Gentlemen, start your hormones!  Alexis Raben is here, and she’s not going anywhere.  From blockbuster movies, to award nominated indie films, and now Miss March, this Russian hottie is here to stay.  Alexis has views on everything from being the most famous Russian babe since American Pie, to views from behind the old Iron Curtain.  She shares those views, here, with PUM.  Get ready!

 

I saw Miss March on opening night.  I absolutely loved it.  For those losers that haven’t seen it yet, how would you describe it for them?

 

It is an um, very broad comedy in the style of the whitest kids you know.  That describes the journey of an odd couple of best friends on their way to the Playboy mansion.  On the way they both find love, but in very different places.

 

And you played Katja who is a very… um… INTERESTING character.

 

Oh my gosh how would you describe her?  She’s a lovable nymphomaniac with a very specific type of focus.  She sees her lover and nobody else in the world except to see them as functioning around her.

 

Was it difficult to play Katja, I mean you were basically just making out with another ridiculously hot girl for like 20 minutes?

 

Well 20 minutes for you.  It was days for us, because we’d have to start up, set the scene, then redo it.

 

Your movie Outlanders won lots of awards.  I have a feeling you are going to be nominated for the MTV Movie Awards best kiss.  Would that be comparable?

 

That would be pretty hysterical and also so appropriate based on the movie.

 

I know you were born and raised in Moscow.  How old were you when you left Russia for the United States?

 

I was 13.  It was a crazy time of changes, but it’s kind of hard to tell when you’re 13 because you’re changing as well, so you’re not really sure if it’s the world changing, or if you are.

 

What was the biggest cultural shock moving from Russia to the United States?

 

I went from an old and closed country to a new and open country, so everything is visual and aesthetic.  As a teenager I feel it was very significant because it was during a formative teenage years.  Another thing that happened is I went from the only place I really knew to moving to somewhere where I was more of an outsider observing everything.

 

Vladimir Putin recently said that the United States is making a few radical moves to socialism that may be irreversible.  Do you see that happening?

 

I never saw functional socialism.  I saw a highly, deeply perverted, bastardized version of what an authoritarian regime does under those ideals, and any comment Putin makes on our system is a reflection on his views instead of what is really true.

 

If you could tell Americans one thing about Russia that they may not know, or that may be a misconception, what would it be?  I mean, out here we think, “Oh Russia, no McDonalds…”

 

There was no McDonalds, but I think the misconception is that it was a place of nothingness.  That isn’t true.  There was a very high degree of creative and cultural nourishment that you could find that could definitely give McDonalds a run for its money.  It wasn’t all so dark, and it’s amazing what a situation like that can bring from a creative standpoint

 

You got to work with Daniel Craig on The Invasion.  I’m a huge Bond fan, so I’m excited to talk to someone who got to work so closely with Daniel Craig.  Is he as cool a guy as he seems?

 

He’s a really cool guy, but more than what makes him cooler is that he did some work on the movie before he was Bond and then some after, and he was the same great guy both times.  He’s approachable and nice, he’s just this GUY, and then you see him in a magazine and you’re like wow he’s sexy too!

 

Nicole Kidman is no slouch either, I mean she’s an Oscar winner.  Was it intimidating being on screen at the same time as someone as decorated as she was?

 

I never thought about that.  Working with her, I thought I would be intimidated, and that she would be cold, but she was surprisingly warm and supportive.  I was green and new, and these experienced respected actors all made me feel really comfortable.

 

You also shared screen time with the dude from the Miller High Life commercials.  Please tell me that he provided you with a 30 pack of a good honest beer at a tasty price…

 

I didn’t know that because in the movie we walked right by the bouncers, but you know what I didn’t know to ask.  I wish I had though, it would have made for a better story.

 

You’re a writer, and you’ve directed your own short films.  Now that you’ve gotten some big screen acting under your belt, are you going to try and get back into directing?

 

The plan is to keep acting and get a lot more acting experience under my belt, which also means watching and learning from other directors.  And then, you know, some years down the road, we’ll see what happens.  I want to just focus on acting and becoming better while paying attention to the other aspects of movie making, so when the time comes to climb that mountain again I’m ready for it.

 

Some of your writing is about to come out in a film.  Can you tell us about it?

 

As an actor you don’t always get to choose the work you do, so you can’t always bring new work to screen just because you think a certain story is worth telling.  The story teller in me is always working on new projects that I think are interesting.  I have two right now that I’m actively engaged in, one that I’m co-writing. 

 

Can you tell me about the Young Storytellers Foundation because I totally want to write a screenplay?

 

It isn’t really the place to go to write screenplays, it’s aimed at middle school aged kids to help them cultivate their love of writing.

 

So I’m out of the age group?

 

Well you could try it, I mean you could enroll as a fifth grader and I could be your mentor and we could see what happens…

 

That’s right up my alley, I totally have a fifth graders mentality.

 

I think it’s important to be able to be your inner kid sometimes, and not take yourself too seriously.

 

Shannon Elizabeth sent a whole generation of boys through puberty by playing Nadia the Russian exchange student.  Now you are going to do the same thing by playing Katja the Russian Make Out Lesbian.  Are you excited about being Katja forever?

 

No way.  I am not going to be Katja forever.  I will be Katja for this and then I will move on to the next role, and if in 20 years someone recognizes me as Katja, I hope they will remember some of my other work as well.

 

I’m going to guess you will not be watching Miss March with your parents…

 

My parents live in New York, I live in Los Angeles, so we saw it, but not together, which was how I wanted it.  But I think I prepared them well for it.

 

How’d you do that?

Well, I told them it’s comedy, and that it’s all in how someone views it, and if someone finds it offensive, than they need to see it in context.  I mean its acting, not real life.

 

By: Pauly Hammond - Contributing Writer