USA: Cameron Diaz walks the red carpet for the film premiere of "In Her Shoes"

Cameron Diaz stars in a new film about learning to accept your past, forgive your family, and love yourself. Maggie and Rose Feller are sisters who share nothing in common but the same 8-and-a-half size feet. They are polar opposites when it comes to values, goals and personal coin: Each feels lonely and isolated due a completely different set of issues related to her respective insecurities. Maggie (Cameron Diaz) is a party girl who barely graduated from high school and can't seem to keep a job. Since she is unemployed much of the time, she bounces between friends and relatives, sleeping on whatever couch is available. With no confidence in her intellectual ability, she believes her biggest asset is her attractiveness to the opposite sex and prizes her cosmetic bag above all else. In contrast, Rose (Toni Collette) is a Princeton-educated attorney at a top law firm whose work is her life. She struggles with her weight, and possesses a low sense of self-esteem. And, her beautifully decorated apartment serves as a refuge from the outside world. Her one joy in life is her shoes, though she rarely removes them from her closet due to a pronounced lack of social occasions. A blow-up between the two sisters finally sets them on a path of self-discovery that causes each to eventually develop a true appreciation for one another. The journey also leads the two to an unexpected find: The existence of a grandmother (Shirley MacClaine) they thought was dead. And, through the process of reconnecting with her, they also learn how to make peace with each other. Director Curtis Hanson says Diaz and Collette had to get past the "fear factor" associated with working with such an acting powerhouse as MacClaine. "When Shirley first walked into the rehearsal room, and Cameron and Toni were there, you could just see them react," says Hansons. "It was Shirley MacClaine, walking in the door. And it was so interesting for me to watch Shirley just knock that stuff away. You know, at first she enjoyed it. And then she just knocked it away and got down woman to woman with them, and they became intimate." As for MacClaine, she says that in spite of how it sounds, the film is dark and complex, and much more than just a date movie. "It's not a chick flick, I don't think. Maybe it's perceived that way, but it really isn't. It's about what happens when families finally discover they're deep dark secrets." Meanwhile, Australian actress Toni Collette says she was immediately drawn to the script because it tells a story that is real, not a formulaic Hollywood drama. "It's a beautiful story, it was so well-written," says Collette. "It's one of the best scripts I've ever read. And it continued to be one of the best jobs I've ever had. I love Curtis Hanson, I love the cast. Um, it just I can't even articulate it, and that to me is what makes it special." Among other things, actress Cameron Diaz says working on a movie such as "In Her Shoes" represented an opportunity for tremendous professional growth. "You know, I do a film with actors and filmmakers, like Curtis Hanson, Shirley MacClaine, Toni Collette. That's why I kind of try to drop myself in there, because we're all learning, and to be able to learn from them is just a wonderful gift, it really is," says Diaz. "To be able to go to work every day, do what I love doing, and get to work with people who are so talented, is just really, I am so lucky. And then we get to produce a film that we are proud of, and that we want to give to the world, and feel good about it, and people like it and are accepting of it, and are getting something from it. There's nothing better." "In Her Shoes" opens in theaters on October 7th.

ITN Source | October 6, 2005

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