Brittany Murphy

Opens her “Little Black Book”

by Lynn B.

Pretty, petite Brittany Murphy is one actress who keeps surprising us. She gives intense dramatic performances (8 Mile), has wonderful comic timing (Riding in Cars with Boys) and she sings great too! Brittany is appearing, starting this week, in a fun romantic comedy called Little Black Book about a girl who just can’t avoid snooping into her boyfriend’s life, starting with all the old girlfriends listed in his palm pilot!

In L.A., Brittany and I got on the phone to chat recently and, after dishing about me being from New Mexico and her dying to visit friends there, we got into her new film, some great ex-boyfriend stories and her reaction to hearing that Pink would star in a Janis Joplin biopic when everybody knows Brittany is dying to play Janis! Tune in…

AGW: What drew you to play Stacy in this film?

Brittany: She reminded me of myself. She reminded me of my best girlfriends. I think Stacy is every girl. She is the character I’ve played that is the most relatable to everyone. What I really love about her is you see her journey. She’s a work in progress. She thinks that her life is going according to plan. The more she tries to plan her life she realizes that life happens when you’re busy making other plans. It’s also the fact that Stacy is so flawed. I love flawed characters. Every character in this film is flawed. The imperfections in Stacy and in us are what make us perfect.

AGW: What kinds of warnings would you give girls about keeping secrets from their boyfriend or about snooping?

Brittany: Fortunately I have an extremely guilty conscience so I actually have never snooped with malicious intent. I realize all my girlfriends have pretty much. I know it’s very natural. I’m a very curious person so I do ask a ton of questions. My mom always taught me since I was little never to ask a question unless you’re prepared to hear the response. When I ask a question I always have to be in check not to judge because I asked the question in the first place.

AGW: What is something funny or embarrassing you found out about a guy you were seeing? (she tells me that the best one is too embarrassing to put online!)

Brittany: Okay, fact check on ex-boyfriends. I have had five boyfriends and one fiancé all exes but most of them, I’m still really great friends with. Well, I was looking for a vacuum cleaner at an ex-boyfriend’s house because I had spilled something on the carpet. I opened up this closet that I had never opened before thinking it might be a linen closet and it ended up being a shrine! My eyes darted from shelf to shelf to shelf and I panicked and shut the door. What I saw was a shrine to ex-girlfriends!

AGW: OMG! You weren’t already on it were you?

Brittany: No. But maybe I am now. It was basically memorabilia from each one. Pictures, hand decorated scrapbooks. There was stuff especially from the last ex who ended up popping up into our lives when we first started dating. It was a six month relationship. He met my family and we were at a sort of secure restaurant and she just happened to be there standing outside. It was really strange but me and the ex-girlfriend became friends afterwards.

AGW: That does happen. Then you can dish about the ex! On another subject, teens can feel pretty insecure. How about you?

Brittany: I have insecure feelings all the time. It’s human nature. I’m a perfectionist and always have been so I beat myself up a lot. The older I get the more I realize that life is too short to do that to yourself. It’s a waste of time and energy. Even if you’re feeling crummy about yourself, refocus that energy. Flip it around. It’s a lot easier to be happy than to be bummed out. It’s a decision we make every morning. You can flip it and know that you have the power to do that. I’m a living example of that. I’ve seen it happen. We are always able to flip the negative into positive at any given moment that we choose.

AGW: What did you learn from playing Stacy in Little Black Book?

Brittany: I learned tons. Make sure in the beginning that things are definitely right (with the relationship). Know that you can’t always be right. We’re just human beings. The journey is the destination so savor and enjoy every moment. Live in the now. Don’t live in the past. It’s also important to learn from our past. That makes us who we are and helps us to grow. To be able to set that free is imperative. That’s one thing that Stacy reaffirms for me.

AGW: What’s up with your music? Is it going on the back burner?

Brittany: Well, I was singing in character in this film. It’s not like what the album I will make will be like but I’ve been writing and singing as long as I’ve been acting which has been my whole life. I happened to end up being able to do this (act) for a living and I never tried to make music for a living; to make that my first career so it ends up being my second one. It’s a great labor of love and I just want to make sure I take the most amount of time possible to make sure that it’s something that I have creative control over. I want it to be an uncompromised work of art whatever it may be.

AGW: Were you disappointed that Pink was chosen to play Janis Joplin in a biopic since you’ve told us you really want to play her?

Brittany: I wasn’t disappointed at all. Oddly enough, none of the projects (on Janis) have started filming. I think that because of the unusual coincidences that have happened, whoever will play her will be the right person and it will be the right representation of her life. But I haven’t given up, for the record.

AGW: But the choice of Pink was okay by you?

Brittany: Hearing that Alicia (Pink) was going to do it was thrilling for me because I know that she must have a really deep connection with her music. Alicia is an exceptional human being. I’m so proud of her. Whoever ends up doing it, I believe it was meant to be. But I won’t stop trying!

AGW: What would you want to do on a first date?

Brittany: I’ve never been much of a dater. I’m not sure what an ideal first date is. The most important thing is to be true to yourself, be yourself and not put on airs. Just have fun with it wherever you go. As they say, there are a lot of fish in the sea. Enjoy yourself. Have a blast.

AGW: The U.S. election is important this year. Are you going to vote?

Brittany: Oh course. I want everyone to please vote. You do have the power to make a difference in the world. All you have to do is exercise it.

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