Interview: Elizabeth Banks for “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”
Thanks to a nonstop work schedule of closely a year and some mysterious release date maneuvers, the fall season belongs to Elizabeth Banks. The trifecta began with a nuanced turn as First Lady Laura Bush in Oliver Stone’s galvanizing W., and it closes with the McLovin’ equipped Role Models. But the part that could make her a household name is the smart, compassionate, and adorably easy Miri “Stinky” Linky in Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
Aside from her unexpectedly profane sense of humor (in Seth Rogen’s opinion, one of her most admirable traits), it’s her commitment that has been earning raves from directors and co-stars. From the freakiest freak in the local bookstore to the wife of the leader of the free world, there’s an investment of time and craft that’s flipped one-note bit parts into golden “movie trailer” moments. Usually character actors have a rough transition into leading roles, but not Banks. According to director Kevin Smith she’s the best kept secret in Hollywood. To reiterate, she’s in three separate movies in the span of a month. It’s safe to say the secret is out.
Here’s what she told Screencrave about her co-star’s appearance, re-evaluating audience priorities, and her ideal castmates for the hypothetical Elizabeth Banks sex tape.
Out of all the names one would immediately assume could work a crowd (Kevin Smith has found a second career doing just that) Elizabeth Banks can get you eating out of her palm inside of five minutes. Not with the usual brand of filling-your-shoes-with-drool hypnosis, as a google search reveals she can take a cheesecake shot with the best of them. It’s her manner. She’s a hassler, a smart-ass, instantly identifiable as every big brother’s worst nightmare: a little sister that talks trash better than you and all your friends.
“Miri is very close to me. I grew up similarly to Miri, in a duplex in a working-class town in Massachusetts where it’s freezing in the winter. Her actual circumstance, and I grew up poor, made total sense to me.” She mentioned off-hand, explaining why the lead in an outwardly controversial project initially drew her in. Even though she’d seen rough times herself, porn was never an option on the table.
“No, I’m very good at making money. I’ve been making money since I was eleven-and-a-half years old working at the Catholic youth center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. I’ve been in dire straits but for [Zack and Miri] there are other ways for them to get out of their circumstances, clearly, but sometimes it is that outrageous solution that you really feel is going to invest your life with zest. They were looking for something more than getting out of their financial problems. They were looking for a purpose to their life.”
One could almost forget that she’s talking about sex on camera, but after her first read of the script she knew it went way beyond the salacious promise of the word porno.
“I really responded to the romance in it, I think Kevin is a giant romantic, he likes to wrap the romance in profanity, but he loves the ladies. It was that opportunity, frankly, to play a really well written authentic, funny woman opposite an authentically funny leading man, which is very rare, in an honest and equal two-hander. I think every actress in Hollywood is look for that right now.” Sensing that perhaps her definition of romance may be slightly skewed given her special love for low-brow, Banks elaborated.
“There’s enough raunch in the movie, and I think, we set out to make a really funny movie. That was the number one goal and the secondary goal was to have a great love story, we wanted to make a romantic comedy in the best sense of those two words. And you have to undercut the romance. Anytime the story got really emotional we would undercut it with something outrageous. And that’s why it’s funny. The humor is based-in that push-pull. If it were all emotional it’d be The Notebook and if it were all porn it’d be like a bad Adam Sandler movie. It’s the combination that makes [Zack and Miri] special.” A particular example has already been circulating around the Internet for months, the soon-to-be-infamous “crap shoot.”
“I have to say when I read the shit scene, I thought ‘pfft! They are REALLY not going to get to do this.’ Then when I saw it cut together I thought it was so amazing it had to be in the movie. When we were going through the ratings process it was very possible that it was going to get cut and I became an ardent fan of that moment. I really felt it had to exist.” Co-star Seth Rogen (check out our previous interview) hinted at the difficulties Zack and Miri had sneaking around the box-office cockblock of an NC-17 rating. Banks was a little less diplomatic, frustrated by the MPAA and certain outspoken individuals trying to pick a fight over the title.
” They could have shown my face, but only my face,” she shakes her head at the mention of the stick figure print work, ” I think it’s pretty ridiculous. I think there are much bigger problems in this world right now than the word ‘porno.’ I don’t get it. I grew up in a family where my parents sat us down in front of the Nova: Miracle of Life video when I was nine, so I was well-versed in where babies came from.” Banks scoffed, calling out an extraordinarily frank PBS special on the ins-and-outs of human reproduction. Sex is everywhere, even on the same channel as Sesame Street.
“The dad who has a problem because his son is like ‘what’s porno, daddy?’ I’d have a bigger problem if my kid was like, ‘what’s Rwandan genocide, mommy?’ I’m wondering if that dad lets his kid watch MTV or play videogames or anything else that’s so sexualized these days.” she said, which brings us back to sex.
“I was prepared to shoot [the love scene] naked with the understanding that my bits and parts would be covered mostly by, um, SETH. I wasn’t really worried about it. Kevin had always told us that ninety percent of the scene would [on our expressions], so we knew he was gonna try to focus the moment on our emotions and not on anything physical. We also wanted a juxtaposition between the porn scenes and lovemaking. It really shows the difference between the two. It’s really about that moment when we leave the door, when Seth comes in, to getting onto the beans and what we were gonna do. Then Kevin says two-days before, he had this epiphany, like ‘yeah, I don’t want you guys to take your clothes off.’ I think he was gonna be more uncomfortable with us being naked around him then [Seth and I] being uncomfortable.” she let slip with a wide-grin, clearly in the habit of roasting the guys out of ear shot. She was also quick to pay tribute to the experience of having Rogen in the lead.
“We have great chemistry. We really wanted that to be on-screen the whole time, to present a realistic couple from the get-go who didn’t know how to be romantically involved.” Rogen provided a few key components for that instant history.
“He makes me laugh. We have all the elements that go into a good relationship. We totally trust each other, we believe we make each other look good, and I adore him on a lot of levels and I respect him immensely. I think he’s really talented and he’s nice enough to say the same thing about me. “ In her opinion, Rogen’s not only fun to work with but shining example of an important shift in Hollywood casting habits.
“Yeah, he’s terrible looking,” she deadpanned, “I like looking at beefcake just like anybody, but I don’t like my actual mate to be better looking than me. I think Seth represents the Everyguy. He’s very soft, romantic and sweet and funny and the biggest turn-on for me is someone who makes me laugh. I think that’s why that he’s the sex symbol he’s become.” Banks declared, with a noticeable absence of irony. There’s no better example of what she means than the stilted patter between Zack and Miri prior to getting down.
“It’s really fun to do bad acting. You just imitate a bunch of…” she paused, noting the tape recorder, “I’m kidding, we didn’t think of anyone else. We just knew we didn’t want to be good at it. That was the main thing. We really wanted to be amateurs who were uncomfortable and awkward with each other and with the idea of it. Everyone’s been in that situation, any woman who’s had a kid was like ‘yeah, I think it’d be a great idea to have a baby’ and then you fucking get to that day where you’re pushing that thing out going ‘what the FUCK was I thinking??’ Or anyone who’s like ‘I’m goin’ on this rollercoaster’ and then you get in line still like ‘I’m gonna do this!’ And then you get in that seat ‘ goddamnit I should have thought a little bit harder about this.’ That was that moment [for Zack and Miri] where we’re talking the talk and suddenly we’ve gotta walk the walk.”
Banks is delighted with the work they did. Unfortunately for Rogen, on her list of ideal porno co-stars he ranks third. The top choices?
“Brad Pitt…And Angelina.”
Zack and Miri Make a Porno is in theatres now.
