Caffeinated Clint
Only hours before, she – and yours truly – was partying it up at the premiere for her latest film. But as hot newcomer Monet Mazur proves, there’s not only no rest for the industrious celeb, but some people – not many of us – can get by with only a wink of sleep and still wake up looking as beautiful as ever. Clint Morris catches up with the Torque star in her hotel suite, while on a promotional tour in Australia.
How’s it feel headlining your first big movie?
Pretty awesome. Pretty grateful and happy to be here and just trying to enjoy every minute of it. Not think about where we’re going next.
How did you get the role?
I auditioned many, many, many times – they didn’t really know what they wanted. And I didn’t think I was the right person for the part so there was a lot of back and forth. I’d never done anything like this before so I was a little hesitant. Then I went in and gave what I thought was the most crap audition I’ve ever given, but I got a call back saying that they wanted me to screen-test. The director explained how he saw the movie, and I thought that was much more interesting than what I read on the page. I went through a process that took about a month and a half, auditioning for everyone from the studio executives to Village Roadshow to the director to the producers, I was auditioning with all the different men they were looking at for Martin’s part and then they had us read together.
Is it often the case that you have to audition for all these different types of people?
For a big movie, when they don’t know who you are yet, they have to make sure you’re going to make them their $50 million back. If you’ve never opened a movie before, that’s a pretty big risk for them to take. So it was a big, big deal to get this.
What did [Director] Joseph Kahn, Village Roadshow, and the other folks believe you would bring to this role?
Joseph was really the one who went into battle for me – he fought and fought and fought. It was between me and this other girl, who’s very different to me. She would have been the younger, darker version but Joseph said he wanted a woman instead of a girl. And he fought until he got his way.
You did some pretty extensive training I hear too?
Yep, we trained for a month. We went to motorcycle training, weight training, fight training, boxing – you name it, we did it.
You still do any of the training?
Not the motorcycle, but I still work out quite a bit.
Could you ride a motorbike easily enough now?
I could ride it, but I’m not running out to go bike riding. It depends on where you’re riding out, if I was out in the Dessert, I would take one out for a spin.
What did Joseph Kahn originally envision Shane, your character, as being like?
He wanted her to be this tough girl that wasn’t a bitch, wasn’t skanky. Well, he wanted that vision of the ultimate biker chick and Jaime did that perfectly. He wanted her to the biggest menace to society, and he didn’t want Shane to be like that at all. He wanted her to be this tough, punk-rock kind of chick who doesn’t swear, doesn’t smoke – she’s just really capable, confident, strong-willed and self-sufficient. She likes bikes a lot, she’s got her own shop. And I thought, ‘Wow, that sounds really weird…I like it! It’s not at all what I thought.’ So we took on all these different traits from different women that we liked and that we thought were cool, strong and sexy. People like Gwen Stefani, Angelina Jolie – we thought if we could get the two of those together and make it fun, that’d be a cool girl to hang out with.
What are Martin Henderson and Ice Cube like?
Ice Cube – I’m sure he wouldn’t want me saying this – is a very sweet man. He’s quiet, keeps to himself, he’s got the jive down. He comes in, does his stuff and he’s out. We didn’t make a ton of small talk, but we talked about basketball and music. I was a little intimidated. Martins’s just a riot – we’re like best friends now. It was fun. I was thinking what asshole American guy are they going to get to play this cocky American smart-arse that I’m going to hang out with everyday, and then they said they’re bringing this guy from New Zealand in. The Ring hadn’t come out yet, so I didn’t know who he was. He showed up a mess. He stuffed up his lines, he lit his cigarette backwards. I said ‘That’s the guy you’re going to get to play Ford?!’ [Laughs] Perfect! Because Ford is in the wrong place at the right time. I can’t say Martin’s like Ford, but he gave him a really good element of who he is. If the character took themselves seriously, you’d be rolling your eyes during the entire movie. There are other movies we know that are kind of like this one, and the difference is those guys are dead serious about what they’re talking about. So you’re watching it going, ‘Gimme a break!’
Are you guys signed for a sequel?
Yep. It was written into our original contracts that we have to do the sequel.
Do you think there will be?
I don’t know. It depends on how well it does. If people like it, I’m sure they’ll do a sequel.
Is there a particular genre you’d like to work in?
I’d like to do another action movie. I’d like to do just a straight-out comedy, with someone great, not a romantic comedy – just a comedy.
What’s next for you?
Whirlygirl is coming out and something called Kiss the Bride.
What’s Kiss the Bride about?
Kiss the Bride is about this whacky Italian family from Rhode Island that have four daughters and one of them is getting married so they all go back home for the wedding. I play Toni, the youngest sister, who has decided to come home and be a Lesbian just to piss her Father off. She comes home with a girlfriend and ah, Dad’s not thrilled.
Is it surreal looking up at the poster for Torque and seeing your name up there?
With my name on it, it’s just great. I literally look up there and see it as the third person though – that’s her. That’s not me. It’s like a cartoon character.
Have you got the film’s poster in your house?
I have a little one that I had to approve.
I have to say, you have a very movie star name.
Thankyou! That’s my name, my real name. I get asked all the time if that’s my stage name, if so, what’s your real name? My real name’s…Julie Morris.
My surname. We’re related!
How Funny! [Laughs]
Are you doing a commentary for the Torque DVD?
Yeah, we did it. It was fun. There was something with a camera walking around too. A lot of the cast did a commentary.
What’s with all the speedy movies?
It’s an escape from reality. You have people who have obsessions with fast cars and fast bikes, and these movies cater to that. It’s so visceral, you have a kind of physical reaction when you watch this movie. I know I drove home really fast every time I saw it. It make you want to work out or drive fast or get in a fight…I hope people don’t get beating each other up or getting speeding tickets. Turn your brain off, have some popcorn, no one’s asking you to think too hard with this.
CLINT MORRIS
TORQUE is now showing
