Chapter 10- One Fine Day

By the second half of 1993, Michelle seemed to be moving into a new phase of her life. Professionally, Batman Returns had elevated her into an international star, the doors of opportunity were wide open, and three Academy Award nominations down the line, the buzz was that a fourth Oscar nomination was on its way for her work in The Age Of Innocence. Career-wise, she seemed to have it all. More importantly, though, in her private life she had found contentment for the first time, in her adoption of daughter Claudia Rose, and then marriage to television writer-producer, David E. Kelley. Michelle explained the necessity of the change: 'I had spent more than a third of my life being independent and leading this narcissistic existence where everything was about me. I couldn't take it anymore.' She also spoke of the hopelessness she felt before embarking on adoption proceedings. 'I really felt that I was going nowhere. I had given up on marriage, I couldn't see myself becoming a mother and I felt that I was withdrawing deeper into my shell.'

Marriage and motherhood changed that. Michelle was so immersed in her new happiness, that she had no reaction to her snubbing of a nomination by the Oscar voters, despite universal praise from the critics for her performance in the now released The Age of Innocence. She was, however, still in demand, and had signed up for a project that was to be the first to bear the stamp of Michelle, and Kate Guinzberg's production company, Via Rosa. The film was to become known as Dangerous Minds. There was small complication however. Mere weeks before filming was to begin, Michelle discovered that she was pregnant. She recalled in 1995, '(David and I) wanted children, but the speed of it all was ridiculous. I must have got pregnant on my wedding night.' She added, 'We had planned on trying right away- we kinda had started already.'

Above: Michelle as real-life teacher, Louanne Johnson in Dangerous Minds, a film directed by John N. Smith.

Michelle decided to go ahead with the film anyway. 'I was concerned initially, but I'm not very patient and I thought that if I had to sit around counting the days until the birth I'd go mad. So I think it was the right thing to do.' She said, 'I stayed amazingly calm. I made this deal with myself that I wasn't going to be bothered by things. I lost my temper only a couple of times. The production team were great. They didn't work me too hard. Actually, I took better care of myself while I was pregnant with John Henry than I do now. I didn't even get tired.'

Directed by John N. Smith, Dangerous Minds, then known as My Posse Don't Do Homework was based upon the book of the same name, which chronicles the classroom experiences of real-life teacher, and former marine, Louanne Johnson. While doubts were expressed about the casting of Michelle Pfeiffer as a teacher, Johnson was 'incredulous.' She said, 'I was really happy. And when I met Michelle, I couldn't believe how much alike we were. I have this habit of telling the truth and saying exactly what's on my mind, which always seems to get me into trouble. Michelle's the same way.'

The respect was mutual. Although Michelle did not feel the necessity to impersonate Johnson, as the film's emphasis was on the stories of the teenagers in her class, she drew her inspiration from the real-life teacher: 'I was inspired by the real person, her spirit, her relationship to the kids. She has been a marine sergeant, but after meeting her I was taken by how incredibly gentle and feminine she was. She had a fragility about her, not at all like the stereotype you might imagine.'

Michelle spoke about her reason for choosing to make the film: 'Education has always been an important issue for me. Our future is our kids, after all; and if we can't churn out thinking individuals who can make rational decisions about our society, then there's really not much hope for us. I've never had the time to do anything about this before; but then this movie came along and it seemed an opportunity I couldn't miss. I know that no one film is going to change the world, but I'd like to think that if there were more movies like this being made, it would pique people's interest, and maybe even pique their desire to get involved in doing something about the situation.' As for the possible message of the film, she said, 'It shows kids that they must take responsibility for their own lives... No matter what their socioeconomic background; no matter what limitations have been put upon them, they still have a choice.'

When asked is she had learnt anything while making the film, she said, 'Are you kidding? Before making the movie I was very judgemental about education. I would say simplistic things like we need better teachers, but it's not that we have bad teachers, the problem is that it's impossible for good teachers to teach well, because of overcrowded classrooms, out-of-date textbooks, lack of supplies, and above all, the administrative bureaucracy.'

