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Sitting beside the pool in a flawless white dress is her would-be stepmommy dearest, Meredith Blake.
Theres barely a drop on her, which is about all you should probably know about Meredith Blake.
She had talked about Hayley Mills and how growing up she wanted to be Hayley Mills.
Did you know you were going in for the villain?I did.
Well, the audition, for me, the very first one, was very last minute.
I didnt have a whole lot of time to prepare and think about it.
And then, the next thing I know, Ive booked it.
But yes, I knew I was going to be the heavy.
I realize I put words in your mouth there.
Do you consider Meredith Blake to be a villain?In a traditional sense, yes.
They see her as an aspiration.
With every character that an actor plays, we have to justify our behaviors.
She saw nothing wrong with any of this.
There is definitely a part of me that feels happy for Meredith Blake that shes been vindicated.
In rewatching it, I found myself thinking you could make the case that Dennis is actually the villain.
Its endeared itself to multiple generations.
In that regard, youve just gotta let reality go and flow with that.
You actually have babies.
She gives birth to them.
Thats where, if were poking holes, to me, thats the biggest hole.
Especially someone as lovely and endearing as Natasha was in real life and in how she played Elizabeth.
Theresno waythat woman is giving up one of her kids.
How do you … do you flip a coin?
Take the one closest to you?
Truly what judge signed off on that?There clearly was no judge involved.
Whats Merediths best line?Shes got a few, but I think hands down its for your 411.
The whole swing-set scene: Is that clear?
Oh, also theres the fight at the end: Whats going on,buddy?
The day we get married is the day I ship those brats off to Switzerland.
I will ship every one of you brats off to Switzerland.
Was any part of your portrayal ad-libbed?No, not really.
Nancy hired me because I embodied her in a very particular way.
I just remember there was nothing about that script I even wanted to improvise on.
I love chest hair.
You actually were 26, Merediths age in the film, when you shot it.
Did her life feel unfamiliar compared to your own?We were the exact same age.
That was not by design; it just so happened to be that way.
I had Merediths same drive and ambition.
Merediths far more put together and whats the word?
Im all about camping.
I think really one of the biggest differences is that I didnt dress as fabulously as Meredith did.
We cant talk about Meredith Blake and not talk about her clothing its true.
Everything else was custom and exquisite.
I guess Disney probably has some costume warehouse.
Now Im like,What?
!Im still the same size.
What I wouldnt give for those outfits.
Lets talk about that very first scene with the hat.
What was the direction like for that moment?Thats a great question.
We did try it in a couple of different ways where they had me just look up slowly.
Then they had a take where they filmed it in slow motion.
That way, Nancy would have options.
She had to choose the take and match it a lot of times.
Yes, but Im not interesting.I think its Natasha who says, He was rather dishy.
Total hot hunk, chest hair and all.
That was one of those pinch-me moments.
I couldnt believe it.
I was so familiar with Dennis Quaid, and here I was playing his love interest.
I actually cant remember if it was a test or we were doing a rehearsal.
We got toreallymeet up in Napa.
We were in Napa for I was there for a month and a half or so.
We were at the hotel.
Was it weird to turn around andring a bell in her face?Lisa is a consummate pro.
Im a consummate pro.
Whatever is needed for the shot.
Now we make it a joke.
Lets talk about the camping-trip scenes.
Sounds like you probably had some camping experience prior to the movie?I grew up camping.
That was pure acting.
I got to really let go, be loose, and go for it.
Im very snappy in nature.
I know how to navigate.
Im trained in certain aspects, and Ive camped my whole life.
If Im going camping, theres no way Im in capri leggings and a crop top.
Twenty-three years later, I have not told anyone the secrets behind it.
I did a lot of it, but now I cant remember.
We shot that sequence in two different locations.
We shot that in Arrowhead, and we also shot that on the Sony lot.
They actually launched me into the lake.
All the wide shots and me going in … those were while we were in Arrowhead and on location.
The actual floating, I believe, was at Sony.
Under those pajamas, I have a wet suit on.
When it came to the physicality stuff, there was a certain amount of resetting that has to happen.
But I went in and out of that water a lot.
Do you keep in touch with Lindsay Lohan?No, just through social.
A retweet or comment here or there.
Lindsay was actually 11 when I was 26.
It didnt really make sense to keep in touch with a child.
Now that were older, its like with everyone else in the business:Lindsay says hi.
Oh, hey, Elaine says hi.That sort of stuff.
I havent even crossed paths with her.
He mentioned how only a group of pros would really be worthy of shutting down Rodeo Drive.
It was just such a big, special day and to have that shout-out was very special.
We filmed it twice: once where Im actually doing it and then I trip and fall.
I do a pratfall out of screen.
It was so good.
Im so proud of the physicality work that I did.
I was like,Damn, that was a good fall.
In the original movie, there was a right-hand man there who drove her back.
I can tell you about Dennis at lunch.
He never left lunch without like half of it on his T-shirt.
Because he was just such a guy.
Throw in some chili and thats method acting.Natasha was lovely.
I said, Hey, Leese, lets lets have a photo shoot.
We picked out these slips and then we did this whole photo shoot.
Lorey Sebastian was our still photographer and, man, is she a good photographer.
The pictures just came out flawless.
I think I have those negatives in storage.
She still has it on her wall.
Nancy and Charles were always giving us presents, books, pictures, memorabilia.
I forget what Lindsay gave me and Dennis …
I think he gave me a shawl.
One said I was like Barbara Stanwyck.
All of these, I was like,Yes!I modeled a lot of Meredith after Old Hollywood.
Fairly soon after, I got to meet Sigourney Weaver.
She told me, Oh, you play such a good bitch.
That was an ultimate compliment because I had studied her inWorking Girl.
Being called out by Sigourney Weaver was the cherry on top of the sundae.
