Prime Cuts: Shannon Elizabeth

ALL, DARK, BEAUTIFUL, DAFFY: That’s probably how actress Shannon Elizabeth would like you to think of her. Glamorous? That’s another story.

See, in real life, the gorgeous Waco, Texas-born woman with the elegantly athletic figure is a tomboyish sort who’d rather horse around with dogs and be respected for her acting skills than get dolled up in Dolce dresses. She’d rather hang around the house – alone, now that she and husband Joe Reitman are splitting – than head off to a party. Heck, she didn’t even like being a model.

Though she’s won her biggest success (and best reviews) as the bareassed, sexpot foreign-exchange student, Nadia, in American Pie and its sequel, Elizabeth has turned in solid performances (even when the movies didn’t deserve such dedication) in fright-nighty films Thir13en Ghosts, Cursed and their comic correlative, Scary Movie. There’s also been smartly comedic fare like Love Actually and Jay and Silent Bob Fight Back. Clearly, Elizabeth will not be mere lust fodder. She doesn’t even like wearing makeup.

Weirdly enough, it’s Jay and Silent Bob that offers the most insight into Elizabeth. She played a nerdy, dippy jewel thief looking to somehow serve a better, common good. Perhaps that’s why she’s gone to the dogs with her charity sideline, Animal Avengers, an organization dedicated to saving and placing animals of all stripes. Perhaps that’s also why her role in the upcoming indie dramedy The Kid & I seems so solid; because she gets to dress down and be semi-serious as a stepmom to Eric Gores, a real-life cerebral palsy victim (playing himself).

Then again, the other side of Elizabeth – the goofy, slapstick-happy side – can be seen in her role in Cuts, the UPN series going into its second season. Here, Elizabeth, as a bratty, monied honey, seems to take the piss out of the wealthy and famous; eating the rich by tripping over herself nightly.

It is on the set of Cuts that I find her – a bit tired but nonetheless cheery.

Your voice is a little raspy. Is everything hunky-dory?

SHANNON ELIZABETH: Yeah … No. I’m tired (laughs). It’s been a lot of racing around between being away, and presenting at the Teen Choice Awards, then pulling a few back-to-back, 12-hour shifts on Cuts’ filming and rehearsal.

What’s the most grueling aspect of spending all day at the Teen Choice Awards?

SE: Oh, it’s not bad. You just do the red carpet, receive press backstage, rehearse a little – you know, the skit you have to prepare. Then you just hang in the bag, go through the gifting room and meet the vendors. You have to meet the vendors. It’s great. Just a long day.

Do you love the red carpet, or do you regard it as an obligation of being in the biz?

SE: I wouldn’t say I love it. But I definitely don’t hate it (laughs). It’s something you have to do.

So, you’re filming season two of Cuts, playing the bratty rich thing with a big heart, for weekly TV. But I remember reading once that you’d never want to do television because it was too tedious and you’re a restless sort. Why the change?

SE: I never meant it to be about a TV series. I was really talking about a nine-to-five job. That, I couldn’t do. And this isn’t really a nine-to-five job, either.

It’s really 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. – or worse.

SE: Yes. This isn’t a desk job where you have to do the same thing with the same people every day. This show, along with the different scripts, has pretty much a different director and vibe.

Is that your dog barking?

SE: It is.

Which reminds me, you’re all about an animal planet, what with your Animal Avengers. What’s up with that?

SE: I’m a huge animal lover. A situation came about where I had to rescue a dog for a friend. And I did. Then immediately after that, another case came up where this lady started looking for donations to help this one dog that she had found who was in a lot of trouble. And I did that. Suddenly, it became about more than one dog – it became about how to help lots of dogs. [It’s about] how I can do more with what I am and what I do now – you know, having access to all this press and the opportunity to raise funds. We’ve been doing this since 2001. I just wanted to rescue animals of all sorts. But we started small, like with dogs. Now, we’ve got cats too. One day, we’re hoping to build a sanctuary where all sorts of animals can live and be safe and happy.

What was it like when all 5’ 10” of you moved from Waco to pursue modeling in Manhattan? Did you like modeling?

