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Jewel is a gem with many facets, including acting
by Terry Lawson
Knight Ridder Newspapers
=A0TORONTO - Jewel views her talent like her body.
"There's no favorite part," says Jewel, who has draped Jewel's body
over
a couch in a Toronto hotel suite, where she's doing promo interviews for
her feature film debut, "Ride with the Devil."
"This part is singing," she says, grabbing her forearm, "and
this part
is writing," she says patting a thigh. "This is acting," she,
says,
pointing to a stomach not quite covered by a farm-girl blouse, "and this
is visual arts," she says, placing her hands on her eyes.
And your best feature?
"No best features," she says. "Just some not developed as much
as
others."
By her own admission, Jewel, who doesn't use her last name of Kilcher
and doesn't have a middle one, is taking "a good-sized risk" with
one of
those less-developed parts by taking an acting role in "Ride with the
Devil," a complex but intimate look at the Civil War through the eyes of
Confederate sympathizers. "Ride with the Devil," directed by Ang Lee
("The Ice Storm," "Sense and Sensibility"), is not
positioned as a
box-office blockbuster, but neither is it the sort of low-profile,
independent project most pop stars prefer for a first, cautious step out
of their comfort zone.
"Ride with the Devil" stars Skeet Ulrich and Tobey Maguire, two of
their
generation's most lauded actors, playing bushwhackers - guerrillas who
launch surprise raids on Unionists who have strayed too far from the
battlefield along the Kansas-Missouri border. Jewel is a young
Confederate widow who offers comfort when the harsh winter literally
forces them underground, in a hidden dugout near the farm where she
lives.
Jewel claims to be prepared for the loupe-level appraisal her first
screen appearance is certain to invite. Though her first album, "Pieces
of You," was well-received critically as well as commercially, she
endured derision when a book of her poetry was published in 1997 ("a
schoolgirl's notebook," sniffed one critic).
And her second album, "Spirit," which sold a mere 4 million, was
ripe
for sophomore revisionism. Her decision to do a little yodeling in her
Woodstock set last summer gave Leno and Letterman monologue fodder and
drew hoots from the rockist, revved-up crowd.
Still, Jewel maintained a low profile at last fall's Toronto
International Film Festival, where "Devil" had its North American
premiere.
"I'm not into making myself a target," says Jewel. "But I know
it can't
really be avoided. I went through it already with the book. But you
know, I don't think everything I do is brilliant anyway. If I were
brilliant at 23" - she is, according to most sources, 25 - "people
should be studying me, but I'm not. There are plenty of valid things to
criticize about me."
And what did she think of her performance when she saw "Ride with the
Devil?"
"Well, I didn't throw up," she says, laughing. "So that's a
good thing."
Director Lee says he met with Jewel at the suggestion of his casting
director and the film's producers. But, he said, he was perfectly
willing to walk away from a project in which he had already invested
nearly two years if someone he thought was wrong for the role was pushed
upon him. Fortunately, he was enthusiastic about Jewel.
"I liked the idea of casting someone fresh," says the soft-spoken
Lee.
"But she brought an honesty and a lack of pretension that was really in
keeping with the character. I think those years growing up in Alaska and
struggling to succeed have given her character a seasoned actor couldn't
recreate."
Jewel says she never asked Lee why he chose her over more experienced
actors, but says she heard he told someone it was because of her teeth;
they're famously crooked, and there were few visits to orthodontists
during the Civil War.
But she says her initial enthusiasm over winning the part gave way to
self-doubt and second thoughts.
Reading her fear, Lee forbade her to attend dailies, in which the day's
filming is looked over. It's something Jewel says she wouldn't have done
anyway, because
"it would have terrified me."
"She impressed me," says co-star Maguire. "I think she can have
an
acting career if she wants it. Plus, she just looked like someone who
would have survived the Civil War. She's like, a hardy girl, you know?
She's tough."
Jewel said she respected the opinions of Lee and Maguire, believing they
"were not going to tell me I was doing great if I wasn't."
"To me, there are two secrets to survival in any endeavor. First,
believe in your ability to overcome the obstacles that will always be
there. Second, surround yourself with people smarter than you are, who
will tell you the truth. That's your reality, that's your world.
Everything else is just high school, with three girls who hate you, and
three girls who love you."
Jewel says she is determined to succeed in three careers, but that she
can juggle just two; while she toured this summer and fall, she worked
on a book of short stories that may be published next year. Then, she
says, she'll concentrate on choosing another movie role, regardless of
how her performance in "Ride with the Devil" is received. But while
she
says she hopes her acting skills will someday "be as good as, or
exceed"
her singing, she can easily see herself as a female Bob Dylan, on the
road at 61.
"I love performing. Music is the most immediate art form there is. I can
write a song that night, and sing it, and whether it's to 20,000 people
or two, it's just me and them, nothing in between. My thoughts on
politics, religion, love, anything at all, and [I can] get it right out
there. There's nothing else like it. I could give up nearly anything,
but that, I can't imagine.
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