Rotten Tomatoes had a chance to talk with one of the stars of the film, Jacqueline Kim, who was recently recognized for her performance with a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the 2003 IFP Independent Spirit Awards.

RottenTomatoes: First of all, congratulations about the 2003 IFP Independent Spirit Awards. What was your reaction when you heard the news?

Charlotte Sometimes actress Jacqueline Kim

Jacqueline Kim: Eric (Byler) says this is how it went. "What? What are you talking about? I've never been nominated for anything...not even in high school!" I think it took me a couple of days to realize that it was possible.

RottenTomatoes: Can you tell us about how you got involved with the project, and what attracted you to the role of Darcy/Charlotte?

Jacqueline Kim: Eric had told me about the film (then titled Better Than Sex) as he was writing about it. He sort of picked my brain for ideas as I think he thought I shared some of Darcy's characteristics. Then he gave me the first draft.

Darcy was named after Jane Austen's hero. She was a male force trapped in a woman's circumstances. Or maybe a female's true force. I liked that. I could relate to her fear of being defined by others, and also of being vulnerable to a man's true expectations of a woman. I wanted to play a role that was different from the ones I had played in more mainstream movies...something defined more by pathos than accepted role models.

RottenTomatoes: Eric mentioned that shooting the movie in DV gave him unprecedented freedom as a filmmaker. Can you talk about working with DV from an actor's perspective, as opposed to working with traditional film?

Jacqueline Kim: There's something about film rolling that gets everyone quite excited and concentrated -- this was perhaps absent from our work, where we had tape rolling for as long as we wanted. But shooting on dv did make things affordable and quicker in terms of set-ups and last minute impulses. There were more takes.

RottenTomatoes: In the motel scene at the end of the movie, there's a revealing and spontaneous moment when a single tear rolls down your cheek. Can you tell us about that tear? What do you think was going through Darcy's head at that moment?

Jacqueline Kim: She's holding back the other 999, 000. Strange to make love to someone who you haven't been loving, that you knew you could never love. I guess people do this all the time. Eric encouraged me to go where she could not go with Michael. And it hurt. Maybe this is the thought going through her head: why can't I do this when it counts?

RottenTomatoes: With regard to your own life, what attracted you to acting? Were your parents very supportive?

Jacqueline Kim: Acting seemed to be very multifaceted and involved a real wrangling with language and emotion. I liked how dextrous one had to be and how it could move the actor and the audience at the same time. Also, coming from a Korean/American background, there was great contradiction in my house. The smallest argument blew up into the most intense drama quite quickly, yet we were not encouraged to speak about what we were feeling. Acting was an environment that welcomed mess and things not yet articulated. I think unconsciously I was drawn to that.

My parents were unfortunately not supportive of the choice I was making. Neither of them really knew why I was doing it, although they had encouraged me greatly in music, sports and language. They could not reconcile themselves with the vulnerability I would be facing as an actor. And they were right. But I might have had more strength with their support. Who knows..

RottenTomatoes: Just for fun, if you could act in a remake of any film of your choosing, what would it be and what role would you choose? Why?

Jacqueline Kim: Great question. Monica Vitti in anything by Antonioni. He had such a deep understanding of the really fickle and destructive aspects of the human psyche. He also loved women. And Roxie Hart in Chicago. I grew up in musical theatre and I love to perform full force; there's nothing like it.

RottenTomatoes: Readers of RottenTomatoes.com are often very curious about what films are on people's favorites list. What are some of your favorite films?

Jacqueline Kim: My all-time favorite filmmaker is Satyajit Ray. Pather Panchali is my current favorite. Others...Woman In The Dunes, Teshigahara; Waiting For Guffman, C. Guest; La Promesse, the Dardenne brothers; The Celebration, Vinterberg; Hannah And Her Sisters, W. Allen.

RottenTomatoes: Can you tell us about your current or upcoming projects?

Jacqueline Kim: I am finishing writing a feature that I want to direct. I have a film coming out that I worked on (and co-wrote) with Allan Miller called In Search Of Cezanne. It is a documentary about a documentary re: the work of Paul Cezanne.

RottenTomatoes:Thanks for your time, and we wish you continued success in your pursuits in the future.

Jacqueline Kim: Thanks.

About Jacqueline Kim
Jacqueline Kim attended the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago and performed in Chicago and New York before becoming a company member at the prestigious Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Her theater roles include several of the greatest heroines of the classical stage, including Sophocles' Electra, Nina in the Seagull, and Cordelia in King Lear. Jacqueline's feature films include Brokedown Palace, Volcano, Disclosure, Star Trek: Generations, The Operator and The Hollywood Sign.

Her television roles include celebrated guest appearances on E.R., West Wing, and Xena: The Warrior Princess. She recently completed In Search of Cezanne, where she starred and shared writing credit with two-time Oscar winning documentary filmmaker Allan Miller. In an inventive blend of cinematic styles, Jacqueline stars as a documentary filmmaker taking an odyssey into the realms of the life of French painter Paul Cezanne.

Charlotte Sometimes hits theaters in May 2003. Click here to find out when it shows in your location.

Watch the trailer here.