Those lips! Gina Gershon in person is 80,000 times as sexy as she is in her best films! It was an honor and privilege to get to talk to her in person while she is doing the press tour for her new documentary series, Rocked With Gina Gershon.
Last year the movie, Prey for Rock & Roll, was released, produced by and starring Gina Gershon along with co-star Drea de Matteo. It was the life story of Cheri Lovedog, founder of the LA punk band Lovedog. To promote the movie, Gershon teamed up with the indie rock band Girls Against Boys to tour around the US playing various venues such as Joe's Pub in NYC and House of Blues in Los Angeles. Along the way a camera crew and Gershon herself videotaped nearly every aspect of the tour and cut it down to air on the Independent Film Channel.
Gershon has always been a mystery to even her most hardcore fans so this documentary series will be very highly anticipated.
Check out the website for Rocked With Gina Gershon.
Daniel Robert Epstein: You almost drowned as a child going after a starfish. Is that a metaphor for your career?
Gina Gershon: Wow were really jumping right into it. I hope its not a metaphor for my career or else my sister would have to come in and save me.
DRE: It seems like many of the fans who came to see you play music were more interested in your lips.
GG: [laughs] That was the San Francisco crowd but I was just glad people just showed up. I kept thinking, what if no one showed up and Im only playing to three people. It ended up being really crowded all the time.
DRE: What made you pick Girls Against Boys as the band to tour with?
GG: I wanted an established band as opposed to getting single musicians because we only had two weeks to rehearse so at least if they knew how to play together that would be a plus. Also this style of music is kind of a little punky and a little hardcore so theyre great at that. I really thought they were smart and interesting and I thought I could live in a bus with them for three weeks.
DRE: How many other musicians did meet with?
GG: I talked to three other bands and a lot of individual people. In my head I always thought if I went on tour then I would put together different friends of mine in kind of a select band. But when you only have two weeks, dealing with peoples schedules is so crazy. So theyre great guys and when I look back at the documentary I couldnt have cast a better group of guys because they all have such great personalities and theyre so cute. Actually everyone from my assistant to my tour manager to Cleo my cat was perfectly cast.
DRE: Did your cat go on tour with you?
GG: For the record I didnt take Cleo on the road. I took Cleo from New York to LA and she stayed there.
DRE: Did she stay with a friend or something?
GG: He has a nanny.
DRE: Youve been quoted as saying, You program your dreams to help you with your film roles and your career. Did you still do that?
GG: Not for the tour because I was on auto pilot. When I use dreams its for a character, its to try and figure out what someone is thinking. When Im playing music its my music, so its already my subconscious mind. Its already what Im thinking, Im not playing a character, I was lucky just to sleep let alone dream,
DRE: So is it you or a character when youre on stage?
GG: Its pretty much me, I dont know think about what Im doing. I just think about singing the song and playing.
DRE: Were you one of those teenagers that pretended to be a rock star?
GG: No I got into music in a couple different ways. I always liked music and a lot of my family members are involved in music. So to get into my brothers room with his groovy friends I learned how to play Stairway to Heaven because I thought, This will get me in, because that was what they were listening to.
DRE: Were you ever in a band?
GG: I sang in one band called Fellow Johnson when I was 15. They needed a singer so I did a couple clubs with them. I was more into musical theatre, dance troupes and stuff. So I really put aside the music for awhile but people who wanted to do a record with me kept coming to me and I kept saying no. Then all of a sudden I started singing again and I was really into it. Then doing Prey for Rock & Roll was a way for me to start playing guitar again. Although Ive never played electric guitar because I wanted to be a country singer.
DRE: What was the tour like?
GG: I like playing live. I used a lot of my songs on the tour which were written when I was in rock and roll mode. I knew what kind of tour it would be because I had to promote the movie but I knew all the songs wouldnt translate live. So we played my rock songs and I stuck in a couple of my slower songs in there.
DRE: Most actors shy away from showing their private life. Why was it important to do this documentary series?
GG: When people found out I was going on tour, I had three or four companies that came to me and said they wanted to do a reality TV show and I said theres no fucking way. Then Seth Jarrett, who is my producing partner, was very persistent. He knows Im really private, in fact anything that you read about my personal life in the press, is probably a lie. But when IFC approached us, I knew I needed more money for the tour and I shoot a lot of video myself so I was going to film the tour anyway.
