The Mr. Showbiz Interview - March 21, 2001

If there is a crotch to be attached to, Ray Liotta's is it. That's all I'm going to say. No, I love that scene. It's so wrong and it's not what people expect me to do. I had a good time.

Is this your way of saying, "I'm not the Party of Five girl anymore"?

It's a way of saying, "I've lost my mind temporarily." It's a fun part and good way to move into older things. To say, "Hey! I've grown up over the summer."

Did Sigourney Weaver intimidate you?

Definitely. She's a lot taller than me and frankly can kick my butt. It was strange, but it was really exciting and a chance to learn. She mommed me every single day, enough to ask wardrobe to add cloth to my costumes. She'd always put coats on me or say to crewmembers, "Stop looking."

Did Jason Lee teach you how to skateboard?

He didn't. He knows I'm a klutz; I would have fallen down and hurt myself. He does this thing called "the human orangutan," which is unbelievable. Jason made me laugh all the time. We barely got through our scenes.

Is this movie saying that men can't control themselves?

No, I think it says a lot about our society, which is that sexy people like sexy people. And that men are easily seduced and caught. [Laughs] No, I think women can be easily swayed if they want to be. The movie is meant to show we're pretty good cons, that's all.

How do you feel about older men pairing with younger women?

Love and who you love is great, no matter who it is. The heart doesn't see age, beauty, or color, your heart just sees the other person's heart and says, "That's the one I want." That's all it knows and I think that's so cool. I think that's so interesting. More power to them.

Have you ever been cheated on?

Yes, I have, the stinker. It's a hard thing, but as much as it hurts, you have to go, "You know what? He wasn't happy with me, so either I wasn't doing something right or he wasn't doing something right. At least he's happy." You can't say people are bad because of it. It hurts, you get over it and you move on.

Have you ever cheated on anyone?

Have I ever cheated on anyone? Oh my God! I feel like I'm on Jerry Springer! In movies I've cheated on lots of people.

Do you still live with your mom?

Yes. Home is great. But I've fallen in love with New York since I've been here shooting and will probably get an apartment here so I can go back and forth. With my mom, it's more like having a roommate.

And you have a dog as well, don't you?

My little Chihuahua, Mia, is great. Mine is all white with one little brown spot. She peed on Jay Leno. I have a very classy dog. He thought it was funny, but I sent him a new shirt and tie from Mia.

Do you miss Party of Five?

I do miss it. I loved it, it was a huge part of my life, five years. It was a great vehicle to show what I could do. I miss the people, I miss Scott [Wolf] a lot. I still talk to him every once in a while, but it's hard to keep in touch. I miss my character. I certainly liked being a role model for girls and guys.

Is it true that Gwyneth Paltrow is your role model and that you wrote her a letter?

Yes, she wrote me back and I carry the letter around with me. It's one of my most prized possessions. I couldn't believe she wrote back.

Do you respond to your fan mail?

I try to respond to as many as possible. I try to send a picture. Sometimes I even call if they leave a phone number. It's hard to get to every single one.

Now that you've played Hepburn, is there a person you'd like to play you?

If somebody was going to play me I would want it to be Natalie Portman.

Did you mind when Anna Faris made fun of you in Scary Movie?

I just thought she was hysterical. She made fun of me so well, she completely got all the weird things I do with my hands and my arms and the weird face things I do. I was so excited somebody was making fun because I make fun of me all the time. It just cracked me up so I had to send her flowers to say thank you.

Aren't women your age supposed to be catty?

Every woman at every age is catty. I'm catty at times, my mom is catty at times. Men can be catty. I try to be catty as little as possible, but I'm definitely, definitely not off the hook.

Would you rather be cute or sexy?

Cute lasts a lot longer. Sexiness, allure, all that stuff, it drifts after a while. As you get older, you think, "Things are starting to sag." But you can get a lot of mileage out of playing cute. You can play dumb a lot more. Sexy, you're supposed to be all serious and brooding. If you're cute, you can be dorky or fun and outlandish things, and people will still think you're cute.

Did you get loaded on your 21st birthday?

No. I had nothing to drink for my 21st birthday. I've literally had three sips of alcohol in my life. I'm not a big drinker. I don't want to miss any part of life. I like to lay in my bed at the end of the day and remember every single thing that I did and why I did it. People think I'm on something or half wasted all the time anyway, because I'm a freak or nutty, so I don't need alcohol to help me. [If I did drink] it would be extra-scary, I might get thrown in jail.

Now, I've got a bunch of questions that our readers submitted. Clear up rumors about I Know What You Did Last Summer, Part 3. Is it happening?

Not that I know of. Or not one that I will be in.

What are your thoughts about nudity?

I don't like looking at myself naked. If I could bathe in a bathing suit, I totally would. So I don't want the rest of the world to see me naked. Talk about a horror movie. I don't like to say never, but I have no plans for it. If there is something I felt was needed in a movie, say I was playing someone who was ill and you needed to see a frail frame, or a love scene that was beautifully shot and you caught pieces of things. We just did a shot in The Devil and Daniel Webster and that's the closest I've got to it. You see my whole back, I'm laying on a bed and the sheets are taped right at the crackola. That's it, my back and shoulders.

