Steven Soderbergh

Star Actors: Julia Roberts, Michael Douglas, George Clooney

28 | Steven Soderbergh Star Actors: Julia Roberts, Michael Douglas, George Clooney Soderbergh’s films also remake the conventions of Hollywood cinema by being both character- and star-driven at the same time. The presence of George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Matt Damon, and Catherine Zeta-Jones has undoubtedly helped him get his films made and seen, yet Soderbergh has modified the practice in Hollywood by which, in the words of Richard Maltby, “the commercial imperatives of the star system require that stars are always visible through their characters” (384). This modification has been achieved by harnessing the revenue potential of stars to get films on screens and therefore to audiences that might not otherwise see them, while also asking actors for performances that support complex characters and stories, often within ensemble casts. The importance of stars in Hollywood filmmaking often results in what Barry King describes as a subordination of acting—the ability to “disappear into the part” and impersonate a fictional character—to “personification,” which places “emphasis on what is unique to the actor , displacing emphasis from what an actor can do qua actor onto what actor qua person or biographical entity is” (168, 178). King views the Method style of acting, which asks for an expression of the actor’s “‘organic ’ self,” as an adaptation of film performance to the need for stars, allowing bankable performers to present their personalities rather than having to become the character (179). As with Soderbergh’s modification of remakes to create room for his aesthetic and social concerns, the commercial security of working with high-profile actors, and their interest in demonstrating their acting skills by appearing in character-centered films under his direction, has allowed him to qualify this typical emphasis on personification. In describing the ways in which Erin Brockovich differs from the conventional big-budget Hollywood film, Soderbergh acknowledged the importance of having Julia Roberts—whose films had earned two billion dollars worldwide—in the lead role: Erin Brockovich . . . is an aggressively linear reality-based drama about a twice-divorced mother of three who is living at a very low-end income The Films of Steven Soderbergh | 29 level, who talks herself into a job answering the phone and ends up putting together a case against a large California utility company that results in the biggest direct-action lawsuit settlement in history. She’s played by Julia Roberts—if you’re trying to sneak something under the wire, by which I mean an adult, intelligent film with no sequel potential , no merchandising, no high concept, and no big hook, it’s nice to have one of the world’s most bankable stars sneaking under with you. (Kaufman 119) As if to establish the commercial viability they bring to the films, Roberts in Erin Brockovich, Michael Douglas in Traffic, and George Clooney in Solaris and The Good German initially refer in their roles to the traits that made them stars. For example, Roberts’s role foregrounds the unself-conscious sexuality associated with her since Pretty Woman (1990). Charlotte Brunsdon wrote about Roberts’s character in that breakthrough performance: “Although Vivian is working as a prostitute for most of the film, the dominant presentation of her is as naturally not-a-hooker” (96). Brunsdon details how Vivian’s care with money (she saves it for rent, while her roommate spends it on drugs), her seemingly natural laugh and smile, and her uncontrived use of her appearance and sexuality were all traits that endeared the character—and by extension, Roberts—to audiences. As Brunsdon puts it, “Even though Vivian works as a prostitute, she is unconscious of the power of her beauty. . . . She might be a hooker outside, but she’s clean inside” (99). This image of Roberts as sexualized but fundamentally moral and honest was further developed in roles after Pretty Woman. Contrary to what her biographer, James Spada, calls the “serial mankiller” label that came from tabloid coverage of her real-life relationships, even her characters in films such as My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) and Runaway Bride (1999), who initially appear to manipulate men, turn out to be honest and caring. In another film made just before Erin Brockovich, Notting Hill (1999), she plays a movie star based on her own career who by the end of the story displays the same warmth and genuineness. Such moral integrity and concern for others are the traits that Soderbergh uses to promote...