Interview

The lady's got potential

By Keith Caulfield
Features Editor

Madonna, dressed in a classy flower-print dress, coolly slides into the room. In tow are her publicist and assistant, both armed with clipboards. Madonna's shoulder-length blond hair is parted down the side in a simple yet elegant style. While she is known for going to great lengths to ensure that she always looks perfect on screen, there are no facial flaws to be found on this woman. She has the skin of a porcelain doll, perfectly white, without a trace of a blemish to be found. She is remarkably stunning, even without a large amount of makeup--only her bright red lipstick stands out on the canvas of her face.
She's a bit shorter, and more compact, than anyone could have imagined. For a woman who takes command of stadiums filled with thousands of rabid fans, a woman who is the co-CEO of a multimillion-dollar entertainment company, a woman who has sold over 100 million albums worldwide during her nearly 15-year career, she seems a bit small, non-threatening... average. A regular human being, perhaps.
Madonna, of course, stars in the title role of the Alan Parker-directed musical, "Evita"--a role she campaigned for endlessly. In 1994 she sent Parker a passionate, four-page handwritten letter explaining how she was the only woman for the part and that she would commit herself entirely to the role of Eva Per—n. She put aside plans to tour in support of her then-current album, Bedtime Stories, and opted instead for three months' worth of voice lessons with world-famous voice coach Joan Lader.
A completely sung-through film is a risky endeavor these days. The last successful musical to come out of Hollywood was 1978's "Grease"--nearly 20 years ago.
"To make a good musical and to make it work, you have to suspend your belief to a certain extent, and that's really hard to do," Madonna said. "I also think that audiences now are much more cynical when they go to the movies. It's much harder for them to believe that someone's going to be in a parking lot--like `West Side Story,' with the gang members--and then all of a sudden they're going to start singing to each other instead of fighting. I think that in a way, because there is very little dialogue in this movie, it actually works better. It's easier to accept that reality because people aren't going back and forth from straight dialogue to singing."
Madonna has starred in her share of films that approached the feat of combining music and film--among them, the Warren Beatty-directed "Dick Tracy," in which Madonna portrayed torchy lounge singer Breathless Mahoney. She surprised many by singing with a voice most had never heard her use before.
"I didn't study with a vocal coach for `Dick Tracy'; I didn't until this movie. And that's what really helped me. That, and also understanding her character, because while I technically learned how to sing the songs, I don't think that I could really do them service without all of the preparation I did for her as an actress."
Madonna spent months researching the life of former Argentine first lady Eva Per—n. She spoke to elderly Peronists and anti-Peronists alike--as well as Argentine historians. How did the people she met affect her opinion of Evita?
"Basically, they humanized her for me. If you just read the lyrics, she seems like a very one-dimensional, ambitious, power-hungry woman--without anything soft or vulnerable. I think talking to all these people, that's what I learned about her. She was shy, what kind of music she liked, what kind of books she liked, what kind of friends she had--you know, the little things, the things that make a person a person."
Of course, ever since Madonna was first mentioned for the role of Evita back in the `80s, comparisons have been made between the pop star and the political icon.
"I think that we're both brave, courageous; I think we're both fighters. I think that we're both terribly misunderstood. I think that because I lost my mother at a young age and I think because she grew up without a father there's a certain kind of sadness that I can relate to that she had--growing up without one parent."
However, Madonna believes that some differences exist between the two icons.
"Things were a lot easier for women from where I come from (when) I grew up than they were for her. She had many more odds against her. I think that for the most part, the changes she brought about in Argentina were in the name of her husband and the Peronist regime, whereas I don't stand for any particular government or political party."
Madonna is easily one of the most powerful women in show business today. Along with her agent, Freddy DeMann, she runs Maverick Entertainment--a multimedia empire that many industry insiders initially believed to be simply a vanity project created to indulge Madonna's desires of running a company.
However, since Maverick's inception in 1992, the company has seen enormous growth. Maverick Records has signed Me'Shell Ndegocello, Candlebox and--you might have heard of her--Alanis Morissette. Does Madonna think it is difficult for a strong woman to get a fair shake in our society?
