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By Monica Mehta
Monica Mehta
Monica Mehta is a reporter for Entertainment Weekly

In John Sayles' Casa de los Babys (R, 96 mins., 2003, MGM), a group of wannabe moms are stuck in Latin American limbo, waiting for adoption papers and babies to take home. But off the set it was more like Casa de los Babes: Harden, Daryl Hannah, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lili Taylor, Mary Steenburgen, and Susan Lynch lived together during the two weeks of filming. ''One girl would conduct yoga in the afternoon, we'd swim together, we'd play Scrabble or Celebrity,'' Harden tells EW. In Babys, she plays Nan, an insensitive schemer with a combative personality -- the opposite of her timid Oscar-nominated Mystic River role. But Harden's fine with portraying unlikable women: ''I enjoy playing aggressive or opinionated,'' she says. ''It adds fullness to the character.'' Speaking of fullness, Harden's now eight months pregnant with twins, and says the experience is ''incredibly joyful. I'd wanted to be pregnant for a long time -- even when I was filming this movie.''


Posted Apr 16, 2004 | Published in issue #760 Apr 16, 2004 | Order Article Reprints