Interview with Shiri Appleby About "Swimfan"

If a girl came on to your boyfriend in real life, like Madison does in this film, what would you do? I was actually in the position that Amy was, when I was in high school. I did get cheated on and the slap that happens in the movie is actually taken from real life events in my own life. That's kind of how I reacted to it because when you're feeling the emotions of being in love for the very first time, and then you feel betrayal, you don't necessarily know what to think, and so that was the first thing I came up with. When John Polson and Jesse [Bradford] and I were sitting around in rehearsals talking about it, I told him about that experience, and John said, "Well, in this moment, why don't you slap Jesse?," and he had no problem with it, so that's what happened. Did Jesse expect it? Yeah, he expected it. We had to do it so many times. I felt so bad. The stunt guys were there, so I learned how to slap him, stunt wise, but it wasn't looking as real, so I finally just had to let him have it once. They teach you, so your hand's not really coming altogether at one force, and so that he could move with me because, God forbid, we should pop blood vessels and stuff. So, I learned how to slap somebody. Why are brunettes always persecuted in movies? I don't know. They think that brunettes are sweeter, nicer girls, but we have little dangerous sides as well, I guess. Are you likely to show yours? Definitely. Not quite to the degree that Madison shows her, but at some point, yeah, to some degree. Would you ever play a character like that? I would love to play something like that, definitely. It would be nice in contrast to the other characters I've played, which are definitely more 'sweet and innocent' kinds of girls. Are you looking forward to doing a role where you don't have to cry? Yeah, because I don't cry that much in my personal life, which is really nice, thankfully, except when I have to go shopping, and then I cry. (Laughs) I think it would be nice not to play a victim quite so much, but I'm not really complaining about that because there's something really great about being seen as the love interest also. Is it hard for you to cry for the camera? No, I've really mastered it. I could cry right here, right now. I can cry at the drop of a hat. It's so sick. But then, in my personal life, I'm like, "Don't look at me crying!" How did you do that scene underwater while you were tied to the chair? I learned how to scuba dive, so I was underwater for about half an hour at a time, a couple of times. I had scuba guys near me that would bring the air in to me, as soon as I started feeling like I was running out of air. I would just shake my shoulders and in they would fly, and I would sit down there for about half an hour. I lost all of my senses except for hearing because they had a loud speaker underwater so that the A.D. could say, "They're pulling focus right now. The camera's moving to you. Jesse's swimming in," so that I knew what was happening. The very first time I went down, I couldn't hear anything. I had no senses and I felt completely lost and I panicked and swam back up to the top. We decided this was the way I was going to feel safest underwater. It ended up working out. How does Jesse Bradford compare to some of the other co-stars you've had? Kissing-wise, he's great. They're all great (laughing). He's a really nice guy. We got along really well and we were really comfortable with each other, which I think is important. It was just important because, in the film, we've already been together for a while, so we just wanted to be really comfortable together, and he was really great. He's a really fun, nice guy. He's really outgoing. Why do you think Ben cheats? I think Ben cheats because he's stupid. I think Ben cheats because I think the stability of being young and having a relationship so serious for so long has probably worn on him. Amy wants to go to college together and she's really looking at this for the long haul, so when something new and exciting comes along, I think it's kind of refreshing. Aside from drowning in the swimming pool, what was the most challenging scene in this movie for you, and why? I also had to learn how to ride a motorcycle. That was me the whole time. Yeah, I do all my own stunts (laughing). Yeah, me, Tom Cruise, Jackie Chan... It's very exciting. I had to learn how to ride a motorcycle. It was fun, but I'd never done it before, so it was really fun, especially when we finally got to shoot it. I had just practiced up and down the block, in front of the production office, and so I got miles of just being able to go and it was really fun. How many times since 'Roswell' started have you been asked whether or not you believe in aliens? Billions. And my answer is, basically, that I think that we would be ignorant to think there is not another life form out there, but yet, I haven't met them, so I don't really know. There's my stock answer (laughing). After 'Roswell,' are you going to try to avoid sci-fi roles now? The sci-fi fans are really fantastic and very supportive, so I'm definitely not opposed to it. If a great script came my way, I would definitely be interested. Sci-fi fans are especially devoted. They're really, really strong and very vocal about their commitment to the shows. In our case, if it wasn't for the fan support, I don't necessarily know if "Roswell" would have made it as long as it had. I felt really fortunate that the people were so supportive. Do you ever respond to anything on fan Web sites? Oh, yeah. I've gone on a few times at Crashdown just to say, "Thank you," because I don't know a group of fans [who were that dedicated]. They kept the show on another year at The WB and then they got another network (UPN) to pick up the show. They went so above and beyond the call of duty, that you want to just say, "Thank you so much," because without them, you wouldn't have a job and you wouldn't be doing what you love every day.