There were plenty of sniffles at the premiere of My Sister’s Keeper, a movie about a family affected by their only daughter dying of leukemia, at the AMC Lincoln Square on Wednesday, June 24.
Cameron Diaz plays the mother; Sofia Vassilieva the daughter.
“I know what it is to love very deeply,” Ms. Diaz said, wearing a white dress with a strap over one shoulder, “to the point where I would do anything for the people that I love, but obviously, I don’t know what it’s like to have a child dying with cancer.”
Ms. Vassillieva had to shave her head for the part. “Getting the role happened so quickly. It was in February of 2008, right after finals, and I remember being exhausted and crazy and having this script. … I feel when you become invested in something, when you smile for something or when something makes you cry, you become invested, there is a bond created.”
The movie was directed by Nick Cassavetes, and his mother, actress Gena Rowlands, was there to support him, resplendent in red lipstick.
“I like this movie very much,” she said. “I think that we have been through a period where we have seen so much mechanical stuff and cars crashing into another, that we are quite happy to see something that actually happens to other people.”
Jason Patric, who plays Ms. Vassilieva’s father, agreed.
“I think if anything is behaviorally real, people connect to it,” Mr. Patric said, wearing a gray suit and black tie. “Hopefully, people need to contact to their humanness, and if something is heavier in the middle of, you know, the robot weekend, they’ll take a peek.”
Evan Ellison, 20, was cast as neglected boy in the family. “This kind of movie doesn’t come out that often,” he said. “The depth of it is very good and the cast is great. The story line is sad, very sad, but I thing is there is also a lot of happiness in it.”
Alas, we did not get a chance to speak to Little Miss Sunshine star Abigail Breslin, who plays the healthy sister.
