Rose McGowan: B-Movie Queen
By Roxanna Bina
IFQ’s Roxanna Bina sits down with Rose McGowan during the US premiere of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse. In Rodriguez’s Grindhouse: Planet Terror, McGowan plays Cherry Darling, a Texan go-go dancer turned heroine, whose leg is halfway devoured by zombies. The leg is replaced by a machine gun, which allows her to explosively destroy the zombies in this horror-action packed homage to B-grade exploitation, horror and grindhouse films of the ’60s and ’70s. In Tarantino’s Grindhouse: Death Proof, which is a CGI-free car chase film – homage to’70s Vanishing Point, McGowan plays Pam, the blonde at the bar who meets her tragic fate after she accepts a deadly ride from Stuntman Mike. Tarantino’s Death Proof has been selected to screen In Competition in Cannes and McGowan will make her “Cannes debut” in Death Proof.
Known for her past engagement to Marilyn Manson and her list of B-movies: Jawbreaker, Devil in the Flesh, The Doomed Generation, Scream and the hit TV series Charmed, McGowan may have crossed over to A-list with Grindhouse, as it allows her to show her talent while working with the highly respected directors Tarantino and Rodriguez.
McGowan discusses Grindhouse, the machine gun leg, working with Kurt Russell and her upcoming film Black Oasis (which is about B-movie actress Susan Cabot).
IFQ: You must have loved doing Grindhouse.
Rose McGowan: Yeah, for sure. The best thing I’m going to say about this movie, aboutGrindhouse, which is kick-ass and rad, is something someone else said. I think he said it very succinctly when he said he had never laughed anddry-heaved at the same moment.
IFQ: Were you always going to be in both films: Planet Terror and Death Proof?
RM: No. I auditioned for Quentin’s (Death Proof) twice. I had to go back twice while I was shooting Planet Terror. So, no, I did not. It was not a foregone conclusion.
IFQ: Was it fun to do both of the films?
RM: Absolutely. It was definitely a big arc.
IFQ: Since Quentin was on Robert Rodriguez’s set of Planet Terror, did you sort of interact with him? Were you subliminally thinking, “Put me in your movie, too.”
RM: No, God no! Never. No, no, no. I think it was just the same old-fashionedway of somebody making an appointment for you and just going in. Also,Quentin likes me and my acting, so to speak. I would not ever presumeto go up to anybody and ever say anything like that. In fact, I made it ahuge point to never talk about it. He wasn’t even doing auditions or doinganything back then. I think he was still finishing the script.
IFQ: Does Quentin feel that every word is in the script for a reason? Does heagonize over them?
RM: Oh, yeah. He has a very specific cadence, obviously. As long as youcan get that, I think you’re sailing away and you’re just fine.
IFQ: In the Death Proof part of Grindhouse, you’re the girl who has the most interaction with Kurt Russell. What was your rapport like with him on the set?
RM: It was great. What’s interesting, actually, is that it’s almost the way it’s been cut. I have two different roles in Death Proof because Quentin wrote a 130-page script, which is really about two hours. He had totruncate and condense it for this. But once it’s on DVD and then the international release, it will be a lot longer.
IFQ: Does the extended version show more interaction with Kurt, like he’s your boyfriend? Do we know what your relationship is with Jungle Julia?
RM: Oh, there are big scenes about that before I even get to the bar. Then I have a lot more stuff with Kurt, which actually develops his character a lot more.
IFQ: Are there additional scenes with the two of you in the bar?
RM: Yeah. He and I were primarily together the whole time. That was pretty much all of our scenes, in the bar. Other than his stuff out on the porch, it was all he and I – so that will be seen a lot more. But as it is, it’s interesting because right now I’m playing the character as a girl. You’re like, “Don’t go in the woods, you dumbass. You’re gonna get killed by the guy with the ax.” And now I’m playing the “Don’t go in the car, you dumbass,” but once you see the longer version of it, you kind of understand why I’m getting in the car. Currently, you’re like, “What is she doing? What an idiot.” She’s the girl you’re gonna yell at, basically.
IFQ: How did you deal with the missing leg in the Planet Terror part of Grindhouse?
RM: Calisthenics (laughs). No, I had a really heavy gray cast (with LED lights), and it had kind of a ball-bearing in the heel, so if it was, I guess, a table leg or a rifle or a machine gun, you’d have, like, a little nub to rest on. So that was the ball-bearing and my toes were pointed in the air. I thought maybe my Achilles tendon was gonna snap. The other side is a four-inch, high-heeled boot.
IFQ: How did you walk?
RM: Very awkwardly. How did I run like that? How did I jump like that? How did I roll like that?
IFQ: And how did you like flying like that?
RM: That was fun. I love flying.
IFQ: Were you on a crane?
RM: No, I was on a wire. It wasn’t a crane. But it’s funny because I had to run to get up enough speed to be flown over the wall. So, of course I had, like, the four-inch heel.
IFQ: Do you feel Grindhouse is the big film breakthrough that we have beenwaiting for?
RM: No, I don’t really think ahead that much.
IFQ: Grindhouse seems like the one that’s going to put you over the top.
RM: Well, I really hope that drag queens have my leg on next Halloween. If that happens, I’ll be happy.
IFQ: You dream big, don’t you?
RM: That’s my primary focus and hope. I don’t think about things beyond that.
IFQ: Where do you go next?
