NEWSWEEK: Newsweek's Oscar Roundtable Brings Together Biggest Names of '06: Cate, Forest, Helen, Penelope, Brad and Leo

NEWSWEEK: Newsweek's Oscar Roundtable Brings Together Biggest Names of '06: Cate, Forest, Helen, Penelope, Brad and Leo

Excerpts Capture Stars' Lively Discussion of Their Craft, Pre-Hollywood Jobs and Life in the Limelight

NEW YORK, Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- "We're all in it for the free food, actually. We are all, in our hearts, out-of-work actors," Golden Globe winner Helen Mirren told Newsweek in the annual Oscar Roundtable, held last week at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood and excerpted in the January 29 issue (on newsstands Monday, January 22). The event, which was open to the public for the first time, brought together Mirren, Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Forest Whitaker, Penelope Cruz and Leonardo DiCaprio. Senior Writer Sean Smith and Senior Editor David Ansen moderated the stars' lengthy and lively discussion of their lives, their craft, their passions and their fears.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070121/NYSU003 )

Highlights include:

PITT, on how strippers changed the course of his career:

"I had a job driving strippers around ... . Yeah, my job was to drive them to bachelor parties and things. I'd pick them up, and at the gig I'd collect the money, play the bad Prince tapes and catch the girls' clothes. It was not a wholesome atmosphere, and it got very depressing. After two months I went in to quit, and the guy said, 'Listen, I've got this one last gig tonight.' So I did it, and this girl -- I'd never met her before -- was in an acting class taught by a man named Roy London [a famous acting coach]. I went and checked it out, and it really set me on the path to where I am now ... . Strippers changed my life."

MIRREN, on being a woman in show business:

"But you know, [the industry] is always trying to put you in a box, and you're always having to fight your way out of it. They don't want you to grow up or grow older or change, so it's great when a role comes up that allows you to take that next step. It happened with me on 'Prime Suspect.' Suddenly I was allowed to look like a woman of the age that I was. I didn't have to have glamorous lighting. I didn't have to wear makeup. It was fabulously liberating, and it's really why I'm still working, because I was allowed to step forward."

CRUZ, on the movie "Jamon, Jamon," which made her a sex symbol at age 17:

One day I came out on the street for a walk with my dad, and somebody screamed from a car, 'I love you!' And a minute later, somebody else screamed, 'Whore!' Then I knew I was famous. It was unbelievable. I was 16 when I made the movie. I didn't tell my parents and I was hiding the script from them. Then they took my grandmother to the premiere, and I always felt bad about that. But the movie was good, and it did a lot of good things for my career. Every role I accepted after that I was covered up to here."

WHITAKER, on what he has learned since he started his acting career:

"I had to learn to not divorce my life from my work. My work is a continual process of growth for me; it's an expansion of myself. In the last couple of years, I've been taking things I learn about myself in my work and using it to be more completely there for my kids, my family, my friends. It's flowing in a complete way. It has been a bit of an awakening."

DICAPRIO, on growing as an actor:

"I knew I wanted to be an actor, but it wasn't until 'This Boy's Life,' when I was 16, that I started to research quality films. I remember watching James Dean in 'East of Eden.' I said to myself, 'Wow, I didn't know it was possible to give a performance this good.'"

PITT: "Although you were extraordinary on 'Growing Pains'."

DICAPRIO: "Thank you, buddy. As were you."

BLANCHETT, on her passion for her craft:

"Krzysztof Kieslowski said that filmmaking is a conversation with an audience. When you're connecting with other people, it's utterly thrilling. I feel alive when I'm acting. It's tragic, but true. I would die in a rehearsal room if I could."

(Read entire roundtable excerpt at http://www.newsweek.com/)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16720751/site/newsweek/

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070121/NYSU003
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN1
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Newsweek

CONTACT: Andrea Faville of Newsweek, +1-212-445-4859

Web site: http://www.newsweek.msnbc.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16720751/site/newsweek

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