From Bullett:
With age comes wisdom? Not necessarily, says actor Alison Pill, whose senescence-defying hebe youth regenerator can transform an obsolete octogenarian into a wrinkle-free ignoramus in no time.

“I want to wear Eileen Fisher and clunky jewelry and orthopedic shoes, and I want to nap whenever I feel like it,” says 26-year-old actor Alison Pill, whose embrace of liver spots might come as a surprise to those of us who remember her electric embodiment of the vain, magnetic Zelda Fitzgerald in last year’s Midnight in Paris. But Pill has always projected an old-soul wisdom; in the HBO series In Treatment, she portrayed a terminal cancer patient, and in Milk she was a levelheaded lesbian activist in a maelstrom of high-maintenance men. “I felt like I had to grow into my age,” she says, “and I feel like it’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve finally melded into the age that I am.”

In the coming months, she’ll star in Nero Fiddled, Woody Allen’s love letter to Rome, and in HBO’s Aaron Sorkin–helmed Newsroom, a much-hyped miniseries about a fictional news show. “I’m so in love with her,” Pill says of her character, an associate producer named Maggie Jordan. “Sorkin writes these amazingly funny, super-smart but still clumsy and scattered women.” Then, in September, Pill will take the rather grown-up step of getting married to fellow young lion Jay Baruchel, whom she met on the set of the Canadian hockey flick Goon, also out this year. “My fiancé plays a very foulmouthed public access show host,” Pill says of Baruchel’s part in Goon. “My parents were like, ‘Oh, it’s so nice that your future husband has a mouth like that.’”

When tasked by BULLETT to invent a contraption for today’s youth-obsessed culture, Pill went high concept: a helmet-like creation called the Hebe Youth Regenerator, a nod to Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth. “It’s a device that literally removes memories in order to give the appearance of youth,” she says. “It’s the ultimate face-lift. The price—or the payoff, depending on how you look at it—is a sort of midlife adolescence, where you concern yourself with adolescent issues instead of more grown-up things.”
Since senescence can’t come soon enough for Pill, she hastens to add that the Hebe was conceived with “a heavily ladled dose of irony.” In fact, it was inspired by The Real Housewives… reality series. “My sister loves The Real Housewives… and she got me into watching some of it. I just got to thinking that their conversations are those of people in seventh or eighth grade,” she says. “Nobody knows how to deal with conflict. Nobody knows how to have an adult conversation or how to disagree like an adult. The really shocking thing is that most of them are mothers! What mother steals clothes from her 13-year-old daughter?”

Although she’ll soon tie the knot, Pill doesn’t seem destined to wind up on Bravo looking down the end of an empty bottle of Pinot Grigio—in large part because she’s ready for wrinkles and walkers. “I want to get old,” she says. “I want Jay to be bald and to have a little potbelly. I think it’s going to be adorable.”

HEBE Youth Regenerator™:
What is it? Finally, a revolutionary device called the HEBE Youth Regenerator™ has arrived to save people from feeling and looking old. Even their behavior will match the look of their skin, as lessons learned in the past are erased in place of a second adolescence, even in clients who are 50 and older! At last, moms and daughters can talk as equals, CEOs can relate to and confide in interns, and grandparents can enjoy the music on non-oldies radio. Who needs age, experience, and mentorship when you can have constant adolescence?

How does it work? A metal or plastic helmet with acupuncture-size needles sticking out through it, HEBE Youth Regenerator™ is placed on the head of the patient, and (depending on the severity of the treatment) one to seventy needles may be used in the procedure. These needles, which are equipped with microscopic lasers, are inserted into memory centers in the brain, searching for “youth regenerator memory abrogators.” After “firing” the lasers into the brain, the skin of the individual is noticeably tighter and more youthful.

Potential side effects*: Patients may experience a loss of memories from their youth. The technology literally pinpoints “wrinkle spots” in the brain and erases them, thus allowing a tightening of the skin without surgery. Hebephrenia, a schizophrenic mental disorder: As the client approaches an increasingly youthful look, symptoms may include impairment to daily living (the ability to think and speak clearly, or even shower) and the possibility of hallucinations. The main problem when these delusions or hallucinations arise is that the patient isn’t clear whether or not they’re actual memories.

From Venice:
The crown is under contention in mid-12th century England, a time known as The Anarchy. King Stephen is in power but the forces of Empress Maud are closing in. Fierce and ruthless, Maud is determined to reclaim the throne as the only legitimate royal heir now that her brother, William Adelin, has been lost with the sinking of the White Ship. As the last in the paternal bloodline of William the Conquerer, Maud is primally irked at the usurper king who sent her into exile — and she’s out for blood. When Starz set out to cast the role of the lionhearted queen for their epic, 8-hour miniseries, “The Pillars of the Earth” — based on the novel by Ken Follett about the battle-ridden construction of a cathedral in a small market town — the network was tasked with finding a young actor skilled and seasoned beyond her years. A 20-something who could believably garner the loyalty of a nation and humble the likes of “Deadwood”’s Ian McShane. Alison Pill was their pick and she does not disappoint.

