Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman comment on the costumes of Marie Antoinette:
Kirsten: "Milena [Canonero] built my character through my clothing and I felt differently in every dress that I wore."
Jason: "The vests hug you in strange places, and they’re very tight in the back and just you have to act different."
Both Kirsten and Jason have made an error in modifier confusion. Kirsten has used an adverb as a predicate adjective, and Jason has used an adjective in place of an adverb. Jason has also used awkward syntax.
In the clause "I felt differently in every dress," the verb "felt" is a linking verb. The adverb "differently" functions as the predicate adjective, which is incorrect because only an adjective or a noun can be "linked" to a subject by a linking verb. The use of an adverb with the verb "felt" changes the verb to an action verb, and the literal meaning of Kirsten's statement is that she touched things in a different manner when she wore the dresses. To correct the error, replace the adverb with an adjective.
In the clause "you have to act different," the adjective "different" modifies the verb phrase "have to act"; this is incorrect because only an adverb can modify a verb. To correct the error, replace the adjective with an adverb.
Jason's use of "just" in this statement is awkward. His sentence would be more eloquent if this word were to be placed after "you."
These versions of the statements swap Kirsten's adverb and Jason's adjective:
Kirsten: "Milena [Canonero] built my character through my clothing and I felt different in every dress that I wore."
Jason: "The vests hug you in strange places, and they’re very tight in the back and you just have to act differently."
Jason's statement no longer has awkward syntax.
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