L i b r a i r i e . . .

A i n ' t  I t  C o o l . . .

E l i z a  D u s h k u  I n t e r v i e w . . .

I tried to conduct real-ish interviews with the principals who were there (Emmanuelle, Desmond and Eliza), I did I did. But inevitably we'd end up just gabbing about stuff, 'cause they're all just cool people. Emmanuelle is a total sweetie- I'd say cherubic except that cherubs aren't sexy. Desmond kept everybody in stitches over lunch riffing on lines from Jay & Silent Bob, which he'd seen the night before (Desmond to Eliza- "Have you seen it?"), and there is an Eastwood/McQueen '70s throw-back cop thriller in his future, I guarantee it. And then Eliza was... well, damn. She is absolutely the Queen of Carpe Diem you'd figure she'd be from watching her play Faith and Sissy and Missy. This is someone who, when it came her turn to do the stunt fall through the trees, would scream as she fell exactly until she dropped out of the shot, at which point the screams would become whoops of laughter. Consummate professional, but you know if someone's having fun somewhere in the building she's gonna strut over there and double it if she can. 

Oh, yeah, that reminds me- the Dushku Strut. It's not an act, not a special effect. It's just her. 

What do you mean you don't know the Dushku Strut? Of course you do. It's most pronounced when she's riding high in some snakeskin cowboy boots but it'd be there even when she's barefoot. Head thrown back and Next-Elite-Ford perfect posture down to the hips, which is where the swagger kicks in, almost like she's got a pair of six-shooters dangling, and the whole thing so perfectly expressing who she is on screen it would seem rehearsed if it weren't so blissfully unconscious. The thing's a work of art. A lethal one, but art nonetheless. 

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, walking with Eliza over to her trailer for a (cough) 'interview'. 

AS- I'm here with Eliza Dushku on the set of Wrong Turn. First question... how tough was it growing up with that name? 'Cause that is just so rife with schoolyard possibilities... 

ED- I know! There was a two year period where... well, you know, it almost doesn't matter what it is, any name-calling just hurts. They could call you 'big fat dork' and it's just really really hurtful. But for those two years all the name changes and name calling absolutely ripped my heart out, and made me so hurt and upset, and I'd go home and scream at my mother for letting me have that name. And then after a while you're just who cares. "Oh, that's really original, like I've never heard that one before." What about you- what's your name? 
(Which is pretty much how the whole conversation went. Let me pluck out the useful bits, since I'm sure you don't want to hear me explain how I actually have three different last names depending on whether we're talking in the ancient High dialect used only for formal gatherings of the Imperial Court or the common Elatzchan dialect, plus of course the secret name we only use at wedding, funerals and coming-of-age ceremonies. The weird part is Eliza's actually dated someone with a name really similar to mine, or as least as similar as human tongues allow.) 

AS- So why another horror movie? 

ED- Because the first one didn't really quite cut it? I didn't want to say I had tried it, been there and done that, with that project. I'm not dissing anyone when I say that- I think it's clear that the film just didn't quite come together. But you just never know, do you? I remember I got Bring It On and then immediately signed on to do Soul Survivors, and everyone was saying "Bring It On is a joke, it's gonna go straight to video, no one's going to see it, it is so silly, it's a stupid film, awful, but then Soul Survivors... wow, Wes Bentley, he just did American Beauty, and Casey Affleck too, so let's just hope Bring It On comes and goes really fast and then Soul Survivors can redeem you." You just never know. What goes on between reading the script and when you shoot it and what ends up coming out depends on so many different people and good timing and ideas it's almost luck whether it's good or bad. So I just felt I shouldn't let that be my one and only chance at it. And Stan Winston is quite a salesman. He invited me down to the studio, and I met Rob Schmidt (the director- we'll talk to him a bit later) and I said "I don't want to do a movie with monsters. I don't want to have my guts on the table so to speak, to be giving a really honest, raw performance, which is what this called for, and then all of a sudden the monster runs through frame and everyone chuckles. It's not worth it to me to do that." So Stan says "Let me ask you this. Do these pictures make you chuckle?" And he pulls out this poster, these rough images of... 
Let me break here and toss in a spoiler warning. Eliza's about to tell you who the bad guys are in this one- who it is chasing those kids through the treetops. If you don't wanna know you've been warned. 

