Interview with Rachael Leigh Cook InZide: Could you talk a little bit about how you got to where you are today? When did you start acting and was it something you always wanted to do? RLC: Whoa, that's a biggie. I started out doing print work in Minneapolis where I'm from when I was young...although I only worked until I was maybe, like ten to twelve or so, just doing print stuff. I was still on file with this agency and they sent me on an audition for a short film. I had gone out for commercials and stuff but I never got any of those. I didn't really know what "acting" was, but I just went in and said the lines, you know, just simple, just said them, and got the part. We shot it that summer of...God what was that...ninety-four...? Seems like ages ago. So Beverly (Rachael's Manager) heard that I had done that, because she was in contact with the agency. She represented some kids who did some theater in Minneapolis. She heard that I had done this film, asked to meet with me, and she met with me and my parents and asked me if I wanted to come out to L.A. and try the whole... "acting" thing. And I said"Yeah, get me out of this snow, it sucks (laughs), I'll give it a shot". I was kind of reserved, and stuff like that, it was kind of strange. But I came out, and I got the first thing I tried out for which was The Baby-sitter's Club. InZide: Oh, cool. RLC: (laughs)...Yeah, you say that like you mean it. InZide: No, no, that was a good movie. RLC: Okay, now I'm a little bit worried about you. InZide: (laughs)...Wait...no I'm thinking of Adventures in Baby-sitting. RLC: OH...no that was Elizabeth Shue, circa 1986 or something... InZide: Yeah, yeah...The Baby-sitter's Club...I can't remember... RLC: (pauses) Adventures in Baby-sitting, that was a good movie. InZide: That's what I was saying...so now you don't have to be so worried about me. RLC: Okay...(continuing from above)...I just kept working from there. I did three studio movies. And then I was like "I'm going to act" and I did like six independents, four of which kind of bit the dust. And then I did She's All That, and a lot of opportunities sort of opened up. I mean you can go to Sundance until the cows come home, but it's like, until something gets bought, until something makes some money.... InZide: So what was it like the day you found out you got the part for She's All That? RLC: Um, it was really exciting. I was out in Santa Monica trying to get reception on my phone, trying to talk to Beverly, and she said "You got it! We don't know when or if it's shooting, like ever, but you got it!" (laughs)...I said "Okay, great!" And then they were in pre-production, and switching around who was going to make it a while, but, it got made. No one knew it was going to do as well as it did. I mean, we made the movie for eight million, and it made sixty-two domestic. InZide: There was something about it. I just remember seeing the previews and thinking, "this looks really interesting." There was something about the way it was, you know, it had a lot of fresh faces. It was almost like American Pie , you had never seen any of the faces, and it looked interesting. It looked a little different than your Can't Hardly Wait terrible teen movie. RLC: (laughs)...Yeah, but there's enough about it that's like so classic, that you know you're going to like it. InZide: Yeah, it was a great movie. So how has your life changed since that movie? You talked about how it opened up a lot of opportunities for you. RLC: It's weird, people know my name, you know, it's bizarre. Or they'll be say-...this is the advantage of the movie being called She's All That, they'll just point at me and go "Hey, she's all that". I'm like "Well, hey!" (laughs). Or "Frying pan girl", which I also answer to. InZide: That's got to be a good, I think a totally great feeling, and then it's almost a nervous feeling. Everyone's watching everything you do. I can't even imagine that kind of pressure. RLC: Yeah. For example, I'm in London and stuff, and I'm out at the club having fun. And then I think, "Wait a minute. What if my mom gets a letter saying 'I saw you...' ". Then I'm like, "Oh shit!" (laughs). InZide: That's true, that's true. That's crazy. What projects have you done since She's All That, and what attracted you to them? RLC: Um, let me see. After She's All That I did Texas Rangers. That was good to do, because you know, it's Miramax. Mi familia, you know. InZide: Can you talk a little bit about each project? RLC: Yeah. Texas Rangers, we shot that up in Calgary. James VanderBeek saves the West with Dylan McDermott. Basically it's about the land battle for Mexico