Wow, I feel very flattered by your comment. Thank you very much!
I thoroughly read through the entire Secretary thread (and others) at the JSMP last night/early this morning (You post there, right?) and I came across a link to the interview Maggie did for NPR. What she said really struck me, "...otherwise, I mean I just don't think you can play someone who's not as smart as you are." I think, especially in this case, that it's true for me too. It'd be and is really difficult to 'dumb down' a character you're playing and I just can't do that any more to poor Lee.
Lee may not have known what a paralegal or an artery was, but she is smart in other ways and I hope to do her better justice from now on. I learned so much about Lee and Mr. Grey and their relationship from reading the posts and listening to the interviews (oh, and I picked up some Spader eye candy, as well - how could I not walk away from the message board without some? ;) ). It was great experience and helped me understand Lee and the story in general better. I want to stick to canon as much as possible but I'm going to expand some things that may clear up issues like "Where the heck did Lee's family get the money to have a two story house, a pool in their backyard and a pool house/trailer for Theresa/Jonathan when Joan is a stay at home mother and Burt is an alcoholic/former night-watchman?" Well, there's a part that says that Joan asks Lee's grandmother for money after Burt leaves, so I figure the grandmother is fairly wealthy if not just well off and can help out if need be.
More than ever, I'm glad I have a copy of the screenplay. I finally finished reading it at about 4:00am this morning. :) The screenplay gives so much insight on Lee and her family and just the whole movie in general! And may I say that Jonathan in the screenplay is a real whimp!
Truthfully, I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to go with Lee yet. I am definitely going to follow the main plot but time wise, I'm not sure. Lee comes home from the mental hospital in June and the following June, I assume, she gets married to Mr. Grey. This'll assure me several months worth of content for Lee's journal.
After that, I don't know. I saw the old Edward Grey journal - the one that used to play here? - and the basic storyline was that Lee had left him. Now, in my humble POV, I can't see her just up and leaving like that. If anything, Edward would leave because of his insecurity, I'd think. But it was a pretty good storyline to introduce his character to TM. :) I wanted to start Lee from the beginning to help me play her to the best of my ability. The way I see it, it's hard to walk into a character's life if you're not sure of her roots/her past.
Anyway, thanks for 'listening' to me. :D I'm again, THRILLED that you liked my...err...Lee's post. :)
I actually don't post at JSMP. Sometimes I stop by to steal screencaps, but that's about it. It's definitely a great resource, though.
I agree with not dumbing her down--a character deliberately written as stupid, unless it's part of a farce or something, just annoys me and probably the writer as well. I write one character who's a huge idiot (and I say this with love), but I see his lack of sense more as him missing crucial brain functions than him just being stupid. Certain things completely elude him, and that's why he ends up looking like a moron a lot of the time. Lee never really stuck me as dumb, anyway. Uncertain, yes, but not dumb.
It's great to hear you have so many ideas about the character and have done so much research. It's really impressive, actually.
I wanted to start Lee from the beginning to help me play her to the best of my ability.
I love when people play solely for the sake of their character, and I think that's a great reason for starting from the beginning. Maybe interactions in TM will change certain events, which would be interesting. I think we've had 2 Lees and 2 Edwards before, and they've all played post-movie (and none of them were around at the same time), so it was sort of difficult. Alan will be happy to interact, of course, once he's no longer sick ;)
I look forward to reading more! Also, friended you.
Just to add, I think the main thing I worry about when I write Lee is that my personality will come through rather than hers. How does one get past that?
Yikes, I meant to reply to this earlier. Everyone worries about that, and on some level you never stop worrying about it. However, any character will reflect some part of you (and you should definitely share some points of identification with one you like), so what most writers do--as far as I know--is draw on those experiences and use them as a jumping off point to explore the character. Does that make sense? Allowing some of your personality to come through isn't a bad thing; you just have to find a way to integrate yours and hers. Easier said than done, of course, as anyone will tell you.
I thoroughly read through the entire Secretary thread (and others) at the JSMP last night/early this morning (You post there, right?) and I came across a link to the interview Maggie did for NPR. What she said really struck me, "...otherwise, I mean I just don't think you can play someone who's not as smart as you are." I think, especially in this case, that it's true for me too. It'd be and is really difficult to 'dumb down' a character you're playing and I just can't do that any more to poor Lee.
Lee may not have known what a paralegal or an artery was, but she is smart in other ways and I hope to do her better justice from now on. I learned so much about Lee and Mr. Grey and their relationship from reading the posts and listening to the interviews (oh, and I picked up some Spader eye candy, as well - how could I not walk away from the message board without some? ;) ). It was great experience and helped me understand Lee and the story in general better. I want to stick to canon as much as possible but I'm going to expand some things that may clear up issues like "Where the heck did Lee's family get the money to have a two story house, a pool in their backyard and a pool house/trailer for Theresa/Jonathan when Joan is a stay at home mother and Burt is an alcoholic/former night-watchman?" Well, there's a part that says that Joan asks Lee's grandmother for money after Burt leaves, so I figure the grandmother is fairly wealthy if not just well off and can help out if need be.
More than ever, I'm glad I have a copy of the screenplay. I finally finished reading it at about 4:00am this morning. :) The screenplay gives so much insight on Lee and her family and just the whole movie in general! And may I say that Jonathan in the screenplay is a real whimp!
Truthfully, I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to go with Lee yet. I am definitely going to follow the main plot but time wise, I'm not sure. Lee comes home from the mental hospital in June and the following June, I assume, she gets married to Mr. Grey. This'll assure me several months worth of content for Lee's journal.
After that, I don't know. I saw the old Edward Grey journal - the one that used to play here? - and the basic storyline was that Lee had left him. Now, in my humble POV, I can't see her just up and leaving like that. If anything, Edward would leave because of his insecurity, I'd think. But it was a pretty good storyline to introduce his character to TM. :) I wanted to start Lee from the beginning to help me play her to the best of my ability. The way I see it, it's hard to walk into a character's life if you're not sure of her roots/her past.
Anyway, thanks for 'listening' to me. :D I'm again, THRILLED that you liked my...err...Lee's post. :)
-Cherrie
xagentstarling
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I agree with not dumbing her down--a character deliberately written as stupid, unless it's part of a farce or something, just annoys me and probably the writer as well. I write one character who's a huge idiot (and I say this with love), but I see his lack of sense more as him missing crucial brain functions than him just being stupid. Certain things completely elude him, and that's why he ends up looking like a moron a lot of the time. Lee never really stuck me as dumb, anyway. Uncertain, yes, but not dumb.
It's great to hear you have so many ideas about the character and have done so much research. It's really impressive, actually.
I wanted to start Lee from the beginning to help me play her to the best of my ability.
I love when people play solely for the sake of their character, and I think that's a great reason for starting from the beginning. Maybe interactions in TM will change certain events, which would be interesting. I think we've had 2 Lees and 2 Edwards before, and they've all played post-movie (and none of them were around at the same time), so it was sort of difficult. Alan will be happy to interact, of course, once he's no longer sick ;)
I look forward to reading more! Also, friended you.
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