RM: Well, I go back home (laughs). No. I’m going to do a movie called Black Oasis. It’s very ironic. It’s strange. It’s this B-movie actress named Susan Cabot and she was Wasp Woman in these Roger Corman films. She had a lot of these kind of crazy, crazy movies and Quentin’s seen every single one. It’s written and it’s gonna be directed by the guy who wrote and directed Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Stephan Elliott.
IFQ: Didn’t Susan Cabot end up an alcoholic?
RM: She ended up being killed by her son with numb chucks, of all things. An ignominious death, for sure. Yes. I mean, there’s, you know, kind of reasons, if you will.
IFQ: Even though Stephan did The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, he’s not a drag queen.
RM: He’s not a drag queen, but I’ll be in drag. I get to be in drag because she dies in her early ’50s. She starts going crazier and crazier, just piling on the make-up like crazy. Then, she starts getting kind of crazier.
IFQ: Like Wasp Woman?
RM: She goes into time and thinks she’s Wasp Woman and all these otherthings. So, I’ll be acting in all these other movies.
IFQ: What is it based on? What source?
RM: I think [it’s] just her life story. Probably, an article on her. I mean, I don’t know the actual source material.
IFQ: Is it going to be serious or weird or both?
RM: Probably both, I guess.
IFQ: It sounds pretty serious.
RM: I mean, it’s quite tragic, actually. I mean, this poor little thing.
IFQ: Are you filming it in Australia or here in Los Angeles?
RM: Gosh, I hope not. I love Australia, but that’s a tough haul, man. That’s a really tough trip.
IFQ: When do you start filming?
RM: I’m hoping to start in the next three or four months. It’s really great. The woman who’s producing it is Hilary Shor; she just did Childrenof Men. They’re really on it, so we’re hoping to start. Susan Cabot was about 4’10,” and I’m not, like, super tall, but that’s certainly a lot smaller than me. And she would wear eight-inch platforms, going around with high heels everywhere – such a sad life. She was sure she would be an A-list actor if she were only taller. She became obsessed with that fact. She was engaged to King Hussein, then he found out her real name was Harriet Shapiro; she was Jewish. So he broke up with her. She got pregnant, and all her hopes and dreams pinned on the boy inside of her. She had a boy, and she was like, “He’s gonna be tall, he’s gonna really be tall,” and he was born with dwarfism. So, then she put him through all this experimental treatment, with shock and hormones, trying to make him taller. He got to be about 5’2.” But it was just really a bizarre relationship with them. She had all of the Wasp Woman and other props in her house. So the house was crazy. He became obsessed with Bruce Lee and all these things -hence nunchucks. You know, it’s like, his way of feeling masculine. But he never looked masculine because [of] all the hormones. He looked kind of feminine and odd. And then obviously, he just went crazy because she was very suffocating.
IFQ: Since you left Charmed, you’ve done some cinematic masterpieces like Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia. Were doing the roles in The Black Dahlia and Grindhouse a conscious decision to move away from your TV character or was that just the way it happened?
RM: It’s kind of just the way it happened, you know. I certainly miss everybody on the show. It’s very funny because Quentin is a huge fan of the show.
IFQ: I guess I’m a Charmed geek, too.
RM: Congratulations. Every time I’m on an airplane, I fantasize about being able to orb. I think that would be the best cover.
IFQ: Wouldn’t that be great if you could orb from one coast to the other in a second?
RM: Everyone’s like, “Oh, do you want to fly or have invisibility?” Screw that. I’d rather be able to orb because that’s the best thing ever.
IFQ: Have you missed doing Charmed or was it time for it to be over?
RM: Well, my contract was done, and yes, it was time. It was over and I didn’t want to re-up.
IFQ: How many years were you on the show?
RM: I was on for five and the girls (Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano) were on for eight. The only reason I was on there for five is because I resigned for three more years after I was on for two. Actually, I was told I’d be there for about a year.
IFQ: On some sets, some actresses claim the female leads can’t get along, and on Charmed, one actress (Shannen Doherty) was thrown off the show.
RM: It’s a tisket, a tasket.
IFQ: What does that term mean?
RM: It’s an old-fashioned term, actually, stemming from the 1930s. When you’re with guys, and it’s just you, you’re like, “Oh, enough with the frickin’ testosterone. God, take it down a level.” Especially actors.
IFQ: What was it like working with Holly and Alyssa? Was it easy?
RM: Yeah. Everything has its challenges and they were really close when I went in. But my job isn’t to go and be friends with people. My job is to actually work.
IFQ: Did the three of you end up being sisterly?
RM: We definitely became friends, but not sisterly. People say, “Oh, do you hang out after work?” And I was like, “Duh, I just worked 14 hours a day with them. Do you hang out with people after you work with them 14 hours?” I think not. I hang out with my dogs and occasionally see my friends. Holly just e-mailed me yesterday because I told her she needs to come and visit me with her new baby.
IFQ: Holly keeps popping them out, doesn’t she?
RM: Well, yeah, I guess if you’d like to put it in that pretty way. And, you know, last week I had some problem with my computer, so I wrote Alyssa. I was like, “Do you ever have this problem on your Mac?” She sent back, “No.” OK. So, no. We have just kind of general exchanges.
IFQ: What’s the strangest Charmed fan encounter you’ve ever had?
RM: There was a guy from Germany who built a scale model of the (Halliwell) house with everything in it.
IFQ: He gave it to you?
RM: Yeah.
IFQ: Where did he give it to you and do you still have it?
RM: Well, he wandered onto the set, and I think the prop department took it.
IFQ: Is that a real tattoo on your shoulder? It looks pale.
RM: Yeah, I’m removing it. Very painful. I want my back back! It cost $200 to put on and 12 grand to take off!