...these rough images of these mountain men, and he talks about how they weren't monsters and how all the things that are disfigured about them are actual human deformities, and the backwoods inbreeding thing was kind of intriguing too, like Deliverance, and really Stan could just talk a dog off a meat wagon. And he did. 
AS- What grabbed you about Jessie (her character) the first time you read the script? 

ED- I just thought that there could be a lot more to her than was obvious from the script. I mean it WAS in the script, but it was subtle, and I thought that was cool. So many characters in these kinds of movies can be written up really cheesy and ineffective... cheesily and ineffectively? I just though there was a lot of potential there, and she's a strong chick, you know, and no damsel in distress. She kicks some ass, and steps up. She's tough. I kinda like playing those characters. 
AS- Really? Hadn't noticed. 

ED- There's nine hundred thousand other movies out there you could go and see where the girl has hands folded in her lap or covering her eyes, screaming and shrieking. I don't feel that's why we're here. We're here to do something different, and make it interesting for people. And fortunately for me there's still more of those stories to be told. 
AS- How much of those tough chicks you play- Jessie, Faith, etc.- is just you being you? 

ED- Well, Jessie can't really be compared to Faith. Faith is someone that still means a great deal to me, and feel really close to, and really like. I respect Joss and everyone over there so much for how they put her story together, and of course I'm going back to Buffy as soon as I wrap on Wrong Turn. Jessie's not as extreme as Faith though. Jessie's someone- when people get really afraid, really terrified, you turn inward. Jessie gets to that point and finds this rock-hard strength inside her. She's out there, and all she has to rely on is herself, and I think that's really admirable. Even if you make mistakes, there's I think a bravery in not settling for being the victim, for finding that strength in yourself. 
AS- How much of that is you? 

ED- Oh, a lot! I mean, I never planned on being in this business at all, I'm really just rolling with it. My family has been supportive and there with me the whole time, but when you're ten years old and on a film set you're just kind of thrown out there alone, and you've got no one else. My mom is so great- she's going to Africa soon, Senegal, to like build a university from the ground up- and I know if I just packed it in tomorrow she'd be "Just hop on a plane out here and we'll figure things out." Not that I'm going to, I'm having a blast. But I know she'd be there for me. 
AS- Does the image you project at all enter into your thinking when selecting these roles? You're so well known now for playing these tough, self-reliant characters, and you've become more than a little bit of a role model playing them. 

ED- Not... no, I don't think about that. I'm just picking roles that appeal to me. But some of the letters and stuff I get, especially for Faith, it's the greatest feeling in the world. I got girls writing to me, "From the first time you walked in you were so strong, and you overcame so much, and I just felt if you could do it I could do it to", you know, getting themselves out of abusive relationships, all kinds of shit. And just knowing I helped inspire people to do things like that, it's such an amazing feeling. 

We gabbed on after that, trading lists of fave horror movies (and I totally forgot Wise's the Haunting when I told her mine- stupid stupid Anton!) and her talking about seeing Johnny Depp get sucked down into that bed by Freddy when she was a kid and it freaked her out, but then she got all proud that she'd seen it and survived and whenever anybody came over she'd be all "Hey, you wanna watch a movie? This one's cool..." and talking about Kevin and Jen (I met Mr. and Mrs. Smith when they were up here for Vulgar- she knows 'em a bit better than I do though) and just general hey-how-you-doooin' kind of stuff. I also managed to turn her off ever seeing Dead Ringers until after menopause. Oh well.