Lauren Lee Smith (10/07 Helen)
Variety 10/21/07: Lauren Lee Smith | Helen & German | Pictures on AfterEllen & Getty Images
Lauren Lee Smith
By BYRON PERRY Posted: Sun., Oct. 21, 2007, 12:27pm PT
Lauren Lee Smith (“The L Word”) has been cast as the co-lead in Canadian-German indie “Helen.” Pic stars Ashley Judd and is written and directed by Sandra Nettelbeck. Smith’s credits include “The Last Kiss” and “Art School Confidential.”
Excerpt from Variety 10/23/07: Lauren Lee Smith
Goran Visnjic joins Judd in 'Helen': Film is Nettelbeck's English-language debut
By MICHAEL FLEMING Posted: Tue., Oct. 23, 2007, 7:00pm PT
Goran Visnjic will join Ashley Judd in "Helen," the English-language debut of Sandra Nettelbeck, writer and director of "Mostly Martha."
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Pic, which also stars Lauren Lee Smith, just began shooting, backed by the Little Film Co. (which will sell worldwide rights at AFM), German-based Egoli Tossell and Insight Film Studios.
© Variety
Excerpt from Claire McBuffy at L4 3/08: Lauren Lee Smith
Lauren and Anne Q&A: Part 1.
Attendee: I’m curious to know about what movies you have coming out?
Lauren: ....and I just finished a film called Helen that I shot. Finished last week actually, uh, um, with Ashley Judd and a it’s a film that ah…is about depression. So it’s very uplifting, happy film, feel good movie.
© Claire McBuffy
Excerpt from The Province 12/28/08: Lauren Lee Smith (Pictures on VPQV.net and Getty Images 1 & 2)
Who filmed what here in 2008? We round up the past year's local film and television shoots
Glen Schaefer, Published: Sunday, December 28, 2008
Some Vancouver actors are heading to this January's Sundance Film Festival with a film they wrapped last January, the drama Helen starring Ashley Judd and Goran Visnjic. Judd stars in German director Sandra Nettelbeck's movie as a psychiatrist battling depression. Canadians Lauren Lee Smith, Alexia Fast and Ali Liebert are among the supporting cast, and they'll be joining Judd in Utah for Helen's premiere.
© The Province
Telefilm 1/16/09: Lauren Lee Smith
Sundance 2009 Screening Schedule
World premiere HELEN
Canada/Germany 2008, 35mm, color, 120 min. English
Director: Sandra Nettelbeck
Screenwriter: Sandra Nettelbeck
Producers: Christine Haebler, Insight Film Studios (Vancouver)
Judy Tossell, Egoli Tossell Film (Germany)
World sales: Clay Epstein, The Little Film Company
T 818.762.6999 clay@thelittlefilmcompany.com
Publicist: Guido Götz
mPRm Public Relations ggotz@mprm.com
Talent attending: Sandra Nettelbeck, writer/director
Ashley Judd, actress
Goran Visnjic, actor
Lauren Lee Smith, actress
Alexia Fast, actress
PRESS & INDUSTRY: Saturday, January 17, 8:30 am
Yarrow Hotel Theatre, Park City
PUBLIC: Friday, January 16, 8:45 pm
Library Center Theatre, Park City
Saturday, January 17, 9:30 pm
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, SLC
Monday, January 19, 11:30 pm
Library Center Theatre, Park City
Thursday, January 22, 11:15 am
Racquet Club, Park City
Saturday, January 24, 6:30 pm
Redstone Cinemas, Kimball Junction
© Telefilm
Excerpt from Interview Magazine 1/20/09: Lauren Lee Smith
Shipwrecked at Sundance, Part I
Judd gave a less than believable performance, but later I met with Lauren Lee Smith: she's a great gal, and a Vancouver transplant to Laurel Canyon. Smith stars as a very disturbed young woman, and she commands a lot of the screen. She is definitely one to watch, and she's extremely down to earth.
© Interview Magazine
Excerpt from LA's The Place 1/27/09: Lauren Lee Smith
THINK PR's 3rd Annual Pre-Sundance Gift Suite Got the Stars Ready for Park City
The stars got to get their swag on in a relaxed manner at THINK PR’s 3rd Annual Pre-Sundance Gifting Suite held at the Muse Lifestyle Group Lounge, a chic nightlife destination in Hollywood, before heading out to Park City.
