Katy Perry is the voice of Smurfette

LOS ANGELES – “I love it there!” Katy Perry exclaimed to us about the Philippines and added that she has performed in Manila several times. As a homage to Smurfette, whom she voices in “The Smurfs 2” (associate producer is Fil-Am Maricel Pagulayan), the performer is attractively dressed in touches of blue from head to toe.

Even Katy’s scene-stealing earring, which must have weighed a ton, had a shade of Smurfs blue. She cracked: “I’m wearing like a Chiquita Banana man with a mustache. I’m wearing only one. I figure you don’t really take photos of the other side of my face so I might as well be in pain only halfway.”

According to Katy, who was raised by conservative parents, she relates to Smurfette. In this sequel, which is set mainly in Paris, Smurfette has a key role as she is kidnapped by Gargamel who wants to know from her the secret spell that can turn his newest creation, the Naughties, into real Smurfs. Katy herself is fun and naughty in person.

One of the Fil-Am talents who worked on the film is John Butiu, a visual development artist at Sony Pictures Animation. Both he and associate producer Maricel are featured in my book, “My Filipino Connection: The Philippines in Hollywood.”

Katy’s cast mates in the live action/animated family offering, directed by Raja Gosnell, include Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Jayma Mays and Brendan Gleeson.

Below are excerpts from our interview.

What’s your relationship to Paris?

I love Paris so much. I love all things French. One time, I was shooting a cover for Vanity Fair with Annie Leibowitz. It was one of those rare times when I got out early enough that nobody was following me around. We [shot] guerilla-style all over Paris. I got shots for the magazine of me right next to the Mona Lisa, the Eiffel Tower, on the carousel. We were draped all over statues in those gorgeous Christian Dior couture dresses and nobody was looking. It felt great.

Can you relate to Smurfette?

It’s a real coming-of-age story for Smurfette. I feel like she’s a teenager although I know she’s probably more than 100 years old. She’s probably 115 but it seems like she’s going through growing-up pains and trying to figure out where she was from. If that plays any role in who she is and what she wants to become, I see it the same way. You have no control over what situation you’re born in. If you were born rich or poor, or in a family that loved you or in a family that did not really care for you, what you could do is change your situation outside of that.

With Smurfette being made evil by Gargamel, she could have easily turned into one of the “Naughties,” but Papa Smurf got ahold of her and showed her the light. The good trumped the bad.

Smurfette has nightmares on her birthday. What happens on your birthday?

My birthday is very close to Halloween. I like birthday parties. Like Smurfette, I would be devastated if I walked through a village and there wasn’t an actual party for me, being the only female Smurf in the middle of 99 other male Smurfs. I usually throw my own parties because I like to create them on my own. But I totally understood when Smurfette was feeling a little bit slow, like everybody had forgotten about her because she was the only female Smurf.

Were you aware of the Smurfs when you were growing up?

I didn’t have a very personal relationship with the Smurfs when I was growing up, but I do now with anything I wasn’t allowed to do then (laughing). I love Madonna and I am in the Smurfs movie. I eat Lucky Charms. I call them deviled eggs instead of angel eggs. It’s all very interesting. Now I get a chance to add another dimension to Smurfette. I get to add a dash of my own personality. It’s a great experience to be able to help shape a character.

What’s your closet like?

Lots of things with a sense of humor. That’s why I so like the man with the Chiquita Banana hat and the mustache—because it’s just a little bit wrong and that’s how I am. Just a little bit wrong but for this occasion, there was the theme of Smurfs and them being blue. So I just said, “Hey, we’re going to pull out anything that’s blue in the garage.” I’m a sucker for a theme. I will definitely dress up for it. There’s a lot of really feminine things in my closet. There are also things with a sense of humor and lots of stuff with cat prints.

How about your house?

It’s a mixture of grandma-type tchotchkes meets Jeff Koons meets Southwest bohemian style. There are lots of porcelain figurines, neons and cool little pieces of art. I’ve got a photo  in my room that Terry Richardson took of the  cross that lights up in Hollywood before you hit the 101 Freeway. I’m in the process of ordering a glass bird chandelier that has droppings coming from it. It’s really cool. All of it (décor) has a touch of humor. It’s all fun but sophisticated in some ways.

Whose acting career would you like yours to be like?

I’d like to follow in the footsteps, if I could, of people like Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy or Rebel Wilson. Some of my other heroes are Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. I like self-deprecating roles, for sure. It’s comedy for me … unless Ridley Scott wants to call me up for “Blade Runner 2” to play Rachael. I’ll do it.

What other roles would you like to play?

I know what I don’t care to do. I don’t think I want to play what I’ve already played, which is my real life. I don’t know if I would go for the role of trying to make it as a singer. You see lots of female singers doing those types of roles. I’ve already been through that life. I want to try something a little bit more challenging. I would like to do a sequel to “The Shining,” starring the Redrum Twins with Zooey Deschanel and me. I think it would be really funny. I just want to do movies that are really funny. I think I would be best at that. But then, if something really emotional and special comes up, I’ll do that but right now, I have to focus on my music. That takes up all of my time.

(E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585

@yahoo.com. Follow him at https://twitter.com/ nepalesruben.)

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