Marisa Tomei Bares All
Marisa Tomei is getting almost as much attention for taking her clothes off as she is for her acting. After her startlingly explicit nude scene in The Devil Knows You're Dead, Tomei strips down once again in The Wrestler as an exotic dancer in a relationship with a down-and-out pro wrestler.
Baring all on the big screen has proven successful for Tomei; she's already scored a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.
Q: How do you feel about getting naked on screen?
A: I'm uncomfortable with exposing myself. But in these films I think what I did was appropriate and I'm proud of it. Actually, I'm concerned with a lot more than how my body looks. I just find it really hard to watch myself in general. But being nude was weird. And now I'm seeming like the actress who does that, which wasn't my intention. It just so happened that the directors were Sidney Lumet and Darren Aronofsky, and I really wanted to work with them.
Q: What's the secret to that fabulous body you're displaying?
A: I will definitely thank my mother and my grandmother for nice genes. One of my secrets, which a lot of women do, is hula hooping. I have a travel hoop. You can twist it in half but it's adult size, not like a little kids hula hoop. It's really good for your core strength. You're looking at me like I'm pulling your leg. You think that I'm putting you on, don't you? I'm telling you it really works!
Q: Mickey Rourke was written off as an actor for being too difficult to work with. How did you find him?
A: All I can tell you is it went very smoothly. Darren came to me and said, 'Mickey doesn't want to rehearse.' That was fine with me because I'd actually rather not rehearse either. So Mickey and I were right on the same page from the beginning. It was like 'just bring it on.' We just jumped in with each other and he just slipped into his role seamlessly. There were no shenanigans on the set. That's all I'll say.
Q: Would you like to be doing more mainstream films?
A: I do things like The Wrestler for not a lot of money and then I get p.o.'d at myself and think, 'I've got to make more of a living than this.' I show up a lot when other actors won't. There's a lot of downside to it. Not a lot in the scheme of life, but in terms of comfort and money and risk.
Q: Are you still having fun acting?
A: I cannot tell you how many times I've stood backstage or been about to start a film, 'What am I doing? Am I crazy? This really hard and I don't want to do this anymore.' I love the actual acting, but the stuff around it can be hard.
Q: What's guiding your career
A: I'm trying to keep it in perspective. When I hear that I'm doing well in my career I sort of say, 'Oh, that's nice for her,' because it doesn't seem like it's me. I don't choose to surround myself with people who don't tell me the truth. They don't hesitate to tell me what I need to work on. Sometimes when I get really worried, I think, 'I can still get a job.' But a lot of it is luck. There's all kinds of pressures but if you start really thinking about those pressures you're really missing the point of why you wanted to act in the first place.
