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SARAH
MICHELLE GELLAR is leaving Buffy behind to take on some college chaps in Harvard
Man. Read on as the golden maned goddess talks sex, drugs and big
screen exploits!
Entertainment
Tonight: How do you feel about the art of cheerleading?
Sarah Michelle
Gellar:
Well, I'm playing a basketball cheerleader and basketball cheerleading is
much more about rousing the crowd than anything else. I was expecting
them to want us to show off all the cheer moves, but they just wanted the
basic defense and offense cheers.
ET: Are
you a cheerleader yourself?
Sarah: No! (Laughs)
ET: Why
do you say that? I was a cheerleader myself!
Sarah: It just doesn't
really work with my personality! I don't like those little skirts or
the pom-poms. I don't even like the word "pom-poms"!
ET:
Let's talk about the premise of this film.
Sarah: There's a bunch
of different stories working all at once. 'Harvard Man' is this guy Alan
Jensen, played by Adrian Grenier, who is a basketball player from Kansas who
plays for the Harvard team. His family's home is destroyed in a
tornado and he needs $100,000 to bail them out. My character, Cindy,
is his girlfriend and daughter of the most powerful Mafia boss on the East
coast. Cindy offers him a deal that he can't pass up, which is to
throw a game for $100,000. She'll make a huge bet on it, make a
fortune, and then she'll pay him off. But there are many subplots
going on at the same time, which include love, sex and drugs. This
movie is the story of what happens when you are trying to find yourself, and
to what length you'll go to find your true peace.
ET:
Let's talk about your appeal to this movie. I know James Toback has a
reputation for having a really gritty approach to films.
Sarah: James was
actually the real reason that I wanted to do this film. The project
actually came around for me because I had a desire to meet James. I
was a huge fan of Two Girls and a Guy, and Black and White,
and Exposed. I said to my agents, "I'm a big fan of
James! I'd love to meet him!" I didn't think that he would
even know who I was, but it turned out that he did. Then, we had this
wonderful meeting where we started talking about Harvard Man, and
these ideas of searching for life and where you find your happiness and
peace. I'm spoiled in that I do a great show nine months out of the
year; I have a wonderful character. It has to be something very
interesting in order for me to want to do something else. It has to
push me as an actress and an individual.
ET: What
have you learned? How have you been pushed as an individual?
Sarah: We shot this
entire movie in 20 days. I have only been here for about 10. I
go home and do Buffy for a week. Then, I fly back on the
weekend and do Harvard Man. I am doing both. James is
very fast. There are no retakes. That has been an incredible
amount of pressure for every actor. Everyone has to be right on.
I did most of my work in the first four days in production. It was
incredible stress.
ET: You
don't have time to think about it.
Sarah: Which is
good. I can't over think anything.
ET: We
talked a lot about the ratings of his last films. Could you see that
this movie could cross into their ratings since there are a lot of drugs and
sex in this film?
Sarah: It is a hard call
especially since I loved Black and White and Two Girls and a Guy.
I think they were important movies. My initial response to the
question is no. With my character there is no NC-17 anything.
You never know though. The rating board is so finicky.
ET: Do
you think it will surprise your fans to see you play a role like this?
Sarah: Well, there are
two different kinds of fans, fans of Buffy and there are fans of me.
Hopefully, the fans that are fans of me will want to see me do something
else. I think I have a little more confidence after Cruel
Intentions. People that like James Toback pieces are going to like
it, and people that don't are going to be offended anyway.
ET: How
would you describe your character?
Sarah: I would describe
Cindy as being spoiled. I think that she grew up in a family where she
was an only child. Her father wanted a son. She feels all this
pressure to prove to him that she can be the son that he never had.
She can run the family business. Of course our biggest mistakes come
when we feel too confident. That is basically her biggest
problem. I think she is also looking for a good time. She likes
her and Alan's partnership. I don't think she is in love by any means.
ET: Is
she as deliciously wicked as your character in Cruel Intentions?
Sarah: "Delicously
wicked" really describes Kathryn. Cindy is harder. She is
more confident and ambitious. She is the bad ambitious. I think
that is best way to describe her.
ET: I
love women's roles that are like that.
Sarah: I think they are
very important. Part of the reason my show spoils me is because she is
such a vivid three-dimensional character. I think that though we are
moving forward in films, women are still portrayed as the girlfriend or the
wife. I don't want to do that.
ET:
Let's talk about Adrian. He has a very complex character.
Sarah: Yes. He
does. He has been doing the job wonderfully. It is funny because
this cast is all kind of "old home week." I have known Eric
Stolz for 15 years. The first time I worked with him, I was
eight. I have known Rebecca Gayheart for 10 years, as well.
ET: This
is a unique experience for you working with James especially since you
pursued this with your agency.
Sarah: Yes. James
Toback is very free to work with. If you have suggestions, he is
really ready to hear them. You see his movies and they really push the
envelope, but he does not push you. He waits to see how far you will
go. He stops where you are comfortable. It is very
interesting. I think that scene in Two Guys and a Girl with Robert
Downey Jr. and Heather Graham is one of the sexiest scenes ever, yet you
don't see anything. People talk about him. He leaves it to your
imagination. That is why his films are so risqué.
ET: It
is nice because he is respecting the audience in that way.
Sarah: Well, my
imagination might be different than yours. Rather than making us see
what he thinks is sexy, we get to decide.
ET: Do
you have any steamy love scenes in this movie?
Sarah: I had two.
One was on my first day. It was 110 degrees and it was so hot.
The scene is in the woods. It was like, "Hey Adrian. It is
nice to meet you. Now, let's have sex!" The entire crew was
watching and I didn't know anyone. It was quite an experience.
It took a few takes to make us more comfortable. I was fully clothed,
though.
ET: On
your very first day?
Sarah: Well, I think a
lot of producers think that it breaks the ice. It does especially if
you don't have a lot of rehearsal time. For movies like this, we don't
have that rehearsal time. The best thing to do is to just jump
in. This is the best way to do it because then everything else is a
piece a cake!
Click here
for the ET Online website and hear Sarah discussing the film's risqué plot. Back
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