By Andrea Beattie
The only person who wasn’t surprised Elisabeth Shue was in a blood ’n’ guts, tongue-in-cheek ‘‘horror’’ movie about killer piranhas was Elisabeth Shue.
‘‘It’s funny that people are surprised,’’ the Oscar nominee says from LA.
‘‘I was surprised that everyone else was surprised – they were like ‘Why are you in Piranha 3D?’
‘‘And I’m like – look at who the director is and look at who all the actors are and look at the sense of humour there is making a movie like this.
‘‘People have to have a sense of humour about life and my God, this movie does.’’
Piranha 3D is set at the fictitious Lake Victoria (Lake Havasu in Arizona), which has been invaded by 20,000 kids out for a good time while on spring break.
Sound familiar? Well, whack a couple of hundred prehistoric piranha in the lake and you’ve got yourself a horror film.
And under the careful and deliberate direction of French filmmaker Alexandre Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes) it’s no ordinary horror film – it’s a cleverly crafted, no-holds barred, so-bad-it’s-good horror-thriller.
Add that cast that Shue’s talking about – Jerry O’Connell (Sliders, Stand By Me), Adam Scott (Party Down, Stepbrothers), Richard Dreyfuss, Christopher Lloyd, Gossip Girl ’s Jessica Szohr and newcomer Steven R. McQueen – and you’ve got a hit.
‘‘I love that Alex made it so over the top,’’ says Shue, 46.
‘‘I was a little jealous of the other storylines though – they’re having a lot more fun than me.’’
‘‘The earnest, serious version of Piranha 3D would just be so horrendous. This one harks back to the films of the ’80s and it has that kind of feel to it. But it’s also saying ‘hey, we know we’re also making a silly movie we want you to laugh at here’. I love it because it makes fun of itself.’’
Shue plays Sheriff Julie Forester, with whom she says she felt an immediate affinity.
‘‘I was a little jealous of the other storylines though – they’re having a lot more fun than me,’’ Shue says of co-stars, UK sex-bomb Kelly Brook and real-life porn star Riley Steele, who play adult film stars and strut around topless while drinking champagne and tequila.
Ahhh, but Shue wouldn’t have wanted to get her boobs out, would she?
‘‘Well, no. I didn’t want to do that, but it did look like a lot more fun,’’ she laughs.
‘‘But I really liked Julie. I loved that she was a mum first and a sheriff second and that she ultimately has to save her kids. I really liked that.
‘‘And you know, I’m getting older now, so I have to play these parts.’’
Huh? Does she mean parts like this kick-ass sheriff who’s action-woman stunts put the men to shame?
‘‘Well, yeah, ha, it was pretty cool. I did get to do one really great boat stunt that was so fun to do and scary, but I loved it,’’ she says.
‘‘It was a pretty physical role – it was so hot out there, it was 112 degrees (44C) and I was in my sheriff outfit in the middle of the day.
‘‘I was thinking if I survived the day I’d be a hero. I also had to learn to drive a boat – that was nerve-racking because you had to go so close to the other boats where the cameras were and I had to make sure I didn’t forget what I was doing.
‘‘I had a lot of fear every time I got into the boat, ‘Please don’t let me crash, please don’t let me crash’.’’
‘‘And I loved seeing Christopher Lloyd again after so many years (they co- starred in two Back to the Future films). I got to meet Richard Dreyfuss too, which was awesome.’’
Shue says she enjoyed working with co-star Adam Scott.
‘‘He is hilarious and made getting through those days a lot easier,’’ she says.
‘‘And I loved seeing Christopher Lloyd again after so many years (they co- starred in two Back to the Future films). I got to meet Richard Dreyfuss too, which was awesome.’’
Shue says Piranha is probably the strangest film she’s made.
‘‘We had to be on the boats for a lot of the movie and had to talk to the director on walkie-talkies and bullhorns so it was quite challenging, not having that closeness to what you’re doing,’’ she says.
‘‘But working with Alex was great. He is kind of intense but what’s nice about this is that he’s French and he’s made such fun of the American culture – that kind of over-the-top ugliness of Americans during spring break. The way he had the fish devouring that ugliness was actually really interesting.’’
Having made such kid-friendly flicks such as The Karate Kid, Back to the Future II and III and Adventures in Babysitting, will she let her kids seePiranha 3D?
‘‘Noooooo,’’ she laughs.
‘‘Well, Miles is 12 now so he might see it in a few years. But it’s a little gory for him now, so nooooo.’’
Original article appeared in mX newspaper