Media Blvd 4/17/08: Lauren Lee Smith
Pathology Stars Milo Ventimiglia and Lauren Lee Smith
By Christina Radish
Milo Ventimiglia at the San Diego Comic Convention held at the Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. on July 29, 2008.
In the Lakeshore Entertainment thriller Pathology, medical student Ted Gray (Milo Ventimiglia) joins one of the nation’s most prestigious pathology programs. Pathologists aren’t like other doctors. Whereas a general practitioner looks for ways to keep a patient alive, forensic pathologists dig inside corpses, searching for the cause of death. With talent and determination, Ted is quickly noticed by the program’s privileged and elite group of interns (played by Michael Weston, Lauren Lee Smith, Johnny Whitworth and others), who invite him into their crowd. Intrigued by his new friends, he soon discovers that he has unknowingly become a pawn in their dangerous and secret after-hours game at the morgue, of who can commit the perfect, undetectable murder.
Co-stars Milo Ventimiglia and Lauren Lee Smith talked to MediaBlvd Magazine about attending real autopsies and learning what it really takes to be a pathologist.
MediaBlvd Magazine> What do you think of the outcome of this film?
Lauren Lee Smith> It exceeded all of my expectations. Even when we were making the film, I knew that we were making something different, and something interesting, and something that would be really suspenseful, but it’s completely exceeded everything that I’d hoped for.
Milo Ventimiglia> It’s really a beautiful film. You’re fascinated by the visual that you’re seeing. So many times, films of the horror/thriller/suspense genre go for the quick fix and the cheap thrill of the visual. But, what (director) Marc [Schoelermann] was composing, and what we all strived to do, was create this film that was beautiful and meaningful, but also display that tortured, darker side through character, the camera work and everything.
MediaBlvd> Is there anything in your character that you identified with or wanted to explore?
Lauren> If you’re drawn to a character, there’s something about that character that, even if it’s something completely out of your personal character and who you are, as an individual, in the back of my head, wishing that I could be that for a day.
Milo> There’s a deep psyche that actors have to tap into. I’m not saying I’m a killer, but I think, if we look deep enough within all of us, we have that ability and darkness in us. It’s just whether we choose to let it out, or keep it contained and chained where it is. I’ve heard people liken acting to those fake Chinese foods, when you go to a sushi place and see a plate of sushi in the window, enticing you to come in and eat it. It’s fake. You can’t eat what’s in the window. But, it looks real and it gives you that visceral reaction to want to eat it. There’s actors that get lost in their roles, and that’s kind of scary, when people don’t take into consideration the safety on set because they’re so lost in a role. But then, there’s also times where you get so close to it that you’re the moth to the flame. You get so close, but you don’t get burned. It’s our job to make it as real as possible and keep people engaged.
MediaBlvd> You’ve both played fairly sweet characters in your careers. Did you specifically look for a role like this, to get away from that?
Lauren> For me, it’s boring to play the same character, over and over again. I really don’t have any interest in that. So, for me, it’s always just finding that balance of looking for new material and new characters. As an actress, the goal is never having to play the same character twice.
Milo> I have to agree with Lauren. I don’t think I actively seek out to play anything opposite of what I’m playing on Heroes, or any past jobs, but I look for something within a character. For me, it’s always the challenge of whether I can pull it off or not. There’s some roles that I look at that are so great, but I don’t know how to do it. If I can’t connect to it, I’m not going to waste anybody’s time, including my own. I just go on the basis of whether I read it and like it, and think I can pull it off, and make it good and realistic. The fact that I’m playing a caregiver, very connected to the world, who’s a loving and caring person on a television show, versus playing an anti-hero who’s wrapped up in sex, drugs and murder, wasn’t a decision. In looking for roles, at the time, I knew I wanted to play something older. I’ve been in the business for 12 years, and I’ve played a string of roles that were younger -- in the early 20's. I’m 30. I can’t do that forever. I can’t play a college kid. So, when I saw this, I knew the characters were older. They were in their late 20's. They were adults. And then, I saw Lauren and Michael and Johnny, and everybody involved, and we’re all of that age. It was about playing something adult.
MediaBlvd> How did you prepare to play psychopaths? Did it mess you up at all?
Milo> To be honest, I actually talked to myself a lot in the mirror. I would look deep in my own eyes and try to find that darker place within myself. And then, when you believe it and you back away from the mirror, it’s scary.
Lauren> It’s not something you want to keep. At the end of the day, you want to let it go.
Milo> In preparation, I understand what these pathologists did, and then I just tried to create a character and create something that people would be invested in. None of our characters are necessarily likable, so you have to create something that’s inviting and seductive, and that people are going to want to watch.
Lauren> People have to be invested in these characters.
Milo> People have to want to invest their time, for two hours, or we didn’t do our jobs.
MediaBlvd> Milo, did you find it hard to play a hero that’s not very likable?
