Elizabeth Banks talks to Premiere about why ‘Zack and Miri’ could be a blueprint for how to get out of today’s economic crisis — or at least take your mind off of it for a while.

Elizabeth Banks is probably best known for her role as the showerhead-loving bookstore clerk Beth in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and her turn as Zach Braff’s girlfriend in Scrubs. In each of those roles, the 34-year-old Banks exhibited an open-hearted charm and a sly intelligence that belied the goofy-blonde stereotype of her characters, stealing every scene she was in. But rather than a one-trick comedic actress, Banks has proved real diversity in her roles; once you knew who she was, it turned out that she was everywhere — from the Spider-Man films to Seabiscuit to Slither. This month alone has given us two very different Bankses: first up, she channeled Laura Bush in Oliver Stone’s W., and this week, she returns to comedy (and sex) with her starring role in Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno, in which Banks and Seth Rogen play roommates who decide to cast, direct, and act in a porn to raise money. The film has already earned buzz for its raciness, Smith’s fights with the MPAA for an R rating, censoring of the posters in the U.S., and more (like an ongoing joke about a fecal mishap and a view of Jason Mewes’ goodies and well-groomed pubic hair ) — but it’s also a sweet rom-com about two roommates falling in love. On the eve of its release, Banks talked to Premiere about her affinity for Seth Rogen, playing Laura Bush, and her descent, in her next role, into evil.

Zack and Miri is about two roommates who make a porno in an attempt to escape their debt. Is this the ultimate recession film?
It’s a blueprint for how to get out of the economic crisis.

So it’s a service film.
It really is. We’re doing a solid for the American people. More than anything, I think, though, we’re supplying an outlet for escape from the current craziness that’s happening right now. If you want to go to the movies and laugh, this is your movie.

It does seem your economic plan involves sharing a camera with Seth Rogen — I heard he suggested you for the part of Miri.
He did, yeah, thank you.

This is the second time you two have played a couple onscreen — your characters ended up together at the end of 40-Year-Old Virgin — or the third if you count “I’m Fucking Seth Rogen,” the viral video you two made in response to Sarah Silverman’s “I’m Fucking Matt Damon.”
Oh that’s right, the video! I really consider Seth my acting soul mate, we have incredible chemistry. I would love to work together again and again and again. It probably won’t happen, but a girl can dream.

What was it like working with actual porn stars?
It was pretty great. I was so happy to have professionals to take care of that business. They were so comfortable and into it. Katie Morgan especially — she’s so funny in the movie, she’s led a very interesting life, and I think she does a great job in the movie.

There’s already been a lot of controversy surrounding the film — over the word “porno” in the title in particular. There was a story about a kid asking his dad what a porno was after seeing an ad for the film. What did you think about that?
I want to know if that kid has seen stories about the Rwandan genocide and also asked his dad about the genocide. I think there are way things worse going on in our world than having to explain to your nine year old — who can already read! — what the word “porno” means, which is in the dictionary, and the kid could look it up.

Seth Rogen again plays the underachiever man-child in this film. What do you think about that kind of character in a romantic comedy?
I think the great thing about Kevin Smith is that he makes Zack and Miri equals in this movie. I mean, they’re both equally losers. [laughs] They’re both equally lovable, they’re both equally on a path, they’re both equally in love. He really found a way to make a romantic comedy that is truly funny and in the same vein as these sort of dirty bromances. But he put the romance back into it.

You and Rogen did this experimental Tony Kaye short film called This is Not Sex. Can you tell me a little about the idea behind that?
In all honesty, I’m not really a fan of that film. It was the product of a photo shoot, and they also used live-action cameras as well as photo cameras. We were doing a really interesting photo spread for Mean Magazine, and while we shot the photo spread they shot video and edited it together. So it was not anything particularly conscious that we did. We were there to do a photo spread. And we had no say in the actual video.

That explains a lot.
It does. It mostly explains why it’s not funny.

You also just did W., in which you played Laura Bush. That seems like such a different role for you. How did you get the part?
[laughs] You sound so surprised, like, how the hell did you get that job? I literally just went and met with Oliver. I think Oliver Stone is very instinctual with his casting choices, and I think he just thought I had an essence that he was looking for to be Laura Bush. And we had a great conversation about it, and I knew I could do it. I went to drama school, and playing Laura Bush is one of those roles that drama school particularly prepares you for. Because it’s all about the research and the external work — you know, you really work from the outside in, in that you really need to get the hair and the makeup and the jewelry and the clothes and the shoes all correct and on the money, and then while I was worrying about all that and making sure the wigs worked and making sure I had all that done, I was doing my research into who this woman really is. And then hopefully, you bring that into it to make a three dimensional character.

What research did you do?
I mined as much biographical material as I could get my hands on. I read biographies, I watched tons of video, I downloaded interviews that she’s given and listened to them on my iPod nonstop. I went to her homepage. The First Lady has a great homepage, it kind of updates you on what she does on a daily basis.

You could easily have been pigeonholed as the goofy blonde, but your roles have been pretty diverse. How have you kept it fresh?
I have no idea. It’s partially out of my control. I really don’t know — I’m just responding to the best material and the best directors I can work with, really. When Oliver Stone calls you up and says do you want to be in a movie, you say yes. When Kevin Smith says do you want to be in a movie, you say yes. They’re hugely iconic directors and they have unique voices, and you know it’s not going to be boring. Those are going to be great jobs.

You’re next doing a remake of a Korean horror film and a David O. Russell comedy — also very different projects.
Very different, but the David O. Russell movie [The H-Man Cometh] I think is not going to happen. It’s pretty much fallen apart.

Oh, no. Well, tell me about the horror film.
Yeah, Uninvited. I wanted to explore a darker side of myself. I play a potential serial killer — you’re not really sure who I am. But I am the evil stepmother, sort of in the vein of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle — the Rebecca De Mornay character. You’re not really sure what my motivation are, or what my past is. [pauses] I was just interested in playing evil.

From Premiere

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Articles, Zack and Miri Make a Porno. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.