The movie is also about friendship and how you can lose sight of one of the most important relationships you can have…that of a best friend.

Yes, that’s right. Kate and I would sit around discussing things with Gary and we would talk about the script and our characters’ development and we kept saying ‘why are they better because of the war? What is it about the fight that makes them better?’ And we finally realized that they were such good friends that they filled in each other’s gaps. You know, I give Liv a heart; she gives Emma a spine and we had to separate in order to develop those parts of ourselves, which happens through the device of their ‘war.’

But at the end of the day, they realize that their relationship is so meaningful that for each of them not to be there for the other on their big wedding days would just detract from that.

Do you buy into that ideal of a perfect, big wedding day?

I understand the appeal for a big day but I’ve had a lot of big days in my life so I would be kind of greedy to imagine that right now so  I never really have let myself go there. My attitude is that I think you should find the boy first and if he and I want to get hitched then we’ll come up with something together but I imagine it would be on a smaller scale.

I understand why a lot of girls want it to be their day but I’m much more of a sharer. I’d like it to be ‘our’ day. Like with my parents: they got married in the church and then everyone went back to their apartment and they picked up beer and a plate of cold cuts on the way home and had a blast.

Nothing against that whole big day thing but if you don’t do it that way I don’t think you are necessarily missing out on anything. That being said, should I ever get married one day I think my mother is going to go crazy and it will probably be more her wedding than mine! (laughs).

Did you know Kate? Were you friends before you made this film together?

We’d met socially. We have a mutual friend and Kate had come over to a dinner that I had at my home, so we met then and got along very well. When the offer came in to do Bride Wars I knew Kate and I would get along.  Then we sat down and talked about the script and we realized that we would have a great working relationship as well.

It is essential that the audience believe in the depth of your friendship.

Absolutely. And it was really fun getting to explore the depth of emotion that comes with female friendships because for better or worse, usually a movie that stars a woman usually has to star a man also or if it’s a girl at the center of it she has a quirky best friend, a man, who has his own separate storyline and comes in and says funny things. That’s not bad, it’s just that it is a ‘formula.’

But to actually get to explore a deeper level of emotion between two female characters in a movie was something new for me and I was pleasantly shocked when we would have these moments in a scene where we would just have to look at each other and it would feel so meaningful.

I was like ‘oh my God, this is what my life is like, this is what my female friendships are like..’ and I just felt really lucky to portray that. But it did need to feel real and it did need to feel deep in order for it to work and in order for the audience to believe that these girls matter more to each other than just about anyone else on the planet.

Do you have friendships like that in your own life?

Thank God I have, yes, and I don’t know what I would do without them. My cousin is a couple of years older than I am and we’ve been inseparable since the day I was born basically. And it’s a great friendship.

She just came over this past weekend.  She had been invited to her boss’s birthday party and came over to raid my wardrobe and we found the perfect dress for her. We were listening to music and danced around and had a blast.  We’ve been doing that since we were about four years old.

Did you make Bride Wars straight after Rachel Getting Married?

I finished Rachel Getting Married kind of early November (2007) and then I went into production on Bride Wars in April but there was a lot of script work that needed to be done between the two, so I basically started on Bride Wars in January.

There is quite a contrast between the two films but presumably that was the appeal?

Yes, that was intentional (laughs). In some ways Rachel Getting Married was such a predominantly perfect experience that I needed to go off and work on something that I couldn’t possibly compare it to.

How do you cope with all the Oscar buzz that is going on about your performance in Rachel Getting Married?

Well, I’m trying to remember that there is nothing real to focus on yet. It’s a lovely compliment and it’s lovely to feel that people are anticipating good things for you, that people are cheering for you, but I have to look  around at where I actually am, and where I actually am is a wonderful place I’ve been nominated for a Golden Globe and the Independent Spirit Award and I also just got the National Board of Review and I’m so pleased all of them that I don’t think I could be any happier. I just have to keep telling myself that it really shouldn’t get better and that all of this is more than enough.

You’ve worked with many great actresses but two stand out - Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) and Debra Winger on Rachel Getting Married. What did you take away from working with them?

Well, each woman is an enormously powerful actress and an enormously powerful woman. Meryl breathes (laughs) and I know that sounds like a silly thing to say but she is at the center of every moment and she has so much going on and is so specific and yet she herself is so loose in her approach.  I saw a lot of that in Debra as well.

With both of them they don’t leave anything up to chance but they are nonetheless completely spontaneous. Every take with them every time was like doing a play. I didn’t know what was coming at me and I could do nothing but leave myself open to react and as a result I was made so much better getting to work with each of them.

