Save Faris

INTERVIEW: Anna Faris goes dark in Observe and Report.

by Molly Eichel

Brandi is an unlikable bitch. But then again, so is everyone else in the new movie Observe and Report.

"It's so liberating and so fun to play a character where you don't have the pressure of having the audience fall in love with you and root for you," says Anna Faris, who plays Brandi, with her ass-revealing micro minis and teetering heels. "It was really nice to have the goal be, 'I hope they hate me. This is going to be fun.'"

Faris isn't used to playing this type. Usually she plays characters like The House Bunny's Shelley — the ousted Playmate who, in trying to make over a pack of ugly sorority sisters, earnestly says things like, "You must highlight the eyes. The eyes are the nipples of your face."

Critics have latched onto Faris' deftness at embodying the dumb blonde, like Jayne Mansfield or Goldie Hawn before her. But Brandi and Shelley are very different beasts. While Shelley is all puppy dogs and rainbows, Brandi is tequila and backseat loving. Still, in Observe and Report, Brandi is the makeup counter girl of Ronnie's (Seth Rogen) dreams. When a trench-coated perv exposes himself to Brandi in the mall parking lot, it spurs the already-batshit Ronnie into action.

Faris knew what she was getting into when it came to Observe and Report. Director Jody Hill, even with his short résumé, has made a name for himself creating situations involving unsympathetic characters with few, or no, redeeming qualities. Faris says she is a fan of Hill's much-loved, little-seen Foot Fist Way, centering around a d-bag karate instructor. "Jody Hill is just such a Southern gentleman, which is funny that he's got such a twisted sense of humor," Faris says. In the film, Rogen, best known for the Apatowian way of fart-jokes-with-heart, can't get away with being the affable stoner. Ronnie's first date with Brandi culminates in a love scene where he jack-hammers away at her, as she lies passed out and open-mouthed on a vomit-stained pillow.

"There were definitely scenes — especially Seth and my lovemaking scene — where I was like, in the back of my head, ... 'We'll shoot it, but Warner Brothers is never going to let that happen.' Of course, there it is. But I'm glad, too. If Jody had been forced to soften the movie too much, it would've really sort of lost what makes the film so unique."

It was the accessories — Lee press-on nails and a massive push-up bra — that got Faris into the role. Faris says she was attracted to Brandi in the first place because it was an unusually strong female character; in Hollywood comedies, women often are meant to be pretty and not much else. Faris acutely feels the lack of strong women in comedies and has taken to doing what the boys do — creating and developing her own roles. On The House Bunny, she took on a producer credit.

Before that, Faris was concerned that she was only a comedienne and put pressure on herself to find dramatic roles. But she doesn't feel that way anymore. Now she knows that comedy can be just as difficult and fulfilling as Oscar-baiting tearjerkers. 

Faris is looking forward to projects she has in the pipeline. But in our phone conversation, she got the most animated talking about an undertaking unrelated to any movie — getting a dog. "I'm really excited about that. It sounds silly but I've never had a dog before. I'm crazy about cats. I'm a cat lady," she says with a breathy giggle. "But I think I want something that loves me more."

(molly.eichel@citypaper.net)