between the U.S. and Mexico. It's like 1800-something...I want to say eighty-six. Yeah, back in the day! I play the daughter of a plantation owner and the captain of the Texas Rangers. They come to our house, a ranch, after a pretty devastating battle. You know, there's some sadness, a love triangle kind of thing going on. I don't know (laughs). It's a good cast. Tom Skerritt's in it, Ashton Kutcher who's really great. Yeah, it was really fun to do. After that, I did one called Blow Dry. I'm an aspiring hair colorist, and the daughter of a hairdresser, and sort of like his unwilling hair model. Raymond Robertson of Raymond Robertson Hair Studios, South London. He's the consummate professional hairdresser. He's played by Bill Nighy of Still Crazy, did you see that movie? It's an awesome movie shot in England about this rock band that gets back together called Strange Fruit. He's really good and he plays my dad. Great cast again. Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson, Rachel Griffiths, Josh Hartnett...I'm missing somebody...Hugh Bonneville. Um, it was really fun. It's about the Year 2000 British National hair dressing competition. InZide: Oh my God. RLC: (laughs). I know, it's hilarious. It's from the writer of The Full Monty. The director Paddy Breathnach did a movie called I Went Down about two years ago. It was really fun. I love London. It was the most fun I've had on a shoot. It was just nice to go out and have a good time. I'm not sure when that's coming out , but it should be cool. InZide: And then, is there a movie called Never Better? RLC: That is what Blow Dry used to be called, now it's just Blow Dry. I wish it was still called Never Better! (laughs). InZide: That's an interesting title change. RLC: (whispers) Yeah (laughs). They wanted to go with something more theme specific. Now I'm working on a film called Get Carter, which is very cool. It's going to be excellent. It's very gritty, it just rocks. InZide: You're actually working on it now? RLC: Yeah. I just had four days off, so I came to L.A. because I'm sick of the rain. It's with Sylvester Stallone, it's a remake of a British cult classic with Michael Caine that was made in 1971. And, basically it's about this guy who's estranged from his brother for about ten years or so. His brother dies, and he goes back for the funeral. This guy, he's sort of a shylock type, a bit of a hired gun...I don't know, his line is, "people make promises, it's my job to make sure they keep them." So he goes back, and something's kind of strange about the way his brother died. He starts looking into it, something's up. And you find out that it had something to do with his daughter. Something he found out about her, and some stuff that she got sort of unwittingly involved in. Bad scene. I don't want to give away too much, but he goes in, this sort of hardened guy befriends this young girl. It's sort of about how they change each other's lives after that, like me and my mom and him, and how he changes...I don't know... InZide: What's it like working with Sylvester Stallone? RLC: Sly is cool. He's really cool. He has these two little dogs, Jack and Jill, that go everywhere with him. I think he's trying to get rid of Jill. I don't know, they're really cute. They're both boys. InZide: Isn't that weird, to grow up and watch the Rocky's, and then all of a sudden be doing a movie...I just can't imagine. RLC: I saw Rocky for the first time the other week and it's my new favorite movie. Everyone see it if you haven't. It's the ultimate underdog movie. I also saw Oscar, and Stop or My Mom Will Shoot a couple of years ago, but that's it (laughs). I know, I'm waiting for the moment that he pisses me off, so I can go "Stop, or my mom will shoot!" (laughs). InZide: So, Beverly tells me that you're brilliant and amazing when it comes to looking at a script. So I'm curious as to what you particularly look for in reading a script. I've asked a bunch of executives as to what they look for, and I know it's got to be different from an actor or actresses point of view. RLC: Well, just in terms of me, I try not to take rolls that are...I don't want to say out of my range, but in a way...