Phil Weidner
As if the set of “San Andreas” here in beautiful, sunny Queensland wasn’t enough, Carla Gugino now sashays over for a chat about her roles in the ’70s disaster pic throwback.
Gugino (“Sin City”, Spy Kids”) plays the ex-wife of a search and rescue pilot who funnels their last hurrah of hope when a devastating earthquake hits California. It’s the thesp’s third film with Dwayne Johnson, following “Race to the Witch Mountain” and “Faster”. This one, she doesn’t refrain from admitting, is her favourite collaboration with the big guy.
“I’m having such a good time every day even though I have my own actual bruises from the stunts as well”, Gugino, ever the go-getter, says. “Still, there is a very light energy to this production. I did a six-day week last week. There was three days of major stunt work and a really emotional scene. We had one day off — and I was still, this morning, at 6am when the alarm went off: let’s go to work”.
For veteran Gugino, who got her big break as a youngster in films like Pauly Shore starrer “Son-in-Law” and Shelley Long comedy “Troop Beverly Hills”, Warner’s “San Andreas” reminded her of the kinds of movies she use to beg her mother to take her to see growing up.
“I’m a big movie buff, always have been, so I was always wanted to see movies – especially these big ones”, says the actress, whose face is covered in fake blood having just shot a scene for the movie. “I remember my mother took me to see Jaws, and being only five at the time and not to mention living in Florida at the time, I ended up running up the aisle screaming”, laughs the actress. “But I love these kinds of movies!”.
Like Spielberg’s fishy hit, “San Andreas” is more than just scares and special-effects.
“What I like about San Andreas is that it features characters you can really connect with; that’s what I like most about it”, says the actress, whose character reunites with her husband amidst the chaos of mother nature attacking. “You’re watching helplessly as these people battle their way through these harsh conditions and you just want to know what’s going to happen to them. There’s something voyeuristic about that, and you end up getting very engaged.”
Usually, Gugino sits down and watches a bunch of similar-themed movies before filming a project, but in this case the “Sucker Punch” and “Watchmen” actress decided to embark on her performance without doing that.
“I think, because this character is a real person – in that she’s just a normal, Californian who is caught up in this situation – I just wanted to try and imagine being her. It wasn’t hard to do that because of all the green screen, and the huge sets. One of my responsibilities in this movie is to deliver the humanity and truthfulness so I didn’t want to be influenced by anything outside of a fresh performance.”
Aside from it being a relatively grounded film, for it’s type, Gugino also liked that the villain wasn’t a monster or a robot – but something real.
“I knew this movie was going to be good, and it was going to be awesome, but what I wanted to know is ‘is there enough in here for me?’ personally. If I can’t sink my teeth into a character, or I don’t really love some element of her or the picture, then I just can’t do that particular project. In this case, I was so excited when I read the script because I was genuinely moved by the journey of these characters and I was not expecting to be. It’s scary, it’s thrilling, and certainly edge-of-the-seat – even reading it – but it’s got a huge heart; our director is constantly bringing us to a place of authenticity and a place of how these people are really relating to each other. Therefore, what I feel is great about San Andreas is that I feel that any of us could be any of these people.”
While it was nothing of the magnitude in the movie, Gugino could relate to her character’s frenzied and understandable reaction to the quake in “San Andreas”.
“When I was about 20, I was in LA in a big one that terrified me. It was big enough for a ton of my friends to move out of town”, says the New York based actor. “But that didn’t happen for me because … well, I feel the same way about flying. I am like, if it’s my time to go, I am going to go.”
“San Andreas” is in cinemas this week
