Michelle Trachtenberg is no longer the innocent young girl from Buffy. She’s shaking that image by doing the raunchy teen comedy Eurotrip in which she plays the friend to a group of guys who don’t even consider her a girl. However, some tight jeans and a bikini start to change their minds.
This will be the start of a busy run for Trachtenberg. We’ll next see her on Six Feet Under, in the indie movie Mysterious Skin and the Disney movie Ice Princess. Find out about her European adventure and Buffy aftermath.
Have you ever been "the friend" to a group of guys that you like?
No. When I was younger I was a big tomboy. But I have always been the girl. I think it is because I wear the stiletto shoes and the pointy heels and the tighter jeans. I don't think guys can get into stilettos and low riders. Or they shouldn't anyway.
Is the bikini shot a chance to let the world know you’re a grown-up now?
Well, I am young. I better show off what I have now. [Laughs] Yeah, in a sense. I wrapped Buffy and I always felt on Buffy that they wanted to keep me younger for a specific reason. It seemed like I was getting younger every year that I was on the show. I think there was a reference to me being 15, then 14, then a freshman. So this was the next project I chose. I wrapped Buffy on April 19, and I was on a plane four days later to Prague. I chose this project because it has sexier moments and it also has adult comedy. I am 18 and that is my comedy.
What does your mom think of the sexy moments?
My mother and I are so close, she really understands the fact that I am 18 and I am maturing and I have never been... I guess I am not your average 18 year-old. Most people say they talk to me and I sound older. The sexy moments for me, I wasn't thinking of them as sexy. I was thinking of them as more specific to my character. So it was necessary for my characters development in the movie, so that's how I played it.
Has FHM or Stuff called you yet?
Oh, I will not be doing any FHM or crazy Maxim magazines. I will leave that to the other actresses in Hollywood who want to shed their clothes because they think that's beneficial to them. I would much rather chose a creative way, like in a movie.
How do you stay in shape?
Right now I am in ice skating training for my next movie, Disney's Ice Princess. That's their big Christmas movie, so I am training to be a figure skater. I am in ice skating training five days a week, 3 hours a day. I have ballet class every other day for two hours. And for Six Feet Under, last week there was a sequence where I had to do a whole choreographed dance number, so I had four hours of dance practice every day.
Why did you decide to return to TV?
I never thought I would go back to TV until I got Six Feet Under. I am doing a four episode arc. I play a pop singer and Keith, Michael St. Patrick, plays my bodyguard. And so it is a little bit different from the normal, very dark, Six Feet Under feel. But it is very cool.
Do you sing?
They have the songs that they know how they want them to sound. So there will be a little bit of both. When it will be a recording it will actually be this huskier voice. But when we are in rehearsal, filming the scene as a rehearsal, I am singing as I am dancing. And that is very difficult. Go Britney and Christina.
Did the Europeans recognize you from Buffy?
It was very complimentary actually. I didn't realize how popular Buffy was overseas. It is really flattering. I found it very difficult to walk around in the Louvre. I was like "Why are these people videotaping me and not the art?" But it was very sweet. It was very interesting meeting people from all around the world.
What is Mysterious Skin about?
Mysterious Skin is about two boys who were sexually molested when they were younger. One grows up to really embrace this. And he pretty much whores himself out to the gay community. That's Joseph Gordon Levitt and he is just brilliant. And Brady Corbet plays the other boy. He is very confused about what happened to him. He thinks he was abducted by aliens. I plays Joe's best friend. I am the only one he has ever been able to trust in his life. So I help him understand what happened to him when he was younger.
So it is a feel good movie?
Yeah, feel real good that it didn't happen to you!
What is Ice Princess about?
It's about this girl and her secret dream has always been to be an ice skater. Her family is very studious and more centered on her getting into Harvard, so she devises a plan by using her knowledge of physics with the three local champion ice skaters and basically says "I'll trade you my knowledge of physics if you let me train with your coach and your choreographer.” So she trains throughout the movie and becomes this great skater.
Will there be a Buffy movie and would you be in it?
I have absolutely no idea. But right now, I am focusing on Ice Princess. I like to keep diversity in my roles.
Courtesy of Action-Adventure |
