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New in Town in our magazines

THE MOVIE: New in Town

THE STARS:
Renée Zellweger • Harry Connick Jr • Siobahn Fallon Hogan
DIRECTOR: Jonas Elmer

THE CONCEPT:
Lucy Hill (Zellweger) is an ambitious, up and coming executive living in Miami. When she is offered a temporary assignment in Minnesota, reconstructing a manufacturing plant, she jumps at the opportunity, knowing a big promotion is close at hand. What begins as a straightforward job assignment becomes a life challenging experience as Lucy discovers greater meaning in her life and, most unexpectedly, the man of her dreams (Connick Jr)

U.S. RELEASE: January 30 2009, Nationwide
• Rated: PG-13

THE COMMENTS:

RENÉE ZELLWEGER on shooting in Winnipeg, Canada:
“It was highly entertaining and educational. I didn’t know cold like that, it was a whole different kind of experience. It was a marvelous exercise in developing new survival skills. Who knew that panty hose could be so very important, three or four pairs at a time. I would not be here today were it not for Hanes.”

HARRY CONNICK JR (Ted Mitchell):
“Why would anyone live in [Winnipeg]? The people are amazing but let’s just be real, it’s not human to live in a town that crazy cold. It’s colder than you can even conceive. It’s not normal.”

SIOBHAN FALLON HOGAN (Blanche Gunderson):
“I’m from Syracuse, New York, so I didn’t think the cold would be that much of a challenge. When they gave me the packet that said, ‘How to prepare for Winnipeg,’ I chucked it. But, then they gave us these hand warmers and neck warmers, and I’m not one for details, and I put the neck warmer on my neck, and when I peeled it off, the back of my neck had blisters on it. You’re supposed to put them over your sweater.”

CONNICK JR:
“I heard a lot of questions yesterday about what drew me to this? And really it was that I read the script and loved it. I thought it was fantastic, but it was the prospect of working with Renee, it was the idea I had about working with her that really made me want to do it. Unfortunately, none of the things I had thought would happen happened, but the idea of it was great.” [he laughs]

ZELLWEGER:
“Harry’s very generous and really good at what he does. And he’s so nice to have around, so positive and supportive of everybody on the set. That man shows up and makes it a better day. If there’s a guitar on set he’s going to pick it up and he’s gonna sing a song about every person in that crew.”

CONNICK JR on whether he had ever been new in town:
“When I moved to New York when I was 18, I was definitely new in town. I was coming from a much smaller place, although it was still a big city, but you have all those dreams, you think you’re going to make this and that happen, and you get there and nobody cares. You have to readjust how you think about things.”

ZELLWEGER:
“[In this business] every four months you’re new in town. Wherever the next location is and wherever you get sent the first order of business is to plop the bags down in what is going to be home for the next four to six months. Then you hoof it around and try to discover what’s going on in the community. You find what your patterns and the surrounding are going to be for the next six months. So yes, I’m perpetually new in town.”

CONNICK JR:
“I live in the New York area, and we don’t think about the people in the middle of the country to a degree. But this movie really made me focus on the people who make our lives livable, they produce our food, clothing, and transportation. These people don’t have anything. They are losing everything they have. We are in the entertainment business. People say, ‘How is it working out there in the cold?’’ Man, we’re working.”

HOGAN:
“When I got the script and my character talks about Jesus it’s not done disrespectfully. It’s not politically correct or incorrect, it’s so beautifully done. I couldn’t believe it because I’m Catholic. It’s clearly a Christian character, which I thought was such a huge part of the population that Hollywood veers away from because it’s not hip. I’m so proud to speak about Jesus three times in it and not mock it.”

Written by Judy Sloane. Back to top

Images above © Lionsgate
Feature © 2009 Visual Imagination.
Not for reproduction.

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