Sultry Argentinean siren Jacqueline Obradors has parlayed her starring role opposite Harrison Ford in Ivan Reitman‘s Six Days, Seven Nights into a string of coveted film roles, including a major part in this week’s Tortilla Soup. With the body of a Vargas girl and a sense of humor quick enough to rival Rob Schneider, Jacqueline‘s star is sure to keep rising.
In Tortilla Soup Obradors gets to work with well-respected auteur Ang Lee, who modeled Soup after his seminal work Eat Drink Man Woman. Obradors plays Carmen, who has inherited her father Martin’s (Hector Elizondo) culinary gift but at his insistence has pursued a career in business instead. Carmen likewise battles with her older, prudish sister (Elizabeth Pena) and younger, free-spirited sister (Tamara Mello).
Hollywood.com sat down with Jackie–that’s what her friends call her, and boy, do we want to be her friend–to get the lowdown on her acting and cooking abilities.
So what’s Tortilla Soup all about?
Jacqueline Obradors: It’s a fundamental story about an American family who happens to be of Latin descent. It’s about a father and his three daughters, their relationships and big life changes that happen. It’s an ensemble piece; you follow each character on their journey, and there’s comedy and there’s drama.
And there’s food…
Obradors: Yes, the food was amazing! We had a couple chefs who came and made the food, including hot tamales, which were great. Hector Elizondo plays the father, who’s a chef, in the movie.
Did you do a lot of eating on the set?
Obradors: [Laughs] No, we did a lot of food prep, but we didn’t get to do a lot of eating. In the movie the family gets together every Sunday for dinner, but we always seem to get interrupted, so we never get to quite finish our meal.
What’s your favorite food to eat?
Obradors: I love sushi, though I just read something about how you shouldn’t eat sushi more than once a week. It depends on my mood. I love pizza, too, even though I know it’s crap, so I don’t eat it anymore. So, I guess it’s not my favorite food anymore, but I love Italian food in general.
I would love to make sushi–now there’s an art form.
Do you cook much? Can you cook?
Obradors: I hadn’t cooked much before landing the role, and I took lessons from Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, consummate L.A. chefs specializing in Mexican and Latin fare. Everything from how you wash it and how you cut it. And everything with your hands. It was really beautiful, and I found myself really wanting to get in there with the food, and now I use my hands [to cook] all the time. It’s really fulfilling. I love it now.
Was there any pressure doing a remake of a critically acclaimed movie, Eat Drink Man Woman?
Obradors: No, we never felt any pressure. I saw the movie years ago, and I really enjoyed it. But this is not really a remake, it’s a reinterpretation and there are a lot of things that are different about this movie.
You’ve had a very varied career. I remember seeing you on an old episode of Renegade with Lorenzo Lamas…
Obradors: [Laughs heartily] You know what I remember most about doing that? It was down in San Diego, and I had auditioned for Six Days, Seven Nights right before then. And when I was down there I saw Harrison on the cover of a magazine, and I picked it up, which made me dream of getting the role. While I was still down there I got word that I was getting a callback with Ivan Reitman and all the producers and I had to prepare every scene in the script. That’s all I remember about that episode of Renegade–nothing. [Laughs again]
Tortilla Soup opened Friday, Aug. 24.
