I try to go easy on celebrities for the things they say – to an extent. Their quotes are often taken out of context and it can be hard to tell what they meant exactly. Many outlets take old interviews and piece them together and package them as new, and some magazines report quotes from press conferences as if they were given a one-on-one interview. When taken together, it looks like the celebrity is repeating themselves. Celebrities also do multiple interviews in a day when they’re on a press junket, and they’re often tired and weary, but expected to be on their game. Look at the recent interview with Jennifer Aniston and CNN. She was thrown a lot of curveballs and she kind of verbally faltered in her responses. Some would say she’s not prepared but it’s also an interviewer’s responsibility to establish rapport and try to make the conversation flow.

When Kaiser ran a story on Rumer Willis a couple of weeks ago she sort-of wanted to lay into her for a quote Rumer gave about how “If you’re talented you’ll get work.” I wanted to give Rumer the benefit of the doubt, and tried to take her quotes in context. She also said that “You can’t do anything about who your parents are. I think everyone has opportunities,” and to me that tacitly implied that she understood that her famous parents, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, had opened many doors for her but that she thought it was up to her what she did with those opportunities. It wasn’t that bad of a quote and didn’t necessarily mean she was an entitled brat, in my opinion.

It looks like Kaiser was right and Rumer was saying that she would have reached her level of B-movie success without her celebrity parentage. Rumor told Hello! Magazine unequivocally that she and she alone is responsible for all the roles she’s getting. There are plenty of hard working waitresses in LA who would disagree:

So Rumer, is having a famous surname useful?
“I never ever looked at it that way. I’ve never really been that conscious of it playing such a big role in my acting career, because the jobs I get are based on me. When I go into an audition my parents are not going to be acting for me and casting directors don’t care…”

Will your sisters follow you into the family business?
“No, actually I have to brag for a moment. My sister [Scout] is going to university. They’ve both done some acting in the past but I don’t think they were ever as interested as I was…”

Do you want to be famous?
“I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m in the news more than I would be if I was someone else. The attention that I get media-wise is definitely not equal to the amount of work I’ve done. So to me, it’s like, whatever…”

You’ve been acting for quite a few years now.
“For more than half my life. I started in my mother’s Now and Then, which she starred in and produced, back in 1995. You won’t see my own name on the credits – back then I was billed as Willa Glen.”

Was it always going to be acting as a career?
“No, for some time as a kid I thought that I might be a doctor, but I think that was more because of a lot of glamorous medical dramas on TV than anything else. And then I realized that I was kidding myself, and that to follow that course was going to mean a lot of hard work in a direction I honestly didn’t want to seriously take. And then I found I could sing, that I could dance a little…”

You always seem to be so open and level about things – what really gets you annoyed?
“Oh, this Hollywood body image thing. The one that tries to persuade young women to be all stick and bone. Bones through your skin? Awful. In Los Angeles, a lot of people, young people, worry about what others think that they look like. And that’s wrong. I want to see far more positive role models for women in films – empowered, strong women. ”

Sorority Row ends on an ambiguous note. Will you do a sequel?
“I will if they want me and if they ask me. But I don’t want to be tied down to a single genre of films, for people to say, “ah, Rumer the horror queen.’ I want variety. And to enjoy myself as well, and to create some strong women characters.”

[From Hello! Magazine, print edition, September 14, 2009]

You know who Rumor reminds me of? Billy Bob Thornton insisting that his music career is all about what a talented musician he is and that his band’s success has nothing to do with his name recognition. That’s absolutely untrue. Rumor comes across as so smug in this interview and the days when I’ll be giving her the benefit of the doubt are over. She could at least acknowledge that her parents gave her opportunities, but nope it’s all about Rumor and her long and talented acting career. Give me a break.

Ok, I’ll say something nice – I like that Rumer acknowledges that she gets more attention than she warrants and that she talks about body image, which is something she’s mentioned before. She’s not entirely stuck up her own butt, but she doesn’t give us a lot to work with either.