Leighton Meester has put down the Blair-band and given up her scheming ways (for the moment anyway!) for a breakout role in the heartfelt flick, Country Strong. Starring alonside Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw and mega-hottie Garrett Hedlund, Leighton plays a beauty queen-turned-singer struck with crippling stage-fright. We chat to Leighton about her role as country cutie, Chiles Stanton.
What kind of musical performance background did you have before being cast as Chiles?
I’ve performed on stage before and I think it’s terrifying. I probably agree with Chiles in that way. I’ve done my share of karaoke. I went to some honky-tonks in Nashville with [director] Shana Feste. Chiles goes through a transformation with her performances. She starts out not so confident. She gets up there and totally chokes. These people performing in Nashville are pretty incredible but we start out and we see people kind of taking shots and getting up on the bar and not really knowing what to do with their hands and stuff like that. So she’s like, “Watch that. Watch that for the first performance at the stage.” Then we go to the Ryman [Auditorium] and see Carrie Underwood and Martina McBride get up there and just own it. It’s that whole spectrum of going from not confident at all to being completely grown up I guess. I don’t really know what’s scarier: standing in front of a small crowd and having them “boo” you over and over again, or having to do it in front of a thousand people and trying to be as confident as possible.
Did you feel like a rock star during those stadium scenes?
Yeah but there were dummies up in the rafters. They weren’t real people. It was mixed. It was pretty scary looking. We had a choreographer and did a lot of rehearsals. It was Tim’s stage actually and I don’t know how he does it. I was wearing heels. That might have been part of it. You’ve got to run back and forth and you really touch the crowd and connect with them. We had run it exactly like a music video. They film everything over and over again until you get it right from every different angle and then we do it again. I fell to my knees a few times but it was fun.
Had you been a fan of country music before this film?
I grew up in Florida and I was definitely aware of country music. I really grew to love and respect it and I have this movie to thank for that now. It’s the best thing ever.
What appealed to you about playing Chiles?
Overall, it’s the script and the relationships between those characters and their interactions, which are so human and kind of messed up. I feel for her. I grew to love her more as I was doing the movie. She’s kind of pathetic. She wears her heart on her sleeve I like her for that. But she also gets walked all over and she kind of comes back and lets people do it again. “Are we friends?” “No, we’re not.” I think that’s actually a good thing. At the beginning of rehearsal, Shana was like, “You’re not that naïve or light about things.” I was so offended. Then I realized she was right. Even to this day I’m happier and I think it’s because of Chiles. She’s got a lot of the same issues I think a lot of people have. I relate to her in a lot of ways. I think she’s trying to be somebody. She’s driven and she’s kind of sassy but she also has a past. She has to let that out. I think her love with Beau allows that. But she’s scared of being insignificant or common or interchangeable. She wants Beau to think she’s talented and everyone to think she’s smart and more than just pretty.
The film deals with issues of being famous. How did your experience of fame inform your performance?
I think, more than anything, the film asks the question, “Can you have love and success?” Fame, to me, is silliness. I don’t want that. That’s not part of my job. I guess it is some part of my job, but my job is acting and that’s where I find my joy. I don’t really ever have any issues or problems with it. The best part of that aspect is that we have good fans.
Have you thought about life post-Gossip Girl?
We’re under contract for a certain amount of time. I think in the fourth year they start going, “Okay, we know the timing of things. We know how much we need you and how much we don’t.” So they’ve been very kind to let us out. I’ve been lucky enough to find projects that I really like to do. Usually they’re on hiatus. This one was not. I had to threaten everybody in my life, including my manager, my agent and everybody that I work with. I was like, “If I can’t do this and we can’t work out the schedule, I am moving to Costa Rica, I’m never working again, I’m turning off my phone.” I was bluffing but it worked.
Gwyneth was saying she was intimidated to use her Southern accent around Tim…
He’ll tease you about anything.
Did you have people busting your chops about doing a different accent?
