interview with cheryl hines

October 9, 2009

Cheryl Hines at the 17th annual

Hamptons International Film Festival

SpotonLI.com was lucky enough to briefly chat with Cheryl Hines – Director of Serious Moonlight, a film written by the late Adrienne Shelly and starring Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, and Justin Long. Cheryl Hines is also a co-star of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. In the flurry of Red Carpet pandemonium I was able to ask a few questions and she couldn’t have been more gracious. Alec Baldwin joined her for photos at the Hedges Inn where Cheryl received the RoC® Skincare “Gold Standard Award for Female Feature Director”.

Christine – Do you feel like this movie is a tribute to Adrienne Shelly who lost her life a few years ago?

Cheryl – Yes I feel like it’s a tribute to her of course, it’s exciting that her story that she wrote is being told, and so too is her own story, and in that sense I think it is a tribute.

Christine – You get to direct Meg Ryan and now you’re co-starring with her on Curb Your Enthusiasm?

Cheryl – It was really funny because Serious Moonlight came first, the next thing I know Meg and I are texting each other and she’s saying “Should I do Curb Your Enthusiasm?” and I said “Of course ya do it” So Larry’s the common factor here, Larry’s friends with Meg and friends with me. So we had an interesting exchange. It’s funny because I didn’t know what her role would be. Little did I know that we’d fighting for the same role on the show. I think it’s pretty funny. Turns out it was pretty interesting.

Christine – How did the Serious Moonlight preview go?

Cheryl – It went really well. The audience was so responsive and it’s really fun to sit in an audience and listen to everyone’s reaction. You can feel people loving Meg Ryan. It’s fun to see her in this film. What’s interesting as a director, I haven’t gotten tired of Tim or Meg or the film. So for no other reason I entertain myself. But it’s pretty amazing, I keep thinking I’m sure one day I’ll sit down and say I can’t watch this again. But every time I sit down I’m interested in seeing those two.

Serious Moonlight

Director Cheryl Hines with Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Kristen Bell, Justin Long

 After she arrives at her country home for a romantic weekend getaway, things don’t go exactly as planned for high powered Manhattan lawyer Louise (Meg Ryan). First, her husband of 13 years, Ian (Timothy Hutton), tells her that he’s leaving her for a younger woman (Kristen Bell). Then, one thing leads to another, and pretty soon Ian finds himself held captive by an oddly cool Louise who explains that she won’t release him until he professes his love for her and commits to working on their marriage. And that’s when things REALLY start to go wrong. The unexpected arrival of an opportunistic young gardener (Justin Long) and Ian’s impatient mistress only serve to complicate the crisis even further, while somehow forcing Louise and Ian to reckon with their past and realistically deal with their future.

 Serious Moonlight opens in Theatres December 4, 2009.

Fan of Curb Your Enthusiasm? Click here to read our Susie Essman Interview!!

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