Don’t let the film and TV trivia buffs fool you. Lauren Graham, the actress who starred in "Parenthood" and "Gilmore Girls," has a pretty slender Hawaii connection.
True, she was born here, but she lived here for only three weeks. To this day it makes her laugh.
"I love it there, even though it is a small connection and not one I remember," she said in a call from New York, where she is promoting her new movie, "Max," which opens in theaters Friday.
"It’s an odd thing about my history and one I really love," she said. "It’s a place I have been to many times."
The 48-year-old Graham has a strong supporting role in "Max," a family movie about an Army service dog whose handler is killed during a firefight in Afghanistan. Graham plays the soldier’s mother, who is holding the middle ground between her husband (Thomas Haden Church) and her younger teenage son (Josh Wiggins). The film, shot in North Carolina, was co-written and directed by Boaz Yakin ("Remember the Titans").
"I think of it as a movie about healing," Graham said. "It’s healing this relationship between father and son. It opens with a loss in the family, so the whole journey is how do you put the pieces back together."
When the family adopts Max, a Belgian Malinois suffering from the loss of his handler, the story hits its stride. Max was played by four dogs — some because they could jump, others because they ran fast, and one for close-ups because it had an expressive face.
"Through rehabilitating this dog they are forced to come together," Graham said of the family. "They help the dog and the dog helps them."
GRAHAM is best known for her role as single mother Lorelai Gilmore on "Gilmore Girls," which earned her nominations for a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild awards and a Television Critics Association award. The series, which aired for seven seasons, explored the trials and joys of being a single parent and delivered them with smart, witty dialogue.
On "Parenthood" she played another single mother, Sarah Braverman. The critically acclaimed NBC show ran for six seasons, finishing up in January.
For "Max," Graham said she was surprised to be asked to play the part of Pamela Wincott, a well-grounded Texas mother unlike her usual roles.
Having such a dramatic role — "I am the only person to show grief," Graham said — is something the actress finds ironic. She started her career with doing comedic roles (on four failed sitcoms) and wound up being known for roles with a lot of tears.
"I play kind of modern, urban, flaky people," Graham said. "But I did this happily. I just liked the simplicity and the strength of the character. I liked a job where my main job was to get out of the way and not bring my quirks to it."
Graham worked to stay out of the way of the film’s real star(s): the Malinois dogs that play Max.
Scenes with the dogs required more concentration because animal trainers were off-camera giving commands, she said. And actors don’t want to say anything that would be mistaken for a command.
"When you are working with animals, you tend to do more takes, and the animal’s best take is your take," she said. "So you have to be consistent."
A dog lover whose own German shepherd died about four years ago, Graham had to resist the urge to pet the animals.
"You have to go against your natural instinct," she said. "They were friendly, but out of professional respect you have to leave them be. They deserve a rest, and there are 30 to 40 crew members around. It would be overwhelming for them."
AND that’s a wrap …
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Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.