While real teachers dealt with these challenges, Michelle faced a variety of her own on the set. For one thing, there was the prospect of working with the young actors playing the students in her class, who director Smith described as 'a collection of kids who would present a challenge for Michelle.' Michelle agreed: 'I was intimidated by them initially because they were such a presence to de dealt with in the classroom. It was very much like in the movies. When I showed up for rehearsal they were already a team, these kids. I walked into the real thing - not knowing how to teach- and I had to be a teacher. I think more of it had to do with me than them. I guess it was just a feeling of inadequacy. By the end of the movies, more of a friendship had developed between us. You can see our progression together in the film. We shot it pretty much in sequence, and I get more and more comfortable with them as the story goes on, and they with me.'

As for the issue of hiding her pregnancy for the cameras, the problem was solved by layering Michelle's clothing throughout the shoot, as well as having her character constantly snacking. 'If, in the worst case scenario, I got really big, we would have worked the character's overeating into the storyline. There's no way of knowing if you've never been pregnant before.' She added, 'Actually I had an easy pregnancy, except for a month of heartburn. I was big at the end, but we were able to hide it.'

Once filming ended, and the film went into post-production, a new issue arose. Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer were not happy with the title, My Posse Don't Do Homework. Simpson said 'We want to be in-your-face with the title and grab your attention.' After many options were considered, Dangerous Minds was decided upon. However, it was a title Michelle felt was 'dumb' and 'misleading,' and had no qualms about voicing her opinion, which brought her into conflict with Simpson and Bruckheimer. She said that she fought 'probably more than I've ever battled for a movie. I was pregnant- the last thing in the world I wanted was to battle with people. But sometimes I can't keep my mouth shut, either.' It was an argument that she lost, but still felt the need to make known in interviews: 'We never really came up with anything much better. I would have prefered shortening it to My Posse because I thought it was more provocative, but I realised My Posse Don't Do Homework was a little long, and it really looked bad on the poster, but I wish they could have come up with something a little better than Dangerous Minds.'

Above: Another deleted scene.
Interesting Fact: Andy Garcia played Michelle's love interest in Dangerous Minds, but found his entire role on the cutting room floor. Michelle explained, 'His part was written as a device to learn a little more about my character. In the end it seemed as though there were two movies, so it had to go. Andy has done the part because he really believed in the project but also as a favour to me. So I still owe him, a big one. But he never thought of it as a big career move for him.' Another reason Mr Garcia's scenes were cut: he and Michelle apparently had no chemistry.

Despite what Michelle thought, in August 1995, the film, Dangerous Minds was released in cinemas. It went on to become a surprise hit, grossing $80 million in the US. Michelle was to laugh, 'I thought, No one's going to come and see this movie because of the title, and I couldn't have been more wrong!' The film's success was no doubt boosted by the atmospheric hit single, 'Gangsta's Paradise,' from rapper, Coolio, which featured on the soundtrack of the film, and was a received major airplay on both sides of the Atlantic. Michelle was featured in the music video.

Dangerous Minds' success was important for Michelle for a number of reasons. As usual, she received acclaim for her performance as a teacher willing to do anything in helping her students reach their potential. The film did however prove that Michelle could helm a hit by herself, without having to be paired with another big-name actor to draw in the cinema-going public. Also it certainly helped the standing of Via Rosa as a production company.

Back in mid-1994, a good year before the film was to be released, and just after filming had wrapped, Michelle and David finally took time out for a belated honeymoon in Fiji, taking Claudia along with them. Michelle, who was seven months pregnant at the time described it dryly as being a 'very sexy' honeymoon.

Then, a few months later, on 5 August 1994, John Henry Kelley was born. He was named after David's father. Now the mother of an adopted daughter and biological son, Michelle decided to slow down, and enjoy the family she had only a few years previously feared she would never have.