An early bloomer, Toronto-raised Pill cut her teeth as a teenager in the late ’90s with roles on Canadian-filmed television shows like “The New Ghostwriter Mysteries” and “Psi Factor,” and moved on to play a young Lorna Luft in the TV movie, “Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.” She then made her way to New York and shot Pieces of April (2003) with Katie Holmes and Oliver Platt, and wound up moving to the East Village and taking on a series of film roles, which led to her stint in the cast of the short-lived and controversial “The Book of Daniel” in 2006. Meanwhile, Pill was gaining ground on stage in projects like Neil LaBute’s “The Distance From Here” (2004) and Christopher Shinn’s “On the Mountain” (2005), and earned a Tony nomination for “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” (2006), her Broadway debut. She offered a searing performance opposite Jeff Daniels at the Manhattan Theater Club in “Blackbird” and worked alongside F. Murray Abraham in Broadway’s “Mauritius,” both in 2007 — the same year she shared the screen with Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, John Mahoney, Dianne Wiest, and Dane Cook in Dan in Real Life. Up next for Pill is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a big-budget, fantastical, sci-fi comedy about a shy guy in a rock band who must defeat his crush’s seven evil exboyfriends before he can be with her. Billed as “an epic of epic epicness,” the film based on the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley is directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), stars Michael Cera (Superbad, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist), and features Pill as Scott’s sarcastic drummer. Having caught the eye of the auteur, Pill is currently on location shooting Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris with Rachel McAdams, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, and Kathy Bates.

When last we spoke with Pill, she was gearing up for the premiere of the 2009, Sean Penn-starring biopic, Milk, and was about to start work on season two of “In Treatment.” With Milk an Oscar-winning success and her time on Gabriel Byrne’s couch a heartwrenching and masterful audience favorite, we were looking forward to a second visit with the rising screen star and one of New York’s finest young stage talents. On a recent visit to Manhattan, Venice took in a night at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater and saw Pill perform alongside Edie Falco (“Nurse Jackie,” “The Sopranos”) in “This Wide Night,” a stellar off-Broadway production about two former prison cellmates. As Pill’s Marie sits idly in her South London apartment, she’s roused by a sudden, persistent knock at the door and the cloying voice of Falco’s Lorraine, who can’t wait to see her. Marie hadn’t planned on keeping their promise to reunite on the outside, and now she’s stuck with a needy, overbearing nuisance invading her life — or so it seems. We watch as Pill’s insular grouch slowly cracks a smile and opens up to the familiar comfort of Falco’s unguarded, maternal enthusiasm. The Chloë Moss-written, Anne Kauffman-directed piece goes on to explore the question of whether an intimate friendship forged in forced solitude can survive in the free world. The performances are simply awesome, and we’re especially struck by Pill’s deft restraint in playing conflicting emotions and percolating energy until they boil over and all hell breaks loose.

Pill’s controlled intensity is admired by her peers. “It was her first day of work playing this English monarch,” recalls “Pillars” co-star Eddie Redmayne, “and the poise with which Alison came in, and then having to lose her temper — it was volcanic. I was completely blown away by her talent.” The sweeping historical drama premieres on July 23rd. We meet with the gifted performer at a diner on the Upper West Side, and find her sharp, playfully cynical, down to earth, and serious about her work. Spend some time with Alison Pill — shortly before her 7:30 curtain.

Venice: How did you get involved with “Pillars of the Earth”?

Alison Pill:

I got a call through my Canadian agent. It’s such an international community that they needed some Canadian cast members — and the producer, Rola Bauer, had thought of me for Queen Maud.

Had you known anything about this time period beforehand?

I had known about the time period and my mom is a huge Oprah’s Book Club fan from way back and loved the book.

Did your mom fill you in on the story?

I went right ahead and read the book, which was so fun. It’s such a fun book.

Did you do dialect work to prepare for the role?

I didn’t have a dialect coach on that so it’s just me — and our sound guy, who’s British, trying to help me out. It was hard because in historical fact, they would have been speaking French in the court. An Old English accent would be impossible to understand so we just went as basic as possible and hoped for the best. (more…)

From Collider:
Alison Pill is an actress you need to know. She’s already made a name for herself on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award in 2006. She also co-starred in Milk and gave an amazing performance in second season of HBO’s In Treatment where she played a college student diagnosed with cancer.

You’ll need to know her because not only is she a great actress, but because she has one of the best roles in Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Pill plays Kim Pine, an ex-girlfriend/friend of Scott’s who knows when to take him down a peg. Her cynical attitude adds variety to the comedy and she also has one of the best lines in the series: “Scott, I wish I could punch your life in the face.” On a visit to the set, we interviewed Pill about playing Kim, becoming a kick-ass drummer, filming in Toronto where she grew up, and more.

Hit the jump to check out the interview. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World hits theaters on August 13th.

I hope you get to say the line about, “Scott, I wish I could punch your life in the face,” in the movie. Do you get to say that one?

ALLISON PILL: I do.

Excellent.

PILL: I do. I’m lucky. I have some very good lines.

How much of the back story between you and Scott do we get to see, because there’s a lot of it in the books.

PILL: There’s a lot of back story.

Do they get to fit that in or…?

PILL: Not really fit in. Like the Scott-Exes are sort of less part of the story than the Ramona-Exes. So though it’s hinted at and we get some of it sort of inferred, there’s not…we don’t really flash back to high school.

Is there anything particular you wish had been left in that was cut?

PILL: The Knives make out. (laughter). And then, like I grew up in Toronto and my sister and I just went to the regular Sunday night show at Sneaky D’s and I wish we had Sneaky D’s in there. We have so many other great Toronto landmarks but Sneaky D’s is missing. And the nachos.

Were you aware of the comic at all?

PILL: I didn’t know the comic at all, which is really funny because I grew up here and I had friends who worked at all of the places. Like The Beguiling, which is a store here, and Suspect Video and one of my friends actually worked at Suspect and The Beguiling. So it’s kind of crazy that I’d never known the books before.
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