Carla Gugino Was Never America’s Sweetheart
There are a few ways we could talk about the actress Carla Gugino.
We could talk about her as a Beautiful Woman. As someone confident in her sexuality, there’d be a certain honesty in this. We could ogle her with flowery prose, describing what it feels like to have someone who looks like she does pay attention to us, or mention her smile, her irresistible charm, how she seems as perfect as the girl you left back home, and as alluring as the woman you met in the big city. In that praise would be the implication that it’s surprising that she still holds that power, even though she’s not in her 20s.
It’s an interesting notion that, purely because of Gugino’s age, anything she does in Hollywood, or in magazines, is partly a political act. And by interesting, I mean fucked up. So, moving on.
Watching her in her new Showtime drama Roadies, it’s hard not to consider her as a representative of her specific generational cohort. Roadies follows the behind-the-scenes drama of the people who allow rockstars to be rockstars. It’s directed by Cameron Crowe, possibly the most definitive Gen-X director still working. In the pilot, even the millennials on the stage crew espouse views that align anachronistically with those of a generation before: about authenti ity, the purity of music. It comes off as Almost Famous 2, which actually, isn’t a bad thing at all.
And there is something noteworthy, and often overlooked, about Gugino’s generation now, especially the women. Because they are the ones that are changing things, thanks to their skill, intelligence, bourgeoning power, and, yes, stubborn attractiveness.
Gugino’s career is an example of that. As someone never burdened by being America’s Sweetheart, she chose roles both maternal and edgy, dark and light. Roadies is a culmination of that duality. Plus, her and Luke Wilson play partners in a work marriage, a trope that was redefined by Gen-X as two equal partners instead of a Boss and a Secretary type thing.
Or, sure, we could only talk about her work, describe how her roles are shockingly varied, or how she has always stayed relevant but also, teasingly, under-the-radar. Or we could talk about her process — how she dials into the women she portrays.
But actually, it’s probably better to let her do the talking.
You got your start on Saved by the Bell. Back then, did you have any idea what dumping Zack Morris would lead to?
Ha! You are going way back. While I loved doing Saved By The Bell (and I met one of my dearest friends, Elizabeth Berkeley, on it), I’m glad I’ve branched out. Did I think I’d be doing plays on Broadway then? Nope.
I read you lied about your age to land a role in your first feature film, Troop Beverly Hills. What’s the story there?
Yup. Ironically, it’s the only time I’ve lied about my age to get a job. I said I was 14 (the age of the character in the script) and I was really 16. When you see the cast picture, I’m like a foot taller than everyone else. That will probably never happen again. I told the director of the movie, Jeff Kanew, the truth about midway through shooting. And he said “If I’d known you were 16, I probably wouldn’t have cast you.” So, the lesson is: lie.
But seriously, I believe we don’t need to know the real age, race, or particulars about an artist. That’s where the whole IMDB age thing is frustrating. What’s important is if we can make you believe we are who we’re playing. We know too much about actors now. I was 27 years old when I played the Mom in Spy Kids. Everybody believed I raised two kids, and had also been a spy for ten years. Now I’m finally the right age for that part!
I’ve noticed your roles these days are much more sultry than they were in your younger years.
I’m not sure that’s necessarily true. Sexuality is an intrinsic part of who we are as people and I’ve never shied away from that. Throughout my career, I’ve gone between material that’s more adult and may appeal to a smaller audience, and more commercial fare for the whole family. I enjoy mixing it up.
There’s been much debate lately about a double standard of aging in Hollywood — that men can be sexually attractive throughout their entire lives, while women are perceived as rapidly losing their sex appeal as they age.
That double standard has always existed. It’s annoying. Especially when women get by far cooler and sexier as they start owning who they are, and operating less as society dictates, and that usually comes with age. That being said, when I was an ingénue, I never felt like one. So for me growing into a woman has been rewarded with richer roles that I find more interesting. And more resources to pull from. Now we’ve just got to have studios standing behind that and making more movies for adults. This is not as crazy as it sounds: they used to do it all the time when they had people like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford under contract.
By the time they’re dragging me off the stage when I’m an old lady, I want to have seen the world through the eyes of many women.
I think your role in Roadies falls into that category.
That’s good to hear! I’m a huge fan of Cameron Crowe’s. Almost Famous is one of my all time favorite films. I read the script, which I thought was great, and I loved the dynamic between my character, Shelli, and Luke Wilson’s character, Bill. It’s very much like a marriage, with the gamut of emotions and dynamics that come along with that, but they’re not married, which makes it much more interesting to me. There’s license to explore it almost anthropologically.
I’m interested in the families we choose in our lives. That patchwork that makes us who we are. And Road- ies is all about that. Family, music, the gypsy life, and the little bit of magic that surprises us along the way. Cameron has a unique sense of poetry in the way he looks at the world and that is something I think we all need more of. And executive producer Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life) is whipsmart, coupled with a huge sense of humanity.
So, let’s just say I’ve added some new members to my family.
I recently heard an interview with Geena Davis, who runs a foundation that studies gender imbalance in media. I’m basically at the point where I think it’s a miracle that women can have careers at all! She said something about how the distribution of female parts hasn’t changed significantly since the 1940s.
That is bananas if true because, from a distance, it seems like back then there were better roles for women because the studio system needed to service those contracts. I don’t think we’re ever in danger of having too many female roles. I’d rather skew in that direction.
Talk to me about chemistry. You and Luke Wilson have it, and it’s integral to the show. Anyone who can create chemistry with ’90s-era Paulie Shore must be an expert on the subject.
Chemistry is a fascinating thing. It is something bigger than the people experiencing it. I don’t think you can make it happen. As an actor you may have to cultivate reasons why your character is drawn to another if it doesn’t come organically, which is part of what we’re hired for, but it’s much more fun when it’s just there! I’ve heard a theory that if you’ve got chemistry as a person, you can find it with anyone. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know. But I have been pretty lucky to have it with most costars. Maybe it’s because I truly love people.
Music obviously plays a huge part in Roadies. It balances the idealism of fandom with the harsh reality of the music industry now. Is there a corollary there with acting?
Well, the movie business is similar in that as an artist you must remain an idealist on some level while being constantly faced with the “realities” of the business. But if you let those limitations dictate your work, you will never make the thing that changes that. Every time someone in Hollywood says “Oh, you can’t combine this genre with that genre” or “well, that will never sell,” shortly after someone smart who wasn’t listening to them will do just that and it will be a huge hit and then it becomes “you MUST combine this genre with that one.” People setting rules will always ultimately be the followers. Their job is to look at the worst-case scenario. Ours is to see how far we can go. You have to keep the vision.
Photography: Ari Michelson
Styling: Jessica Paster
Styling Assistant: Afi Enam Barrett
Hair: Daniel Howell for HASK Hair Care/Tracey Mattingly Agency
Makeup: Ermahn Ospina for Dior/Tracey Mattingly Agency
Manicure: Tracey Sutter/Cloutier Remix
