Norah Jones News

Norah Jones has played to crowds from Brooklyn to Beijing, and she knows how to get a grip on her stage fright. But walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of "My Blueberry Nights" was another story.

"Did I look terrified? ... I'm still processing it," Jones told The Associated Press in an interview at a Cannes beach cafe. "I was just surprised by how big my face was on that screen. Like, `Gosh, I have a lot of freckles.' That's all I could think about."

The 28-year-old singer makes her acting debut in the movie, playing a woman who tries to cure her broken heart with a cross-country road trip.

It is Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai's atmospheric homage to Americana — big sky and blueberry pie — and to Jones. He made the movie for her, even deciding to shoot in English for the first time so she could appear.

Neither Jones nor her co-star, Jude Law, had seen the film before its screening at Cannes on Wednesday. Jones said she spent the first few minutes in shock, watching her giant face on the screen.

"Luckily it didn't frighten me out of ever doing a movie again," she said. "That was what I was really afraid of, that I would see myself and be like, `Oh my god, I was awful and I want to go hide.'"

Jones — who has sold more than 35 million albums worldwide — was busy touring when Wong asked her if she wanted to star in a movie.

She had never seen one of Wong's films, so she rented "In the Mood for Love," a tale of tortured romance set in 1960s Hong Kong. That movie convinced her that she could trust him.

Wong said Jones' throaty singing voice made an image pop into his head: a woman standing below a window, looking up at the man she loves with someone else. That was the starting point for his movie.

"It's easy to work with Norah, because she's very spontaneous, she's confident," he said. "It was very enjoyable, watching the growth of Norah from a newcomer who becomes like an actress."

Jones worked with some formidable co-stars — Natalie Portman plays a gambling girl from Nevada, David Strathairn a boozy police officer, Rachel Weisz his glamorous but unhappy wife, and Law the kindly manager of a New York cafe. Reports that Jones and Law had to kiss for the camera 150 times were exaggerated, she said: "It was more like 95."

After Cannes, Jones has a week to relax at home in New York. On June 1, she heads back out on tour. And after that, she'll see.

"I'm not in any rush to do another film, but I would love to in the right situation," she said. "And if I never do another film, what a cool experience this was."

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On the Net:

Cannes Film Festival:

http://www.festival-cannes.fr/

Norah Jones:

http://www.norahjones.com/