Heather Graham: From Hell....With Love

Pretty blonde actress Heather Graham is best known for her comic performances. She was Felicity Shagwell in Austin Powers, the dingy "Rollergirl" in Boogie Nights and a desperate actress in Bowfinger opposite Steve Martin. The blonde, blue-eyed actress was a bit more serious although camp as a scientist in Lost in Space. Now, Heather tackles a completely serious dramatic role as a prostitute in 1880's London in the Hughes Brother's film about Jack the Ripper, From Hell. When we interviewed her in Los Angeles recently, she walked into the room where several journalists were gossiping about various actors. Heather was into it right away... "Really? What did he do?, etc..

Teenhollywood: Do you read the gossip columns?

Heather: Sometimes. But sometimes I avoid reading them because I don't want to read anything about myself. But it is fun. Sometimes I find it funny and other times it can bother you.

Teenhollywood: Right now, after Sept. 11th, there seems to be less tolerance for entertainment gossip.

Heather: It is kind of interesting how, if you're in the entertainment industry you sometimes think it's the center of the universe and it's really not. It's not that vitally important. It's good that we're not focused on gossip.

Teenhollywood: What about doing press junkets while the world is turned upside down?

Heather: Oh, yeah, it's bizarre. In a way it's kind of good because even though there's these crazy things in the world and I just want to sit in front of the t.v. , it's like I don't have to be watching that every second. It's too depressing. You get to distract yourself by just trying to do your job and go about your life.

Teenhollywood: As an entertainer, do you feel it's important to say the show must go on?

Heather: Well not in just any circumstance. I thought of that movie Titanic and you know how the violin players are playing the violin (when the ship is sinking)? It's like well, I can't do anything else. I guess I could try to volunteer. I was actually in New York when it happened and I wanted to volunteer but really they weren't accepting any volunteers. It's just a thing I can do so I have to keep doing it.

Teenhollywood: Is this the kind of movie that should be released right now? Very dark and violent.

Heather: Obviously we didn't know what was going to happen when we planned on releasing it. I do think it's a good film so I think there's a place in the world for a good film even if it's not the most timely. I think a lot of the really violent movies are war movies, male-oriented. I don't really enjoy watching violence in films that much although I feel that sometimes it can express things in the story in a powerful way. To me, it's a case by case basis for each movie. Say, a movie like Silence of the Lambs, I didn't like watching the violence in that movie but it was an excellent film that I really liked. I wouldn't say you could never have it in movies but I do think some films are made only to show violence and I don't like those kind of films.

Teenhollywood: Were you ever worried that playing a prostitute could be exploitative?

Heather: When I first heard about the script my agent said "Well, there's this script From Hell. And I was like "It's really bad? Is that what you're saying?" "You're this prostitute who helps Johnny Depp in his investigation." I was like "Prostitute? Oh my God." But when I read the script I just thought it was so well written and the character was really good so I didn't worry about it after that.

Teenhollywood: Did the Hughes brothers (co-directors) make you more comfortable?

Heather: Well, they would just joke around. They took all the girls to dinner one night and they were, "You're our hos." And they just are so funny. They would make so many jokes. We, and the writer, all wanted to make the women have personalities and be human beings so you wouldn't take the murders as lightly as if it was a random person who got killed.

Teenhollywood: This film was shot in Prague. What was it like there?

Heather: It was really fun to be there. It's just a beautiful city. I got to meet a lot of interesting people. (Heather met ex-boyfriend Heath Ledger in Prague while she was on From Hell and he was shooting A Knight's Tale). I had this fantastic Czech assistant named Veronica who was great. There was a great night life. People from different movies (shooting there) would all hang out together. There weren't that many places to go but it was really fun to go out at night. A great time.

Teenhollywood: You only have one costume in this film. Did that get boring for you?

Heather: No. I kind of liked it. I liked my costume. I thought the woman that did the wardrobe was brilliant. I thought it was real. We didn't have money. We wore the same clothes every day. I didn't mind except for the corset. That's constraining.

Teenhollywood: Does wearing a corset like the ladies of that time, help you get in character?

Heather: Well, it's definitely a different feeling to wear a corset. It's good for your posture, actually. The first few days, you feel like you're being squashed. I was, 'I don't care about my vanity or how I look, just loosen the corset'.

Teenhollywood: What makes a period film like this appeal to modern audiences?

Heather: I think that's one of the cool things about the Hughes brothers. They make it raw and intense. It's not just a period movie. It's relatable for a modern audience. This story is interesting and a well-written mystery. The characters are interesting and it's the life and death struggle with these women trying to stop this insane person.

