It may look like overnight success, but Alison Lohman has been knocking around Hollywood since 1998, when she made her screen debut in the got-to-be-classy "Kraa! The Sea Monster". Thankfully, there are no exclamation marks in the titles of her latest movies - Ridley Scott's "Matchstick Men", and the Peter Kosminsky drama "White Oleander". She'll next be seen opposite Ewan McGregor in Tim Burton's "Big Fish".
You're in your mid-20s now, but you're cast as a teenager in both "White Oleander" and "Matchstick Men". How did you work to recapture that teen angst?
I hung out with my 14-year-old cousin, just getting to know her world; what she talks about with her friends, and what she does all day. But she's nothing like the characters I play. I mostly have to use my imagination to create. And doing scene after scene, a character takes on its own development. There's definitely a look in the eye that a teenager has though. I definitely wanted to capture that spirit. It's something intangible, that you can't quite put your finger on. For "Matchstick Men", the retainer I wore, and the pigtails really helped too!
With both these films under your belt, you should know a lot about what it's like to be the child of a dysfunctional parent. Can you relate?
No! I get on with my parents. My mom's like my best friend - our relationship is easy. I'm really lucky that way. There wasn't anything that I could relate to with these girls. I mean, I like to think of myself as being strong and independent, but I definitely wasn't like that at 14. These characters are nothing like me, so I had to start from scratch.
Are you getting a little tired of having to play a teenager?
Not really because I don't think I'm going to have much longer to play anyone this young, so I'm taking advantage of it, you know? [Laughs] I look in the mirror and I don't think I'm looking any younger - so if I'm offered these great opportunities, then why not?
So, do you think there's a shortage of meaty roles for young actresses in Hollywood?
Yeah. The thing is there are a lot of these high school, teeny-bopper type movies that aren't that interesting. Some are - like I thought "Clueless" was pretty clever, and well written and directed but I just think I've been really lucky. Coming across films like these ["Matchstick Men" and "White Oleander"] is rare. I know it. But you're not necessarily ever going to be handed a script where you can say: it's all done and perfect. I like to take a character and develop it.
Are you still being offered teen roles?
No, I'm not really. I told my agent that I wanted to do some theatre. Actually, I did a play just last year in London ["This is Our Youth"], so it's worked out really well. I don't know - I'm just too lucky it seems. It's like I'm sitting here expecting something really bad to happen.