IFC said I could do whatever I want and clearly I dont want to do a reality show. So I said Id want to do a kind of video documentary where the audience isnt going to see my personal life, not going to see fights backstage and were not going to see anyone being humiliated. Im not into that.
DRE: Were there no fights?
GG: Of course there were but I cut it out. We got along pretty well but there were certain moments where I didnt want people to feel bad. I wanted it to be more like a home movie that Im letting people watch. But there were definitely moments when I was like Ok the camera is going away now.
DRE: Was there a point on the tour where you felt you had crossed the threshold from an actress to feeling like a rock star?
GG: The first few times we played a couple songs that are so personal to me that singing them in front of people freaked me out a little bit. But as it went on, it would emotionally affect me and then at other times I was really trying to figure out how to make it all sound good. So sometimes I was in and sometimes I was out.
DRE: What do you think of being a lesbian icon? Do you think in a former life you were Alice B. Toklas?
GG: I think Gloria Steinem, yeah that would be a good one. I think its cool.
DRE: Who would be the perfect mate for you?
GG: I just met Eddie Izzard the other day; I realized hes probably the perfect guy for me. Hes a straight guy but hes a lesbian. Hes an action transvestite.
DRE: Its kind of interesting that you have this TV series, a movie and the cartoons. How did all that happen?
GG: I dont know. Im doing a lot of different things which is kind of fun. I have to say I really enjoyed this process of making this documentary show. I love documentaries and Ive never actually been so involved in the editing. We didnt really have a director because we decided to do it ourselves. It was just me, the editor and Seth. I really actually love putting things together and putting music to it. Thats probably what Ive enjoyed. Im also really proud of being the new Catwoman on the new WB Batman. Thats really fun.
DRE: Was your part on Curb Your Enthusiasm your first Jewish character?
GG: It is. Isnt that funny? I was like Mom Im finally playing that nice Jewish girl you always wanted me to play.
DRE: Are you going home for Passover?
GG: Im going to go to my brothers house.
DRE: So with doing this series you hope to encourage other people to take risks?
GG: Yeah, thats what I liked about the message from Prey for Rock & Roll. Its basically; at what point do you give up what you love to do just because you havent made it. The worst thing that can happen is that you can completely humiliate yourself then you can just move to another country [laughs].
DRE: You do independent films like Prey then also studio films like Face/Off. Which parts do you like better?
GG: I like whatever I like. I would love to do a big studio movie, just because theyre going to put the money into distributing it. A lot of times you do these little movies, you love them and they never get seen by anyone.
DRE: How do you look back on working with the Wachowski brothers on Bound?
GG: I thought they were brilliant from the second I met them but they literally didnt talk. I was doing Showgirls at the time so I read the script and I thought they were great writers. See you have to understand when Bound was released, Boys dont Cry wasnt out yet. Therefore it was very taboo to play a lesbian. My agent told me You cant do this part, itll ruin your career. and Im looking at it like this is a great script. I loved the part, because girls never get to play the typical guy parts. So many of my favorite movies have guys in them like Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and Robert Mitchum and girls dont get parts like they did.
Anyway when I meet talented directors I get really giggly to the point of it being really ridiculous so thats how I knew I respected them. I kept asking them questions about how they were going to shoot this and that and their answers were so great. Finally they said, You have to do our movie because you we cant sit in the room with other actresses for more than 15 minutes. They really were painfully shy.
DRE: Have you gotten more into music as a result of this?
GG: Ive always been interested in music and Ive always liked musicians. I rediscovered Patti Smith, The Pretenders, Television, The Sex Pistols and The Clash. It was a great excuse to watch music videos and to listen to music all day long. I discovered The Distillers. Brody [Dalle] is great. The White Stripes had just started coming out when I was doing the thing and I was like Cant we make it sound like that?
DRE: What would you say is the most profound thing youve learned from this experience?
