INT: Elisha Cuthbert

Last Updated on July 28, 2021

Most
people know Elisha Cuthbert as Kim Bauer, the “daughter in
danger” on TV’s “24”. But she’s been making an
impressive move towards the cinema, with head turning roles in OLD
SCHOOL and THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. This
month she’ll be melting onto screen in the teen horror romp . JoBlo.com was recently invited to talk with
Elisha about her role, and the physical challenges it involved, as
well as her future involvement with “24”. Judging by the
sophistication she exudes, we’ll no doubt be talking about Elisha
for years to come. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s from Canada
! Canucks get much love here at JoBlo.com!

ELISHA
CUTHBERT

You’re
getting quite experienced at getting out of life threatening
situations.

For
me, Kim Bauer was sort of…reactive. Things happen and come about,
and she’s there and sort of experiences them. Where I think Carly
is proactive in the situation and that transition she makeS
throughout the course of the film makes her realize “okay, I have
to do something about this situation or I’m gonna end up like
everybody else.” Which to me was a difference, but I understand
the comparison.

Oh
I more like Carly. I think she has a very determined state of mind.
She’s off to New York
, she wants to be interning at a magazine. She has a lot of goals
and aspires to do a lot of things. I feel that way about myself.
I’ve felt that way since I was very little, trying to convince my
parents to let me move to Los Angeles
and become an actress, and they thought I was nuts. Being the oldest
it was a big deal. So, I think there are a lot of things that tie in
with being driven as a human being. I think Kim is driven too, but I
think there wasn’t a lot of room to play up that sort of idea. I
think with television it’s very quick, you’ve gotta come up with
ideas and stories.

Let
me tell you about the lips, this is actually really interesting. As
much as I would like to do things on my own, and do my own stunts,
and want to be as believable as possible…we had this glue that we
put on the lips, that basically was gonna act like I couldn’t tear
my lips apart and I said “you know what, I’m good, but I’m not
that good.” I can’t simulate my lips pulling apart from one
another. So I said we need real glue, someone get real glue, we’re
gonna really glue these lips together. So they brought it out and
they glued them shut. And for that one sequence where you see my
lips sort of tearing apart from each other was the real deal.
Obviously a blood capsule in my mouth.

But
the actual idea of it was really happening. There was no way to
simulate it. There was no way to simulate having my lips glued
together. I can go “mmmmm” all day long, but I can’t really
make them really tear apart from each other. And I can’t simulate
that they’re stuck without having them really stuck. It was a
little nerve wracking because I felt like I couldn’t convey to the
director or talk to the first A.D….like I’m stuck in this chair
and I’m like “mmmm-mmm”, and you can’t go anywhere but where
you are. So I had to calm myself down a little bit. Especially when
you’re shooting those sequences, because you’re so amped up,
you’re so revved up, and the whole binding in the chair…the
backhand, the whole bit, was two minutes in the movie, but it took
me five days to shoot. So you’re constantly at it, and you’re
constantly there…just get out the glue, we’re doing it!

I
think if you’re really into what you’re doing, there’s sort of
that idea that you just wanna do the best job that you can. When
you’re there you go “how can I make this what it has to be?”
Okay, I can tell them to bring out the glue, or I can tell them not
to bring out the glue…I can understand why there’s some actors
that don’t want to go there. But for me it’s important to convey
the reality of what the situation is.

We
did it a number of times. I think it’s about 4…4 or 5 times.

That
freaks me out more I think, to be perfectly honest. The funny thing
is, when I started PMK, I was like “Okay, I just hit the lottery,
I’m like 14 years old, I’m on a show, this is what I want to do.
Although I’m playing myself, not really, but technically, and I
get to do all these great things.” And then, as each season went
on, I think the more afraid I got. I think, it’s almost the same
as riding a horse, the older you get the more frightened you get
because you’re aware of the dangers and the risks. And I think
that’s what sort of happened to me on that show. But at the same
time those life experiences I think made me who I am today. I think
there’s a lot of things that I’ve gotten to experience or do
that sort of has molded me and my personality.

Are
we going to see you on 24 before the end of the season? I see your
hair’s blonde again.

Ah,
it is. Well, you know, the thing is for me, I think the reason for
getting rid of all the main characters on 24 was to change the idea
of the show, to keep it fresh. It’s such a particular idea, and I
loved being on it. The thing is, there’s been talk, I’m not
gonna lie. We’ve been talking about concepts and ideas for me to
come back. But I don’t wanna come back unless it’s incredible
and amazing and something wild and fun. Because I feel like Kim was
such a character, she portrayed so much on that show. If I come back
I wanna come back in a big way.