Above: Michelle, David, and baby John Henry

It was this mindset that was to cost her the title role in Evita, the long-awaited film version of the Andrew Lloyd-Webber/Tim Rice musical, based on the life of Eva Peron, former First Lady of Argentina. Michelle, already preparing for what was one of the most coveted roles of the past decade or so, explained: 'I worked my ass off for that part. I was six months pregnant, doing Dangerous Minds, taking voice lessons, and making demos on the weekend. Then it got too expensive to keep the production in Los Angeles.' Michelle considered the alternative, which was filming in Hungary, and Argentina, itself. She made what she described as 'a life choice.' 'I would have had to be out of the country for three or four months rehearsing, training my voice, prerecording, all this time not seeing my children. I felt it was too much. I really wanted to do the film, but I knew it was the wrong thing to do right now.'

With Michelle jumping ship, along with then-director, Oliver Stone, Madonna stepped into the lead, and the role of her career. Michelle said of her replacement: 'Madonna will do fine and doesn't need any advice from me. I would have expended so much energy just getting my voice together, but she already has a great voice and is a dancer, so she can concentrate on the acting.' About herself she said, 'I gained a husband and two children all in the space of a year and a half; I want to enjoy them without looking over my shoulder to see what I might be missing.'

What was becoming increasingly apparent, was that Michelle was becoming more relaxed and confident, particularly in the public eye, which she had previously squirmed away from. The change and contentment in her home-life was credited for her change in attitude. She admitted, 'I am more relaxed. A lot of it is getting older; a lot of it is therapy; and a lot of it is my family.'

The beginnings of her new outlook could be seen as far back as June 1993, when, during her acceptance speech at the 17th Annual Women In Film Luncheon, she felt the need to comment on roles certain actresses were taking. Michelle began, 'So this is the year of the woman. Well, yes, it's actually been a good year for women. Demi Moore was sold to Robert Redford for $1 million. Uma Thurman went to Mr De Niro for $40000 and just three years ago Richard Gere bought Julia Roberts for -what was it- $3000? I'd say that was real progress.' Both Demi Moore and Sherry Lansing, head of Paramount Studios, and producer of Indecent Proposal, were present in the room. Michelle continued, 'Fortunately our values as individuals and women are not determined by our cultures but by ourselves. I know that I am here because many of you have been here before me creating my opportunity.'

The new, relaxed Michelle of 1995 spoke about how having children had changed her: 'I'm probably less controlling than I used to be. You have to be. I'm taking things slightly less seriously than I used to. Kids teach you that; they laugh in your face. Physically I'm a wreck, I'm so tired all the time, but that'll pass. I always think that one day he'll be in college, and I'll be wishing I was feeding him at 2 in the morning.' On a separate occasion, she said, 'Having children has changed my life. I used to see the world in a negative way. I believed that life was full of disappointments and tragedies. I used to think that men weren't positive forces when it came to women's needs. Now I feel I can trust David and our relationship more than I ever could. It has taken time to get rid of the fear and the loathing and learn to love more.' As for parenthood, she added, 'People would tell me that being a parent is so much better than you can imagine, but I've always been a the-glass-is-half-empty type. This was the first time in my life I'd had anything be so much better than I ever thought it would be.'

Although still a very private person, her new openness in the media she saw as being the result of a combination of factors: 'I don't run from paparazzi anymore. I have too much weighing me down now. I have two kids and diaper bags and strollers, so I had to cop a new attitude.' She added in 1999, 'Having children opened me up. You shift your priorities, and all those protective instincts you have shift away from yourself onto your children. There isn't any room to guard yourself.'

Similarly, in her career, she had begun to loosen up: 'I used to have a very strange love-hate relationship with my work; it used to be painful and terrifying to me, whatever sort of role I was playing. But these days I'm definitely having more fun with it, and there's actually a lot of joy I get from my work now.'

