Chasing Amy

She made her name playing a princess who gets her happy ending. For her next chapter, Amy Adams reveals how she tuned into her dark side.

Amy Adams gets what she calls “the feels” – visceral vibes sparked by a sound, a smell, a setting, a certain something that triggers a memory. New York’s Central Park is loaded with feels for her. Adams knows every inch of this 300hectare haven. She could rattle off every movie scene filmed in these groomed wilds. “Walking in Central Park is my favourite thing to do here,” says the actress, leading the way. She blends in with park visitors in her big sunglasses, white tee, Lululemon Athletica leggings and Nike tennis shoes, a Starbucks Americano in hand. “There’s something about the serenity inside of the chaos; I love that juxtaposition.”

Stopping suddenly, she points to children running in the distance. “That playground gives me the feels. My daughter, Aviana, broke her foot there. So the feels in this case is an anxiety bubbling up,” she says, emitting a jittery trill. “It was scary. We had to run back to the hotel, and Darren was carrying her, and in my mind I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is so Kramer vs. Kramer!’ He looked like Dustin Hoffman when he was running out of the park with the child in his arms, and I thought, ‘Amy, what’s wrong with you?’” She laughs. “That was my mind’s way of dealing with my daughter being injured: coming up with a movie reference!”