Back arched, red hair tied back, sunglasses perched on the end of her nose, Roxanne Michaels pointed her twin .45s directly at the camera. Her upper lip curled slightly as she stood stock-still. Right now, Roxanne was Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, or, rather, playing the reference model for world-renowned artist Joe Jusko, who was working on the upcoming 38-page Tomb Raider special for Top Cow comics. In the last two days, Roxanne had posed for close to two hundred pictures, each of which Jusko would duplicate in acrylic for the fully-painted issue. However, just four hours ago, Roxanne took some time out to shoot a cameo for The Resurrection Game, as a bitchy reporter forced to use martial arts on a zombie that insists on ruining her newscast. She arrived on the set early, fully prepared, ran her lines, blocked out the fight scene herself, nailed the scene in two takes, then was back in Lara Croft mode before three pm. Busy, busy lady.
�I�m familiar with the character,� says Roxanne of her pixel/paint alter-ego. �I love the whole idea of the strong female protagonist, like a female Indiana Jones, with all the sex appeal that any sci-fi guy can go nuts for -- though I don�t play video games -- I try not to encourage myself to do any activities that keep me still. It�s really not healthy for me for some reason. Hell, I�m training for stunt school, my ass can�t be sitting down! Get up and so something, woman! It�s a fun thing to do and Jusko�s one of my favorite artists to model for. He�s just so professional. We have a great working relationship.�
Fans of low-budget cinema who are only familiar with Roxanne�s sex-kitten roles in such films as Titanic Vampire 2000 and Poetic Seduction: The Dead Students Society are in for a surprise over the next couple of months. The actress and model has decided that the time was right for her career to move in a different direction.
�It was time for a change,� says Roxanne. �I had implants, obviously. Any five-foot-one, ninety-eight pound girl who has almost double-D�s � what do you think? I got them, partially to do� for my past as a featured dancer and a fetish clothing model. I�d done the dancing and that whole world for one basic goal: I had twenty thousand dollars worth of student loans to pay off! Working a real job out of college for eight bucks an hour was not the way it was going to happen. So: the implants. But two years ago I died my hair back to � well, close to its original color, and lost the boobs. Now I�m in Stunt School and training in martial arts.�
The decision to change directions came long and hard. In an industry where actors and actresses are judged on their looks first, ability second, the choice was not only difficult, but courageous. It was spawned, Roxanne explains, by her love of the medium. �I think my turning-point role was Stumped, [a short horror/comedy to be released Dark Descent II, late spring through Sub Rosa Studios] produced by Ron Bonk and directed by Mike Legge. I�d only been studying acting for a couple of months, and I met with my acting teacher, who coached me through the role. It was the first role where I really had to act, and I proved that I could. I think the world of Ron; I love him to death. He really believes in the potential of everyone he works with. He�s just a wonderful person. Despite the fact that he works with non-existent budgets � he can still get amazing reviews, and do a film for almost nothing. Mike Legge is just as impressive, as an actor and a director. He�s on the same wavelength as Ron. He�s not making schlock cinema, like 99% of the movies shot on video.�
Roxanne doesn�t regret abandoning her B-Queen ways, only the time it took to make the choice. �If I had my boobs out earlier, if I�d been smarter about that decision � which took me a year to make � I could maybe have worked with Ron again on Strawberry Estates. It took me a full year to get up the nerve to get them out. They were almost like a comfort-thing, like �Okay, I got these, so I�ll be okay.� But then, I became more conscious of how I was being treated, and really felt like it�s not me they�re relating to. Then I did this martial arts film called Heaven and Hell, and after training so hard to do my own stunts for this, studying martial arts, I saw the dailies and I thought, �This is ridiculous! I look like a stick with these huge boobs!� They�re really distracting from the fighting and these great falls, the gymnastics I was doing. So I made the decision then, that I just have to be totally myself. And who I am � she does not have huge D-Cup breasts. So I had the surgery this past July. And I think it was the best decision I�d made in a long, long time.�
Self-esteem is a hard commodity to come by in any career. Self-doubt is quicker to leech onto the ego, hence Roxanne�s above �comfort zone�. For her few years in the b-movie industry, most of her roles consisted of walk-ons as lesbian bikers in such films as Hellblock 13 and Terror Firmer. �All [the directors] could see me for was eye-candy. At the same time, I don�t fault the directors who said that. Because at the time I had blonde hair and big boobs and a dark tan and I just strutted around like I was eye-candy. I had no acting training. Then I did Stumped and some off-broadway theater and for the first time I got to do something �real�. I realized �Holy shit, I can actually do something besides be cute in a bikini! I can act!� (laughs) And I felt so much better about myself. Being eye-candy is fun, but you�re limited, and it doesn�t last. My biggest fear, after going to these comic book conventions, was turning into a 40-year-old B-queen, or pin-up girl, selling prints of myself. That really scared me.�
