missy

People always describe Robin Tunney to me as the sexy one in The Craft. That gets me sometimes because I'm just fascinated by Fairuza Balk. But Tunney is the one who really has broken away from that and done some of the most interesting movies of the past ten years. I just love Cherish and people always rave about Niagara, Niagara and Empire Records. She's also unbelievably sexy. I remember watching her nude scene in End of Days over and over again. But when I interviewed her I spotted her flesh colored panty thing peeking out over her jeans. I guess that's kind of bizarre but how often do I get to talk in person to women I been infatuated with since junior high school.

This movie The In-Laws is really funny. Believe me, I was surprised. Its probably the funniest studio film I've seen since Meet the Parents. The director Andrew Fleming also directed Tunney in The Craft.

Check out the website for The In-Laws.

Daniel Robert Epstein: After The Craft came out [in 1996] you gained a huge Goth following. In this movie you look Goth with the wedding dress and wet mascara. Have you ever met any of your Goth fans?

Robin Tunney: Of course they've all seen The Craft numerous times and they all want to talk about it. I think they're a little disappointed that I'm not that funky. I was bald and pierced in Empire Records [released in 1995] so I think I'm wildly boring to them. I'm really proud to have been in The Craft. I will always be "that chick from The Craft". No matter what I do. I've been trying and I've made like ten other movies. That seems to be the one that stuck with people especially girls. There was one girl from a legitimate university who wrote a dissertation on that film. I thought "Did she see the same movie I was in?"

DRE: When [director] Andrew [Fleming] called you to do this did you agree to it immediately?

RT: Most directors I need to see the script but with if Andy called me up and asked me to come down and hold a light up, I would have to do it because he put me in The Craft when nobody was putting me in nothing. Also we're friends and I think he's a really good filmmaker. You learn a lot of lessons when you're doing this. I've come to the conclusion that a film's success or failure is strictly on the director's shoulders. The director is the most important thing and if you could be a small piece of a large puzzle then it's great rather than be a lead in a turkey. I usually play disenfranchised youth. This part is ocol because she's kind of a fun and a glamorous secret agent. Getting to work with Andy again is great and also it was my idea to have me dressed in a wedding dress at the end as a disguise. There's something remarkable about our friendship. We made The Craft six years ago and I've spent holidays with him. I'm nervous for the movie to come out for him.

DRE: Most of your scenes are with Michael Douglas. What was it like working with him?

RT: I understood immediately how he got that hot wife. He's so charming, larger than life and he makes you feel comfortable. He is just cool, totally relaxed and he's pretty unbelievable and really good looking. Also Andy and I discussed that my character will mention a "boyfriend" to make Michael jealous. It wasn't a lot of acting to have to admire him.

I was really nervous to meet Albert too. I've quoted Lost in America several times. He's a comic genius who appeals to the snootier side of my friends. My friends that are snobs think its cool I did a movie with Albert Brooks. Then on the second day of shooting, he looked over at me and told me that something I did was funny. I was so excited; I called all my friends and told them that Albert Brooks said I was funny. He's got such a big mind. He's so quick and always wants to make it better. The way he works is the polar opposite of Michael's. Albert will analyze every step of the way and he will do the scene all day long if it's needed and Michael is very relaxed. They call action and Michael goes. I think that's why they work well together. The pairing is what makes the movie work. Also I'm very excited to get to be in a movie with a quintessential Albert Brooks moment. I think Albert Brooks excuse for not getting into the hot tub "wet bone" will go down as that.

I'm also attracted to roles where I don't have to wear makeup. Let's face it pulmonary adema in a snowsuit in Vertical Limit [released in 2000] was not a hot look. In The Craft I have on the worst wig known to man because I was still bald. It was nice to have a little glamour now.

DRE: You also wear a red wig in In-Laws. How was that?

RT: I don't know if you noticed but a lot of my performance and my motivation behind the performance was that of getting a hair campaign. I do a lot of hair tosses. Because I had short hair for so long I thought I could show it off. My favorite hair moment is when I pull the red wig and do a big hair sweep. If any other director had asked me to do it I don't think I would have. But I'll do anything for Andy. There's a shirt I wear that's pretty see through. I came on set and I didn't want to wear it and Andy convinced me.

DRE: Did your reverence for Albert Brooks make it tough for you to hit him in the movie?

RT: Albert warned me. We were at the table reading and he came up to me and told me he was uncomfortable. He said "I don't do action. People don't hit me and I don't hit them. I don't like it." I told him I do a lot of action movies. He said "You hear too many stories. People getting hurt." The first few scenes where I do abuse him he was nervous but by the end he got into it. He told the director that he wanted to get kicked again. I felt like I gained his trust.

I felt like I should keep a pen and paper with me so I could write down things he says because they were so clever.

DRE: Do you think you get perceived by the actor they call for the weird type roles?

RT: I thought I was normal in The In-Laws. So it was a stretch. I kind of tend to be drawn to the more aberrant characters. There's more to do with them. In my next movie I'm playing a schoolteacher who's a wife and a mother. It's in a movie called Paparazzi which Mel Gibson is producing for 20th Century Fox. It's myself and Cole Hauser who is so talented. Its also got Dennis Farina and Tom Sizemore.

DRE: Are you against doing nudity in the future?

RT: The last movie I did nudity, Supernova [released in 2000], was one of the most mortifying experiences of my life. My parents call it that movie and they are usually proud of what I do. The original director Walter Hill [director of Wild Bill and 48 Hrs.] is a standup guy who reminds me of someone who would be friends with my dad. It was an unfortunate situation because MGM fired him and they brought on a different director.

But I stripped down for Allure [magazine] last month for still photos. It would have to be a really specific movie for me to do it again. I don't have anything against people doing it but when you feel exploited then you shouldn't do it.

DRE: How do you survive an experience like Supernova?

RT: Pills [laughs]. Just kidding. You just keep on trying. I don't know. It was a legitimate movie with big actors like James Spader and Angela Bassett. It wasn't like I was doing a movie in some motel room in the valley.

DRE: Do you purposely go back and forth between small movies like Cherish and bigger movies like The In-Laws?

RT: Yeah. I do it on purpose and my agents hate it because after I do a big movie I get offered big movies. But I always do the weirdest indie. I'm in The Secret Lives of Dentists which is coming out soon.

DRE: What do you do when a great movie like Cherish doesn't do very well?

RT: It was a huge bomb. But it only cost a million dollars. I felt similarly I did after Niagara, Niagara [released in 1997] came out. After that I went and did big Hollywood movies that I knew people would go see. But people do eventually see something that's quality. Whether they're flipping the channel or they see it on DVD. Movies are getting more and more expensive to distribute. You need to have a lot of money to get people into the theaters and independent film is tricky that way. I feel when someone walks up and says they've seen my smaller films I get a little more out of it because when people see you after an event film they tend to get really odd. But what's the alternative, dinner theatre in Fort Lauderdale?

DRE: What was you're weirdest encounter with a fan?

RT: I was at the gynecologist.

DRE: Nothing good comes out of a story that starts off with that.

RT: [laughs] I was being examined and the assistant doctor told me she loved one of movies. They both started talking to me during the examination. It was the last thing I wanted to talk about. You're spread, you're naked and you're talking about The Craft.


by Daniel Robert Epstein