
    A strong-minded person in her own right, Campbell says part of the whole ballet tradition is that dancers are not allowed to have an opinion. "You're just a body - a tool - to be used."
    The same could be said for the movie business, but Campbell says while she could handle the subjugation in dance, she sees no reason to compromise herself in film.
    "There's some work out there that I'm not very proud of. I've done some things that weren't really my style at all, and then you get pigeonholed by Hollywood and become something you aren't.
    As an actor Campbell is now following her gut, not her banker's advice.
    "My name doesn't mean much right now. One minute you're box office - the next minute you aren't. My name still means something...but my box office appeal has gone down. I don't regret it. I'm a much happier person being truthful to myself. I figure if I'm going to be in this business, I might as well be doing it for the right reasons."
    Campbell says recent outings have included a new film with director-writer James Toback (Black and White) called When Will I Be Loved, which was shot in just 12 days, Blind Horizon with Val Kilmer, and Churchill: The Hollywood Years, a comedy co-starring Christian Slater.
    "Making this movie happen was something of a catalyst for me," she says. "I'm not sure I want to be a producer on every movie I work on, but there was a great sense of satisfaction in being able to get something off the ground and see it through to the end. It's exciting when you discover that power within yourself. We each have it, but few of us ever challenge ourselves to the point of reaching that next confidence level."

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