Sarah Michelle Gellar On "Southland Tales"

From FREEZEDRIEDMOVIES.Com


- FDM: Are you in costume?

SMG: No, I’m in sweatpants. I’m in I just ate the steak that was outside and the mashed potatoes and the pudding. I can’t put on the costume yet. I have to deflate first.

FDM: Tell us about your character, Krista Now?

SMG: Krista Now - - Kapowsky? Is that what I am now? Krista Kapowsky. I am a porn star with a heart of gold. I’m also a porn star with an entrepreneurial spirit. I have my own clothing lines, my own album dropping, my own warming gel. What would you call it? My own lubricant line. Energy drink, I also represent Golden Palace Casino. I’m the spokesperson of Golden Palace. What else do I do? I’m sure I have a perfume. I figure I’ve gotta have a perfume. Everyone’s got a perfume.

SM: You’re cutting an album.

SMG: Dropping an album. I learned that’s what the cool people say. You say you’re dropping an album.

FDM: Do we see any of your commercials within the film?

SMG: Do we see any of my commercials? You see my music video. Oh, my reality show. We forgot the reality show. I also have my own reality show and I guess that kind of goes with it. If you say I’m a pornstar, clearly I have my own reality show. You see my reality show, you see my music video, some ads for my products, you hear the song, we hear- - some of my DVD covers of my earlier films, my ouvre. I will not say the title in mixed company.

FDM: And in a church?

SMG: Oh my God, could you imagine if I just said that too. I didn’t even think about where we were. How awful would that be? That would have been awful. But no worse than anything else we’ve ever done on this film set. I’ll refrain.

FDM: And your character’s role in the film?

SMG: I am the girlfriend of Boxer Santoros who is Dwayne, The Rock.

FDM: Post or pre-amnesia?

SMG: Oh my God, you definitely have been on this film- - you have to understand that if you’re on this film long enough, you actually confuse yourself. There were two characters getting shot the other day and we got into a 25 minute discussion, no joke. We couldn’t remember who shot whom? But also the names keep changing because of clearances, so on top of the fact that we couldn’t quite organize which character was shot, which character- - we couldn’t even remember their names. I am the post-amnesia girlfriend, as opposed to his wife.

FDM: Are there multiple versions of you?

SMG: Do you guys ever pose questions like this by the way? Well, there are in the Cybil sense of the term but not in the actual sense of the term. I am just one. I just spread myself very thin.

FDM: Do you understand what this movie is about?

SMG: Okay, it’s really funny, I said this the other day, maybe it’s because I’ve been involved for so long and I’ve been through a lot of the drafts, or maybe it’s because my character probably has the simplest arc of any of the characters – I am a girl that wants to be famous in our disposable society which I think is very easy to understand in this country and I love the boy. So it’s actually for me, my story is probably the easiest arc because everything I do is either for my career or for the person that I love. So I have the easy one. So yes I understand my role.

FDM: What will LA be like in three years?

SMG: The first question is will it still be here. Did you see the news today in Malibu? The surf is so high today because I guess there’s a storm in Tahiti. It’s coming up and breaking all the glass in all the houses in Malibu. You see all the deck chairs washed out to sea.

FDM: Are you doing The Grudge 2?

SMG: Good question. I don't think they’re anywhere near. I still can’t figure out if I’m alive or dead. I’m still working that one out. Basically I only like to choose films that I don’t understand. As long as they’re greater than my mental capacity, I figure I gotta be doing something artful, right? Isn’t that what makes something art when you don’t understand it?

FDM: Do people make the noise at you?

SMG: Maybe I don’t get out much, but not recently.

FDM: Have they changed the title of your Revolver?

SMG: I think it had to do with the Guy Ritchie film but the Guy Ritchie film isn’t distributed here yet, so I don't know who actually has the rights to the title. You’re so asking the wrong person.

FDM: Is it supernatural?

SMG: Yeah, really it’s a thriller. I think in our times, in our tendency to try to categorize things and whatever’s popular at the moment. If romantic comedies come back really big next week, it’ll be a romantic thriller. It’ll be a romantic comedy thriller. And then it’ll be slapstick next week. It’ll be a slapstick thriller. It’ll be a Keystone Cops thriller.

FDM: How did you become involved in this film?

