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Updated
8/30/02 We're Hangin' With........Swimfan siren ERIKA CHRISTENSEN By: Lynn B.
Erika admits that the last few years have been the most exciting of her life. She wasn't prepared for the notoriety that her role in Traffic would bring her. "I was in the Caribbean and I met this guy on a little island off somewhere. This guy was like 'Were you in Traffic?' I was like 'you speak English? You've seen Traffic'? Yeah. He had a satellite or something". She looked plain and wasted in that film. "They made me down, you know. So it doesn't matter what I do, I'm still recognized. I can't just roll out of bed because then I'm more recognizable". After Traffic, the actress was offered roles as a stripper. "I guess people thought oh, she'll go there. She'll do all that kind of stuff. Now, fortunately, I'm balancing things out. For the first four or five years of my career, I was really getting the nice girl next door so Traffic was almost a rebellion. It was perfect. It was exactly what I wanted. It was my dream. And now, especially after Swimfan, I'm looking to play some nicer people". We wondered why she chose the saucy seductress role in Swimfan. "Playing somebody that's that far off into the extreme is on an actor's wish list. You want to explore that and it's a lot of fun. We're discouraging teenage boys from cheating on their girlfriends". Many are calling the film a teen Fatal Attraction. "The connection in undeniable. The thing I really, really admired about Glenn Close's performance in Fatal Attraction was the vulnerability that she portrayed. You think that she's so strong but she's really not. She's so vulnerable. I wanted to emulate a vulnerability in this character". To nail her role, Erika researched stalkers. "Interestingly enough, I think of it as kind of being comparable to addiction which is basically what this girl has, an addiction for this guy. She's very needy and she'll go to any length to get what she wants. It's in that way, very comparable to a drug addiction". Erika and co-star Jesse Bradford got along…swimmingly. Her ad-libbed actions were okay with him. "That scene in the diner, I was playing footsie with him under the table and some people [actors] are thrown off by that kind of thing and some people just roll with it. He rolled with it. He was like whoa, okay cool, this is good. It just makes you pay attention". The actress is impressed by guys who are straight with her. "I find the ability to really look me in the eye attractive. That's necessary for an actor and it's necessary for a boyfriend too. Jesse can definitely do that. He's really intense. You can see in those scenes. He's looking right at me, telling me 'Leave me alone'". Happiness,
to Erika, is being comfortable in her own skin. "I just feel like
there are things about me that I'd like to change. Whatever I can't change,
I'll be happy with. I sometimes procrastinate and that's not something
that I'm proud of. I'm really dedicated and focused and I have a lot of
self-discipline but then there are those times where I really just side-step
things and I don't think that's how to deal with things". After filming in the New York area, the Swimfan cast would sometimes hit the club scene. Erika loves to dance for a natural high. "Dancing out with a gang definitely [gives me a high]. People probably look at me and think I'm drunk because you get me on the dance floor and I kind of go crazy. I have taken a lot of classes. And singing too. I really love it. We would go out in New York when we were going out during the movie and karaoke. It's a blast". Erika swears that partying for her doesn't include wild drugging and drinking. She saves that for the movies. "I'd like to be known for who I am but I really do enjoy playing those characters that have lives that are so different from my own because then it really requires acting and that's what I love to do. It's a game. There are barriers to overcome and goals to achieve and every step of the way is fun". The actress could easily have gone the Jennifer Love Hewitt route with roles in a string of teen films. "It seems like it was a mutual thing. They didn't take to me and I have been more drawn to different things. As an audience member, I loved them. I am a teen so I have great fun going to the movies and seeing those kids of movies but I also really like a movie to have something to say. I don't want to say 'socially relevant' because that's a tall order but just something that I can put myself behind". As movie faves, the actress lists films like…Life is Beautiful because it's such an inspiration. Since film is such a powerful medium, I think you should take that opportunity and use it and that movie is a great inspiration. Also movies like The Shawshank Redemption, I like seeing the happy ending. It opens up the discussion for philosophical, 'how do you live' conversations". We asked
Erika to give us a sound bite for Swimfan. "I think Swimfan
is just good, scary fun. You know, it's a summer date movie so bring somebody
you want to grab on to when it gets scary".
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Actress
Erika Christensen won great acclaim for her portrayal of the druggie daughter
of Michael Douglas in Traffic. She recently played the daughter
of a rock groupie in The Banger Sisters with Susan Sarandon and
Goldie Hawn. In the thriller Swimfan, Erika gets to stand alone
as a hot but warped siren who just won't take no for an answer when a
guy pushes her away. We chatted with the actress seaside in Marina del
Rey, California. Dressed casually in tan top, hoop earrings and jeans,
the porcelain-skinned beauty was candid about her role, her cute co-star
Jesse Bradford and her favorite films. 