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Celebrities in Attendance
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* Lauren Lee Smith (“HELEN” opp Ashley Judd-Sundance Film; CSI)
© LAs The Place
Excerpt from Suite 101 3/16/11: Lauren Lee Smith
Day 3: Lauren Lee Smith
Mar 16, 2011 Anca Dumitru
Going back to her film career she talked about Helen, a film she did in 2009 with Ashley Judd. Surprisingly enough, Lauren admitted that working with Judd was tough, but they got through it. Portraying clinical depression was close to Ashley Judd's heart because she went through that.
© Suite 101
Excerpt from The Province 4/30/09: Lauren Lee Smith
Prize-winning B.C. home-grown
By Glen Schaefer 04-30-2009 The Reel Man
The Pacific Cinematheque is screening a five-day program of films drawn from this year’s Leo award nominees for BC. film and TV.
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Also screening is Sundance favourite Helen, with Ashley Judd as a woman beset by mental illness and depression, starring alongside Vancouver actors Lauren Lee Smith and Alexia Fast.
© Canada.com
Flavorwire 1/23/09: Lauren Lee Smith
Exclusive: Lauren Lee Smith Works Outside the Actor’s Box
by Caroline Stanley 7:45 am Friday Jan 23, 2009
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’s new addition, Lauren Lee Smith is no one-trick-pony. Rather, the statuesque talent has built a steady career out of versatility. Flavorwire’s Bess Devenow caught up with her in Park City, where she was promoting her latest turn as a woman grappling with psychological demons in Helen (opposite Ashley Judd, pictured in the still above). Ironically, shortly after the interview, Devenow shared a taxi with the film’s writer and director, Sandra Nettelbeck, who spoke very highly of Smith and her ability to go out of her comfort zone and tackle a meaty role. After the jump, read on to find out whether blondes or redheads have more fun and what performance piqued her interest in acting at the age of eight (and we aren’t talking a role in a John Hughes movie).
Flavorwire: You have had the luck of playing characters with really interesting jobs. As a child what was your dream job?
Lauren Lee Smith: Exactly what I’m doing. I have a tendency to get bored quickly so it’s nice that I’ve been able to make a career out of getting to play all these crazy different characters outside of myself. I feel pretty lucky to get to explore and sort of let out all sorts of stuff that in normal day to day life I wouldn’t necessarily get to do.
FW: Helen deals with complex emotional issues. Did you find it hard to delve into a character like that?
LLS: I didn’t. I was really looking forward to the opportunity. With this film, I think what’s so important about it that it is so relatable but people just don’t talk about it. I think almost everyone whether they are dealing with personal issues or whether it’s a loved one or family member or friend, I think everyone to some degree can relate to this film and mental illness. I sort of jumped at the chance to let out all of this craziness and delve into the mind and part of Mathilda, for a short period of time at least.
FW: It must feel good to know you are bringing awareness to these issues.
LLS: It is. I have had some personal experiences just through loved ones and friends, and I can relate to a certain degree. And for me this was sort of my opportunity to bring awareness on their behalf.
FW: Describe your perfect day.
LLS: All day? Okay, I would wake up whenever I wanted - probably around noon because I really like to sleep; I’m a good sleeper. I would have a giant breakfast then go for a hike with my dogs and then maybe see a movie and go to a record store. And then have a really nice bottle of red wine and a steak. Done. Throw some chocolate in there and that’s perfect.
FW: Speaking of adult drinks this year’s Sundance spirits sponsor is Le Tourment Vert absinthe, which is fitting as this spirit fueled the original creative class. Who is the actor who you draw the most creative inspiration from?
LLS: Isabelle Huppert has always been my idol. She’s the reason why I wanted to become an actress. Jennifer Connelly. I saw her in Labyrinth when I was I don’t know eight or something and I was like “Oh my g-d. You can do this?” Cate Blanchett, Juliette Lewis, anyone who steps outside the box I think I admire. I tend to really appreciate performers where they sort of disguise themselves in everything they do. As opposed to sticking with one genre and doing that really well, I prefer the more sort of “take the chances” route. I think it’s important to have those safe actresses of the world. But we also need the people who sort of go in there and take chances and disguise themselves.
FW: Three books you could read over and over again are…
LLS: Oh that’s a good one. Ken Follett’s The Pillars Of The Earth. I’ve read it eleven times. Perfume and then Tin Drum.
FW: Who has more fun: blondes or redheads?
LLS: Redheads. They get a bad rap but I always go back to red. For job purposes, they always want me blonde but if I had my way, I’d always be red.