Teenhollywood: Do you like to play characters from other eras?

Heather: You feel like it was harder to be a woman at different times in the past. But the '70's and '60's seem kind of fun and then the flappers and whole hard-boiled era in the '40 was pretty cool.

Teenhollywood: Do you think the women have a thankless job in this movie?

Heather: I hope not. I thought that they chose such good actresses for the parts and they're all kind of vibrant. It is a movie where there's violence against women but I hope the message is one of compassion. The Johnny Depp character is very compassionate. I think at the end you don't find out who Jack the Ripper is and say 'Ooo, he's cool. I want to be like him'. You go, 'Wow. That is a sick and sad person'.

Teenhollywood: How did you get into this character and do the English accent?

Heather: I guess, sometimes you read a book and get into that book. I felt that way about the script. We're these people that are struggling against immense obstacles of poverty and our lives are so difficult. We're trying to survive and suddenly we're being killed by this horrible, mysterious person. I tried to relate to that as any human being could. I worked a lot on (the accent) because I'm not a person who is really easily picking up things. I had this dialogue coach a month before and we spent a lot of time together. I wrote out all my lines phonetically. We just talked in the accent a lot.

Teenhollywood: Did you go out to talk with people and use the accent?

Heather: I went to this fashion show in Italy and I was talking to this English guy and he said "You sound like Oliver." He was giving me a hard time. I decided never to do it again in public for strangers.

Teenhollywood: Since Mary Kelly was a real person, did you study any old records about her?

Heather: There was some material, information about her life but there weren't really pictures of her except for when she was dead! It wasn't like she was some dignitary or royalty getting her picture taken. Even though the script has a lot of accurate details in it, it's obviously fictionalized a little bit.

Teenhollywood: On to your other work. Is your character Felicity Shagwell written out of Austin Powers 3?

Heather: Yeah, I guess. They finished writing the script and I said I wanted to be in it but I didn't want to be blown up, so we'll see what happens. I really like working with them but I think it's the genre of the film. Each film is him falling in love with somebody in the vein of the James Bond movies. In each James Bond movie there has to be the romance with a new woman.

Teenhollywood: If you are "disposed of," how would you like to go in the film?

Heather: I think I should just go off shaggin' somewhere else. I don't think I have to die.

eenhollywood: Do you get a kick out of doing comedy? Does it come naturally for you?

Heather: I know I make my friends laugh but I definitely wouldn't like do stand-up in front of a crowd. But I did another movie called The Guru that's a comedy. It's fun to do but it's great to get a chance to do a drama because I've always wanted to do that.

Teenhollywood: Who is in Guru with you?

Heather: In Guru with me is English guy who is (east) Indian. Jimi Mustry, He was in a movie called East is East and Marisa Tomei is in it. It's about this Indian guy who comes to America to be a movie star and can't get a job so he pretends to be a Guru. I'm this sort of bimboey girl who says all these brilliant things and he steals everything I say and everyone worships him.

Teenhollywood: You're in an erotic thriller. What about starring opposite Joseph Fiennes in Killing Me Softly? Did that get pretty risqué?

Heather: He (director Chen Kaige) handled it more in the vein of a love story about passion two people have for each other. It's more psychological and less sensational I think. When I was there (shooting) that day, it was definitely awkward but when I watched it I felt like the tone was good. It wasn't exploitational.

Teenhollywood: How was working with director Chen Kaige and who do you play in Softly?

Heather: I'm an American living in England and (Kaige) is great. He's a fantastic man. It was very fun working with him. He took the story and made it a lot more interesting than it was.

Teenhollywood: You've been working a lot but do you think it's hard to find good roles?

Heather: I just hired this girl to form a little production company (Beech Tree Productions) to develop interesting female-driven projects for me. There are not a lot of movies about a woman this year. Interesting, well-thought out female roles. We have one period thing that deals with religion and hypocrisy in society but we don't have the rights to it yet.

Teenhollywood: What advice would you give a younger version of yourself?

Heather: I could be a much better person. I don't think I enjoyed my youth as much as I probably could have. I didn't have the confidence that I have now. I made some mistakes in my career but some of those things are there for a reason. When I was younger I had trouble getting the jobs I really wanted. I struggled a lot but it was my attitude of insecurity and doubting myself and not enjoying who I was. I was always hard on myself. Now, I just accept myself more, like myself more and not judge that.

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Interviewer and writer Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.