And after the change? �I feel more comfortable now. I�d had opportunities and the implants had hindered me, cost me a lot of well-paying jobs and great opportunities � not just with great directors like Ron Bonk, but others who would say that I looked too old � or two �this� or too �that� -- with the breasts. [But] once I had it done, a month after healing, I probably felt like myself for the first time since I had them. I felt like I could finally come out of my shell. I didn�t like people looking at my boobs all the time. I got really self-conscious, I started hiding myself. Now, all of a sudden, my back�s upright, and I can�t wait to walk down the street � where I used to hate it because of the endless harassment.�
Another change came out of her desire to attend the prestigious Action Film Camp in Upstate New York, where she trained with such action greats as Michael DePasquale Jr., Keith Vitale, Joe Hess, Mike James and Joe Bonaucci. �I was reading about all these stunt women, like Anita Ward and Julie Michaels and most recently Sophia Crawford and Dana Hee in Femme Fatale. I was just thinking, what strong, sexy women. They can do anything, you know? These were like beautiful women and they could kick ass, too! I just thought that was the was the most awesome thing in the world. The sexiest thing. So when I got Heaven and Hell, this martial arts film I shot in Connecticut, I was around these guys who were just amazing martial artists. I started training for the film, and once in it, having to fall repeatedly in skimpy outfits on marble floors, rehearsing again and again until you�re weak � I could not wait to do it again!�
Set to graduate in May of 2001, Roxanne now trains at The Stunt Factory. "[Training for] Heaven and Hell was nothing compared to having to do these stunts [in class], having to fall repeatedly, get up, fall again, roll, doing the high-falls, the mini-trams and the jerk-harness. That camp was one of the best experiences for me. I felt like a kid again. �Don�t play with fire!� Well, stunt people play with fire. �Don�t jump off of that!� �Don�t run!� But I get to play again, it�s so much fun. I feel like I�m doing everything my mom told me not to do when I was a kid. And being such a tomboy underneath that � after the years of being that busty vixen, I feel like I�m finally doing something I really love. I�m so psyched. I cannot wait! I can�t wait to be set on fire!�
Uh, great. Now she wants to be set ablaze. Roxanne laughs. �I�ve been fire eating and doing fire tricks on stage for years,� she explains. �The fire-eating started when I was a feature-dancer. I called up the head of this magician�s group in my home-town, a guy named John Tudor, who taught me some fire-eating tricks, and some basic magic -- though with magic, once I learned how it was done, I lost interest in it. With the fire, it was more of a side-show thing. I�m a big fan of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow, and for a long time I was convinced that was what I was going to end up doing for a living. So I�d always had this fascination with things that are challenging on a number of levels. The fire-eating is just great fun. I�m also getting a bed of nails made, which will be awesome. I want to learn how to walk on glass after the bed of nails. I just want to have fun and never grow up. I want to do all the stuff I�m not supposed to do. �Don�t walk on glass!� �Oh, excuse me, mom,� Crunch! (laughs). A lot of it is mind over matter. That�s the thing about most stunts: most of it is mental and spiritual. It�s a challenge. I can�t wait for the full-body burn. I know that�s just so sick; my mother�s going to have a heart attack.�
Obviously, Roxanne is a woman of forward-momentum. As she stated above, she isn�t they type to sit around and wait for opportunities to come to her. While she works to nail bigger film roles, Roxanne continues to model for both print magazines and fantasy artists.
Roxanne rarely pauses when she talks. There are certain times when you�re sure she hasn�t taken a breath in half an hour. When she gets going, she also sounds like an angry auctioneer. But suddenly, Roxanne Michaels falls silent. It isn�t a long pause, but it is a pause just the same. It�s almost startling. However, she recovers quickly, and continues with her thoughts. �I�m definitely trying to get things together. I feel like I�ve made a lot of mistakes. I�ve grown up a lot since I started doing B-Movies. My first interview I come off like � (laughs) I didn�t care about the acting; I just loved doing it. I loved all the sexy stuff. Don�t get me wrong, I still do sexy stuff. But it�s more geared towards kick-ass sexy now. Michelle Yeoh sexy, Carrie Ann Moss in The Matrix sexy. That�s what I want to do now. I just think I�ve learned a lot from my own mistakes, which has helped me develop my confidence. Which is tough because there are so many of these directors and producers out there, who have said, in print, �Roxanne Michaels doesn�t take off her top anymore, and she�s not worth anyone�s time.� People have called Ron Bonk and told him that he ruined me after giving me my first real chance to act � as if he was my sole decision-maker. It�s kind of ludicrous that I was ruined, like I�d never be more than a set of boobs. And I think it angered me and motivated me even more. Now it�s like �I�m jumping out of a three-story building now, so �f� you!� (laughs) I think I was geared by that anger.