The hardest thing about the set, honestly, was maintaining the Texan accent because everyone speaks with a Tennessee accent and I’m supposed to be from Dallas. We had a dialect coach. It’s funny how naturally it comes. It comes in and out, especially when I’m talking to my dog or something. I’m like [with accent], “Get out of there!” It’s just fun. Tim will tease you for whatever he can. I didn’t take it to heart. After the first session with the coach, he was like, “I think you kind of get this.”
Was it helpful having Tim on the set since he’s so knowledgeable about the country music world?
I think he would never want to say that. He was there as “James” and I think as an actor he’s incredible and he was so present every day. He’s my mentor in the movie and very much so in real life. Before the movie, we sat down and he kind of told me everything: his life, how he got into music, about his career, every up and down. He’s Chiles’s manager so, even as Tim, he understands that. Having him around was fun but I think, you know, it was good to know that we were at least being authentic because he had his little stamp of approval on it.
What was it like working with Gwyneth? Did she give you acting advice in the same way her character Kelly gives Chiles advice?
No, not really. As a person, she’s very admirable in her career and her choices. It always blows my mind when I get to meet somebody so talented and successful and they’re also so kind. She’s so kind. Everyone loved working with her. She’s very down to earth. That inspired me because I realized it’s good to be nice. It really helps you out a lot. Especially playing the dynamic between two women in the industry who are competitive. The best part is that it’s not one hundred percent like All About Eve in the sense that Chiles isn’t trying to hurt anybody. She really wants to be best friends with Kelly. That’s what also touched me. She’s willing to be open to that friendship because Kelly does have good advice to give. But it took her a long time to answer that question.
This movie has different styles of country music. Which style is your favorite?
Growing up, my parents were always playing Paul Simon and Madonna and Bonnie Raitt - obviously not all country music. I always listened to music and I remember it touching me from a really young age. I was in the grocery store with my Dad and I think Whitney Houston was playing and I must have been four and I said, “This gives my back tingles.” My Dad was like, “That’s what it’s supposed to do.” Garrett introduced me to Blaze Foley, who I listen to all the time and I love.
What about the pop country stars?
I love me some Taylor Swift. I think she’s awesome. I got to work with [producer] Nathan Chapman who works with her. I think that was perfect fit for the music that Chiles does. He’s like a teenage girl in a grown man’s body, as he would put it. Not just me.
When you first saw the finished film, what was your impression?
I’ve seen different versions of it and I finally got to see the final cut when I was in Nashville for the premiere. There was a lot of nervous energy because we were in Nashville with people who are in the movie or who supported the movie, wrote music for the movie. We just wanted to be authentic and make it right. It was a relief that everybody was laughing at the right times. I feel like we had a good reception. For me, usually you’re so scared to watch a movie that you’re in because you’re going to sit there and pick everything apart, but I did get captivated by the story and everyone’s performance. I’m so proud of it. I’m so glad how it turned out.
Did you enjoy being in Nashville filming?
I really love it there. I must say, I had been there a couple of times and I really got to spend time there and enjoy it. I fell in love with it. Everybody on set had known each other since kindergarten. I come from a small town but I live in a big city and it’s the perfect combination of the two. Everyone there is so talented. I mean, everyone we were working with: all the musicians and producers and writers and singers. Everyone is so talented and they’ve been playing guitar since they were three years old.
How did you immerse yourself in the local culture?
I’d go to bars, go see music. I was filming in New York at the same time so I was going back and forth. Every time, I’d be like, “Oh God, how am I going to do this?” Then I’d get there and Shana was like, “Here’s a cup of coffee. Let’s just talk.” It would work out. But I really didn’t do a lot of going out. We went to karaoke one night. One of my friends who happens to randomly live there took me to a drag show one day. I invited Shana. She thought that was pretty funny. Then I was like, “Maybe we should go.” So we sang some karaoke but that was about it.
What happens when people who can actually sing go out to karaoke?
It sounds like everyone’s drunk. [Laughs] No, everyone does sound good. I know Garrett was singing some “Pearl Jam.” He sounded pretty good.
The Roommate and Country Strong are available on Blu-Ray and DVD from September 7. Plus, we're giving away six Leighton Meester packs, including a DVD copy of The Roommate and a DVD and CD soundtrack of Country Strong. Enter here!
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