Urban Legends: Final Cut

Interview With Eva Mendes & Jessica Cauffiel

Q : Jessica, it must of been great fun playing such an over the top actress. Did you model your character on anyone in particular?

JC : I think that Sandra harkens back to these old days of Lucille Ball physical comedy and the humor found in extremity. Because Sandra's work is very joyous and energetic, but it just misses the mark, so kind of, you know, reminiscent of Gilda Radneresque, Lucille Ballesque comedic skits. That's kind of what angle I was going for, loveable but ridiculous.

Q : Jessica, you also starred in Road Trip earlier this year. Do you have a preference for the kind of film you like to act in?

JC : Only horror. [LAUGHTER] No, I just - - it all depends ultimately on the character. And I think that's where the choices I've made have come from, are the differentiations in character and the depth in which it can be played. And ultimately, probably, I favor comedy, just because of the joy it brings me. And there's nothing like making people laugh, so I would say probably comedy.

Q : This is for both of you. When you read a script, do you know immediately that it's something you want to do?

EM : Pretty much. I always go to my pages first, 'cause you have to read these certain pages for an audition. So I go to mine first, and I then know. By that material, I know pretty much if I respond to it or not. But I also stop reading once my character dies. So [LAUGHTER] that's another thing I do. I didn't finish this script. Oh, my God. I'm out of it.

JC : Yeah, I think you automatically as an actor get a feel immediately on whether the genre is right, or the characters feel right, or the story itself has some kind of depth or an energy to it that you are attracted to. And you kind of know off the bat within the first couple scenes, I'd say, or you're sides as an actor. You go to your - - and you like your side, then you'll read the rest of the script. [LAUGHTER] But if you don't like the character, errrr, garbage.

Q : Eva, describe your character, Vanessa.

EM : She's gay. [LAUGHTER] That's Vanessa. She's in film school. She's got a crush on Amy, the lead character and basically always hoping to convert Amy. And that's pretty much it. She stays in a situation - - in an uncomfortable situation because of the fact that she likes person and this girl. So she's a smart girl, yet she stays in a situation that gets her into trouble.

Q : Jessica, you just recently wrapped a production on another horror film, Valentine. How did it differ from your work on the Final Cut, and are you interested in doing more horror?

JC : [LAUGHTER] I think Valentine was an incredible experience for me, because it was a completely different project. And it just happened to be, you know, horror. I like to call it a psychological thriller, because it's a little different. It's an older age range and the story unfolds much differently than Urban Legend, so it has a different feel to it, a little more of a suspense feel. And the character Lilly Valentine is the antithesis of Sandra, in the sense that she's quick. She's witty. She's very intelligent. She's very rye. She does have an amazing sense of humor. So I would say the similarity between the two roles is only that it - - I ended being the comic relief in kind of both of the films.

EM : But how's her cleavage? [LAUGHTER] 'Cause Sandra's cleavage was out of control.

JC : Yeah, Sandra had very nice cleavage, and Lilly is a little more refined. She's sarcastic and Sandra's dumb. But working with Jamie Blanks, who coincidentally directed the first Urban Legend, has been this kind of incestuous family that I've become a part of, these two Urban Legend films. And it differs very greatly from Urban Legend. And it's a very exciting and very unique film. And the character is why I chose Valentine. It was all about the character, because she was very different than the things I've done before. And I think people are gonna dig it. [LAUGHTER] It's gonna be a super fly movie.

Q : You're both obviously very beautiful. Did you do any modeling before acting?

EM : I did some, but it's a whole 'nother career and profession. And I've basically only been acting for almost three years. I changed my whole life around. I was doing marketing, going to school. I was normal. And now I've become an actress, my God. And so anyway, at first I did a little modeling, but I stopped right away, 'cause I thought, well, it's acting or modeling. It's not both, and I chose the latter - - or I chose acting, [LAUGHTER] I think. Yeah, that's what I'm doing, right?

JC : Yeah, thespian. You may have seen me in the Kmart, Woolworth's catalogs [LAUGHTER] modeling underwear [LAUGHTER] Big briefs. No, I've never done any modeling. I've never considered myself any kind of an attractive woman. I'm a comedian. And first and foremost, that's how I think of myself. So modeling, if I've ever done any print work, I've done print work. It's been like the angry girl in the coffee shop for like an electrical company or really absurd things like that girl on the phone or her bed talking to her best friend with the pick fuzzy slippers. But I've never been a sex symbol until now, until Urban Legend.

Q : What did you like most about this film?

JC : Jessica. [LAUGHTER] It was a great group of people to work with. The favorite part for me, the greatest thing about being able to play Sandra was doing the films within the film, where she utterly is making a mockery of every... I got to make fun of every actress and all the idiosyncrasies of every actress that's come and gone and done horror films, so the double - - you know, the double irony within that. And I had full freedom, John gave me complete freedom to be as absurd and as physically monstrous, which I'm very capable of, as possible. So that was very funny for me. I actually peed my pants one of the takes we do a movie within a movie. And Jennie peed her pants, and I peed my pants. You'll never know that but a lot of freedom, and that was the best part. And Eva was always very supportive, and kind, and hot. [LAUGHTER]

EM : I like Toronto. I love Canadians. That was my first time ever staying in a city in Canada. And I stayed there for there months. And I love you guys, a really nice town - - people, so it was such - - it - -

JC : Canadians are good people.

EM : Yeah, very good - - in a very comfortable way.

Go to Part 2