You’ve also been working with Tim Burton too on Alice In Wonderland. Did that go well?

I’m happy to say that it did. I have a small part in the movie; in fact, I only worked about nine days on it but it was a lovely, surreal dream come true.

Did you read the book when you were a child?

Actually, I think my grandmother got it for me when I was a child and it didn’t really resonate with me at the time but then I re-read it when I was 19 and it really meant a lot to me.  Suddenly, I became aware of its brilliant subtext.

You play the White Queen and I would imagine the costumes are fabulous..

Oh exquisite! That was one of the most amazing parts of the whole experience, getting to go into Tim’s craft shop and getting to meet all the craftsmen who have worked with him for years and who have interpreted Tim Burton’s aesthetic and given it to the world.

I’m one of Tim Burton’s biggest fans and what I respond to visually is very Burtonesque so to all of a sudden be around these heroes of mine who have basically shaped my own personal aesthetic was pretty great.

Your mother was an actress. Is that where it came from with you do you think?

I don’t know. I like to think I would have wanted to do it regardless but I will say that having a mom who was an actress and a dad who chose to marry an actress definitely put me in an household where artistic expression was encouraged.

It was nothing to get up in the middle of a meal and run over to a doorframe and pretend like it was a stage and perform a song. There was always music in the household; we were always taken to see theatre and we were taken to museums.  It was definitely an artistic environment so I think that was hugely influential.

You grew up in New Jersey. What was that like?

It was very suburban and I played a lot of sports. There’s a local theatre that is actually quite prestigious and I took acting classes there when I was a kid and, you know, I would hang out with my friends. There wasn’t anything really noteworthy about it in the good or the bad sense.  It was just very pleasant.

Do you like doing comedy?

I think I do (laughs) I’m still at that place in my career where I’m just so excited to get a job that it doesn’t occur to me what I like versus what I have to work really hard at and to be honest,  I have to work really hard at everything.

But I’m having fun unravelling comedy. I’m having a good time trying to remember what I’ve observed from other people and from my own experiences, what holds you back, what propels you forward.

Was Gary Winick, the director of Bride Wars, a good collaborator?

Oh absolutely.  Gary should get so much credit because he was the only male on the set for miles really (laughs) and there were obviously a lot of very strong, very opinionated women around him. I think the way he got through it was by being collaborative.

He made sure that he had the movie in his head but that we were always on track, and he gave us the freedom to talk through what we felt needed to happen. He gave us the freedom to explore different beats, different feelings. Sometimes we would play a scene three different ways just because he was so excited by the prospect of editing the movie together.

When you feel that you can bring so many different parts of your imagination to someone and they will be able to keep track of it and edit into a wonderful film,it gives you enormous confidence. And on top of that, he’s just a spectacular man.

Did you actually film much in The Plaza Hotel itself?

We did film the end scene in the Plaza but a lot of the other stuff was doubled.

Have you anything else lined up or is it a case of taking a break and seeing what comes up?

Well, I would love to work but it seems that I’m taking a break right now because I can’t find any work to be had or any work that will have me (laughs). So I’m basically facing unemployment.

I’ve got a feeling that the phone is going to ring.

I hope so! You know it’s a bit of a tough time in America and no one really knows what’s coming next.  I’m not immune to that.

I guess that insecurity is in the DNA of all actors.

Oh my God, absolutely. Every time a job is finished I think, ‘well, enjoy it, because it might never happen again.’

What do you like to do when you are not working?

I read, I hang out with friends, I love to go horseback riding, I travel, I dream, I write a bit. I keep my life very, very quiet and it’s lovely when it’s calm.

And where’s home for you?

I’m based out of New York where I’m forever re-decorating my apartment. I love it there. I work in LA and have a lovely group of friends there who I’m lucky enough to be able to tap into when I’m spending extended amounts of time on the west coast but whenever I have a break, New York is where I go.

My parents don’t live in New Jersey anymore but when I was growing up as a Jersey girl I always dreamed about being an artist living in Manhattan.  I’m not running away from that dream for anything.

And is a New York a good place to live in terms of your celebrity? Do the people leave you alone there?

It’s the coolest it’s going to be there, which is not to say it’s perfect. It used to not intrude in the slightest but now it’s changed a bit. When people in New York come up to give you a compliment, I find that it’s quite genuine and if they don’t have anything to say to you they leave you alone.

I’ve reached the stage where I do get stared at a fair bit but I’m not necessarily interrupted. Los Angeles is different. I got chased down the freeway for two hours by a pack of paparazzi the other day so it’s become downright unpleasant out there but at least in New York I can move around and get lost.

Bride Wars is out on DVD now.

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