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But, Seriously...
Posted by Rob Ortenzi on 17-Jan-07 @ 06:10 PM
Despite being one of the hottest up-and-coming actresses in Hollywood,
Canadian import ELISHA CUTHBERT isn’t content to just be a drool-worthy
centerfold for countless men’s magazines. While seductive roles in comedic
flicks like Old School and The Girl Next Door put her on the map—mostly
with underage boys and slightly pervy older men—her upcoming turn as a molested
youth in The Quiet proves she’s a versatile actresses who can actually,
you know, act. And while she’s not opposed to doing another teen
flick, she also recently wrapped the sci-fi thriller Captive and He
Was A Good Man, where she stars as the quadriplegic love interest of a (more)
elderly Christian Slater. Despite her hectic schedule, Cuthbert took five to
chat with AP about her career goals, being sexy and Canada’s second-best
import, Tom Cochrane. STORY: Jonah Bayer PHOTOS: Marina Chavez You’ve been in L.A. for a while now. Do you feel at home there yet? Yeah, I think [in] the last two years, things have really turned around and I’ve really made L.A. home, as opposed to just feeling like I was from Canada and didn’t know what the hell I was doing. [Laughs.] What do you think the biggest cultural difference is between the States and Canada? I think Canada [has] an easier way of life. America, in general, is very fast-paced and there’s a lot going on. Canada is sort of a little more simple and laid back, sort of like Australia. You were in Old School and The Girl Next Door, probably two of the best movies, ever. Is there any chance of a sequel for either one? I’d love that. I think Old School has a really great opportunity to do something like that. I haven’t heard anything of the sort, but there’s definitely room for it. To me, your character in The Girl Next Door was a lot more complicated than people might assume by looking at the DVD jacket. Yeah, you know, I think when I first had gotten the script, people said, “Brace yourself, we’re sending you this movie about a girl who’s a porn star.” I was like, “Jesus, guys, you’re killing me.” And then I read it, and I thought there’s room for her to be a lot deeper. So the director and I rewrote some scenes to make her have a little more heart—and I think that’s room to go even further with that and see where she is now. But there are no talks of that yet. Would you consider doing another teen, coming-of-age movie or do you feel like you got that out of your system? No, I mean, there’s always room if it’s smart. It’s a very tricky genre because it could go one of two ways, and I’m lucky that The Girl Next Door came out the way it did. I think everyone expected it to come out and be American Pie and it wasn’t, which was so great. Can you talk a little bit about your character in The Quiet? It’s a small film about women and my character in particular is a girl dealing with molestation by her father. It’s a really hard look into the lives of three women in the film: myself, Edie Falco who plays my mother and Camilla Belle who sort of plays the girl who comes to live with us, who’s a mute and can’t hear. [Belle is] dealing with the death of her father and I’m dealing with the problems at home with my dad, and she sort of discovers that and helps me through it. Was it traumatizing for you to get into that role? It was the worst. I’m such a strong-willed person, and to sit there and go through the scenes with this older gentleman taking advantage of you, your mind just reverts to “this is wrong” and you just want to fight back—and, unfortunately, to be true the situation, she is helpless and can’t really do that. I had to walk off set one day and I kind of cried in the bathroom; it was so embarrassing because I was totally out of control about it. I had to sit down and go, ‘You can do this, it’s not real, suck it up, deal with it,’ and went back out there and finished the scene. What was it like working with Edie Falco? I’d imagine it’s a lot different than working with, say, Paris Hilton? [Laughs.] Oh yeah, everybody ends up influencing you, whether you know it or not. She was really committed to the role and committed to the script and it was just fantastic. Captivity sounds like a pretty intense movie as well. Yeah, it was a lot of fun to make, actually. We went out to Russia—which on its own was an adventure—and shot there for two-and-a-half months. It’s about this girl who’s a model who gets kidnapped and ends up in this crazy room and doesn’t know how she got there and doesn’t know how long she’s been there, and discovers another person in there who’s in the same predicament as her. It’s just mayhem all the way through, right until the end. You were recently named Hollywood’s Sexiest Canadian. What was that like? It’s just crazy. I just started out with this idea as a 10-year-old, just to want to make movies and be on television and entertain, and now that I’m actually doing it and being recognized for it, is just a dream come true. I don’t think anything else would get me out of the house at 5 a.m. except this shit. [Laughs.] Do you know who else has gotten that award? No. Probably not that dude who wrote that “Life Is A Highway” song. Yeah, I’m trying to think… was that Blue Rodeo? I think it was Tom Cochrane. Yeah, that was Tom Cochrane. Was he Canadian? Yeah, he was definitely Canadian. Oh, wow, I didn’t know that. Tragically Hip are great too, there’s a bunch of really great Canadian bands—and of course Alanis Morissette is a legend. So, do you enjoy not being typecast as the hot chick? Yeah, because I think there’s room to be the hot chick and also be edgy—it’s sort of like the full package. It’s one of those where I’m lucky enough to do a film like the Girl Next Door and then come back and do The Quiet, which might have a smaller audience, but it’s important to me to tell stories—and that’s what I’m doing. Finally, after doing 24, do you ever get nightmares about being kidnapped? Um, I get nightmares about filming being kidnapped again. [Laughs]. But not really because I think my experiences of doing it so much, if I ever did, I’d probably kill the person. So for all those kidnappers out there, forget about it. ALT [SIDEBAR] ELISHA CUTHBERT AGE: 23 HQ: Los Angeles, CA RESUME: Old School, as Darcy, Owen Wilson’s jailbait one-night stand; The Girl Next Door as Danielle, a reformed porn star trying to make good; House Of Wax, as Carly Jones, a teenager trying to avoid being turned into an entity more plastic than co-star Paris Hilton; TV’s 24, as Kimberly Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland’s constantly kidnapped daughter. This year, Cuthbert will get serious with roles in the female drama The Quiet and sci-fi thriller Captivity, plus a turn as Christian Slater’s love quadriplegic love interest in He Was A Quiet Man. THINKING OUTSIDE THE BUN: As if Cuthbert wasn’t already every dude’s fantasy, she’s also a cheap date. “I’m kind of a sucker for fast food and Taco Bell is the bomb,” Cuthbert admits. (Her favorite item on the menu is the Supreme Taco.) “You know what it is about Mexican food? It’s the sour cream—and they put sour cream on everything, which is a dream to me.” FEVER TO TELL: “I love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs; I’m obsessed with Karen O,” Cuthbert gushes. “I just think she’s so right-on and everything she does is great. I actually got to meet her this year at Coachella and got to see her live and she was such a cool chick. It was a great time.” ALT |