"(It's) something very primal, I think. I think that we have been, for centuries, growing up in a patriarchal society where men make the decisions and men make the rules. Women, until this century, have had very little to say in terms of our government, in terms of religion, in terms of how we raise our children--I mean, everything. Now that women are having more and more to say, and more of a presence in all of those things, it's shaking the balance. But it's going to be a long time before everyone is comfortable with a strong woman."
One of the things Madonna--as well as scores of other strong women--has to deal with on a daily basis is the presence of numerous misconceptions about her. Some think she is a manipulative bitch, while others think she is a calculating soft-porn peddler. Of course, there are those that go out on a limb and think that Madonna just might be a regular human being with regular faults and attributes just like anyone else. But what misconceptions does Madonna herself think others have about her?
"How many hours do you have?" Madonna says, laughing. "You know, everyone always asks me that question: `What bugs me the most about what people say about me?' God, there's just so many things. The main one--and I think other celebrities probably feel the same way--I think it's hard for people to attribute human characteristics to me, to think of me as a human being. Therefore, I think it's much easier for them to say the hurtful things they say about me because they don't think of me as a human being."
By all accounts, there weren't any major complaints about the star on the set of "Evita." She was anything but a manipulative bitch. Antonio Banderas, who plays the narrator Ch in the film, only had good things to say about her.
"I feel proud that I worked with Madonna at this particular time of her life," Banderas said. "In a way, I thought always while we were shooting the movie that `Evita'--the whole project, and the character--specifically was for Madonna. I think she had to bring truth to the table to play this character, and she did it--otherwise it would have been impossible. I really like her; I have to defend her completely."
Producer Andrew Vajna (whose producing credits include "Die Hard With A Vengeance" and "Nixon") did have a bit of concern about Madonna's popularity and the public's opinion of her, but always believed she would give a good performance.
"We were never concerned about Madonna giving a good performance," Vajna said, "but we were concerned about her popularity and what people thought about her. That was really the deciding factor. It was never about whether she couldn't sing it or couldn't perform it, I think we always felt she could. Looking back, and having seen the movie, I can't imagine anybody that could have done it better than the three (lead actors) we picked."
While it seemed that nearly everyone on the cast and crew was supportive of Madonna, the production crew did encounter a few problems when it arrived in Buenos Aires in January 1996. The crew was greeted with graffiti adorning the walls of the city with the words "Fuera Madonna" (go home Madonna), among other unwelcoming remarks scribbled throughout the city. It was obvious that someone wasn't wanted in the city.
Not only was the public a bit on edge about having Madonna portray a woman many Argentinians believe was a saint; President Carlos Menem wouldn't allow the crew to film the all-important "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" scene on the balcony of the Casa Rosada--the government house. After every meeting, Menem continually refused to grant Parker the permission to film on the balcony.
Ultimately, Madonna took matters into her own hands. She orchestrated a meeting with the presidents using her various connections.
"I met lots of journalists while I was there and I did lots of interviews with people and I sort of worked my way into the inner circle of people who where friends with the president," Madonna said. "By the way, everyone said they were friends with the president. But to figure out who was really a friend of the president took a long time."
"Finally I met the guy who played golf with him. And that's the key," Madonna said, laughing. "And he said that he would arrange a meeting."
But getting the meeting scheduled may have been the easy part. Trying to get Madonna secretly shuffled off to a private meeting with Menem wasn't the easiest of tasks. Just arranging the transportation was a bit of a nightmare.
"I lay down on the floor of the car, decoys went out ahead of me, paparazzi went that way, I went that way," Madonna said excitedly. "I was taken to a helicopter at a private airport. I was taken to an island, where (Menem) was staying in the house of a friend on the island off the coast of Argentina. I didn't even know where I was, to tell you the truth. That's how I met him."
