Auteur in Waiting

In the new comedy “The Real Blonde,” Daryl Hannah plays a rather dim, blond soap actress who is the object of the affections of her co-star (Maxwell Caufield), a womanizer wrapped up in his obsession to find a “real blond.”

Written and directed by the acclaimed Tom DiCillo of “Living in Oblivion” and “Box of Moonlight” fame, “Real Blonde” explores the ongoing effort to discover what’s real in a world obsessed by illusion.

Matthew Modine, Catherine Keener and Marlo Thomas also star in the offbeat romantic comedy, set in New York, which opens Friday.

Hannah, 37, made her film debut 20 years ago in Brian DePalma’s “The Fury.” She caught the attention of critics and audiences alike as the acrobatic replicant in 1982’s “Blade Runner” and the charming mermaid Madison in 1984’s “Splash.”

The Chicago native has also starred in such hits as “Wall Street,” “Roxanne,” “Steel Magnolias,” “Grumpy Old Men” and “Grumpier Old Men.” Last year, she made a rare TV appearance in the blockbuster CBS miniseries “The Last Don.”

Hannah can also be seen in Robert Altman’s “Gingerbread Man” and recently completed the feature version of the classic ‘60s series “My Favorite Martian.”

During a break in the filming of a made-for-video “Addams Family” movie, in which she plays Morticia, Hannah chatted about “The Real Blonde,” what it’s like being a blond in Hollywood and her passion for directing.

Question: Though “The Real Blonde” is a comedy, the themes DiCillo explores are quite serious. Was it the premise that drew you to the project?

Answer: That, and also because I’m just such a big fan of Tom’s and his movies. I absolutely loved “Living in Oblivion.” I think he’s hysterical and I think he’s got such a funny and twisted sense of humor. I really wanted to get to work with him and get to know him.

Q: So what was the experience like?

A: He’s a very professional and very experienced director. A lot of times I have worked with directors who directed quite a few films and can’t even come across as that.

He has very strong opinions about the way the actors should dress, even down to what colors you should be wearing.

Q: You also get the opportunity to play a broadly comedic character in this movie.

A: It’s fun to be able to play an actual comedic character because I’m usually the straight man to someone else’s comic character. So it was really fun because you want to keep it somewhat reality-based, but you can always go a little over the top playing a soap opera actress.

Q: Has it been difficult to convince producers and directors you can be the funny one?

A: I think people tend to see you as what you played before basically. They can’t really imagine you as anything else. That’s why it was so unusual to play a role like the one that I play in “Gingerbread Man.” I play Kenneth Branagh’s partner in a law firm--a smart, sort of sassy, very capable professional grown-up woman. When people, especially directors, producers and casting directors, are used to seeing you as a romantic ingenue, it’s very difficult to see you as something different.

Q: Have you turned down roles you’ve found too repetitive?

A: Occasionally, I do that and then I get impatient and I take some other thing that’s even worse just because I want to be working.

Q: Has being a blond also typecast you?

A: Oh, totally. Honestly, I think that I haven’t had the opportunity to play more reality-based professional women because of my coloring. [Hollywood says,] “She’s blond so she couldn’t be a lawyer or a doctor, but Julia Roberts could.” It’s so silly.

I have been lucky with a few roles like in “Gingerbread Man” because I had worked with Robert Altman before. He didn’t hesitate, and in “Steel Magnolias,” with Herbert Ross. He said, “She can do this.”

Q: Didn’t you direct a short film a few years ago?

A: Yeah, that film, “The Last Supper,” won an award at the Berlin Film Festival. I just finished writing another one actually. It’s taken me all of this time to have written another one mainly because for a long time there was material I was hoping to get the rights to, but also because I have to write something if I am going to direct it because [of] the amount of creative energy you put into it.

So I just finished writing my second one. It’s not as short as my last, which is only 13 minutes. It’s between 30 or 45 minutes. It won’t take too long to shoot but it will take a while to put it together.

I didn’t have a part in [the first one]. I don’t have a part in this one either. I don’t seem to be able to write for myself.

Q: Would you like to eventually direct a feature film?

A: Maybe. At this point, no. I love short films. I love the length of story. I think there is something really inspiring and magical about them. Also, I didn’t set out to write my next one as a short film. I just set out to write a story and that is how long the script was.

Q: What do you love about being behind the camera?

A: Directing is total self-expression since it comes out of your imagination. You write it, produce it, direct it. You make decisions as to what color the walls are painted and how you want to see it. Everything is a creative decision which is something it took me my first short to realize because a lot of directors I worked with have not been creative directors, they are more administrators.

I am not as prolific as I wish I was as far as making my own movies, but I need to do it because the roles I get are [often] frustrating. There is not really that much asked of you and directing is just a much more cathartic experience. It’s like realizing a dream.