SMG: Well, I actually became involved for a different character originally. I was supposed to play- - we’re allowed to say that, right? I was originally playing Amy Poehler’s character and Amy Poehler was playing my character. Just Richard called one day and said, ‘I want to pitch this movie to you’ and I said, ‘Great, I’m going to Japan tomorrow and I’ll be back in two months and that’d be great.’ He said, ‘No, tomorrow.’ And I was like, ‘I’m going to the airport’ he’s like, ‘I’ll meet you there.’ And I’m like, you’re kidding, right? I didn’t even know him. I was like, ‘You’re kidding, right?’ He’s like, ‘No, no, no.’ And I said, ‘Well, could you just send me the script?’ He said, ‘No, no, I have to explain it to you, it’s visual, I have to show it to you.’ And I was like, ‘Who is this crazy person?’ So I went and had lunch with him that fateful day I went and had lunch with him before I went to the airport and he pitched this spectacular idea. My favorite part of this whole story is we must have met for about three hours. And he brought video footage to show me these visuals and colors and sketches and all this and my character, she wants to be this actress but she’s struggling because she’s working at CPK but she knows she has a greater gift and her dad is supporting her, she’s cutting an album. Just and her dad is this ice cream- - just this whole thing. So I get on the airplane to read it, my character died in the first 30 pages in that draft. And I was like, ‘I spent three hours and I die in the first 30 pages?’ It just showed how spectacularly enriched Richard’s ideas were because everything was so fully developed to him. I signed on instantly before I even read it actually, after meeting with him because he’s so impressive when you speak with him and his ideas and he wants so badly to do something that’s different. Not as an actor but as someone that goes to the movies, you’re so desperate for anything that’s inventive, that’s different, that isn’t conventional, where someone’s not afraid to try something. And then through that course my role got bigger and as he started to change ideas, he had this idea that the Krista character would be in love with Boxer and through different things we just realized that Amy and I would probably be better off swapping.

FDM: Did taking the bigger role help the film get made with your name above the title?

SM: That was it. As simple as that.

SMG: And I thought I was on my laurels.

SM: Essentially, yes.

FDM: Was the original idea like Janet Leigh in Psycho?

SMG: I think it literally just the characters changed so much. Although she did die in the first 30 pages in that draft, I got a draft six weeks later where she was alive through the whole thing.

SM: It’s evolved so much from the original draft to what we’re shooting. It’s evolved so much that the characters have changed so much. Five or six new characters- -

SMG: I would say more than five or six characters are new.

SM: I can’t distinguish between what Richard’s saying and what’s on the page so much.

FDM: What are you able to do in this that you haven’t before?

SMG: I don’t know where to begin with that. I wouldn’t know how to touch that question. I don't think no matter how many films you’ve done, television series, whatever. Nothing prepares you for Richard Kelly. I can tell you that right now. You can get a phone call in the middle of the night- - this weekend, he calls me over the weekend, he’s like, ‘Okay, I think in this scene that Krista should have a complete emotional breakdown. We need to write- - We ,as if I’m going to write this- - I think we need to write this whole thing when she sees this- -‘ it goes on and on with me on the weekend. I’m like okay, sure, whatever you write, I’ll do it. I come in on Wednesday, he cuts the scene. The scene was totally dropped. So in that sense, it’s just nothing like you’ve ever experienced.

FDM: Do you wish more filmmakers would be like that?

SMG: I wish, and I wish so much for the film industry right now. I wish so much for originality and I wish so much and I think that we’re caught in this difficult cycle right now because our studios are corporations now. I keep talking about the old 1940s, where one guy with a cigar and a scotch made decisions for a studio and now because there are all these computer corporations basically, technology companies and there’s so much else that goes into a decision that it’s very difficult to get films that are different that are off the beaten path made. It’s much easier to get something unoriginal made than to get something original. I’m just very happy to be here and be able to- - you hope it works but you know on whatever level, even if you don’t understand it, you know it works.

FDM: Richard said they ran the numbers.

SMG: Unfortunately, that’s what gets a movie made these days. Regardless of who’s the best for the job, regardless of what the best story is. You read great scripts constantly that don’t get made for whatever reason it is and it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating to see- -

SM: It comes down to an Excel spreadsheet.

