Rebecca Romijn-Stamos is probably one of the coolest hot chicks out there. She really took the world by surprise with her acting ability in X-Men, and took none of us by surprise with her dead-on lesbian scene in Femme Fatale. Now she's reprising the role of Mystique in X2. She kicks even more ass and, this time, tries to seduce Wolverine.
UGO: X2 is the second movie in which you had a makeout scene in a bathroom stall, with Femme Fatale being the first.
Rebecca Romijn-Stamos: You're not the first person to bring that up. It's going to go on my resume. The girl that makes out in bathroom stalls. Hire me if you want a skanky makeout bathroom scene.
UGO: Was it a coincidence, or did you ask for it?
RRS: No, it's a total coincidence. Maybe they were inspired after they saw Femme Fatale.
UGO: I was inspired after I saw Femme Fatale.
RRS: You were?
UGO: Oh, yeah! At least you got some shooting days out of the makeup in X2, when you seduced the security as yourself.
RRS: Two shooting days. I wish there had been more.
UGO: Was the makeup more elaborate?
RRS: They definitely improved the process of getting it on and how it looked. Also, it takes 5 hours instead of 8 to get it on. It's a huge difference.
UGO: It's implied that Magneto and Mystique may have slept together.
RRS: It is?
UGO: Yeah. The X-Men are watching her kick some ass and someone says, "She's really good." And Magneto says…
RRS: "You have no idea." Honestly, I don't think they would ruin the good thing they have going. They wouldn't cheapen it with sex.
UGO: What do you think Magneto would want Mystique to turn into?
RRS: I don't even want to go there. What do I think Ian would me to turn into? [laughs] We all know now Mystique is definitely a sexual predator.
UGO: Did it ever come up that Nightcrawler and Mystique might be related somehow?
RRS: Not in this movie, but I was the one that told Alan [Cumming], halfway through shooting. He couldn't believe it. We came up with backstories of what we'll do in X3, flashbacks of Mystique nursing a baby Nightcrawler with Alan's face superimposed on the baby. Sharp little teeth breastfeeding from Mystique, teleporting from breast to breast.
UGO: How much of the Mystique story did you read?
RRS: Quite a bit. Once you get into it, the information comes to you. All my friends who were into X-Men kept giving me bits to work with.
UGO: There is a new Mystique comic book coming out. I was wondering if you think you could write a Mystique story, with everything you've discovered about the character.
RRS: I'm telling you, Alan and I came up with all sorts of stuff. Here's another backstory: If Nightcrawler is her son, why does he have a German accent? My theory is that Mystique went to Oktoberfest and got really drunk and got knocked up and left the baby in the church there.
UGO: I loved Femme Fatale. It was really too bad it didn't do well. What was that experience like?
RRS: It was a shame, because it was an amazing experience. Unfortunately, you work so hard on a movie like that, and you wish more people would see it, but the marketing gets messed up and I think the studio [Warner Bros] dropped the ball on it.
UGO: I think it will be a big cult movie.
RRS: I hope so. It was an amazing experience, and Brian De Palma is such a huge talent, and an underrated director.
UGO: Is he just a nut?
RRS: Yes. He's so twisted, but in a great way. He knows everything about film, a total film freak. He's got all these obsessions, which he doesn't keep hidden. They're all in his movies. You really get an idea with what's going on in his mind when you watch his movies. He doesn't care about what's socially acceptable and makes a statement, which he stands behind. People either love or hate Femme Fatale, usually for the same reasons.
UGO: What did you take away from working so closely with Ian [McKellan]?
RRS: He's really funny and always trying to get his cape right. He's one of those guys that's really method and always has to know what his motivation is and what he's talking about. On a movie like this, where the script is constantly changing…and I remember one part where I'm in Stryker's lair doing all the computer stuff, and they come bursting in. He's supposed to run in and say, "Have you found it?" He kept saying, "I don't know what IT is. What is it?" We asked him to please, just say it, because it was going to take another half hour for them to explain it. Just say it and don't worry about it.
UGO: When you shape-change in this movie, do the people you're imitating ever come watch how you walk so they can do it?
RRS: It's interesting. I never watch how they do it. I feel the other actors should come to me and ask me stuff. The only person that did was Hugh in the first movie during the Mystique/Wolverine fight, when it was Wolverine versus Wolverine. He asked me if he could blow a kiss during the fight and I thought that was great.
UGO: Have you been signed for X3?
RRS: Yes. Me and Alan and, I think, Hugh.
UGO: I read about this house that you and [your husband] John got that you said had a lot of sexual energy because it used to be a brothel. Have you used it all up yet?
RRS: No, it's still there. We just bask in all the sexual energy.
UGO: Of these three movie franchises - Lord of the Rings, The Matrix and Star Wars - which is your favorite?
RRS: You mean outside of X-Men.
UGO: Of course.
RRS: It used to be Star Wars, but now it's The Matrix. I love the philosophy of it.
UGO: You're first person to mention the philosophy with that question.
RRS: I used to be a huge Star Trek and Star Wars fan, because I like the metaphors behind it. It's meaningful, and I think The Matrix has some really good symbolism behind it. I don't want to plug it too much [laughs].
UGO: Are you and Howard Stern still getting along? He seems to imply here and there that you aren't.
RRS: I did the show this morning. We are really good friends, and I think people who listen to the show regularly know that. He's like that with everybody. He fights with all his close friends. He knows what good radio is.
UGO: What do you do when Full House comes on the air?
RRS: I check the mullet situation. I try to figure out which season it is by the mullet. At one point, it looked like a small Cadillac on his head.
Check UGO's full coverage of X2 here.
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