Amy Adams is not so wide eyed innocent, the star of Enchanted, Doubt and Junebug lays down some home truths.
Appearances can be deceiving with Amy Adams. At first glance she is a pretty, petite, sweeter than sweet, all-American girl who is known for her seriously innocent roles (she played Disney Princess Giselle in Enchanted, and a nun in her Oscar-nominated movie Doubt).
But all is not what it seems. Amy confesses that she used to work in raunchy US restaurant chain Hooters as a scantily-clad hostess and now confesses to what she gets up to in her bedroom – it’s enough to make a nun reach for the smelling salts.
The secretly-raunchy red-head, 34, would love nothing more than to don a superhero’s latex outfit and high kick her way on to the big screen in an action movie in the future too.
In her latest movie Night At the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian, Amy gets a little closer to the action as famed aviator Amelia Earhart. But it’s not close enough for her liking.
Here she talks about her lavish plans for her big day with actor fiancé Darren Le Gallo, why she is dying to be an action hero and how she is a traditional girl – except for her sleeping arrangements.
Q: You got your first Oscar nomination for your performance as Ashley Johnsten in Junebug and a second for Sister James in Doubt – did that open a lot of doors for you?
AA: “I think it brought people’s attention to my previous work. I went a long time without people making the connection to all my different films, so I think it absolutely has brought amazing opportunities and introduced me to so many people and it was just a really wonderful experience. And it just keeps continuing. I was so thrilled with my latest nomination too. I was honoured to even be considered.”
Q: You have a glamorous lifestyle now you are a top Hollywood actress – but what is the worst job you’ve ever had?
AA: “I sold liquorice at a rodeo in Utah. I was walking up and down shouting ‘Liquorice!’ That was pretty bad. But there are worse jobs to have I guess.”
Q: After filming Enchanted you became a role model for a lot of young girls – how does that feel?
AA: “It’s a great honour. There’s a little bit of pressure there but I don’t get too concerned about it – I’m pretty level-headed.”
Q: What are the chances you’ll be back as Giselle in Enchanted 2?
AA: “I don’t know. I’ve heard talk of it, but nothing is set up yet.”
Q: Would you consider it?
AA: “We’ll see. If the story was right. I’d hate to make it just to make it, but if the story is right, I think she’s such a fun character, and I had fun playing her.”
Q: Did you enjoy working on Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian?
AA: “I loved it. It went really well and it was so much fun. I went straight from Doubt to Julie and Julia and then straight to Night at the Museum 2. It was such a fun and freeing experience to play a confident character, and I realized as I was playing her, I was like, “I don’t think I’ve every played a confident character.” I think every one of my characters has had some sort of inner insecurity and inner doubt and things they struggle with, as most people do, but Amelia as we’ve realized it in Night at the Museum 2, is a very confident, spunky character. So much fun to play.”
Q: Is it true you were worried about your costume for this movie?
AA: “(Laughs) I wasn’t worried about it. I just knew that I would be wearing tight jodhpurs which would show off my ass. Which I don’t normally do.”
Q: You normally play such good girls – but is it true you used to work at topless bar Hooters?
AA: “(Laughs) Yes, it’s true. I was a naïve young girl then. I was a dancer and used to standing in front of people in just a leotard and tights and Ijust thought ‘Oh its almost the same except I get to wear shorts instead of tights’. I was only 17. I started as a hostess and moved on to waiting tables when I was 18 – but only stayed for a month in that part. Waitressing wasn’t for me – I couldn’t do it well at all.”
Q: Have you done anything else raunchy or naughty? Do you have any tattoos?
AA: “I have no tattoos but I’m fascinated by them.”
Q: You have done plenty of serious movies and sweet-natured ones, do you ever think you would like to try something different like an action movie?
AA: “I have never done an action movie but I think it may be about time. A little slow-motion and latex, that is what my career needs right now (laughs). That didn’t come out right (laughs). I’m not sure if I blush. I think I might be blushing.”
Q: You have been to a lot of red carpet occasions do you take great care in how you look?
AA: “Y’know I never really worry about how I dress. I have been lucky that for big occasions like the Oscars I got to work with a great group of designers. Carolina Herrera for example. They are just such a great group of designers that I never have to worry. Not even a little bit.”
Q: When was the first moment you realise that you wanted to be an actress?
AA: “I’m waiting for it. No I’m kidding. I loved performing but I was much more of a singer dancer girl. So that is what I thought I was going to do. I was a proper hoofer. Well, I was not a good tap dancer – but I trained as a ballet dancer so I always thought that was what I was going to do. Ballet dancing was too disciplined and too restrain and I was always told off in the chorus lines. ‘Don’t pop your hip, don’t add the flair’. So I was always being told off. And I always wanted to say ‘But there’s a great musical beat there and if you added that pop it would be so much better. Tchaikovsky would understand.’ (Laughs.)”
Night at the museum 2 – is at Irish cinemas now.