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Bare _ _ necessmes
Was it the blushes of Showgirls that drove GINA GERSHON to throw punches at Bob Dylan? The star of
This World, Then The Fireworks tells all.
Words. Alan Morrison
lt sounds asliamcdly sexist. but you almost wouldn‘t recognise Gina Gershon with her clothes on. Small and dark-haired with luscious lips. she doesn't really resemble butch dykc ('orky from Bound or the fiery
; redhead she plays in her latest movie. the noirish i thriller This World. Then The Fireworks. And in
today's neatly tailored outfit. she's certainly a long
{ way from the skimpy. glitzy costumes she paraded : around in (and out of) in .S'liou'gir/s.
are the way you were in your
row. I‘m not against nudity.
‘l’cople always think you
last movie] Gershon explains. ‘S/mu'gir/s to Bound to This Il’iu'lt/ — yeah. there‘s a certain edgy quality. they‘re out-there characters. but it just happened that they fell in a
' l'm against exploitation. If
you’re a showgirl. that‘s what you do for a living — have your clothes off. dance. be such a bold character. After doing Showgirls. really taking that leap of faith. I felt like I could do anything.‘
What she did do. of course. was quickly reinstate her acting integrity with low budget thriller Bound. playing lesbian ex-con Corky. ‘Corky was a great role.‘ the 35-year-old remembers. ‘I didn’t focus so much on the sexualin — because sexuality is just a preference. it doesn't make up who you are. Her
’i'm not against :3 :dity, i’m against exploitation. if you're a showgirl, that's what you do for a living - have your clothes off, dance, be such a bold character.’ Gina Gershon
Fatale attraction: Gina Gershon in This World, Then The Fireworks
psychological core came from being in prison for the last five years and being betrayed by her lover. I thought "Wow. I get the money. I get the girl". lt was my first real romantic conquest on film.‘
Now. having played Nicolas Cage’s girlfriend in John Woo‘s hit action movie Face/Off. the Los Angeles native is in a comfortable position in Hollywood. but prefers to split her time between her home city and New York — ‘I guess I‘m officially bi- coastal.‘ she jokes. Her latest big screen outing is as the incestuous. murderous Carol in This World, Then The Firm-mks. based on a story by the king of hard- boiled pulp fiction. Jim Thompson.
‘Probably every actor. at some point. has to get it out of their system. especially women.’ she says of thefi/m noir genre. ‘lt’s so great to put on the clothes and have the hairdos. l really love period pieces and always wish I‘d been born a bit earlier. In the 305 and 40s. there were better roles for women. whether they were dark or light. They're definitely harder to find now.‘
But when they do come along. they often require a radical image change. as Gershon discovered not long ago. ‘After .S‘lmu-gir/s. I had a dancer's body. really long and lean.’ she says. ‘For Corky in Bound. I wanted to look stocky and have a different physicality. so I thought boxing was the fastest way to do that. My trainer said I needed to get in a ring and spar with someone. so I showed up one day and was told. “Okay. this is your sparring partner Bob". And it was Bob Dylan. I'm thinking. “I can‘t hit Bob Dylan!"
The first time he hit me a little bit was on the chin — lightly. but I freaked out and smashed him really hard. And as soon as I did. I was almost in tears apologising. But he was really great. saying. “Hey. I need a good woman to kick my ass every now and
then .
This World, Then The Fireworks opens later in December. See review, page 30.
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Rough cuts
The column that prefers Tinsel Town to tinsel trees.
ECSTASY, GUNS AND BIBLES are a strange mix to face with even the worst hangover, but that's the scenario in California Sunshine, a Scottish-made short film recently nominated for a Scottish BAFTA and due for broadcast on Channel 4 at 12.30am on Thursday 11 December.
Would-be drug dealer Andy (Alastair Mackenzie) is in over his head with the local drugs mama (Barbara Rafferty), and his post- party paranoia leads him to believe that the two nice young men in suits who arrive at his door aren't really there to give him religious pamphlets, but hand out some nasty violence. The film is directed by David Mackenzie, and written and produced by Gillian Berrie. Trainspotting’s Susan Vidler also stars.
SCOTTISH SHORT FILMS continue to lead the way at festivals everywhere. Latest to join the victors is Little Sisters, made as part of this year's Prime Cuts scheme, which took the £30,000 DM Davis Award at the Welsh International Film Festival. The funny, energetic short about rivalry between gangs of schoolboys and schoolgirls was shot in Port Seton using local youngsters. The award now enables director Andy Goddard to make a new short, due to screen at the opening gala of next year’s festival in Aberystwyth.
AS PREDIG’ED IN the last issue of The List, the Scottish BAFTA for Best Short Film was picked up by ’Famespotting' star Lynne Ramsay for Gasman. Other cinema winners on the night were Dame Judi Dench for Mrs Brown and Ewan McGregor for Trainspotting, which also won Best Film in the same week as its television debut screening. McGregor is currently in London shooting Rogue Trader. the story of jailed banker Nick Leeson.
Men in black: Paul Hickey and Gary Lewis in California Sunshine "m xv.» .\ ;
21 Nov—4 Dec 1997 TIIELI3T27