How Amy Adams Overcame Her Resistance to ‘Big Eyes’

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Amy Adams with Margaret Keane.Credit Sam Comen for The New York Times

Amy Adams has played the real-life aspiring culinarist Julie Powell in “Julie & Julia” (2009); Charlene Fleming, another real person, in “The Fighter” (2010); and Sydney Prosser, who is based on the Englishwoman Evelyn Knight, in “American Hustle” (2013).

But until about four years ago, Ms. Adams did not want to play Margaret Keane, the artist whose life she would end up depicting in this season’s “Big Eyes.”

The film tells the story of Ms. Keane and her husband, Walter, who, in the 1960s, passed off Ms. Keane’s wildly popular paintings of giant-eyed children as his own. Directed by Tim Burton, and co-starring Christoph Waltz, the film had its premiere on Christmas Day, and earned both Mr. Waltz and Ms. Adams Golden Globe nominations for best actor and actress in a musical or comedy. (The awards will be handed out on Sunday.)

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The artist Margaret Keane surprised the cast of “Big Eyes” — and herself — by showing up at the premiere of the new movie based on her stranger-than-fiction life.

By Samantha Stark on Publish Date December 18, 2014.

Ms. Adams had first read the script for “Big Eyes” – a film that took more than a decade to make – many years ago, and passed on it because at the time she wanted to play confident, tough characters.

“I just didn’t identify Margaret as being those things,” Ms. Adams said in a phone interview with the Bagger on Saturday, speaking during a mini-vacation in Las Vegas, where a friend of hers had performed in a concert the night before.

But then, Ms. Adams had her daughter, Aviana, now 4, which softened her view of people, and the world. When the script came her way again – this time with Tim Burton attached as director – she saw Ms. Keane through new eyes.

“Being a mom changed the way I saw her,” Ms. Adams said. “She had a steely strength. Yes, she was manipulated. But I didn’t see her as weak. I saw her as complicit.”

The actress and the artist met before production began, and Ms. Adams said she found in Ms. Keane kindness, a sense of humor and focus. “I just saw her again as being this complex woman who was just very full of life,” Ms. Adams said. “It would be easy to play her as victim. She’s written very quietly on the page. But she has moments of boldness, which I love.”

At this point in the chat, Ms. Adams paused, before confessing that she’d lost her train of thought. “Forgive me, I’m in Las Vegas,” she said dryly. “Words are hard to come by this morning.”

Before this film, Ms. Adams had met only one of the real people behind her characters — Ms. Fleming, who, after seeing “The Fighter,” told Ms. Adams that the on-screen version of her was off on a few points.

“Charlene said she didn’t swear that much — I think that bothered her — and that she didn’t wear fishnets,” Ms. Adams said. “But Margaret apparently when she saw it felt transported back in time.”

“It has to be weird,” Ms. Adams continued, imagining the experience of seeing oneself played by another person on the big screen. “But she hasn’t nitpicked me, which I appreciated. She’s been very gracious, and I’m very grateful.”

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