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Mania Interview: Alice Eve

The She's Out of My League actress gives an exclusive interview for Mania

By Rob Vaux March 11, 2010

She's Out of My League's Alice Eve sits down to discuss interests in cinema.
© Bob Trate

Alice Eve has made appearances in Starter for 10, Crossing Over and Stage Beauty. She currently stars as the love interest in She's Out of My League, playing a beautiful and successful career girl who falls for Jay Baruchel's perennially picked-on dork. She sat down with Mania for an exclusive interview about the part and her exposure to geek culture in general.

Mania: What attracted you to the role?

Alice Eve: Molly [her character] is just wonderfully straightforward and honest: more like a male lead. She has all the money and the power, and none of the shortcomings or bitchiness that females often have to have in movies.

M: Is it difficult to find those types of roles?

AE: They are rare, definitely rare. But things are changing. There are a lot of great women out there. Tina Fey's wonderful, Kristen Wiig's great. The tide will change, and I have faith that women will effect the change.

M: Your romantic foil in this film is definitely a geek, though more in his social awkwardness than his loves or proclivities. Have you been exposed to a lot of geek culture?

AE: I think the Internet has made everyone a geek, don't you think? You can get specialist knowledge on anything at your fingertips, which I think is the definition of a geek.

M: How did you develop your rapport with Jay Baruchel?

AE: I think we had instant chemistry, actually. It's either there or it isn't, and in this case it needs to be a bit peculiar. He's very talented and I'm lucky to be working with him. Also, our director is very easy-going. He was able to control the set, but in a very calm and relaxed way, which is important. The director's mood set the tone for everyone.

M: How difficult was it to master the American accent?

AE: I tend to play a lot of accents. I'm playing an Irish accent in the Sex and the City sequel; I played Australian in a movie called Crossing Over. But I lived in California from the age of 2 to 13, so it's in my sense memory.

M: The film also seems to be talking about class differences, which we don't feel as much here in America.

AE: I don't think that Molly felt like that because she was just so honest and had an open heart. That was what Jay's character was hung up on. He could see that she was so much more successful than he was. She had a successful company, she had a great apartment, and he was thrown off by that. But she also felt that she liked the individual he was and wanted to get to know him better. I found that interesting, the fact that he was flummoxed by the class difference, not her.

M: Was it tough being the straight man in the piece?

AE: It affects the dynamic on set when you're the straight man; everyone else is kind of upping the comedy side of it and you're more or less staying put.

M: It seems like it's harder to find roles for women where they get to be funny.

AE: I think female humor can be different; it's not so broad. It's maybe a more subtle form of humor that women respond to.

M: You mentioned you're in the Sex and the City sequel. What's the challenge of entering into a situation like that, where everyone has been doing it for a long time and you're sort of the new kid on the block?

AE: I had to make sure I was very prepared, and I do believe in doing your homework. That movie runs like a slick machine, and you have to fit into that.

M: Do you gravitate towards specific genres or kinds of scripts?

AE: I tend to gravitate towards romantic comedies. If there's a great serious movie, then obviously I love that too, but I end up doing lighter fare. Maybe because that's what I'm entertained by myself. Really, the projects I do are the ones where the people are impressive, that has a good script and with good people involved. That's what going to make the product positive and pleasurable.