Post by motorcitymade on Feb 28, 2015 23:06:18 GMT -6
Vanity Fair_CLICK HERE
BY JOANNA ROBINSON
•
During her six-season tenure on Justified, Joelle Carter’sAva Crowder has been a battered wife, a husband killer, a U.S. Marshal’s girlfriend, a madam, an outlaw’s fiancée, a convict, and, most recently, a rat. The show that had once been all about the fraught tension between the criminal Boyd Crowder and the lawman Raylan Givens has, in its final season, become about the one woman caught between the two. While you may not have noticed that the last four out of five episodes have started with an Ava scene, you will certainly have noticed how Joelle Carter, always a stellar member of the cast, has upped her game in this final season as Ava takes center stage. We spoke to Carter about Ava’s hidden agenda, last season’s unpopular prison plot, and what was going on with tonight’s surprise ending.
VF Hollywood: Alright, let’s not beat around the bush. What about that kiss between Raylan and Ava? That came out of left field. What is Ava thinking there?
Joelle Carter: She either wants Raylan to pull her out or she wants to go on the run with Boyd. But when Boyd comes in with a completely different plan, that throws her for a loop. So we see her in Episode 5 just trying to figure out how she’s going to survive. She’s not thinking like she has been in the past few episodes, she’s just reacting. And when Raylan saves her, again, and offers her a chance to escape, offers her a chance to start over, and that’s all she wants. It’s just the moment. It’s maybe a thank you. They still have chemistry, but also she wants to believe in him because she’s horrified about what might happen if Boyd finds out. She’s been playing the rat for so long and we know, historically, that if Boyd finds out that someone has betrayed him, it doesn’t go well.
VF After seeing what’s happened with Ava’s character this season, do you think it was worth putting her in prison for all of Season 5? Critics and fans didn’t really love that plotline, but has it paid off?
After living this season, yes, for me it was worth it, and I think for the show it was worth it. It really did drive us into a corner that we had to get out of and it pays off. I have trouble when shows I watch deter from my favorite characters, so I get why critics and fans felt a little uncomfortable about last season. And the freaking wardrobe was awful! Nobody looks good in scrubs.
VF At least you got that great haircut out of it. When you started the show, did you ever dream Ava would become such a central character?
When I got Ava it was potentially a recurring role, and then Graham came to me in the second season and said, “Raylan and Ava are going to break up,” and I was like, “This is it for Ava!” I had a dream, I came to Graham, and I said I had seen Boyd and Ava together. I don’t know if that’s what sparked Graham’s interest in taking Ava to the dark side. But that’s what happened—he said, “You’re going to the dark side and you’re ending up with Boyd.”
I’ve been surprised by how much they gave me every season. And I don’t know if that was their intention or if it just happened by accident and they were challenged with it. I feel like they’ve tried to do that with a lot of their main characters, but whatever the reason is, I’m very grateful for it. It’s a very male-driven show and a very male-driven world, Harlan. So for a character like Ava to stand out in such a strong, powerful way is a credit to our writers. Our male writers!
VF How does someone like Ava Crowder fit in with Elmore Leonard’s tradition of tough female characters?
There was one scene I did with Natalie Zea, I want to say it was in Season 2. It was one of the first scenes I was able to do with somebody other than Tim. And I always remembered that Elmore Leonard loved it. He loved those two female characters coming together. She is strong and she has to be a little smarter and quicker than the men and she has to use her feminine wiles to do that. But she also manages to stay kind of soft with a hard edge. That’s fun to play. I went to Graham recently and said, “What about Ava having some wonderful Elmore Leonard female ending?”
VF What does that mean to you? An “Elmore Leonard female ending”? Does Ava get out of Harlan alive?
Definitely she would stay alive and she would get what she wants in the end, which I won’t tell you what that is yet because that would ruin the entire season. I don’t know if she gets it, but I don’t want people to really know Ava’s hidden agenda yet. I don’t know when it reveals itself completely to the audience, they’ve done a really good job of hiding it, although I’ve known from day one what it was.
VF In this episode we met a new character, Ava’s uncle Zachariah, played by Jeff Fahey. Do you get to interact with him at all this season?
I get to act with Mr. Fahey. He’s remarkable. They brought this character into the Justified world and I told the writers, “Let’s not just make it a scene, let’s dig into Ava’s history because we know nothing about this woman besides she shot her husband at the dinner table.” So a little bit of Ava’s past comes out.
VF Have we already seen your favorite Ava moment, or is it yet to come this season?
I certainly have some things coming up this season that, from an acting perspective, are pretty amazing. But I loved hitting Devil with a frying pan in Season 3, I love the pilot when I’m telling Raylan about the demise of my husband, and I love the engagement scene between Boyd and Ava. I mean, what lady gets an engagement ring on top of a pile of cash?
VF O.K., now for the most important question. Who’s a better kisser? Walton Goggins or Timothy Olyphant?
A lady never kisses and tells. I’m just lucky enough to kiss both.
