our next guest is a fine actress look at she's on this magazine right here
talking about losing her belly she's also in a new film entitled Deb yet
it opens on October 17th please say hello to the lovely Elizabeth Banks
welcome to the program uh boy we're talking about this uh W movie and and you play uh the wife of
our president the first lady Laura Bush so I'm thinking well this is a pretty tough project
because on the one hand you're playing Laura Bush who I don't think many people really have
a great knowledge about no uh and on the other hand it's Oliver Stone who's the director who I
think is nuts he's crazy yeah so he's crazy in all the good ways yeah kind of like you
yeah thank you so um so to play uh the vice for the first lady and I mean how do you where do
you begin because it's not an impression really I mean what do you know you want to avoid the
impression definitely you you um I mined a lot of biographical material trying to find those moments
you know she has a really um bad reputation for being sort of you know uh you just can't
get in there um but I met the bushes so that was probably the most um informative she Laura Bush
who loves reading that's her big one of her big uh projects she loved the book Seabiscuit
and I'm in the movie so it came out in 2003 and they hosted a screening of it at the White House
and we got to go and meet the president and first lady it was very exciting uh she has a very thick
accent and you were saying that nobody really knows her she talks she was telling us about the
weather and she said it was 106 degrees down in Crawford and I was taken aback by her accent and
um we we hung out with the president we were yourself another character my other
cast members and my husband and we were chatting with him and we thought okay we're we've taken up
enough time he's the leader of the Free World now you're talking to the President also yes yes and
I thought okay we should walk away and he sort of had his hand do you mind if I touch it he he
had his hand on my husband's shoulder and we said thank you so much um uh we're gonna walk away now
and no one was coming over to talk to him so we thought we're gonna strand the guy in the middle
of his own party and like no where ah okay so how about those Mets like we just couldn't walk away
so that finally someone came over and sort of took him it's time for bed George yeah
but what I mean um what was your what was your impression of of him what what did he seem like he
was that great guy that apparently a lot of people 50 million or so wanted to have a beer with he was
self-deprecating he told us that he didn't like to watch himself on TV which I which is apparent
I think and um you know that he doesn't like to study and and uh himself on himself on TV did
he say anything about the world condition about the economy about funnily enough my
husband had graduated from business school that that year and George went to business
school and said uh asked my husband if he had a job yet and he he didn't and
he said yeah well I got to get this economy going yeah 2003 2003. now um so had you uh
on his to-do list check he was gonna get to it now had you ever worked with
Oliver Stone before I never had and it was very intimidating why do people think the guy's Goofy
I don't I think he's so smart I mean his brain is working on a level that's really it's it's he's
very smart very captivating he's a real student of film and he's also a real student of just
the world you know he's a great American I think he's a great American filmmaker he's a decorated
war vet I mean the guy has got a lot going on he's lived a very full life and so just to be
around him uh is pretty intense and it was you said it was intimidating and and for this this
part and here's something else if I knew what I forgot about the Laura Bush uh for quite a while
in her life smokes yes well everyone in the 70s kind of smokes so I I you know we can give her a
little bit of a pass please don't send me the letters um she smoked and so I had to learn to
smoke because I don't smoke because apparently it's bad for you so sure I don't want to do it
on the top of Goody Two-Shoes I don't smoke I was terrible at it my husband was convinced they were
gonna have to cut around edit around my smoking because I was terrible and all I kept thinking was
I'm gonna I'm gonna set my wig on fire because I I'm I play Laura Bush obviously dark wig yeah and
um I'm the first day on set and I'm with Oliver Stone and I'm with Josh Brolin and and it's my
first minute in the movie and he comes over to me Josh does to light my cigarette and I did this and
of course self-fulfilling prophecy I lit my wig on fire and I kept going like this and I looked at
Oliver who I swear thought that's an interesting choice what's she doing yeah like he thought I
was doing anything fit and and I was on fire to beat your head out yeah I was literally slacking
myself oh God I stinged my eyelashes off and a bit of my hair and then we just kept going uh you
mentioned Josh Brolin who plays uh President Bush and uh very convincing he's like channeling the
guy it's really amazing um especially the voice he really speaks and Richard Dreyfuss playing
vice president Cheney isn't he something yeah Richard Dreyfuss is like a spinning top in real
life and Dick Cheney is that um so uh Richard Dreyfus just to watch him transform into this you
know deep sort of guy with just you know a a sense of you know nothingness like horrible Darkness
it was really an incredible transformation this is a lovely picture and does this
actually apply to you this is losing does it seem like you have much to lose there
that's something else isn't it I hopefully that's without stress is that you I tried you
know what actually flat abs firm butt lean thighs yes I'll take all of those thank you
you don't use them you're going to lose him exactly it says right there use them or lose
it yeah you better follow that uh let's show the folks a clip of w it opens October 17th you
know what this is going to be I believe it's the first time George and Laura meet which was at a
backyard barbecue down in Texas all right let's take a look there you go let me light your win
uh well it's fun to watch very entertaining film it's called
W opens October 17th Elizabeth thank you very much
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