Why
should we go and see Never Back Down?
Well, it’s
a sneak peak into a world that we’re ordinarily not invited into.
It exists in an underground high school of fighters who want to release
all that teen angst and aggression towards the society that bred them.
They just come together and form these fight clubs. Sean Farris plays
the lead character, Jake, who’s uprooted from his Middle American
upbringing and thrown into this fast-paced society. It’s sexy,
entertaining and exciting as he goes on this journey to find himself.
He needs me. We fall in love. And I have a similar journey, but in a
different direction. We just grow off one another and become different
people in the end. It’s like Fast & the Furious meets
Karate Kid. And it has a really important moral lesson to be
learned.
Which
is?
Never back
down! It’s about picking your fight, learning it and winning it.
It’s also done in an entertaining and sexy way. It’s memorable.
It’s
a mixed martial movies. That seems very popular in the US right now…
It’s
not a world that I’m very involved in myself! I can’t give
up my high-heel addiction.
Your
character doesn’t get to fight, no?
No, but
I do have a very nice scene in the movie where I pick up some gloves!
Basically, the point of the film is that Jake learns not to let his
aggression out and learns to fight for what’s important: love,
respect and honour. He’s fighting so that he doesn’t have
to be violent again, if that makes sense, because there are serious
consequences to that. That’s the lesson he learns. I’m part
of his journey. He meets me – and I represent every high school
girl at that age. I’m afraid to be who I am. I don’t want
to be too smart or different, because I don’t want to be seen
as uncool or unpretty. I represent girls that a lot of people can relate
to in high school. That weird age when you’re trying to conform
and fit in and while trying to learn who you are. Then Jake is everything
I’m not. He’s different and he’s okay with that. He’s
not trying to fit in. I learn from him that what’s important is
to be yourself and to be happy with that.
Are
there parallels between your character and the girl you play in All
The Boys Love Mandy Lane?
You know,
I’m drawn towards roles that are challenging, and informative,
but which can be done in an artistic way. Also roles that are unique
and interesting. But there are very few good roles written for young
women in Hollywood these days that entail depth and intelligence. So
when I see those kinds of roles I just snap them. I think Mandy Lane
and my character in Don’t Back Down, Baja Miller, are
both very unique characters, and I’m lucky because they’re
hard roles to get. I want to hold out of those good parts. If I was
in this just to be famous, I could go do a reality show! I’d be
out clubbing or whatever. But I want to work on films that are artistic.
I got into this business to tell stories. I want to have substance and
artistic merit. Even if I have to hold out for the good stuff; I don’t
care about being famous. There’s a difference between being a
movie star and a celebrity. I want to be a movie star!
In
Mandy Lane, the camera lingers on certain parts of your body;
does that make you self-conscious?
There’s
that scene in Mandy Lane where I walk down the hall and everyone’s
looking at me, the camera is right hear (point to her chest), and it
felt a bit like a cheesy date! But, really, I didn’t feel weird
at all. I just felt like the character would. Honestly. Do I think about
it as Amber Heard? No, not at all.
Are
you naturally a confident person?
If I seem
that way, well I am an actress! Seriously, though, I am confident in
that I have no other choice but to be who I am, and I have no reason
to hide anything or be insecure about anything. I am who I am, and I
don’t want to be accepted by people who won’t accept me
as I am.
Are
you single?
Yes I am,
and I want it to stay that way! It would take a lot to get me out of
that situation.
Do
you have a ‘type’ of guy that you go for?
I just
like strong, opinionated, intelligent people. I like to be challenged.
I like someone I can talk to and think about the things that they say.
Strength and intelligence, what more could there be?
You’ve
just shot a rowdy Seth Rogen comedy, Pineapple Express…
That fits
in too with what I was saying. I want people to be entertained with
what I do. When I was growing up I lived in art house cinemas —
and did nothing but watch indie films and documentaries. So I have real
respect for things that a) people are going to be see and b) things
that are going to change people. So you have to draw a fine line between
doing things that are commercial and things that people are going to
watch. And you need a mix of the two, so that’s the challenge.
And comedy is very important in that, because often there’s a
lot of social relevance. Sometimes you watch a comedian and you see
what their real job is: it’s a social commentator…
A
bit like Bill Hicks…
Oh my god!
He’s my role model. He was brilliant; I’ve seen everything
he did. When people listen to him they are entertained but they also
learn. And that’s what [Pineapple Express producer] Judd
Apatow did with Knocked Up. He turned unwanted pregnancy into
a comedy and lots of people saw it, and lots of people go the message.
So thank God there are these great comedians who can make you laugh
about serious things.
You’ve
begun your career with some quite interesting films, but would you have
taken more gratuitous roles to help you break into acting?
I would
probably have had better luck being a karate fighter, in these heels,
than being a normal adjusted person in a show like The OC.
I’m not out there desperately trying to be known, I’m not
tottering out of clubs at all hours. I think I’ve maintained a
small piece of my sanity.
According
to the Internet, you’re fairly sporty…
What you
read on there is all a bunch of lies! I’m not a rock climber,
or a golfer. You know, the IMDB is so popular but I can’t get
my stuff removed from there! No one cares! The IMDB don’t care
that what it says is wrong, so I have to waste lots of breath telling
people that I’m not a rock climber! They may as well say I was
Barney in my last life! But I am a horseback rider; they lucked out
on that one. And I am from Texas.
Every
one in Texas rides, right…
Oh yeah
(laughs) It’s like you come from Texas and you get a gun, a bottle,
a horse, then you’re a well-adjusted person! No, seriously, the
IMDB did get a couple of things rights. I do also speak Spanish and
I do know sign language. They did get those right.
Why
did you learn sign language?
I had a
friend when I was a kid who was hearing-impaired, and I wanted to communicate
and learn, so I taught myself from books. I taught myself to talk to
him and other deaf friends.
So
it was a friend you really cared about…
Nah, not
really!
Tell
us an embarrassing moment from your life…
Well with
every scene you watch that I’ve been in, you can be sure that
with every one, at some point, at least half the previous takes would
have been rejected because I would done have something completely stupid.
I am a total klutz. I’m really clumsy. If there’s something
to be broken, I’ll break it. It’s like I have magical powers
that way. It’s like I can break a vase just by looking at it the
wrong way! I also fall all the time, bump into things, trip over.
When
did you last fall over?
I can tell
you that it’s a little embarrassing when you’re doing a
sex scene and you trip over your own feet! On the film The Informers,
there’s a really beautiful scene where I’m dancing, and
it’s so well lit, it’s meant to be really sexy. It’s
a real vanity shot for me. And I think I was wearing just this little
bikini bottom. Take one roles round, everyone’s watching, and
I start dancing over these two boys lying on the floor, and I trip over
the first one of them and land on the second one!
So
your character in The Informers is quite feisty?
Oh yeah!
I play this very sexually abrasive character. It’s going to be
hard to swallow, but that’s why I wanted to do it. It’s
funny, I was a real klutz in that scene, but I probably didn’t
fall over once in Pineapple Express, where it could have actually
been funny!