BY JOANNA ROBINSON
•
During her six-season tenure on Justified, Joelle Carter’sAva Crowder has been a battered wife, a husband killer, a U.S. Marshal’s girlfriend, a madam, an outlaw’s fiancée, a convict, and, most recently, a rat. The show that had once been all about the fraught tension between the criminal Boyd Crowder and the lawman Raylan Givens has, in its final season, become about the one woman caught between the two. While you may not have noticed that the last four out of five episodes have started with an Ava scene, you will certainly have noticed how Joelle Carter, always a stellar member of the cast, has upped her game in this final season as Ava takes center stage. We spoke to Carter about Ava’s hidden agenda, last season’s unpopular prison plot, and what was going on with tonight’s surprise ending.
VF Hollywood: Alright, let’s not beat around the bush. What about that kiss between Raylan and Ava? That came out of left field. What is Ava thinking there?
Joelle Carter: She either wants Raylan to pull her out or she wants to go on the run with Boyd. But when Boyd comes in with a completely different plan, that throws her for a loop. So we see her in Episode 5 just trying to figure out how she’s going to survive. She’s not thinking like she has been in the past few episodes, she’s just reacting. And when Raylan saves her, again, and offers her a chance to escape, offers her a chance to start over, and that’s all she wants. It’s just the moment. It’s maybe a thank you. They still have chemistry, but also she wants to believe in him because she’s horrified about what might happen if Boyd finds out. She’s been playing the rat for so long and we know, historically, that if Boyd finds out that someone has betrayed him, it doesn’t go well.
VF After seeing what’s happened with Ava’s character this season, do you think it was worth putting her in prison for all of Season 5? Critics and fans didn’t really love that plotline, but has it paid off?
After living this season, yes, for me it was worth it, and I think for the show it was worth it. It really did drive us into a corner that we had to get out of and it pays off. I have trouble when shows I watch deter from my favorite characters, so I get why critics and fans felt a little uncomfortable about last season. And the freaking wardrobe was awful! Nobody looks good in scrubs.
VF At least you got that great haircut out of it. When you started the show, did you ever dream Ava would become such a central character?
When I got Ava it was potentially a recurring role, and then Graham came to me in the second season and said, “Raylan and Ava are going to break up,” and I was like, “This is it for Ava!” I had a dream, I came to Graham, and I said I had seen Boyd and Ava together. I don’t know if that’s what sparked Graham’s interest in taking Ava to the dark side. But that’s what happened—he said, “You’re going to the dark side and you’re ending up with Boyd.”
I’ve been surprised by how much they gave me every season. And I don’t know if that was their intention or if it just happened by accident and they were challenged with it. I feel like they’ve tried to do that with a lot of their main characters, but whatever the reason is, I’m very grateful for it. It’s a very male-driven show and a very male-driven world, Harlan. So for a character like Ava to stand out in such a strong, powerful way is a credit to our writers. Our male writers!
VF How does someone like Ava Crowder fit in with Elmore Leonard’s tradition of tough female characters?
There was one scene I did with Natalie Zea, I want to say it was in Season 2. It was one of the first scenes I was able to do with somebody other than Tim. And I always remembered that Elmore Leonard loved it. He loved those two female characters coming together. She is strong and she has to be a little smarter and quicker than the men and she has to use her feminine wiles to do that. But she also manages to stay kind of soft with a hard edge. That’s fun to play. I went to Graham recently and said, “What about Ava having some wonderful Elmore Leonard female ending?”
VF What does that mean to you? An “Elmore Leonard female ending”? Does Ava get out of Harlan alive?
Definitely she would stay alive and she would get what she wants in the end, which I won’t tell you what that is yet because that would ruin the entire season. I don’t know if she gets it, but I don’t want people to really know Ava’s hidden agenda yet. I don’t know when it reveals itself completely to the audience, they’ve done a really good job of hiding it, although I’ve known from day one what it was.
VF In this episode we met a new character, Ava’s uncle Zachariah, played by Jeff Fahey. Do you get to interact with him at all this season?
I get to act with Mr. Fahey. He’s remarkable. They brought this character into the Justified world and I told the writers, “Let’s not just make it a scene, let’s dig into Ava’s history because we know nothing about this woman besides she shot her husband at the dinner table.” So a little bit of Ava’s past comes out.
VF Have we already seen your favorite Ava moment, or is it yet to come this season?
I certainly have some things coming up this season that, from an acting perspective, are pretty amazing. But I loved hitting Devil with a frying pan in Season 3, I love the pilot when I’m telling Raylan about the demise of my husband, and I love the engagement scene between Boyd and Ava. I mean, what lady gets an engagement ring on top of a pile of cash?
VF O.K., now for the most important question. Who’s a better kisser? Walton Goggins or Timothy Olyphant?
A lady never kisses and tells. I’m just lucky enough to kiss both.
?? Her agenda has been to use sex to manipulate the two men...but Raylan said no. A kiss that was barely so,..he even said on the bridge how well he knows her. I always thought even tho she was with Boyd...she had desires for Raylan. He may be her agenda...her failed agenda. Winona and Willa are his true love and desired future. I hope.