© Flavorwire
Excerpt from Popcorn Reel 1/13/09: Lauren Lee Smith
"Helen" Neither Hell Nor Heaven For Sandra Nettelbeck
By Omar P.L. Moore/The Popcorn Reel January 13, 2009
Despite the angst that typically accompanies a director's initial public exhibitions of her work, with "Helen" as with all of her cinematic endeavors, Miss Nettelbeck has the comfort of knowing that "I worked as hard as I possibly could." She praised the work of all the actors on "Helen" and was thrilled by the work of a relative unknown on the big screen (if not television), the Vancouver-born Miss Smith, 28, as Mathilda. "She does an extraordinary job."
© Popcorn Reel
Excerpt from Reuters 1/27/09: Lauren Lee Smith
Judd impressive in unconvincing drama "Helen"
By James Greenberg Tue Jan 27, 2009 1:57am EST
Helen (Judd) is a seemingly well-adjusted woman with a successful career as a music theory professor. She lives happily with her husband, David (Goran Visnjic), and 12-year-old daughter, Julie (Alexia Fast), from her first marriage. But irritability and late-night anxiety attacks suggest cracks in her psyche that gradually open to a giant chasm. Her family is powerless to help, and the audience is pretty much in the same position; no one can understand what she's going through. The only person she trusts is her suicidal student Mathilda (Lauren Lee Smith), someone as disturbed as she is. Unfortunately, Mathilda is a preposterous character who turns up inexplicably at such odd times throughout the film that she seems almost like a figment of Helen's imagination.
© Reuters
Filmstiftung NRW 11/18/09: Lauren Lee Smith
Drama über eine depressive Frau: Sandra Nettelbecks „Helen“ feiert Premiere in Köln
(18/11/09) Gestern Abend feierte Sandra Nettelbecks neuer Film „Helen“ seine Deutschlandpremiere im Kölner Cinenova. Nach ihrem großen Erfolg mit „Bella Martha“ gelang es Nettelbeck für den von der Filmstiftung NRW geförderten Film internationale Stars zu gewinnen: Die Hauptrollen in der deutsch-amerikanischen Koproduktion spielen Ashley Judd und Goran Visnjic. Die beiden verkörpern ein Ehepaar, das sich immer weiter voneinander entfernt, als die Professorin Helen an einer Depression erkrankt. Realisiert wurde der Film von der Kölner Egoli Tossell Filmproduktion. Warner Bros. bringt ihn am 26.11. in die Kinos.
© Filmstiftung NRW
Campus Web 11/19/09: Lauren Lee Smith
NRW Helen Premiere
Es erscheint als schicksalhafter Zufall, dass auf den Tag genau eine Woche nach dem tragischen Selbstmord des an Depressionen erkrankten Nationaltorwarts Robert Enke die NRW-Premiere eines Filmes gefeiert werden soll, der genau diese schwere Krankheit thematisiert. An einen bitter-bösen Marketingzug ist allerdings nicht zu denken, denn schließlich stand der Premierentermin schon eine Weile fest. Frage ist eher, wie man einen Film über Depression im Schatten eines solchen Dramas angemessen präsentiert. Bei der "Helen"-Premiere im Kölner Cinenova ist dies gelungen.
Neben dem Geschäftsführer der Filmstiftung NRW Michael Schmidt-Ospach und Warner Bros. Executive Marketing Director Christoph Liedke waren auch die Produzentin des Films Judy Tossell, Kameramann Michael Bertl sowie die Regisseurin Sandra Nettelbeck selbst und ihre zweite Hauptdarstellerin Lauren Lee Smith zugegen. Das ausgesprochen gute Verhältnis zwischen der sympathischen Nettelbeck und ihrer Schauspielerin war unübersehbar. Es wurde umarmt, gelacht und getuschelt. Die 29jährige Kanadierin Lauren Lee Smith strahlte dabei auf dem roten Teppich eine absolute Ruhe und Gelassenheit aus. Charismatisch lächelte sie in die Kameras und beantwortete vereinzelt Fragen. Sie drehe bereits seit 2 ½ Monaten in Köln den TV-Zweiteiler "Hindenburg", teilte sie den Reportern mit. Der Film "Helen" liege ihr besonders am Herzen, da es wichtig sei, dass die Menschen sich das immer noch als Tabu geltende Thema Depression bewusst machen und dass darüber gesprochen werde.
