You left the show before it ended and went to college at Tufts, in
Massachusetts. Did you think about quitting acting?
Not really—I was always connected to the business. I came back to L.A.
after a year and a half and auditioned for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
That shook me up in a really good way.
I think that’s when audiences first saw you as a beautiful but very
physical girl. It’s hard to be both.
I’ve always been physical. I have no concept of what life is like
without physical activity.
Are you fearless?
Not completely. But I do like a good fight scene.
In Total Recall, your latest film, out this summer, you have a
girl-on-girl battle royal with Kate Beckinsale. How was that?
Fun—so fun! Our fight scene isn’t overtly sexy: just two trained
fighters who happen to be women kicking the shit out of each other. It
could be two dudes, but we just happened to have long hair and boobs
and…other things [laughs].
Is this your first girl-on-girl action?
Yes. Kate and I usually fight men in movies, and when you knock into a
man, he doesn’t care. But every two seconds, Kate and I were saying,
“I’m so sorry—are you okay?” We were both so nervous about fighting
another woman. Which is strange, because I have no problem fighting with
a guy. In truth, I like doing anything that requires breaking a sweat.
You seem to have a pretty healthy approach to life. Which is
interesting, because in Hollywood, people tend to gravitate toward the
dark rather than the light. No one admits to being healthy.
I know. I think I need to destroy my reputation. This whole I’m
outdoorsy, I’m really healthy—it’s too squeaky-clean [laughs]. That’s
going to be my new thing: Go dark and unhealthy. It’s time to be very,
very bad.
