The Wild Magazine : Shannyn Sossamon
Actress Shannyn Sossamon referred to her photo shoot by Eliot Lee Hazel as : “Batty, like nutty, but not the word nytty cause its overused.” Batty seems to be a constant unconscious reflection of Sossamon’s aura graved on celluloid and snapshots. Her next film is Monte Hellman’s uber enigmatic “Road to Nowhere”, recently presented at the Venice Film Festival. You surely remember her effortless smile from films like “A Knight’s Tale,” “40 days and 40 nights,” “The Rules of Attraction” (cast down smiles?) an “Wristcutters” (even if her caracter couldn’t smile in this one). We had a nice chat on a Sunday afternoon, where I inadvertently caught her in the process of cleaning up the mess left by her seven-year-old son and his friend.
Even though you’re a mom, you’ve still had a pretty steady work flow through the years.
Yeah, but it’s not the same with people that are super busy doing four of five huge studio films a year; it’s time consuming. I think with me it’s been like I’ve done a lot of smaller parts in things, and I’ve done appearances in two different TV shows, so that’s kinda light. Last year I did a major lead again, and I guess “Wriscutters” was a pretty major lead too. For the Monte Hellman film, I actually had to leave my kid with his dad to spend the whole summer in North Carolina, Italy and London. So I have had work in spurts, that’s correct but I still feels like I’ve been home a lot as well.
You just came back from Venice having been at the festival promoting the Monte Hellman film, can you give me a small recap of what the festival was like for you?
It was incredible, I’d only been to Sundance once with “Wristcutters” a couple of years ago. I’d never been to a festival like that one, it was incredible. They love film so much there, so it felt romantic, how they put everything on; they just do it right. It felt like this big spectacle in a great way, like there was a magic in the air, even when you had to do press photo kinda things. It didn’t feel grueling, it felt magical. One, it’s Venice, and two, Marco, who puts the festival on, takes pride in it. He would stand on every single red carpet with his hands proudly clasped. As the director of the festival, you can see how much passion he puts into it. It was a wonderful experience.
How were the parties in Venice? Where they anything like the Martini commercial you shot with George Clooney?
(laughs) You’re funny. No, not really. You know, I was not at that many parties, but there were a lot wonderful dinners. I liked that. I didn’t go to many parties. I don’t think there are that many in Venice, I don’t think it’s quite like that.
Tell me about the Monte Hellman film, cause I consider myself a pretty good Googler and I still haven’t found much info on it, other that the synopsis and a really short trailer. It seems like the project has been kept a little “hush, hush.”
It is being kept like that because Monte is so passionate about the film being experience from the beginning to end, and that’s the only way it can be watched. It’s not really plot driven, although there is a complex plot in there. It is an experience, it’s an atmospheric film. But it is also a strange experience and it’s best for people to just dive in and that’s it.
It seems to me that it has this sort of David Lynch quality to it.
Yeah, people have been saying that, and I think that’s true because they’re operating from the same place, it’s kind of letting the film reveal itself to you. And you feel comfortable in that unknown space cause you know that you are 100% trusting in your imagination, in your subconscious mind, in your instincts, and sometimes when you trust those there is an unknown. It does become quite mysterious and atmospheric, so in that way there are similarities for sure, I think they have different subconscious minds though not much much different.
How did you prepare yourself for this film?
I had one thing I needed to do, Monte felt it was very important for my character to remain still, and by still I mean still, you know I’m very expressive with my hands, got a bit of a neurotic personality, my hands fly all over the place when I talk, and I’m looking at all kinds of directions… It’s not even that that wouldn’t have worked for her, I don’t think. When I read the script I didn’t think “oh, I’m gonna have to do that.” When I saw the film I got why he wanted me to be that way. I had to prepare for that, I had to do a lot of yoga, had a really clean diet, I didn’t drink any alcohol while we were shooting, not even a glass of wine at night because anything that altered my nervous system I knew would **** it up. That was the only thing I had to prepare for, and the rest was just my instincts.
And what can you tell me about the character that you play?
She is very mysterious, it was important to Monte that she were incredibly mysterious so I didn’t ever try to play any one color too much. He doesn’t want you to know what,s going on in her mind cause that kinda would just ruin the film in a way. And then the other lead character, which is a film director, he kinda has the same thing going on a little bit, the two leads are both very mysterious, which is what makes it kinda interesting. She is an actress in the film, but sometimes you even question that, she is dangerous in a quiet way.
You have a tendency to play darker roles, or be in thrillers and horror movies. Is there any particular appeal or comfort that you find in those roles?