Der Fall Enke beschäftigte die Zuschauer merklich. Im Kinosaal wurde "Helen" sensibel mit einem Zitat von dessen Frau Teresa eingeleitet: "Wir haben gedacht, wir schaffen alles, und mit Liebe geht das, aber man schafft es doch nicht immer." Die Bedeutung dieses Satzes entfaltet sich auf der Leinwand: Helen ist glücklich verheiratet, liebt ihre Tochter, ihren Mann und ihren Job. Aber trotzdem erkrankt sie an schweren Depressionen. Der Film schildert eindringlich und überzeugend den Kampf gegen diese gefährliche Krankheit.
Nach dem Film saß das Publikum noch andächtig in den Kinosesseln. Als im Anschluss das Filmteam rund um Regisseurin Nettelbeck nochmals auf die Bühne kam, wurde erneut die sehr gute - fast liebevolle - Stimmung zwischen ihnen deutlich. Wieder wird viel umarmt, gelacht und gelobhudelt. Vor allem zwischen Regisseurin und Darstellerin Lauren Lee Smith hat es offenbar "Klick" gemacht. Ashley Judd wiederum sei anfangs nicht für die Rolle der Helen vorgesehen gewesen, aber als die ursprüngliche Darstellerin abspringen musste, sagte Judd, die sich sofort für das Drehbuch begeistert hatte, direkt zu - und gibt in diesem Film wohl die beste schauspielerische Leistung ihrer Karr Die "Wärme" die man zwischen den am Film Beteiligten bei der NRW-Premiere spüren konnte, ermöglichte wohl auch diese besondere Intensität der Geschichte zu transportieren. Sandra Nettelbeck verlor selbst eine gute Freundin an die Depression und als Motiv ihres Projekts galt das Ziel, mit "Helen" aufzuklären und zu Fragen anzuregen. Ein Schritt, die Krankheit verstärkt zu thematisieren und aufzurütteln.
© Campus Web
Excerpt from Hollywood Reporter 7/1/10: Lauren Lee Smith
E1 picks up Ashley Judd drama ‘Helen’ for U.S. distribution
By Jay A. Fernandez | July 1st, 2010 at 12:02 pm
E1 Entertainment has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “Helen,” written and directed by Sandra Nettelbeck. The company plans a theatrical release in New York City later this month followed by distribution on home video, VOD, digital and TV platforms. The indie drama, which stars Ashley Judd, Goran Visnjic, Alexia Fast and Lauren Lee Smith, had its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The story follows a talented university professor (Judd) whose relationship with her husband (Visnjic) and teenage daughter (Fast) is thrown into turmoil when she plummets into severe depression. Her treatment leads her to Mathilda (Smith), an equally troubled young woman with a strangely restorative spirit.
© Hollywood Reporter
Excerpt from Ashley Judd.com 7/10: Lauren Lee Smith
Q&A with Writer/Director Sandra Nettlebeck
Both Ashley Judd and Lauren Lee Smith give very intense performances. What sort of advice did you give them to prepare for their roles?
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There was never any doubt in my mind that Lauren would be the Mathilda I imagined - and so much more. I saw her tape and I knew she was the one for the part. This is one of the purest delights of the job, this sense of certainty when you see an actress or actor for the first time - and it clicks: the idea that has been in your head for so long suddenly becomes flesh and bone. Lauren is amazing and generous in her performance, and she had a self-assured knowledge of the part and a faith in her abilities that allowed her to do a high wire act as if she were walking on solid ground. It was a collaboration that simply made sense and therefore felt easy. It’s beautiful when that happens.
© Ashley Judd.com
Excerpt from Women and Hollywood 7/30/10: Lauren Lee Smith, on The Huffington Post
Interview with Sandra Nettlebeck: Writer/Director of Helen
Melissa Silverstein Posted: July 30, 2010 03:13 PM
The good news is that 18 months after its premiere at Sundance, Helen will finally see the light of day this weekend in NYC and shortly thereafter on DVD. Sandra Nettlebeck answered some questions about the film.
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W&H: There are two different forms of mental illness dealt with in the film, depression which Ashley Judd's character suffers from as well as bi-polar disorder which Lauren Lee Smith's character Mathilda suffers from. How were you able to choreograph the scenes between the two actresses who were both dealing with very different emotions that needed to come out onscreen.