SMG: In foreign countries no less. Not even in our own country. When you think about the fact that foreign countries are dictating what movies get made in our country. That’s really sad.

FDM: What were the elements that got the film locked down?

SM: Sarah Michelle Gellar, The Rock, Seann William Scott and Richard Kelly.

FDM: Where is the funding coming from?

SM: How long do you have? It’s five different sources of equity.

SMG: A man in Vegas.

FDM: Any distributors talking?

SM: Yeah, several domestic. I mean, Universal Pictures is releasing most of foreign. And Wild Bunch has a few territories like France. North America is completely open and we’re holding it to sell.

FDM: Time slot?

SMG: That’s exactly the thing that bothers me. Not you. No, you really bother me right now. No, that’s what bothers me. That’s how they think. Okay, this is a summer- - I remember that it used to be you could see great movies any time. Now it’s like summer is for blockbusters, fall is for the movies that they can’t fit into any other time, that’s like September. Then Oscar movies start, it used to be post Thanksgiving. Now the awards are earlier so it starts earlier. January is when they dump movies. And it’s just so- - it seems to me so obvious that wouldn’t it be better for the marketplace to have these movies spread out? Not just people don’t only go to the movies in summer time. If that was the truth, then in the summer time they would count the whole week’s worth of the box office but it’s still only a weekend. So why does it matter- - sorry, I get a little upset. It’s just frustrating. Why does it matter? Why can’t- -

FDM: How would a studio market this?

SMG: I think they would run like hell.

SM: It’s impossible to say. We think maybe end of summer 2006 or fall of 2006. The film will be ready in March.

FDM: What’s the budget?

SMG: Isn’t that like asking someone’s age? Isn’t that like asking me what my age is and my weight is and my measurements?

SM: It’s 150 million dollars.

SMG: No, say it’s like 1.5 so whatever it makes, we’re good.

SM: No, but then they’re going to buy it for less.

SMG: 180 million dollars. 2 billion dollars.

FDM: Are you taking it to film festivals?

SM: Not to sell it. I don’t think I’d like to sell this at a festival. We’ve been there, done that with Darko.

FDM: Cannes maybe?

SM: Yeah, but Cannes hasn’t really- -

SMG: Con’s a festival now?

SM: I’d love to take this movie to Cannes.

SMG: It’s going to be soon though.

FDM: No, Cannes.

SMG: Oh, I thought you meant like Comic-Con. I thought you meant Comic-Con. I was like that’s going to be a festival soon.

SM: Yeah, it will be.

SMG: That’s more buzz- - the truth of the matter is, it’s like as prestigious as whatever Cannes says. Does the general public really pay attention to the movies that win? That’s a question I don't know.

FDM: Did you have to research anything for this?

SMG: You know what the truth is? In this day and age, everything is so cross-marketed that the lines have blurred in my opinion between what is an actor and what is a celebrity. What is reality? All you have to do is pick up a magazine or turn on the television and you can get ideas from places that five years ago you couldn’t. Is that a politically correct answer?

FDM: Did you model her after Jenna Jameson?

SM: I mean, the role is written for that kind of icon.

SMG: I think it’s more based on a cross between these reality stars that come in and all of a sudden are populating advertising. I mean, everyone’s got an album these days. Everybody. Every time you turn around, someone’s got an album.

FDM: All the teen stars.

SMG: I’m so glad it wasn’t when I was a teenager, boy.

FDM: How do you play this role not as a caricature?

SMG: Carefully. Carefully. We have a great director which is part of it. We have someone that really watches out. There’s depth to all of these characters but in a sense some of these- - there is a sort of cartoonish element to what’s happening to celebrity in this country, personally I think.

FDM: Do you sing in the film?

SMG: That’s something that’s being discussed. Originally, I was a different character and so I did not sing. I was in roller skates- - that’s my part that I miss. I used to be in a musical on roller skates, but I was a roller skater. But that got cut from the film which I’m so bitter about. It was a Karl Marxism musical on roller skates which I thought was genius and people were really calling for. It’s no longer in the film. I was getting my roller skates all ready and getting my [UNINTELLIGIBLE] and legwarmers and shorts all ready. You think Donnie Darko’s director’s cut was long? Wait until you see this director’s cut. And then my character was a rapper and then I was going to rap, but now my character has a song.