No, my first film was A Knight’s Tale, that what so strange about it, and then 40 days and 40 nights, and they weren’t slapstick or anything but they were lighter. And then it just kinda took this turne, and I’m not surprised, I know why it did because I know myself now well enough, I’m aware of the more intense colors. It doesn’t surprise me at all but it wasn’t something that I was consciously attracted to, I think it’s just where it went. At that time in my life I went through darker things, maybe that’s why that kind of work was coming to me. I would love to do comedy, it just has to be the right topic. And it’ll happen. I mean most of my friends and family that know me, they don’t understand my work, they just don’t think that I’ve ever done anything close to experiencing me in real life. So they think I’m watering myself down in a lot of the work, which I agree with them. Probably it was just people seeing or sensing an intensity in me and so that’s why that material came.
Any particular brand of comedy that you would like to do ?
I like, obviously, Woody Allen. It’s that kind of character comedy, subtle. That’s what I like. I don’t like Legally Blonde, and such… If it doesn’t make me laugh, I’m not gonna be able to do it.
I read and interview you did a few years ago where they ask you to choose between being a Bond girl and doing a really great indie film, and you said you’d choose the Bond girl because of the exposure. Do you still feel the same way ?
Oh, that’s awesome. I wonder what interview that was and I wonder how I really really said it. Well it depends on the role, if it was an independent film that I feel like I had seen before, then I might make that business decision. And Bond girls are pretty crappy example. I think that interviewer was referring to something with more visibility, something more commercial and mainstream, a little more vanilla. But you don’t have to make a Bond girl so vanilla, you can do something interesting, which I’d try to do if I were to play a Bond girl. Yeah, I might still event make that business decision now, but sometimes the better business is the independent film with this meaty role that you’ve never done, where the script is incredible, the director is incredible… But you know I get a lot of independent film offers and I turn them down because there’s no money, and it costs me to be away from my son. And two, because I don’t feel like there’s anything original about it, independent film just does not equal original. It’s like deep down it really wants to be a big budget romantic comedy, or it really wants to be like Se7en, you can just smell it in them. You’re trying to make this because it wasn’t able to get sold in a bigger way. And I’ve done a couple of those too, and I learned the hard way.
You are immersed in other art form as well, where are you with your art projects?
I just directed a music video, and I made a lot of art videos for myself, so it was very interesting to do something that I knew was going to be seen a lot, and had to present it proudly, and it kinda kicked my *** a little bit, like “hurry up with this.” I think in between films I’m gonna start directing music videos and commercials. One, for my enjoyment, and it’s kinda like film school, I get to learn. It will also pay the bills we all need to pay, and then I won’t have to do jobs that I don’t like, cause it just hurts my heart too much when I do. And if it’s nothing I would ever watch, I just don’t wanna do that anymore.
I’ve seen your videos and you seem to have a very keen sense of aesthetics and some of them involve dance.
I love dance. I want to incorporate it somehow in my life, so it does not go away. At that time in my life I kept having these dreams, and these feelings of this weird world, these little characters blipped in this little black box. You don’t know what time or place it was, and I didn’t care. I was able to shoot those on super16 and explore. I never really presented them out there, they’ve been sitting on Vimeo, there’s nothing to promote, there’s no story, they’re just art videos. They’re just there, people discover them, nobody knows that MaudeGone is this other thing I got. I just want to get what’s in my imagination out of me, other wise it feels like I’d go crazy. I feel very happy on set when I’m behind the camera because I get to just be sloppy and wear my own clothes, and I don’t have to doll up, and be in that goddamn mode when I don’t feel like it. I don’t mind that mode once in a while, it’s charming and it’s fun to be beautiful girl but I don’t kike to be there all the time, no way. So I love to direct cause I get to be my nutty self, wearing what I’m wearing.
Where did MaudeGone come from?
I liked those two words how the looked put together. There’s actually not a huge huge meaning behind it.
Who did you do the music video for?
My sister’s band and my old band that I was in, it’s call Warpaint.
Are you still involved with them musically?
No, but it’s not a bad thing. They had to focus in a way that I couldn’t do at that time, and they deserve to bring it somewhere. And I was a drummer there, I just couldn’t imagine spending the bulk of my life on a drum stool, even though I had a lot of fun doing it. I feel drumming is like dancing. I had a blast, and musically I still feel very attached to them. The video has been a blessing, it’s a way in which we can still be in each other’s lives, in a weird way it feels like I’m still in the band when I get to do something like that.
By Joseph Isho Levinson
The Wild Magazine – The first issue (november 2010)
doh:
These are wonderful. 
Just saw Wristcutters last night for the first time and im newly in love with her, stunning face and i love her quirky style
That picture is pure awesomeness.
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