Rose McGowan plays a go-go dancer who loses her leg in an attack and replaces it with, of course, a machine gun in Planet Terror, Robert Rodriguez' contribution to the Grindhouse movie. McGowan stars as Cherry, a reluctant warrior against zombies who've invaded her small town.
What movies did you watch in order to develop your character?
“Quentin screened a bunch of movies, just for us to see what a grind house was in general. I'm an old movie buff but I kind of stopped around 1962, so those weird ‘70s films I hadn't really seen. He has a screening room so
he played them and they're hilarious. They have missing reels and some of
the film burns from nitrate - they're playing very hot. Like say there's a
sex scene in it, that the projectionist in Ohio like will just cut it out and
take it home. Next day it goes to Iowa and it's like [what happened?] That would just be gone, you know? All sorts of cool things that happen in this movie.
I thought what was particularly brilliant was that those guys were completely mavericks outside of Hollywood. They're doing everything that Hollywood doesn't want to do — kill kids, kill dogs — everything that breaks the sacred rules of moviemaking, essentially. It's awesome that two guys who are within the system, but are such mavericks that they can… Both of them I think could direct movies and throw paint at the wall, and if it's cool, the studio would pay them to make it. So within that their homage is that they're basically taking these outsiders and making them insiders and making people kind of interested in that stuff. It's not a homage in the sense that it's like, ‘We're going to set out and make bad and ridiculous movies.’ An absurdist point of view, but not ridiculous. Someone said it best the other day when they said, ‘I've never laughed and dry heaved at the same moment.’ I thought that should probably be put on the poster.”
Did you have any reservations about playing a character whose leg is replaced with a machine gun?
“I really didn't have any reservations. I thought it was hilarious, but because it was completely absurd. I love the absurd. Kind of absurdist comedy,
absurd things in life, and this was certainly one of them. Robert called me
once. He was struck in traffic while he was writing the script and he said, ‘I
got it. She's going to have a machine gun leg!’ ‘Cool. All right! Fantastic!’”
How did you react when you first saw your leg in the finished film?
“It's really weird because I completely forget that it's CGI. It completely
looks real to me. Next time I see it [I’ll be] watching it more closely. It just looks completely natural to me, which I suppose is bizarre in and of itself. I thought it was pulled off wonderfully.”
Did you have any logical concerns over how the gun was firing?
“No. I squeezed an inner thigh muscle and that's sort of how it went, my
friend. Another useless talent.”
Is it more difficult to create a character in this sort of film than it is in a more normal movie?
“You know, I'm not really one of those people who goes and writes some big
back story and agonizes over characters. I think you kind of can get it. For me
personally, it's just kind of more instinctive. But I don't have kind of an
acting background. I fell into it accidentally. Just kind of did Doom
Generation, my first movie, and I kind of went from there.
I just kind of got her. And, again, when this is played in the long form, there are scenes where Cherry is kind of a loser and crying, and kind of weak in the beginning. There's more of that that's going to be in the longer form. And then she turns and has to rise and stand and save the world. No, it's great. I apparently don't reflect on much. I've been asked that and it’s never occurred to me to think about it. Maybe I should start thinking.”
Were you self-conscious about your go-go dancer outfit?
“No. You have to have a skirt of a certain height or shortness to have the thing on your leg, so that was a practical matter. But in these days when like any girl you're wearing something small…I really don't want to be. I'd rather just be in a big sweatshirt or whatever. You stopped thinking about it. It was so damn hot. It
was like 105 degrees in crazy humidity. The bulk of the shoot was like that. And then the go-go dancer's outfit, I love dancing so I was fine with that. But shooting from all those angles I was like, ‘Ah, dear god, please don't be low and wide.”
What’s the difference between Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s styles of directing?
“Quentin Tarantino is controlled insanity, I would say. He's very loud and fun. I don't think there's anybody on the planet like him that I have ever met. And Robert is very quiet and very focused. I think that's because, one, he's shooting it and then he's editing it in his head, and then goes home at night and edits it. So everyone's very, very quiet and very respectful with all the different things kind of going on. I've never actually been on such a quiet set. At first I kind of freaked out, but then you just completely adapt. So then when I switched over to Quentin, it took me a lot to start talking between takes.”
How was it to film your love scene?
“Well, what was very funny about it, it seemed distinctly unsexy when we were doing it. Robert said, ‘Don't worry, I'll make it super hot.’ And I'm like, ‘Oh, okay.’ It was more like, ‘Okay, just pet her back. Your mouth is open and kiss right here on your shoulder,’ anything that was kind of really outlining my body. There was nobody else there so it wasn't like we were together or anything. I thought, ‘Oh my god, I'll actually put my hand over my dad's eyes when he sees it.’ Robert made it super-hot.”
Were you wearing the cast all through that scene?
“Yeah, that was actually my idea. I thought it would be really funny if my little table leg went up in the air. It got a big laugh. I thought it was quite
amusing. So part of it, yes, I was, and part of it they shot above it.”
