Alison Lohman: putting the shadow back in teens, she blooms as Michelle Pfeiffer's daughter in White Oleander

Newcomer Alison Lohman has many gifts, a good number of which are displayed in the current White Oleander. The 23-year-old shines as Astrid, the film's central character, a teenager shuttled between foster homes and miseries after her mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) is jailed for murder. But one might argue Lohman's greatest gift, at least at this point in her career, is her innocent, youthful look. In Oleander we follow her character from the ages of 15 to 18, and in Matchstick Men, Ridley Scott's upcoming drama, she plays a 14-year-old. Unlike some actors, who walk the halls of Hollywood's fictitious high schools with receding hairlines and crow's-feet, Lohman genuinely looks the part--and frankly, you're blown away that someone who appears so young can demonstrate such depth. Still, as we learn here, there are experiences that some actors, no matter how poised they seem, find daunting.

SCOTT LYLE COHEN: About two years ago you shaved your head. Not the typical career move for a young actor looking for work.

ALISON LOHMAN: Well, I had I started getting a few independent movies and I wasn't really happy with the parts. They were kind of one-dimensional. I was always playing the blonde girlfriend.

SLC: So you shaved it off in rebellion?

AL: No, actually. I shaved it for [a role in] Dragonfly. And I was so excited--I had wanted to do that really badly. But then a few months later when I auditioned for White Oleander, I had to put on this awful wig they gave me, and I put it too low, so the casting director thought I had a really low forehead.

SLC: "Sorry, we're not casting Cro-Magnons in this role."

AL: [laughs] But I heard back from them and went in to audition with Peter [Kosminsky], the director. And I was like, "Screw the wig!" I went in bald. I guess it worked--I got the part.

SLC: In White Oleander you play Astrid in a number of different incarnations, as she moves from foster home to foster home, from blonde innocent to snarky Goth.

AL: Right. She adapts herself to each of these different environments in order to be accepted by her foster mothers. The great thing about Astrid is that she's remarkably and innately resilient. She's a survivor. I worked a lot with the costume designer--when I put on the clothes on, wore the wig and looked in the mirror, I felt like Astrid.

SLC: So you approached it as one Astrid. not a handful of different Astrids.

AL: Exactly. It's me playing Astrid playing different roles. She's trying on these different guises, like all young people do. She's trying to find out who she is, trying to discover her identity.

SLC: What's this moment like for you, when there's so much excitement and anticipation?

AL: Exciting. And hilarious: All of a sudden I'm getting all this attention. A few days ago they had this gala screening for the premiere of White Oleander and there was a red carpet, limos and everything. So we drive up and I realize that I actually have to get out of the limo and talk to all these people. I asked the driver, "Can we go around the block a couple of times, because I can't get out of the car." I mean, I know I can handle it, and I know what I have to do is change my way of thinking--I have to laugh at the silliness of what goes on--and just enjoy it. But all that attention, it's scary.

SLC: What scares you the most?

AL: Interviews. Talking about myself. I remember watching young actresses being interviewed on TV and thinking, Thank God, I don't have to do that. And now they want me to do The Tonight Show and I'm freaking out. Jay Leno, he's normal, right?

Scott Lyle Cohen is Interview's Senior Editor.

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