Carla Gugino plays a retired porn star who now uses her experience in the adult film world to teach a course on getting more satisfaction out of sex in Elektra Luxx. The film marks the second time Gugino has gotten to slip into Elektra's sexy skin after having introduced the character in the 2009 indie comedy, Women in Trouble, from writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez. And, if everything goes as planned, she'll be back to complete the proposed trilogy in the near future.
At the LA press day for the Samuel Goldwyn Films release, Gugino talked about the opportunity to further explore Elektra with Elektra Luxx. The R-rated comedy is set to hit theaters on March 11, 2011 and also features Marley Shelton, Malin Akerman, Timothy Olyphant, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Adrianne Palicki.
On what it meant to get to play Elektra again:
Carla Gugino: "You know, it was really sort of like a lovely treat, like dessert or something because I did have such a fun time playing her in Women in Trouble. But because that was our first experiment with this kind of structure, it went so fast, you know? I think it was probably, I don't know, somewhere while we were shooting we realized there was so much more to explore with this character and with these characters, and that was when Sebastian [Gutierrez] sort of suggested that we do a trilogy, because only huge movies do trilogies. And so he was like, 'We;re going to do a tiny trilogy.' So it was really great to get to get into her blonde skin again."
On where the third film will take her character:
Carla Gugino: "If you talk to Sebastian, he probably will tell you something. I do know that Celia will also be a little bit more in the third one, the twin sister."
On playing twins:
Carla Gugino: "That was so much fun. I love that character and I was sort of fascinated about these two women who were twins, who had the same upbringing and went in - their paths diverged, and how that would manifest. I wanted them to still have some similar gestures and facial mannerisms and stuff like that, so that when you saw them they look different but she does that thing with her mouth or her eyes, like you see when you see brothers and sisters."
"It was, on a technical level, bizarre to shoot because we did the close-ups... We locked up one camera and then we had close-ups. We shot Celia first so when I did Celia, I had no one there for Elektra. Sebastian was just reading lines for the monitor. And then I flipped around for Elektra, and I knew I wanted Elektra to respond to certain things that Celia did. So then I had to remember what Celia did in those moments. So it was a bizarre acting exercise, for sure."
On the appeal of Elektra:
Carla Gugino: "What I really just love about her, and I guess that she's an amalgamation of people that I know, which is that after all of this - in Women in Trouble she talks about having had many abortions and slept with so many people and had drug problems and all the things that come in her life, and yet she she still seems to have this sense of innocence. And I really love that, this sort of untouched part of her in the midst of this sordid nature of what her life has been. And, you know, the fact that she was fine being a porn star. She was very successful and she made a choice to do that, and yet that she sees it very differently when she realizes that she's going to have a daughter in her life."
On Sebastian's ability to create female characters:
Carla Gugino: "I think it's very instinctual. He creates great male characters, too. But he was raised by all women, his dad died when he was very young. He's so comfortable around women. If we're having a girls' dinner, it's always like, 'Sebastian can come.' You know, it's like when we get together with the cast and we're all eating or something, normally it would be like the director's elsewhere and the actresses are eating together or something, but that's not the case. I think it's just really that he has a great love of women and a great skill at writing."
The vibes on being on a mostly female set in Elektra Luxx and Sucker Punch:
Carla Gugino: "You know, it's funny because oddly enough similar in terms of those two because they are all extraordinary women on both movies. And I'm good friends with all of them, which is amazing. And it's a hard thing because although Sucker Punch is a huge movie, Zack [Snyder] and Debbie, his wife who is his producer, create such a... I remember when I did Watchmen. When Malin [Akerman] and I did Watchmen together, I remember going to Zack at the end and saying, 'The biggest thing that I think I could thank you guys for is the fact that I felt like I was doing the smallest big movie I've ever done.' It felt like such a family affair. They get the same crew members that they love for every movie, and everyone works so hard. You feel like you're making a little movie. We had lunch together every day; we had dinners every night, so it's like much more of a small movie feel."
On the potential of continuing her relationship with Zack Snyder for Superman: The Man of Steel:
Carla Gugino: "We have not spoken about it, other than the fact that I'm so excited he's doing it, and also David Goyer who I know well and have worked with. I'm so excited they're teaming up for it. I don't know. I would always love to go play with Zack, but we haven't talked about it specifically."
On working with penguins in the upcoming film, Mr. Popper's Penguins:
Carla Gugino: "Some were real, some fake. The penguins are not highly trainable, so they're not like, 'Come here,' and then they come. But you can not not smile when you're around a penguin. It's actually impossible. Jim [Carrey] and I were speaking about it, because we were like, you just are waiting however long you've been waiting for the shot and then all of a sudden the penguins come in and you're like, 'Awwww...' But they were both, they will be some real, some created."
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Elektra Luxx opens on March 11, 2011.