SN: As a director I do everything to make the actors feel safe, and if they trust me, they can go to places they haven't been to before. There is also something truly intimate about Lauren Lee Smith's performance, something very private and raw. I don't think you get that if the actors don't believe you'll do right by them or if they're not convinced that you know what you're doing, that you will protect and appreciate what they give you. I think both Ashley and Lauren felt extremely self-confident inside of their roles, and I myself had very precise ideas about each of the characters that I was able to convey to the actors. So nobody got lost. I think it was this clarity that guided us through the scenes. There was never any doubt in my mind about their relationship, how they affect, oppose, care for and love each other for who they are. The very thing that drives the two women together, their ability to accept each other and give each other the space (and company) they need, their unique relationship within the story, their dynamic opposition and alliance is also what makes the scenes work, and ultimately how Ashley and Lauren worked next to each other. And even though they deal with different illnesses, Mathilda knows depression, as it is part of her condition. She knows how Helen feels, and this is their common ground. Helen on the other hand doesn't know mania, she can't follow Mathilda to that place. She doesn't understand the terrifyingly appealing ambivalence of bi-polar disorder that Mathilda feels and lives with, and that is precisely where she loses her.
© Women and Hollywood
Excerpt from NY Times 7/30/10: Lauren Lee Smith
A Portrait of Depression
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS Published: July 29, 2010
Unable to communicate with her appalled husband (Goran Visnjic, tone perfect) and teenage daughter (Alexia Fast), Helen finds comfort only in the company of a self-destructive student (an excellent Lauren Lee Smith) who is struggling with her own psychological demons.
© New York Times
Excerpt from DVD Talk 8/8/10: Lauren Lee Smith
Helen
Review by Jamie S. Rich | posted August 8, 2010
E1 Entertainment // R // August 10, 2010 List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Helen is a difficult film to get at. It's photographed beautifully (cinematography is by Michael Bertl, who shot Nettelbeck's other films), the acting is phenomenal (Ashley Judd is excellent and never showy; Lauren Lee Smith is brittle and heartbreaking), and Nettelbeck approaches the subject with an unflinching honesty and is careful to avoid letting her story drift into melodrama.
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Extras: There are four interview segments, each with one of the principal actors: Judd, Visnjic, Lee Smith, and Alexia Fast, who plays Ashley Judd's daughter in the movie. They talk about what drew them to Helen and the experience of making the movie. Viewers can choose to play the segments individually or all at once; together, they run just over 42 minutes.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Rent It. Sandra Nettelbeck's Helen is a smart and acutely felt depiction of depression and the effects it has on one woman and the people around her. It's a well-made film with fantastic performances by Ashley Judd, Goran Visnjic, and Lauren Lee Smith; yet, it's also lacking in narrative depth.
© DVD Talk
Excerpt from Edge 8/10/10: Lauren Lee Smith
Helen
by Kevin Taft Contributor Tuesday Aug 10, 2010
As Helen distances herself from her husband and child, she grows closer to a student of hers that in the hospital at the same time she is. Mathilda (Lauren Lee Smith "The L Word") suffers from bipolar disorder that not only causes depression, but also causes her to act out violently, mostly toward herself. When Helen is admitted, calmness overtakes Mathilda and she is able to become Helen’s rock.
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Special note goes to relative unknown Lauren Lee Smith who allows us inside a damaged woman with bipolar disorder only to find she has a disease scarier than Helen’s. And to hold her own against, Judd, well, that’s impressive in itself.
© Edge
Excerpt from Out Impact 10/3/10: Lauren Lee Smith
Focuses On Depression With A Tight Lens
Posted On 03 Oct 2010 By : Bambi Weavil
Helen finds kinship in Mathilda, a self-destructive student , performed brilliantly by Lauren Lee Smith (many know her as the Soup Chef in The L Word).
© Out Impact
Excerpts from Suite 101 3/16/11: Lauren Lee Smith
Day 3: Lauren Lee Smith
Mar 16, 2011 Anca Dumitru
Going back to her film career she talked about Helen, a film she did in 2009 with Ashley Judd. Surprisingly enough, Lauren admitted that working with Judd was tough, but they got through it. Portraying clinical depression was close to Ashley Judd's heart because she went through that.
© Suite 101
Excerpt from Afaqs 8/24/11: Lauren Lee Smith
Zee Studio Catch It First showcases 'Helen'
Mumbai, August 24, 2011
Helen is a 2009 drama starring Ashley Judd, Goran Visnjic , Lauren Lee Smith , Alexia Fast and Alberta Watson. Directed by Sandra Nettelbeck. For further information, please contact: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.
Priyanka Pande
Mobile: +919833195535
Email: priyanka.pande@zeenetwork.com
© Afaqs