A Taste:

Gillian Welch, Iris Dement, Arcade Fire, Bruce Springsteen

“I’ve always liked country music,” says Maggie Gyllenhaal with a big smile.

Maggie’s love for the genre definitely comes through in her performance in Crazy Heart. In order to play small-town reporter, Jean Craddock, Maggie drew upon that natural love for country. By channeling her own tastes, she was able to create a character that’s both passionately believable and honest.

About Jean, she continues, “She’s a feeler…She’s the most vulnerable emotional personal I’ve ever played.”

Maggie plays her quite well too…Maggie sat down with ARTISTdirect.com editor and Dolor author Rick Florino to discuss Crazy Heart and what’s on her playlist. She definitely loves her country, but there’s a whole lot more on there as well…

Check out Maggie’s playlist below and don’t miss her in Crazy Heart out now!

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Playlist:

1. Gillian Welch

2. Iris Dement

I do listen to country music. I really love Gillian Welch. I always listen to her and Iris Dement. They’re both country!

3. The Dirty Projectors

I’m kind of into The Dirty Projectors. I don’t know them that well, I’m just starting to get into them.

4. Arcade Fire

I love Arcade Fire!

5. Bruce Springsteen

I’ve been into Bruce Springsteen since I saw him play at this Obama Benefit a while ago. He just totally blew my mind again.

6. Patti Smith

I was listening to this Patti Smith album the whole time I was making SherryBaby.

7. Waylon Jennings

8. Hank Williams

When I was making Crazy Heart, I was listening to Iris Dement and Dixie Chicks kind of girls. Waylon Jennings. I was really into Hank Williams.

—Rick Florino
01.04.09

Check out Rick Florino’s new novel Dolor available now for FREE here…

A Taste:

David Bowie, Damien Rice, Arcade Fire, Britney Spears

“There are so many emotions in Inglourious Basterds,” says Melanie Laurent. “[It’s] so funny, violent, cruel and dramatic!”

There’s also a lot of great music in the film, and it definitely helped set the mood for the actors. In addition to being one of the most action-packed WWII films in recent memory, Basterds is an emotional rollercoaster. The character that undergoes the biggest personal evolution is Laurent’s Shosanna Dreyfus. After losing her family at the hands of Nazi Col. Hans Landa, she gets an unexpected opportunity for revenge against the Third Reich in one of the most ways possible. You’ll have to see it though…

Certain tunes prepared Laurent for her character’s violent apotheosis—some of those selections are quite surprising.

Check out Melanie Laurent’s playlist in the video below and don’t miss her in Inglourious Basterds in theaters this Friday August 21.

Melanie Laurent’s Playlist:

1. David Bowie — “Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)”

The music in the movie, like this Bowie song, is amazing. It was just really cool!

2. Arcade Fire

3. Damien Rice

4. Craig Armstrong

5. Jack Bell

6. Britney Spears

I listened to her in Cannes when I had to motivate myself [Laughs].

—Rick Florino
08.17.09