(pauses) ...ah, I take that back. Sometimes it just clicks with you. You read the lines and you hear your voice saying that in your head simultaneously as you're reading it. And, if the script doesn't come back at you that time, you know, maybe that just means it's going to be harder work, but more often that just means it's not quite right. InZide: Now in most of the scripts you read, is there a specific part for you? Like when you read it, you know that this is that part you'd be interested in, or is it pretty open? RLC: Well, sometimes it just says "girl 15", you know, or "a girl, 16". Well not anymore, oh God, I'm 20. But "girl", 18, 19, 20 to 22. But sometimes it's not specific like that, and there will be three of them. So then I've just got to pick the one I like best and hope I get that part. If they say, "we see you more as that one" then I read that and think about it. But just in terms of picking what is a good script, you've got to think...I don't know...is this story worth telling? I mean, just in the simplest terms. You know, is it good at being whatever it is. It's like, not everything is Citizen Kane, that'd even be boring. It has to be different, even if it's just really broad comedy, like silly silly silly. You know, if it's good at being that, be that. If it's a drama, be a good drama. Don't be anything...halfway. InZide: So on average, how many scripts do you read a week? RLC: On a good week? I've been pretty bad. Um...(pauses)...maybe four or five. And that's averaging out, I can read up to ten a week. InZide: So what is the process that is taken for that script to end up your hands? Is it recommended by Beverly, or your agent, or both? RLC: A lot of them come unsolicited, you know. Or I don't know, even from "John Doe in Idaho". InZide: So they're trying to get you attached? RLC: Yeah. I don't know if that's going to help, but they send them here and I read them. You just see. I mean, there's some gems out there. Everything comes from somewhere. But usually I get them from Beverly or from my agent. Mostly from Beverly. Sometimes she'll have read them, sometimes not, sometimes Leslie (VP of Development for Strong/Morrone Entertainment) will have. InZide: So there usually is a little bit of a screening process? RLC: A little bit. See, you never know though. Sometimes they could hate something and I could love it, or the opposite of that. InZide: Can you discuss the difference, as an actress, between your agent and your manager? Like what are their different roles in your life? RLC: A manager is the person you call when the car doesn't show up to take you to the airport. And they get you scripts. They get you scripts first and foremost. Your agent is good for stuff like uh...you know, agencies represent writers too. So they'll say, "our writer has this." You know, so they'll hand a script in from that. Lots of actors just have agents, so you could just have that. InZide: Can you survive with just a manager? RLC: Yeah! Oh definitely, especially if it's a good one, like Beverly. InZide: You have an agent too though, right? RLC: Yeah I do. Sometimes I'm a lot of work, and I don't mean that in a high maintenance kind of way (laughs). I travel a lot and there's deals to be made...there's just a lot of "stuff". And there's so, so many scripts out there, and I don't want to miss one good one of them. So that's why it's good to have an agent too. You know, if Beverly happens to miss something, which she usually doesn't. But if she does, you know, Beverly can't be bothered with doing my deal. That's for my lawyer and that's for my agent to handle mostly. Beverly's more like the person who finds out what they came in with the offer with and then says, "Okay, let's risk it, let's pass. We'll see if they come back." You know, stuff like that. And I'll say, "I don't know, I kind of want to do this." And she's like, "Well how do you feel?" An agent might be more like, "Here's what it is, you want to do it?" It's a bit broader. A manager's just a lot more personal. InZide: Do you have anything beyond Get Carter that you're excited about? RLC: Yeah, I've got two things that I'm looking at now for next year but aren't quite locked up. Can't really tell you what they are, but yeah, it's going to be a good year. The first thing I'm doing is a project with Tim Robbins and Ryan Phillipe called Anti-Trust. InZide: Okay, cool. Finally, from an actor's perspective, is there any advice that you could offer an up and coming screenwriter trying to make a name for him or herself? RLC: A screenwriter? (Long pause). Tell whatever story you want to tell. Don't try to go with the times. Don't write an alien movie just because alien movies are popular. I don't know, think about the movies that you love, the movies that you understand best, and do something like that. Because if it's what you love, then it'll come through. Like I love The Breakfast Club. If I was going to write a movie, it'd probably be something like that. You know what I mean? InZide: Yeah, that's very good advice. Cool. Thank you so much. RLC: No problem!