FDM: We’ve seen you sing.

SMG: Yeah, that’s part of the problem. That’s part of the problem. I’m trying not to expose any more people that need to be.

FDM: How nice is it to work close to home?

SMG: That’s so weird. It’s one of those things that’s like you go on location and you’re there for a week getting ready. Here it’s like you’re walking the dog, you’re paying the bills and then 10 minutes later, you have to go to work. It’s a very sort of odd- - I’m grateful for it and so glad to actually film a movie in Hollywood. Although some of these locations are pretty far. I could probably fly to some of them.

SM: Yeah, some of the Hidden Valley ones you can fly to.

FDM: Anything like doing TV where you’re in one place?

SMG: No, I mean, I don't think being in one place- - this movie’s been moving locations every day. A television show, usually you’re in a studio base and you’ve been doing it quite a few years versus we move at a pace I think faster than daytime on this movie.

SM: And a different location in and around LA every day.

SMG: Sometimes more than once a day.

FDM: Discovered anything new about LA?

SMG: Yes, the Poopdeck. There’s actually a restaurant called The Poopdeck.

FDM: What do they serve?

SM: Beer.

SMG: Beer and not Capri Sun, not Orangina, but what’s one of those like- - it was like a Capri Sun or something. Orangina maybe?

FDM: Prefer working at this pace or on slower studio films?

SMG: I prefer this not so much for the pace but just more for the experience. There’s not 40 million people trying to make a decision, trying to please a boss. We’re all here just to make a good film and to work together and it’s incredibly creative. It’s very familial. It’s just a much- - I think it’s just a much more positive experience although it’s some of the best catering I’ve ever had on a film. Actually, I think hands down the best. I’m going to go all the way. The best catering I’ve ever had on a film.

FDM: You and Freddie switched places?

SMG: It’s funny in the sense of he’ll say to me, ‘You don’t understand. You’re doing a movie. I’ve been on my feet all day.’ I’m like, ‘For real? For real I don’t understand?’ So that’s kind of odd. And the times are funny because I’m on nights and he’s more organized in terms of- - or last week he was getting out of the house at like 3:30 in the morning.

FDM: Any advice for him?

SMG: Yeah, do a sitcom. Don’t do a one hour. That was actually my advice. He was going to do a one hour. I was like, ‘Are you crazy? You know what people make for sitcoms and how little they work, right? You see all of our friends on sitcoms.’

FDM: More horror movies?

SMG: You know what? I only see myself doing films that interest me and that are a little bit off the beaten path. I will go wherever that takes me. I just- - I always say it just can’t be generic. I can’t be the girlfriend or the wife or the- - you can’t play the characters that I’ve been blessed to play and then do that. I can’t be the girl in the film.

FDM: Doing Alice?

SMG: No, not next.

FDM: Girls Guide?

SMG: I may actually do one or two- - it’s all sort of- - we ran long on this one so it sort of changed things but that’s okay. That would be early next year though.

FDM: Did you hear about I Always Know What You Did Last Summer?

SMG: What? You guys are making this up.

FDM: In Utah.

SMG: They’re letting them make that in Mormon territory? You guys are all kidding.

FDM: Straight to video.

SMG: That sounds like one of those jokes that we all made behind the scenes. It does sound like a Simpsons joke.


LINK: http://www.freezedriedmovies.com/features.php?id=49

pretty funny interview, thanks :D

[andrew r]

FDM: We’ve seen you sing.
SMG: Yeah, that’s part of the problem. That’s part of the problem. I’m trying not to expose any more people that need to be.

lol [img]graemlins/spin.gif[/img] Thanks for the interview.

[ohiofan]

I know I'm not the most objective judge of Sarah's singing ability, but I thought she did a great job in "Once More With Feeling". :D I even have a tape of her songs and other "Buffy" music I play in my car. In honor of Sarah's work on "Southland Tales" I just posted a new wall:

Cool, thanks for posting! [img]smile.gif[/img]

I liisten to BTVS everywherer i go!!!

[andrew r]

The wallie's not working :( Plus I though she did a good job on 'Once More...' Wasn't there a rumour that someone else was going to do her vocals for that ep?