Urban Legends: Final Cut

Interview With Eva Mendes & Jessica Cauffiel
   (Part 2)

Q : The Final Cut mixes horror with comedy. Why do you believe the two genres work so well together, and what sets Final Cut apart from other horror comedy films?

EM : Well, I think the film doesn't take itself too seriously. And you really can't. It's fun. It's not something that's... I guess it is scary for some people. It's not so much scary for me, but it's just more fun to take a piss at it, to say, oh, God, there's this stupid girl walking into the dark. It just becomes those things that you might feel a little better about yourself after you see them. - - or something. - - I think it's fun.

JC : I think that the extremity of horror as a genre in the first place, being so gory, and so bloody, and so absurd, so extreme, is balanced very well by comedy. Because they're two extremities of genre performance. And I think they're kind of conducive unto each other when the film unfolds. When you've got people being beheaded, and their heart's being cut out, and their intestines being wrapped around a tree, you've got to give the audience some relief or else. I mean, I'm gonna be absurd. So you kind of bring the audience up twist their insides and then you let 'em breathe with the comedy. And I think if they keep balancing each other... because there needs to be a balance. But really, I think that they just function unto each other because they're extremes, and they kind of go hand and hand in order to balance the film. And comedy creates the balance for horror, 'cause it's the antithesis of it, yeah.

Q : Eva, did you study a bit to learn what a boom operator does?

EM : You know, actually, [LAUGHTER] I did, even though I just do it for a very small scene in the movie. I did, I was very close to the boom guy. I asked a lot of questions. I asked him why he boomed. [LAUGHTER] I asked him why do you boom? Why do you - - how do you boom? So, yeah, actually, I did.

Q : Jessica, what advice would have as yourself towards your character regarding her acting style?

JC : What advice as Jessica Caulfield would I give Sandra as an actress? Oh, God. Sandra's problem is that she's trying so utterly hard to be a good actress that she fails. And I think in life and in acting and in anything that is a developed skill that letting to and letting oneself be free to use the cliché to live in the moment is the best way to unfold as an actor. I mean, it's all in there. You're a human being. Before you walk into a room, you don't think, OK, I'm going to talk to him but inside I really want to date him but on the outside I'm gonna act like this. So my motivation is, we don't live like that. So I think a lot of the work done in acting is done before, at home while you study. And then you walk onto the set and you let it go. And you let it come out of you 'cause it's all in there as a human being. So I think Sandra - - as Jessica, I would advise Sandra to just - - honey, let it go and just breathe and have a good time but don't try just be. Thank you.

Q : Eva, you've worked in both television and movies. What are the differences you've found between the two mediums? And do you have any preferences?

EM : Yeah, I guess my preference would be television because of this. I did a part on ER once. And I went in and I had a couple scenes and I was a babysitter, so that means pediatrics, so that means, George Clooney. So anyway - - [LAUGHTER] well, no, 'cause I go in and I get there about six. George gets in about nine - - nine thirty. He does a scene with me. He's out like about noon playing basketball outside and just running around. So that's the kind of life I want. I know he works very hard but that's not what I'm saying. It's just - - it was so luxurious to me. And the thought of just coming in and out. TV is my answer. But I'm not limited to anything, obviously, so.

Q : This is for both of you. What did you take away from this film?

JC : For me it was an incredible experience just because I worked many days on the film and I was in a very small trailer. And the toilet was always broken, so it always smelled like God knows what. And the door wouldn't shut and it was in Toronto and there were these huge blizzards and snowstorms. And I had to huddle in my corner under this blanket with a jacket on in these absurd teeny little outfits, with my broken toilet and slipped down the steps on the ice and I don't know. The blood - - you know, the fear that's inherent in doing a horror film as an actor, you're constantly having to be frightened and it has to be very honest and very real. And I'd never done that before. And so, thirty-eight days of that. I learned a lot about myself as a person as well just because of the emotional physical challenge of it. I learned a lot about film making. I mean, we were all just kind of beginning, so I think for all of us, it was a very good experience to dip our toes into.

EM : Yeah, I just took away literally the experience of it was being on a set and making your - - hitting your mark, those kind of things that I still need to work on as a beginning actress. So just those kinds of things, those great little things that you learn and can't be replaced.

Q : And Jessica, your next project is a horror mystery movie? And you going to stay working in this kind of stuff?

JC : Only horror, that's it. As much blood as possible. No, it just happened. It was very coincidental. - - And everybody keeps asking me this but it just coincidental that these two films came in a row. And I had done Road Trip but the role in that was significantly cut. So I was really counting on that to be like my peer comedy film and then sandwiching that in. But that changed. But that's show business [LAUGHTER] and that's how it works. So I was really excited to work with Jamie Blanks, the director, he's an incredible man. And the producers that found him are all incredible. And this character, they basically allowed me to write and create the character in Valentine. I got to completely change what was in the script. Night and day. I sat down with the writer. And we worked things out. And she's highly comedic, once again, like in Urban Legend. And for me, it was just another opportunity to play a great comedic character. And slasher flicks are very fun. There's blood, guts, and snot, and tears. It's pretty exciting. But I think I'm gonna take a breather now. [LAUGHTER]

Q : Did you both always know you wanted to be actors?

EM : I just decided almost three years ago. And I actually didn't - - growing up in LA, I didn't want anything to do with acting or modeling for that matter. I was just like, no, I will not become one of them. And here I am. But it's been - - it's amazing. It's the most challenging thing ever and I'm having a really great time, you know, meeting those challenges and being challenged so it's so cool.

JC : I came out of the womb with a top hat on. I wanted to be a bionuclear physicist originally but then I stumbled - - yeah, I mean, come on. I have an extraordinary amount of energy. and I always have since I was a child. I put on shows in the living room. I would turn my front yard into a circus 'cause I was a latchkey kid and sell my furniture. And my parents would come home and I'd be wearing an outfit and like pretending it was a circus and selling the furniture. But I've always just had so much energy and the film industry is a crazy challenging, extreme industry, and it's fifteen - - sixteen hours days. I feel that I have the physical capability to - - I like that high pressure life, that high challenged life style. And so I was born actor. I was born in acting.

Q : Do you like scary movies?

EM : I like more psychological thrillers. Kubrick is my favorite. The Shining is my ultimate favorite - - And so I go more towards that than the actual gory stuff.

JC : - - all of 'em, the stupid ones, the sick ones, the brilliant ones, the psychological thrillers that - - they're all entertaining 'cause they all have completely different functions and they give each audience member something different to take away. I mean there's nothing like the guilty pleasure of seeing something like Urban Legends: Final Cut or the first Urban Legend. I mean, it's funny. It's goofy. It's silly. It's scary. It's like candy. It's like simple, easy brain candy. And they all serve their purposes. But I think horror films are great because they scare you as an audience but you get to go home and you're safe. You're all right, so it's a nice way to like frighten you but you know you can crawl into your bed and be safe, so it's like a roller coaster. I think I'm quoting Matt Davis. He said this once. Anyways, yeah. [LAUGHTER]

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