�But at the same time, they have a point. How many B-Queens have they seen who have said that they were getting away from the T&A and are still taking their clothes off at thirty-six, thirty-seven years old? 40? 45? In every single role, just being scream queens. Being victims, taking off their clothes, falling into whatever trend there is now. Right now you have the whole vampire lesbian thing. But the idea of the nude victim � I got offered this role in a new movie, but the only roles they had open were �Nude Victim�, and I�m like �ooh, what an original concept for a horror movie. No thanks.� I just think there�s so much more. I can�t be a victim � unless it�s a really great role like Jodie Foster in The Accused. I just can�t just take any victim role in these pieces of crap. I�m very outspoken against it � and if I were to take something like that just for the money, that�d make me a big-ass hypocrite!�
Another advocate for better roles for actresses? �I�m not saying that women always have to be the ass-kickers, but there�s interesting characters that you always see in movies, and they�re always male roles. Even if they�re supporting. And women don�t get the good character roles. Basically, it seems like there�s maybe five roles for women and that�s it. When women are strong and take control that�s just so hot. I mean look at [WWF�s] Chyna! They had pictures of her and guys were just drooooollling! This woman can kick most guys� asses! Guys like to see strong women. I really get upset at these schlock-meisters who think that all women can be is nude, or a victim, or a nude victim. I�m not against nudity, but their stuff is nude without cause, rather than nude within context.�
Again, she slows down for a moment, almost taking a breath. With Roxanne, you know the wheels are turning. You might not always know where she might be going, but you know that it�s a forward direction. �You know, women are always bitching about the lack of good roles, well write your damn role! Produce and direct it yourself! If you�re not in a position of power, you can�t just sit around and bitch. Get in a position of power and do it yourself. I�m at a time in my life where I finally feel like I can do this myself.�
And �this� would be?
�I�m working on my first script. I want to do this probably next summer. I may do it on Super-8 film, unless some godsend comes in and I can shoot it on Super-16. Black and white, because I�m a big fan of the look of Clerks and Pi. This is my chance to shoot my own thing � moreso for myself than anything, I need to do something creative and fun for me. A movie in the vein of Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Ray Bradbury � an anthology, but all the stories revolve around each other. I�ve always been a fan of those shows, always loved great short stories, like Bradbury�s stuff. I really feel that I�ve learned a great deal from other people, moreso than I did in college. I finally feel prepared.�
If you look back at Roxanne Michaels� previous career, you actually get little sense of the strength of the woman behind the small, tucked-away roles. Even in previous interviews, she comes off frivolous, flighty. To mention her new and fiery determination would be redundant at this point. Roxanne no longer needs anyone to speak for her.
�At certain times I think �Yeah, I regret some of the work I�ve done,� because I think it could hurt me somewhere down the line. But you know what? I did it and it brought me here, so it really wasn�t such a bad deal. How would I have ever gotten to do off-Broadway theater, or gotten the representation I have now, on top of the independent films, the commercial print modeling � I would never have come to this point without the productions. And then sometimes I regret it because I can�t really watch some of those films � a lot of them are just unwatchable! (laughs). But, I�ve done everything I ever said I was going to do and I�ve never backed down. A lot of girls say they�re going to change their careers and end up taking these shitty roles. I get offers from these companies � I could have done forty films last year for these companies but they�re all shit. I�d rather do one good film � even if it�s just a cameo. Something where I could say �Hey, at least it�s a cool part and a good production, even if it is low budget.�
In addition to the Tomb Raider work, Roxanne has about a dozen irons in the fire coming up, including, in no particular order: stunts and acting in Eric (23 Hours) Thornett's newest project, and in Jackie Ruffner�s upcoming film The Vertex; recent modeling work includes sitting with Mike James of Azimuth Designs for his photo graphic/pin-up art projects, as well as for Italian artist Alex Horley for a limited-edition vampire poster to be released by Universal Studios; and, again, she modeled for artist Jeff Pitarelli, who does the covers of Chiller Magazine; AND with fellow actress Countess Vladimira, Roxanne may assume the role of a character wrestler as part of G.L.O.W. (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) come the beginning of next year.
[AUTHOR�S NOTE: Just after finishing this article, I received another call from Roxanne: �I will be using a family name professionally because of companies exploiting my name to make money.� This is one of the main hazards of the wild internet frontier, and an all-too common practice. Roxanne has had a long battle with the owners of various websites (as well unethical film producers) who use her name as a gateway to the porn industry. As a result, Roxanne Michaels will be trademarking her name in the very near future, to legally ensure that these sorts of things do not continue. �They won�t be able to use my name or my image without my permission. So professionally, acting and modeling, I�ll be using a family name, and an �also known as Roxanne Michaels� for promotion, in order to keep pornographers from making money off my image. [Certain people] have been using images they don�t have the rights to and it�s frustrating! It�s a pain in the ass, but it�s something I have to do. I have to end it!�]
Originally published in GC Magazine - Edited by Jon Keeyes.
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