Mimi Kennedy recently gave an interview with A Distinctive Style to talk about her work including “Midnight in Paris” and she gave us some new details about the movie itself.

This is what the interview reveals: Rachel plays the daughter of Mimi Kennedy’s character Helen and Kurt Fuller’s character. She is engaged to Owen Wilson’s character and he is a screenwriter. Rachel’s family is rich and they come from Manhattan (New York) and their story line takes place in the present. Owen Wilson’s character is the main character of this movie and he wants to be a novelist and enters the Parisian past while wondering through Paris by night. He meets the characters of Alison Pill and Marion Cotillard. By day he is back in the present. Wilson’s character is slightly based on Woody Allen himself.

From the earlier released plot line the relationship between Wilson’s character and Rachel’s is important. They are “forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own is better“. You can read the full interview after the jump, be sure you do it’s worth the read and Mimi Kennedy also praises Rachel and her work. “Midnight in Paris” is set to open the film festival of Cannes 2011 on May 11th and will get a limited release in the US May 20th.

Update: “Midnight in Paris” now has an official facebook account. Be sure to “Like” the account.

On her own Character: Helen
I knew she [Helen] was Rachel Mcadams’ mother [...] the character seemed to be channeling a Helen in my own family, a stylish, assertive Manhattan cousin of my mother’s.

More plot details
What I know from the shoot is that Rachel’s character is engaged to Owen Wilson’s caracter, who is Woody’s persona in the film, a screenwriter. He wants to be a novelist, and a Parisian vacation he wanders all night by himself and enters the Parisian past. By day, my corporate-deal husband and I drag the couple around on our super-rich shopping expeditions and dining experiences. I think it’s safe to say the movie will comically present the dilemma of our times: give the present and the past – what is really of value?

On working with Woody Allen
Woody would insist he doesn’t do sociology, I think. He doesn’t talk much to his actors, by the way, since what he values is naturalness and wants to see actual life unfold on camera in the scenes he sets up.

On the relationship between her and Rachel’s character:
Like mother like daughter [Rachel McAdams' character]. Perfect consumers, handle our men as if they were trained-but-difficult race horses. Pretty toxic, but funny to reflect, but narcissistic, spoiled. I assume my daughter will affirm my values and share my enjoyments. I’m wary of her choice of grooms, but at least hes rich (a successful screenwriter!). She and I pick out the wedding ring.

On developing a relationship between her character and Rachel’s
We did that on set and at a few odd meals we had, early on. There wasn’t time to do anything else. In many ways, you don’t have to do much except to get relationships right in Woody’s films except understand what the scene’s about and take his direction, absorbing his reactions before doing another take. Rachel is so smart and so good as an actress. We found our way pretty fast.

On working with the star-studded cast
It’s ideal. Michael Sheen was wonderful; Owen made me chuckle, playing Woody persona in his own California style; Rachel sparkles, mentally and physically; Kurt Fuller (who plays my husband in the film) is open and sharp about subtle comedy. The great pleasure in working with wonderful actors is that they make the scenes seem real. That’s what you need, for comedy or tragedy. [...] I never met Mrs. Sarkozy (Carl Bruni) or Marion Cotillard, much to my regret, but they’d finished their roles before mine began.

On Cannes premiere
I did suspect that Cannes would be the target premiere.

Read full interview