Michelle was increasingly willing to talk about her home-life, as well as the issues she saw her children as having to face: 'I do worry about my kids being children of famous parents, growing up in an elitist environment. I think it could be very damaging to them. I can protect them until they're eighteen, but if they've been so protected all their lives, how are they going to function? And part of being ambitious and learning how to take care of yourself comes from being a bit deprived. How do I give them that? How do I give them the same values without the struggle? That's what I worry about for them.' She added about her career interfering with motherhood, 'If I'm honest about my work, the kids would like me not to. I'd be fooling myself if I said otherwise.'

Right: Michelle out shopping with Claudia Rose and John Henry

Of course, it was comments like these, along with her turning down of Evita, that started rumours about Michelle retiring from acting to spend more time with her family. When asked about retirement in an interview at the end of 1995, Michelle said, 'I can't see that happening. It's not that I don't think about it. I'm obviously going to slow down- I just can't do movie after movie. I have to take into consideration where a movie will be filmed and the kinds of demands it'll make on me. But, no, I'm not going to retire.'

But her turning down of interesting roles continued. One project that got away was Mistress Of the Seas, which was to be centered around the true story of two female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who sailed the Caribbean with 'Calico Jack' during the 18th Century. Michelle turned down the project after meeting with director, Paul Verhoeven, but in doing so, was forced to talk about her stance over cinematic nudity. 'I had two meetings with Paul Verhoeven. I met with him on two separate projects, and both conversations were about how much skin I would show. My whole deal with nudity is, I'm a prude. I have no moral problem with other people doing it. It's just that I'm embarrassed.' She added, 'I don't like seeing actresses exploited, but I also think that nudity is life and art is imitating life. I have the utmost admiration for women who are uninhibited and proud of their bodies. I am not one of those women, and I think if I felt better about my body I would have probably done more nudity.' She saw her family as the reason she avoided roles involving nudity: 'Now the reason is my children, but back then it was my father. He would have disowned me. My dad would have killed me.'

While doing publicity for Dangerous Minds, Michelle had already signed up for her next film, Up Close & Personal, co-starring Robert Redford. Despite the project's origins as a biographical film, chronicling the rise and fall of television journalist, Jessica Savitch in the early 1980s, as written about in the book Golden Girl, the film that went before the cameras was described as a A Star Is Born-style romance, set in the high-pressured, television news industry, and in fact scripted by the same people responsible for A Star Is Born, Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. Michelle explained the change: 'Jessica's life was pretty dark. And that's not always something you want to make a movie about.' So instead, Michelle played aspiring television journalist, Sally-Anne Waters, who, with the help of different hair styles, a name-change (to Tally Atwater), and guidance from Warren Justice (Redford), a formerly respected newsman, aims for the top of her game.

With Up Close & Personal dealing with the media, and after Dangerous Minds' portrayal of the public education system, the question was asked whether Michelle was specifically choosing films that offered opportunity for commentary. Michelle said: 'I'm not a big message person. In fact I'm leery of actresses with messages. Being a celebrity, you get asked to do a lot of things but I'm always wary of putting my name on something I don't know much about.'

Up Close & Personal is full of very interesting coincidences. Click here to find out more...

About her somewhat older co-star, she admitted that she had had a crush on Robert Redford since she was a little girl: 'He still oozes the same sex appeal he had when I saw him kissing Jane Fonda in Barefoot In The Park. I was only eight at the time, but I envied her.' When asked about her theory concerning his career longevity, she responded, 'He's still got great presence. He still has whatever it was when I watched him as a kid. You can't really describe it. He just has it.' She did however add the following about the differences between the sexes in film: 'We do this smooching scene in the ocean. Later I thought, would a woman of 60 be allowed to get away with a scene like that?'

As a result of working on the film, Michelle said, 'I think that you probably take a lot for granted when you look at people doing television news....I was very taken aback, and very intimidated by how it's not so easy.' She admitted that she had 'a new-found respect and appreciation for journalists.' This was in contrast to her 1992 attitude, when she said, 'I'm difficult with the press. I try to be polite, and a lot of times it comes off as bullshit because I'd rather not be there. To say I've never been testy would be a lie. I've been a downright pain in the ass, but I think it's rare. Especially with people who continually piss me off.' In 1996, she attempted to offer an explanation for her behaviour, especially in the past: 'I don't hate media people. I'm scared of them. It's just my unwillingness to be studied. My job is to observe, and when the roles are reversed, it makes me a little squeamish.'

