INTERVIEW: Margarita Levieva of SPREAD
My first introduction to Margarita Levieva came with this year’s Adventureland. She played the sultry Lisa P. and perfectly captured that one girl every
single guy wants to get with but realizes isn’t what they want. Right now Margarita is currently tearing up the screen with Spread where she plays Heather, a waitress whom Nikki (Ashton Kutcher) falls in love with. Recently, I had the pleasure of talking with Ms. Levieva about her tenure and if she’ll ever dive back into gymnastics.
You have great chemistry in the movie with you’re leading man in the movie. I was wondering if that was something you worked on or if it was a natural stick for you and Ashton?
I would say it’s a combination of both. He’s not a hard person to get along with, he’s a very good guy. But I think we developed the love story and did the research and talked about what it is that connects us and I think that brought us together more and I’m glad it shows up on-screen.
Watching the movie, I’m trying to figure out if I’m supposed to feel bad for your character or is this her comfort zone where she’s in?
I think it’s interesting because of the way the movie has been cut. It is very ambiguious, and it was done this way to leave the audience with their own point of view on it. I mean for me, I would say I felt bad for her in a way for having to live such a life and to survive and to forego love in order to live the way she feels like she needs to. So, that’s my personal take, but that’s interesting how the movie was cut. Some of the scenes where a little different than the way they were originally shot I do feel like it shows Heather in a colder way than I had foreseen it originally.
How she different than Nikki’s character would you say?
I don’t think they’re very different at all. I would say that scene where she says ‘I’m a realist and you’re a dreamer’ and I think he’s been beaten enough by this lifestyle to feel like maybe there is a way out, maybe there’s another opportunity whereas I feel she’s gone through that already and she knows it doesn’t work and she’s being more realistic. This is not something that’s going to work out because they have they have these fantasies about what life should be and it won’t be guaranteed that they stay together.
I keep seeing the film referred to as a comedy. I’m seeing that at all. Do you?
Really? (laughs) It’s always interesting I guess they say comedy comes from drama so I guess for me I definitely feel more of the drama than the comedy. It certainly didn’t play as a comedy. So, I think for me personally, not so much. There’s certainly comedic aspects to it, like there is all situations in life. And Ashton’s pretty funny.
What did David [Mackenzie] bring to the project to capture L.A. this way?
I don’t know what his personal research was but he spent some time here going around places and I’m sure Ashton spent some time showing him around. But I think from that point of view, someone who just comes here. What is deemed as cool or as the place to go or the place to be seen at from an outsiders perspective. I think people who live outside L.A. live outside this world all the time. And I’ve seen the films David’s made before and they’re very authentic. He can take the snippet of someone’s life but sort of at the climax of their life, when they’re faced with decisions. He’s great at portraying that little piece of their story. That’s what I feel like he was really able to do.
I know you were in Adventureland, and your character was more clear cut. I’m wondering Heather was more of a challenging character to play more than Lisa P.?
I mean they both for me had their own difficulties. Lisa P. was a hard character to play because I really never thought I was the right person to play her. I didn’t necessarily see myself as sort of this hot girl and it was a comedy and I’d never done a comedy before. So there where a lot of challenges in the project. And Heather, y’know, it was a very up and down experience. She’s very complicated as was asked earlier what’re we supposed to feel for her? I feel like there’s so many ways of looking at her life and the decisions that she makes. So it’s a little bit tricky on the one hand someone who could be so cruel but have so much need for it.
Spread is in theaters right now. Matthew’s review can be read here.
