Movies

Eve in league of her own

Alice Eve sits down with The Daily Cougar to talk about her upcoming role in the movie She’s Out of My League last week in Sugar Land. | Paramount Pictures

Alice Eve is darting around the lobby of the Sugar Land Ice & Sports Center, shaking hands and posing for pictures with a contagious enthusiasm.

In the midst of her press tour for the upcoming romantic comedy She’s Out of My League, the British actress greets herself with a genuine modesty not often associated with the modern-day movie star.

“I do like what I’ve seen of Houston,” Eve said. “But with press tours, you never get to experience much of the city or stay in one place for long.”

In She’s Out of My League, Eve plays Molly, an intelligent, funny, and exceedingly beautiful woman who forgets her phone at an airport’s security checkpoint. When average-guy Kirk (Tropic Thunder’s Jay Baruchel) finds the phone, he returns it to Molly, who insists on repaying the favor by taking him out to a hockey game.

Their romance blossoms, but not without Kirk’s family and friends continuously pointing out that Molly is out of his league, an inadequacy Kirk struggles with.

Despite its potential to be a one-dimensional character, Eve said she enjoyed the opportunity to transform Molly into a woman who still harbors her own feelings of vulnerability.

And while flattered, Eve said she was hesitant about being cast as “the perfect 10.”

“It’s a lot of pressure and certainly the opportunity to be heavily scrutinized. But that’s women in our society, so it’s not too far off,” Eve said.

Eve’s parents, Trevor Eve and Sharon Maughan, are accomplished British television actors, but she said acting wasn’t a profession she or they had initially envisioned for her.

“My parents didn’t want me to act,” Eve said. “They wanted me to be educated, and I was also resistant for a long time. I remember being in the background during my dad’s plays, but I started crying during the second take, and they took me away. I had a very tenuous relationship with acting when I was young.”

Eve eventually discovered her love for acting during a school play as a teenager, but put her career on hold to study English at Oxford University. Following a stint in theater, Eve played James McAvoy’s superficial girlfriend in the Tom Hanks-produced romantic comedy Starter for 10 before starring opposite Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta and Jim Sturgess in the immigration drama Crossing Over.

She’s Out of My League is Eve’s most prominent role to date and a movie that she admits can significantly alter the course of her career.

Eve, however, insists on keeping both feet on the ground.

“You can’t consider the success,” she said. “It’s such a fickle business that you just have to see where everything goes and deal with the ramifications as they come.

“I’m enjoying the ride while it lasts.”

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