GG: Its Why not? Thats been my whole philosophy, ever since starting the movie, Prey for Rock & Roll, Id never produced something but I wanted to get this done, so I thought why not. Why not do a soundtrack, why not do a documentary and why not do all these new things that Ive never done. I think people stop themselves from doing the things they want to do. I just think you never know how long youre going to be around so you might as well do the things that are intriguing and at the end of the day nobody really cares anyway so you have to do what makes you happy.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Last year the movie, Prey for Rock & Roll, was released, produced by and starring Gina Gershon along with co-star Drea de Matteo. It was the life story of Cheri Lovedog, founder of the LA punk band Lovedog. To promote the movie, Gershon teamed up with the indie rock band Girls Against Boys to tour around the US playing various venues such as Joe's Pub in NYC and House of Blues in Los Angeles. Along the way a camera crew and Gershon herself videotaped nearly every aspect of the tour and cut it down to air on the Independent Film Channel.
Gershon has always been a mystery to even her most hardcore fans so this documentary series will be very highly anticipated.
Check out the website for Rocked With Gina Gershon.
Daniel Robert Epstein: You almost drowned as a child going after a starfish. Is that a metaphor for your career?
Gina Gershon: Wow were really jumping right into it. I hope its not a metaphor for my career or else my sister would have to come in and save me.
DRE: It seems like many of the fans who came to see you play music were more interested in your lips.
GG: [laughs] That was the San Francisco crowd but I was just glad people just showed up. I kept thinking, what if no one showed up and Im only playing to three people. It ended up being really crowded all the time.
DRE: What made you pick Girls Against Boys as the band to tour with?
GG: I wanted an established band as opposed to getting single musicians because we only had two weeks to rehearse so at least if they knew how to play together that would be a plus. Also this style of music is kind of a little punky and a little hardcore so theyre great at that. I really thought they were smart and interesting and I thought I could live in a bus with them for three weeks.
DRE: How many other musicians did meet with?
GG: I talked to three other bands and a lot of individual people. In my head I always thought if I went on tour then I would put together different friends of mine in kind of a select band. But when you only have two weeks, dealing with peoples schedules is so crazy. So theyre great guys and when I look back at the documentary I couldnt have cast a better group of guys because they all have such great personalities and theyre so cute. Actually everyone from my assistant to my tour manager to Cleo my cat was perfectly cast.
DRE: Did your cat go on tour with you?
GG: For the record I didnt take Cleo on the road. I took Cleo from New York to LA and she stayed there.
DRE: Did she stay with a friend or something?
GG: He has a nanny.
DRE: Youve been quoted as saying, You program your dreams to help you with your film roles and your career. Did you still do that?
GG: Not for the tour because I was on auto pilot. When I use dreams its for a character, its to try and figure out what someone is thinking. When Im playing music its my music, so its already my subconscious mind. Its already what Im thinking, Im not playing a character, I was lucky just to sleep let alone dream,
DRE: So is it you or a character when youre on stage?
GG: Its pretty much me, I dont know think about what Im doing. I just think about singing the song and playing.
DRE: Were you one of those teenagers that pretended to be a rock star?
GG: No I got into music in a couple different ways. I always liked music and a lot of my family members are involved in music. So to get into my brothers room with his groovy friends I learned how to play Stairway to Heaven because I thought, This will get me in, because that was what they were listening to.
DRE: Were you ever in a band?
GG: I sang in one band called Fellow Johnson when I was 15. They needed a singer so I did a couple clubs with them. I was more into musical theatre, dance troupes and stuff. So I really put aside the music for awhile but people who wanted to do a record with me kept coming to me and I kept saying no. Then all of a sudden I started singing again and I was really into it. Then doing Prey for Rock & Roll was a way for me to start playing guitar again. Although Ive never played electric guitar because I wanted to be a country singer.
DRE: What was the tour like?
GG: I like playing live. I used a lot of my songs on the tour which were written when I was in rock and roll mode. I knew what kind of tour it would be because I had to promote the movie but I knew all the songs wouldnt translate live. So we played my rock songs and I stuck in a couple of my slower songs in there.
DRE: Most actors shy away from showing their private life. Why was it important to do this documentary series?
GG: When people found out I was going on tour, I had three or four companies that came to me and said they wanted to do a reality TV show and I said theres no fucking way. Then Seth Jarrett, who is my producing partner, was very persistent. He knows Im really private, in fact anything that you read about my personal life in the press, is probably a lie. But when IFC approached us, I knew I needed more money for the tour and I shoot a lot of video myself so I was going to film the tour anyway.
