Famke Janssen and Jaymie Dornan in Turn the River Courtesy of 2008 Screen Media

Was that a factor in taking the part?
It was my goal to make Kailey look as dirty and unattractive as possible. Because I realized that [the stigma of being an ex-model] is still with me, and people still speak about my glamour or being glamorous. And that's not anything that ever could work with Kailey, because it would ruin the film. So I went really far in trying to stay away from that.

We had like a half a million dollar budget so we didn't have money to get a wig, so I ended up going to a really cheap wig store and got a hairpiece. So the bottom of my hair, which we made look really stringy and bad, is my own, and the top is this rally crappy hairpiece. I wanted to make sure there was nothing overtly attractive or sexual about her because it's not how she works. She's operated in a man's world but she does not use her sexuality to hustle pool games or anything like that.

Pool hustlers and card sharps are traditionally male roles (The Hustler, The Cincinnati Kid, The Color of Money). It must have been interesting to play such a character.
Absolutely. I would never want to say no to Chris because he's a good friend, but on top of that it was an amazing character. And I've been in this business for over 15 years and I can count on one hand how many leads I've got to play. So when somebody is nice enough to offer me one, I'm taking the opportunity and running with it.

Unless it's a glamorous role where you have to take your clothes off, right?
[Laughs] Well, yes.

Writer/Director Chris Eigeman and Famke Janssen on the set of Turn the River Courtesy of 2008 Screen Media

How different is it to make a small indie like Turn the River as opposed to a big-budget studio picture such as X-Men and its sequels? I'm guessing there's a huge difference in the size of your trailer.
Forget about the size of the trailer, we didn't even have trailers on Turn the River. We just camped out in 110-degree weather in New York during the summer. But in the end, the beauty of filmmaking, whether it be big or small budget is the same: it's a collaboration between a large group of people who all want to do the same thing: make a good movie.

Is it true that you actually made all the pool shots we see in the film? Some of them were pretty complicated.
It was one of those bizarre miraculous things because as soon as the camera started rolling, I would make shots that I never dreamed I could make. But when the cameras were off, it didn't go so well. I didn't have a whole lot of time to learn, and I didn't know how to play beforehand. But I had a fantastic instructor, John Juback, who plays Duncan in the movie. He taught me really well. And he was sort of like my good luck charm because he was there on the set every single time I had to play pool.

Being a New Yorker, it must have been nice to shoot Turn the River near home.
It was great. I love New York and I love to spend every free second I have here. But when you're on location, you're just that character in that environment. You don't have to go home and pay your bills, so you can live this fantasy life for the duration of the film. So I find it easier sometimes to shoot that way.

Your beloved Boston Terrier, Licorice, got a credit as a "Production Dog" for Turn the River. What was his job?
He was there every day on set behind the camera, giving his support.