Madonna took along with her to the hour-long meeting a CD of her recording of "Don't Cry For Me Argentina." The music--and Madonna's persuasion--must have worked; Menem granted Parker permission to film on the balcony of the Casa Rosada. Madonna evidently couldn't contain her feelings about the rendezvous.
"It was fabulous," Madonna said. "It was very exciting, very clandestine, and I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. Of course, now I'm telling people and I've been told that everyone is very angry with me in Argentina. So I'm in the doghouse once again."
Why was obtaining permission to shoot at the Casa Rosada important to her?
"Because I wanted to stand on that balcony with 5,000 people in that square and feel that feeling. It was really important to me. And I knew that (Evita) had stood there, and that was also important--to stand where she stood."
And what would that feeling be like?
"Like taking off in a rocket- ship--you know, it was amazing."
Because the actors lip-sync almost the entire film--including the climactic "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" scene--the soundtrack was recorded months before they even set foot on a set or sound stage. It was difficult for the actors to record the music--and essentially all of their dialogue, as practically the entire film is sung--before actually shooting the scene. They wouldn't know if they were actually getting the music right or not.
"It was hard," Madonna said emphatically. "It was a very long journey and we had to do a lot of rehearsing in England before we did the recording. First we would rehearse the scene to get (it) down right and then we would record it with those rehearsals in mind, making those emotional choices. And then just hope and pray that when we got to shooting it, those choices would have been right. And I think for the most part they were."
Scenes the performers were unable to lip-sync--either because they couldn't match the emotion they had in the recording studio, or for other technical reasons--were performed live on the set. Madonna's most defining moment as an actress, not only in "Evita" but in her entire acting career, was one of those "live" scenes--Eva's deathbed sequence. Between sobbing and breaking down, Eva says her last words to her husband, Juan Per—n. Did Madonna perceive a difference between lip-synching and singing live on the set, especially in this particular scene?
"It made a huge difference. There was no way I could have (lip-synched) to what I did in the studio. (It) was too emotional, and you can't train yourself to cry in the same place every time. It was very liberating to be able to sing it live."
Alan Parker agreed with Madonna, "If you're crying and acting and sobbing, to be able to do that, that means you've got to sob and cry in a recording studio with a microphone and it would be impossible to do."
When the discussion turned to her now 3-month-old daughter Lourdes, Madonna became a tad more candid. Her child--still yet to be seen by the public eye--is severely sheltered by her mother, and understandably so. When you've taken the kinds of beatings Madonna has withstood over the years, it only makes sense that she would keep her child away from the Hollywood spotlight.
Will Madonna, who does speak a little Spanish, teach Lourdes the language?
"Well, Carlos (Lon, Lourdes father) speaks Spanish to her, so hopefully she's going to pick it up," Madonna said with a hearty laugh. "She's only two months old; she hasn't spoken Spanish yet."
Does she have any helpful advice for the prospective father-to-be in the hospital during the delivery?
"OK, tell him to do everything he's told, never disagree. The main thing is that he has to be a really good cheerleader--lots of encouragement. Don't say, `Oh, it's not so bad.' Never say that. Say, `You're almost there' a lot," Madonna said between laughs.
With "Evita," it seems that Madonna has hit her stride--a full 15 years into her career. Not bad for a performer many had written off during her Like A Virgin years. She recently garnered her first ever Golden Globe acting nomination for her role in "Evita" and there's endless Oscar buzz surrounding her performance. The soundtrack to "Evita" has already sold over half a million copies. It seems that the entire project has breathed new life into what many believed was a sagging career.
And Madonna already has plans for 1997. An album is in the works, including collaborations with the likes of Patrick Leonard ("Live To Tell," "Like A Prayer," "I'll Remember") and Babyface ("Take A Bow"), both of whom have co-produced and co-written songs with Madonna. On top of the new album, she has already said she definitely wants to mount a concert tour again.
Will "Evita" affect her future in terms of songwriting?
"I don't know. I'll find that out when I start writing again."
Will she write with the baby around?
"Well," Madonna said with a gentle laugh, "...she sleeps sometimes."

---

"Evita" is now playing nationwide.