SE: No. I hated it. But I wanted to act. And I knew that, once presented with the opportunity to model, opportunities would open themselves up; that there’d be crossover with commercial work and magazines and all. I figured so many of the same actors, directors and producers would be around. So it was a stepping stone.

What was so loathsome?

SE: That I just wasn’t any good at it (laughs). Modeling wasn’t actually that bad. I just never had fun with it.

Maybe because you had your mind so much on actual acting. Who did you look up to acting-wise?

SE: Michelle Pfeiffer. Because she’s very talented and she came from a similar background as me, and I like the way she is marketed – the way she handles the press, her self-image. I like the way she handles herself and her home life; a well-rounded person whose choices in projects are carefully picked. I’d say the same thing about Gary Oldman. He’s a talented actor that picks diverse roles, and you don’t hear a lot of controversy around him. Or her. Both of them do their jobs exceedingly well.

They go to work. Do their thing. Is that what obsessed you?

SHANNON ELIZABETH: Yeah. It’s really important – if you want to have a long career – to not get stereotyped in one role or typecast as one thing. So from the very beginning, I worked super-hard to find as many different things and diverse roles as I could. Sometimes you can. Sometimes you can’t. But it’s important to try – to pick different genres, be different people.

So what genre was American Pie? Did you really strive to make your part more than a T&A moment?

SE: It’s funny; that was just an audition like any other. I was just happy to have a job. What I was trying to do, once I got the part, was just not embarrass myself (laughs) with my first studio film. I wanted to be funny, not horrible. I really was excited to be in a big studio film, even though we didn’t think it was a big movie. Or going to be one.

What was the first hint of how big Pie would be?

SE: The premiere at Universal’s City Walk. It was so enormous, with so many people – even celebrities that had nothing to do with the movie were there, and they sought me out! That crowd made each of us feel like stars. And we weren’t.

Yeah, but aren’t you glad that you didn’t do American Pie 3, since it was pretty awful?

SE: (laughs) It wasn’t like that!

Any qualms about doing the sex or nudity in Pie? Or now?

SE: There always is. I always think about it. But every project – you evaluate them as they come.

You’ve apparently become quite the gambler after doing Celebrity Poker Showdown.

SE: I am. I had to learn to play to do the show. It was a challenge. But once I got in, I got hooked. Now I play all the time, mostly in Vegas, in a lot of tournaments. They’re mostly charity showdowns. But I don’t kid around; I play as often as I can.

What’s the best non-monetary perk that fame has brought?

SE: It’s given me a stronger voice for my charity, definitely.

What’s been the worst aspect?

SE: The loss of privacy.

Is it fair to say that’s doubled since your recent breakup with your husband? Is it hard to be publicly married, then publicly unmarried?

SE: It is. It makes the whole thing hard. It’s so much better to keep your private life as private as possible. But it’s different when you’re both public figures, like he and I are.

Your character on Cuts – chatty, bitchy, urbane – is way silly, sort of a nowish Lucille Ball.

SE: Yes. That’s where I’d love to take the character. I like Cuts’ live audience. And the producers are letting me do so much of what I want, especially in terms of physical comedy. There’s not enough of that on television. Plus, the show itself allows me to be home a lot with my dogs on weekends.

Did The Kid & I, the film you just finished, provide the same giving/getting environment?

SE: Tom [Arnold – yes, that one] wrote this amazing project. Very art-imitatinglife – his neighbors wanting a project for their son, Eric, and bringing Arnold his story and his mental disability and how he’s dreaming to be in the movies. Tom ran with it, told the story of a writer who gets a big break doing the same thing. And everybody fell in love with this child, Eric.

Would you say that this your most mature project or role – a mom?

SE: I don’t know. “Mature” sounds so …

Mature. I know. I guess there’s something about the part that seems very personal.

Shannon Elizabeth: The character in The Kid & I probably is the closest thing to the real me. I play a caring woman. I’m a tomboy. Someone who doesn’t like to dress up too much or wear makeup. Even when I do red-carpet stuff and have to get all dressed up. I don’t like it. It isn’t me. I’m not like those women who do like getting all dressy. I like jeans and T-shirts and staying home and doing nothing and watching TV. I’m not like all those characters I play. Totally the opposite.