Milo> He’s not a hero, he’s an anti-hero. I didn’t find it any more difficult than playing the guy that everybody likes. It’s just a different take on it. It was a challenge, as an actor. He’s a guy who is doing all these really despicable things, but yet you have to keep people invested. At the end of the day, I’m just trying to do something interesting and honest. What would I do? How would I react, if I was in this setting, with these people, trying to bring me into a world of sex, drugs and murder? I don’t know. You’ve just got to take what you know and build beyond that, and then, just turn on the cameras and let it roll.
MediaBlvd> Lauren, you’re one of the only woman in this group of pathologists. How did you approach your character?
Lauren> I didn’t ever really look at it that way. Individually, when we went in and had to watch the autopsies, that was the biggest learning experience for me, as far as preparing for this role. I really got a sense of their detachment. That was the key thing that I wanted to keep in mind. Everyone did their own preparations and played their parts.
MediaBlvd> Being in this movie, what did you learn about the human body that you didn’t know?
Milo> For me, it was just getting into the actual field of forensics and pathology. It’s how a body is taken apart and disassembled, which is something that a lot of people don’t think about. We’ve got these organs, so how do they work together? How do they pull them out of us? I was always fascinated with medicine. I wanted to be a doctor. So, to have access to an L.A. County Coroner’s Office, and to be in that world, I just learned so much about the physical body.
Lauren> I would have to agree. Before going in and watching the autopsies, I was very happy about it. But, once you get in there and watch them, it was absolutely fascinating to me. There’s something about it that’s really not that disturbing. It’s just a shell. There’s no life force at all in there, and it’s so apparent. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting it to be.
MediaBlvd> When you work in the medical field, there is a certain detachment that develops. Did you get in that mind-set, while this was going on? And, did you talk to any doctors who told you about that?
Milo> I did. Aside from the people that we spoke to in the coroner’s office, I spoke to my friends that were doctors, and there’s a side where you have to think only about medicine, and only about ailments or physicalities of the body, and you take that emotional side out. As a human being, of course it’s hard to not care for people. You are caring, but you have to do it in a very sterile environment. As a doctor, people are trusting you with problems that you don’t go to anybody else with. I found it helpful to speak to my friends that were in medicine, and to speak to the guys at the coroner’s office, because you see them living this life. We just acted it out. To speak with the people that live with this everyday, who have the ability to heal and to hurt, you see the responsibility that they have, but also the great joy and respect for what they’re doing and giving back. As an actor, oftentimes, I laugh at what I do. Being a doctor is a practical skill. You’re really helping people. Hopefully, we’re giving an honest interpretation of that, and that will entertain people.
MediaBlvd> How did that knowledge help you in playing characters that were actually going out and killing people, so that they could create dead bodies?
Milo> There’s the reality of it, and then we’re making a movie. You’ve got to take liberties, play for that high drama, play the suspense, have that great camera work and great actors to be around. All of that is going to be connected. Taking those experiences and making them real, while the cameras were rolling with Lauren, Michael, Johnny, Alyssa or anybody, was the key thing to do.
MediaBlvd> In this country, bodies are made up with cosmetics in funeral homes, but in other countries, they see bodies how they are. What are your thoughts on that?
Milo> I wish more people in the United States would understand what these pathologists really do. They care and respect our loved ones, but at the same time, they have a job to do. You think about the way that you would respect a living person, and you respect them when they’re dead, but it’s a shell, so that light behind them isn’t really there. I would love it if everybody got to see what we saw, and have access to it, because it changed my perspective on life. I went in and saw all these young gang members and people that were reckless, and they were just dead. You’re not cool and you’re not tough, when you’re dead on a morgue table. At the same time, it made me have more of an appreciation to smile more at people, look people in the eye, shake their hand and embrace a lot more. I’ve always known that life is fleeting, but it really changes your perspective on the people you’re around, and you realize that you’re so fortunate that they’re allowing you to be around them.
MediaBlvd> With such a heavy subject matter, what was the atmosphere of the set like?
Lauren> It was pretty fun.
Milo> It was a circus. It was a good time.
Lauren> There wasn’t really any heaviness at all, even in the throws of some of the most disturbing or complicated scenes. We were even able to make the sex scenes comfortable, and laugh at ourselves.
Milo> When you are so fortunate to be in a group that is enjoying their work and they want to give so much to the process, you have a good time and you enjoy yourself. I don’t think there was anything specific that we did to make it light on set, it just was. We were always laughing.
Lauren> (Writers) Brian [Taylor] and Mark [Neveldine] definitely have a good vibe on set.
Milo> It starts at the top. If the people steering the ship are enjoying themselves and having a good time, we’re having a good time and perpetuating that.
MediaBlvd> Was your life-affirming attitude sharpened, by being in this movie?