Maybe
a one sort of episode event or something, where she kinda comes
back, whether it be a big way or not, just something interesting. I
think that works with television. The show is so high energy and so
exciting as it is, that…she’s been gone for such a long time
that I think it would be important to come back in a great way.

I’ve
TiVoed it, I haven’t had time to watch it.

I
relate that to Joel Surnow working in Canada and working with a lot
of Canadian actors…I think he sort of had all his experience with
LA FEMME NIKITA, I think was based on the Canadian thing, maybe that
had something to do with it. Or it could’ve just been a fluke
coincidence. I know that when it came down to the wire, just going
“I’m Canadian too” sort of was like…wow, that would be
bizarre. But it just so happened that the mother, me, Kiefer, the
cinematographer…a couple of editors, some writers. It was pretty
wild.

Talk
about working with Paris Hilton, who’s not as trained as you, and
hasn’t been doing this as long.

I
think like any other actor, you start to understand their
techniques, their ideas. It doesn’t matter if you get your takes
out in the first four, and the other person goes from four to eight,
doesn’t make them a better or less of an actor than anyone else,
it’s just all about timing, and where they’re comfortable. 24
has trained me to be fairly quick on my feet. But Paris was really
excited about coming out and really trying to make a character out
of what it was. I think you’re only as good as the people you
surround yourself with. I think you wanna work with filmmakers, you
wanna work with great producers like Joel Silver, you wanna work
with great actors, and I think the two of us together…she sort of
stepped her game. I think in this movie…I think she’s really
strong. That whole death sequence happened in the span of two weeks,
whether it takes four or five minutes on screen, this is like a two
week process, that is very grueling and late nights, and she showed
up on time and I think she pulled it off. I think she did a great
job.

What’s
next for you?

Well
I just finished in Austin, Texas, an independent film which I
produced and starred in. Edie Falco is in the film, she plays my
mother and…my character is being molested by her father. So,
it’s very high drama. It’s a very dark, deep movie. It’s about
women going through challenges and changes, and it’s gonna be a
different audience. But it’s important.

No,
it’s gonna be THE QUIET. While we were shooting the film, that
(DOT) was the title. After it being cut together, it just didn’t
feel right, we sort of decided that, when you see the film you’ll
understand why we called it THE QUIET. It made more sense for the
film.

There
always is. I think as a female…every film, there’s questions,
there’s “what should we do here, what should we do there?” But
luckily I think I’ve proven myself with THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, I
think that’s really helped me, I didn’t think it was going to
come into play so many times later. The idea of going… we can make
a teenage sort of comedy, romance comedy, about a boy and a porn
star and not show anything. That was a big task, and a big hurdle
for me. But to bring that onto this film and every film after that
and go “it’s not about that, it’s about entertaining, it’s
about conveying a character, it’s about making a fun movie without
having to go there.” But that’s not to say if somewhere down the
line I feel like if nudity is required, or needed, that it may come
into play. I don’t want to take it out of the loop, or the idea
that it’s possible. But for right now, it just doesn’t make
sense.

They
didn’t really ask me, but you kinda go, the sequence coming out of
the tent, what’s she wearing at night? There’s all these things
that kinda go along with moviemaking.

Her
acting game stepped up, my partying stepped up. Yeah, we went out,
that’s for sure, it’s hard not to. Is the Pope Catholic? She
actually just used that earlier, so I stole it from her.

We
went to a few places in the Gold Coast. There isn’t really much to
do, except shoot the movie and go surfing, and I don’t surf,
because I don’t like the water. But we went out a few nights, we
went out for dinner, and her sister was there and I got to meet
Nicky, and she’s a sweet girl, and Chad had his girlfriend, or
wife now, there, and Jared had his girlfriend, and I had my fiancée.
When you’re thrown into a continent where you know no one and all
of a sudden you’re put into a situation where the crew sort of
becomes your family and the cast become your friends, we kind of
experienced the movie together.

Wasn’t
that an interesting dive? Okay, that was a stunt girl. But a lot of
was me actually. I did the first fall, and that leap, jump, flip
thing was definitely not me.

DRIPS INTO
THEATERS ON MAY 6TH