IFC said I could do whatever I want and clearly I dont want to do a reality show. So I said Id want to do a kind of video documentary where the audience isnt going to see my personal life, not going to see fights backstage and were not going to see anyone being humiliated. Im not into that.
DRE: Were there no fights?
GG: Of course there were but I cut it out. We got along pretty well but there were certain moments where I didnt want people to feel bad. I wanted it to be more like a home movie that Im letting people watch. But there were definitely moments when I was like Ok the camera is going away now.
DRE: Was there a point on the tour where you felt you had crossed the threshold from an actress to feeling like a rock star?
GG: The first few times we played a couple songs that are so personal to me that singing them in front of people freaked me out a little bit. But as it went on, it would emotionally affect me and then at other times I was really trying to figure out how to make it all sound good. So sometimes I was in and sometimes I was out.
DRE: What do you think of being a lesbian icon? Do you think in a former life you were Alice B. Toklas?
GG: I think Gloria Steinem, yeah that would be a good one. I think its cool.
DRE: Who would be the perfect mate for you?
GG: I just met Eddie Izzard the other day; I realized hes probably the perfect guy for me. Hes a straight guy but hes a lesbian. Hes an action transvestite.
DRE: Its kind of interesting that you have this TV series, a movie and the cartoons. How did all that happen?
GG: I dont know. Im doing a lot of different things which is kind of fun. I have to say I really enjoyed this process of making this documentary show. I love documentaries and Ive never actually been so involved in the editing. We didnt really have a director because we decided to do it ourselves. It was just me, the editor and Seth. I really actually love putting things together and putting music to it. Thats probably what Ive enjoyed. Im also really proud of being the new Catwoman on the new WB Batman. Thats really fun.
DRE: Was your part on Curb Your Enthusiasm your first Jewish character?
GG: It is. Isnt that funny? I was like Mom Im finally playing that nice Jewish girl you always wanted me to play.
DRE: Are you going home for Passover?
GG: Im going to go to my brothers house.
DRE: So with doing this series you hope to encourage other people to take risks?
GG: Yeah, thats what I liked about the message from Prey for Rock & Roll. Its basically; at what point do you give up what you love to do just because you havent made it. The worst thing that can happen is that you can completely humiliate yourself then you can just move to another country [laughs].
DRE: You do independent films like Prey then also studio films like Face/Off. Which parts do you like better?
GG: I like whatever I like. I would love to do a big studio movie, just because theyre going to put the money into distributing it. A lot of times you do these little movies, you love them and they never get seen by anyone.
DRE: How do you look back on working with the Wachowski brothers on Bound?
GG: I thought they were brilliant from the second I met them but they literally didnt talk. I was doing Showgirls at the time so I read the script and I thought they were great writers. See you have to understand when Bound was released, Boys dont Cry wasnt out yet. Therefore it was very taboo to play a lesbian. My agent told me You cant do this part, itll ruin your career. and Im looking at it like this is a great script. I loved the part, because girls never get to play the typical guy parts. So many of my favorite movies have guys in them like Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and Robert Mitchum and girls dont get parts like they did.
Anyway when I meet talented directors I get really giggly to the point of it being really ridiculous so thats how I knew I respected them. I kept asking them questions about how they were going to shoot this and that and their answers were so great. Finally they said, You have to do our movie because you we cant sit in the room with other actresses for more than 15 minutes. They really were painfully shy.
DRE: Have you gotten more into music as a result of this?
GG: Ive always been interested in music and Ive always liked musicians. I rediscovered Patti Smith, The Pretenders, Television, The Sex Pistols and The Clash. It was a great excuse to watch music videos and to listen to music all day long. I discovered The Distillers. Brody [Dalle] is great. The White Stripes had just started coming out when I was doing the thing and I was like Cant we make it sound like that?
DRE: What would you say is the most profound thing youve learned from this experience?
GG: Its Why not? Thats been my whole philosophy, ever since starting the movie, Prey for Rock & Roll, Id never produced something but I wanted to get this done, so I thought why not. Why not do a soundtrack, why not do a documentary and why not do all these new things that Ive never done. I think people stop themselves from doing the things they want to do. I just think you never know how long youre going to be around so you might as well do the things that are intriguing and at the end of the day nobody really cares anyway so you have to do what makes you happy.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
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lovee gina!!