Milo> I’m not going to lie, I think it was. If you look at the work that we put in, getting into the psychology behind this character, it would be very different if I was 21, playing a role like this. Being 30, and 29 when we made it, you have a different grasp on what is necessary to tap into that world. Being older definitely sharpened the character.
MediaBlvd> You tend to play characters that are the conscious of the project. Is that something that people just see in you, or do you feel that way, personally?
Milo> I don’t know. I think the decision process of choosing actors for roles is an odd thing. I don’t know what it is that I give off that makes people want to hire me for the jobs that I’ve had, but I think I try to take each individual performance and make it specific to that character. And, I’m a realist. I understand that there’s some things I can’t pull off and, if I don’t think I can pull it off, I’m not going to do it. I’m not here to waste anybody’s time and money, including mine. For me, when I get an opportunity to play a character, I go forth, as passionate as I can.
MediaBlvd> Milo, how does your character building differ when doing a film, as compared to television?
Milo> It’s a slower build on Heroes, obviously. You’ve got months and months and months to build an arc for your character, and you don’t want to get ahead of yourself. For as much as I wanted Peter Petrelli to grow at a faster rate, I knew that was the wrong thing to do, and the producers knew that was the wrong thing to do. When you’re working on a film, you have a different time frame. You have two hours to get everything in. So, you have to make sure that your performance is so fine-tuned that people can read your eyes from moment to moment, beat to beat, line to line and scene to scene, until you look at the movie collectively and you’ve got an entire performance.
MediaBlvd> Milo, you play a superhero on the small screen. Do you have any interest in playing one on the big screen?
Milo> Oh, I’d love to! It was my dream, when I was a kid, to play Robin to Batman. When I was 16, I auditioned for the one that Chris O’Donnell ended up getting. I was a kid, and it was an open casting call, and I didn’t even make it past the stand. I think it would be totally cool. I’d look at a character more like Nightwing now, which is a lot darker and cooler than someone like Robin. But, playing a superhero is awesome. At times, when I get frustrated, as an actor, to find those honest emotions, and I can’t really connect to a scene or a character, I think, “Fuck this! I’m not going to be an actor. I’ll be an action star. It’s not that hard to hold a gun and run around. I love getting bruised up.” I think the superhero genre is cool. It’s a great world. You’re creating these characters that give people hope and inspiration. It’s just cool. It’s a lot of fun. Who wouldn’t want to be in that world?
MediaBlvd> Are you a big comic book fan then?
Milo> I was, when I was a kid, growing up. I read a lot of Batman comics, as well as Superman, Spider-Man and Submariner. I looked at it all. I didn’t really get into the graphic novels, as I got older, but I still have a lot of respect for it. It’s like picking up a book, except they’re guiding you through what they want you to see. With a novel, you’re creating the world in your head and sometimes you can get lost because you get diverted into whatever you’re thinking about. With a graphic novel or a comic, you’re seeing the world and it turns into whatever goes on in your head.
MediaBlvd> Lauren, you seduce Milo’s character away from Alyssa Milano. How do you see your character?
Lauren Lee Smith at the San Diego Comic Convention held at the Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. on July 29, 2008.
Lauren> Juliette is a troubled young woman. She definitely seduces Ted. She tries very hard, and eventually succeeds, to a certain degree.
Milo> When you see it, and you see those looks that Lauren gives, they knock you on your ass. They really do. Honest to God. I’m a man and, when I saw Lauren looking at me, I was like, “Okay, you’ve got me. Cool.”
MediaBlvd> Do you like doing horror/thriller movies?
Milo> I’ve done a couple. I did a werewolf movie, called Cursed, and Stay Alive, and now this. I’ve done a few horror pictures. They’re fun.
Lauren> I wouldn’t call this a horror film. I wouldn’t really call Trick r’ Treat a horror film, either. It’s more of a weird, strange, fantasy movie. I have yet to be in what I consider a horror movie/slasher flick.
Milo> True horror, in the real sense of the world, is something like Adam Green’s Hatchet. There’s torture porn out there, and all it is, is tits and cheap, gross-out thrills. For me, horror is more a Hatchet type piece, where you’ve got this swamp monster, running around, killing people.
MediaBlvd> Lauren, what sets you apart from all the other actresses who do films like this?
Milo> I can tell you what’s going to set her apart from the pack -- an honest performance. When you’re working with an actor or actress, in the intimacy that we do -- and, not just physically, but emotionally -- you’ve got to believe them. To be versatile, as an actor, you have to be believable. And, never once, through the process of this film, did I doubt the honesty that Lauren gave the role. I never once thought she was faking it, and I never once thought it was bullshit. It was a turn-on to watch. It was a beautiful performance, and it was something that resonates beyond just our film, but in the work that she’s done. I’d seen other projects that she’s done and, as an actor, I was excited to know that I was going into a project with a person that really strove very hard to make it good, and to make it honest and real.
Lauren> I couldn’t have said that about myself. That would be a little strange.
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