How do you protect your personal life when everybody's looking to write something about you?

It's impossible. I've been the tart of the city since I got here. They've made up all these stories. I'm actually dating 45 different people. I take chocolate bubble baths with some guy I've never met. It's very hard, it's very weird. I'm kind of resigned to the fact people will say whatever they're going to say. I just brush it off.

Do you call your family and warn them something's out there and it's totally not true?

Yeah, particularly my grandmother, who's in a small town where people love to chat. But at some point, you have to stop defending your character because then it becomes a personal insult. I'm not going to stop hanging out with people because somebody's going to write about it. It goes with the job. What would upset me is if it truly hurt someone I cared about. But I've been lucky enough, it's been small, kind of humorous things.

What about those reports that you were having an affair with your Devil and Daniel Webster co-star Alec Baldwin?

I think it's hysterical. I couldn't be more flattered that they would think that Alec Baldwin, after Kim Basinger, the goddess on Earth, could even remotely think I was attractive. But as far as it being true, not at all. He's one of the finest people I've met, an amazing director. He will be a friend for life and we both got a good laugh out of it. We thought it was funny — and good for the movie.

Is there anywhere you can go and be left alone?

Nobody really bothers me in New York. The papers seem to know everywhere I am. But other people have no clue it's even me, they think I'm Jennifer Lopez. They just need to see her. I got in the car and the driver said, "How's the [Sean "Puffy" Combs] trial," and I said, "First of all, they're not even together anymore."

What's your favorite vacation spot?

Maui. I love the sun. It's so beautiful there, and the Hawaiian people are so spiritual and fun and amazing. It's so cool.

How do you feel about critics?

I learn from them and definitely read them. Even the bad reviews, they make you stronger. You can turn anything in life into a positive, I truly believe that. The stuff that hurts your feelings makes you try harder and the stuff that is great makes you believe there's hope.

Do you look at your Web sites?

I've seen some. [On one,] people take pictures of me and they judge how my boobs look in each outfit and they have a whole little club.

Does that mean when you go out you consider how this site is going to react?

I absolutely have to take care of them, don't I? Are they not going to have a field day with Heartbreakers? They'll be going, "Jesus Christ!" I definitely try to have them look as nice as possible.

It seems that women in showbiz who are openly sexual seem to be frequent targets of the unhinged.

I've just recently had a couple of situations with people like that who are creepy. I have a security person I can call. But I'm very independent and it's hard for me to have somebody walk around with me all the time. I have my cell phone and check in with my family and I don't drive at night by myself after 10:30. I'm either with my friends or I don't take the car, so my family doesn't worry, because I've had people follow me home.

Is it true that you are seeing Rich Cronin, lead singer from LFO?

Oh, God. I'd rather not say anything about dating. [Laughs]

What do you look for in a boyfriend?

Somebody funny, with a great smile. Somebody who can be really stupid and goofy one minute and then completely turn around and have this amazing, heartfelt, deep conversation the next.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Absolutely. I haven't had it, but there are certain souls on Earth that absolutely connect the moment they meet. The eyes have much better conversations than the mouth anyway, so I absolutely believe in it.

How did you prepare for your role of Satan in The Devil and Daniel Webster?

To play Satan, I pay a lot of attention to my PMS. [Laughs] I've tried to make Satan as human as possible. If Satan took over my body, I tried to figure what kind of Satan she would be.

If your Satan and Liz Hurley's Satan from Bedazzled squared off in a smack-down, could you kick her ass?

I would. [Laughs] Because all I'd do is I'd take that string bikini and I'd snip it off while she wasn't looking and kick her in the stomach. I have no idea! But I would win, because my Satan is a little sicker, I think.

Were you frightened to work with Anthony Hopkins on Devil?

I was — until you meet him and see he's so goofy. The two of us were just cracking up. I had the most surreal moment, it was 5:30 in the morning on the set, I look over and Alec, Anthony, and Dan Aykroyd were all doing Marlon Brando impersonations, having an entire conversation about cheese. He is so funny, so nice and he is this sexy guy. I cried the first time I had to work with him. I told Anthony, "I'm terrified of you. I'm going to suck really bad next to you!" and he said, "You will be great! That's the thing about actors, you won't let me be bad and I won't let you be bad," and he gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

He could have just said, "Good luck, honey bun."

He told me at the end of the thing that he learned a lot from me. I was, "What?" [Laughs] He probably learned what not to do! I wasn't going to ask him, I just wanted to take it as a compliment and go.

What would you be doing if you weren't an actress? Would you be a different person?

Yeah, I probably wouldn't be as happy, because it's truly what I love to do. I'd probably be working at Taco Bell because I really love Taco Bell and I'd be psyched about getting to eat all day long. And I'd probably be in college studying to be a journalist.

What's the best piece of advice ever given to you?

My mom put a little snippet of a poem up in my mirror, like, seven months ago, and it was the best thing I ever read. It said, "Work like you don't need the money, love like your heart has never been broken, and dance like no one is watching." I don't know who wrote it. I saw the entire poem and I think it was just "Unknown," but it was great.