Regardless of the effort it took from Michelle to convincingly portray a television reporter, the mood on the set was relaxed. A reel of bloopers shown on several television entertainment shows at the time of the film's release, showed the stars flubbing their lines, as well as one amusing incident where Redford accidentally knocked a glass of ice-cold water onto Michelle's lap. '

Interesting fact: Up Close & Personal was not the first time Michelle had the opportunity to work with Robert Redford. Back in 1990, she turned down the offer to co-star with him in The President Elopes, which he was to produce.

Redford said of his leading lady, 'I liked working with her. I think she's smart, ' and then he added with a smile, 'She's not very attractive, but I think once she gets over her hair problem is going to go somewhere.

Director John Avnet had nothing but praise for his two leads, saying that Michelle was 'someone (he) wanted to work with all (his) life.' His description of her as 'the most gorgeous woman I have ever met' featured in People Magazine's 1996 Most Beautiful... edition, where Michelle featured for the fifth time. Meanwhile, in February 1996, when Up Close & Personal was released, the appeal of the Redford-Pfeiffer pairing pushed the film to the #1 spot at the US Box Office, as well as setting it up to be an international hit. Critics on the whole felt it to be a successful return to the big, glamourous romances of the past, and gave their approval.

Michelle and David at the premiere of Up Close & Personal, in early 1996.

Michelle's next project was to team her with husband David E. Kelley for the first time. She had previously made a 5-second cameo appearance on David's Emmy-award series, Picket Fences, but this was to be the first time they worked on a film together. The film in question, adapted for the screen and produced by David, was To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday, based on the play by Michael Brady; which dealt with grieving widower, David Lewis, who continues to communicate with his fun-loving wife, Gillian, who died two years previously in a freak boating accident. David is so immersed in this fantasy that he fails to notice just how his retreat from reality is affecting his teenage daughter, Rachel. With Peter Gallagher on board for the character of David, Claire Danes as Rachel, and Kathy Baker and Bruce Lawhead as concerned relatives, the small but pivotal role of of Gillian remained uncast.

As to how Michelle ended up in the role, David E Kelley said, 'I had (Michelle) read the script one night and then said, Besides you, who was right for it. She took too long to answer, so I said, Then how about you, and, lucky for us, she said, Yes.' Michelle added, 'My only concern was all along working together because it was a precedent that we had set, and vowed not to break. But I think I figured that because it was a limited run, for myself, that if it was a complete disaster, at least it wouldn't last too long.'

Filming took place on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts. Director Michael Pressman, who had also previously directed the play in Los Angeles, saw the film as being 'a celebration of life; finding a way to say goodbye to someone you love, and moving on.' Peter Gallagher was certainly excited. He called his role 'the part of (his) career'.

Michelle, with Peter Gallagher in a scene from To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday

Once filming wrapped, Michelle was asked just what it had been like, working with her husband. She said, 'We had a fine time doing it. But I definitely think there's a lot to be gained by keeping it separate, going out to work and dealing with all that stuff outside the house, and then coming home to an objective, sympathetic ear.' David agreed: 'One of the things about not working together is that it's probably easier for us when we walk through the door to not think about work. When you get home, it's just home.'

With Michelle already at work on her next film, David E. Kelley, was left to field questions from interviewers at the time of To Gillian's release. Asked about how having children influenced the projects he and his wife took, he replied: 'Family definitely comes first. It probably works out well for me that I'm rooted in television because television really occurs in one place, and (Michelle) now will only take projects where the location work is very minimal, so she's primarily working (in Los Angeles) too.'

However, Michelle's next two films, both production efforts from Via Rosa, were to incorporate, at least in part, location shooting that was less than minimal...