Mena Suvari in Stuck Courtesy of THINKFilm

Did you actually get to do some driving with a stunt man sticking out of your windshield?
Uh-huh, that's what's exciting for me, getting to do these things in my career. I love to challenge myself and do my own stunts. I set myself on fire in this film! [laughs] I love to try new things, and whatever gives me the opportunity.

There's also a really graphic sex scene in this one. Did Stuart spend a lot of time preparing you to shoot something like that?
No, not much preparation, really. You know, this film we shot fairly quickly and there was really not a big budget at all. There were a few times where you might have like one or two takes at the most. It was intense. It was challenging, really. I remember saying to Stuart once, "I can't go from zero to ninety in one second." I needed a minute and we just didn't have that time, so you kind of just went into it. It was just very intense, the whole ride, really. For [Brandi], everything escalates.

Is a gritty part like this more appealing to you than playing a girl from the right side of the tracks, like in Brooklyn Rules?
No, I mean that's fun too. I guess it is more exciting, it's more of a ride. It's interesting for me because I feel that I can learn a lot about myself by studying people — that's kind of how I approach the things that I do. I've enjoyed everything that I've worked on, but I like things that are more complex. That's more interesting to me. I mean, in the beginning of my career — it wasn't that long ago, but still, fifteen years I've been doing this — it was very much like, if you had women in the script they weren't really the lead and they were kind of the girlfriend. You were either the pretty girl or the pretty girl's best friend — the character-girl who had more of a personality but wasn't so pretty. Those were your choices, and I'd always identify with the character role because it was interesting to me. I think I felt that those things were more realistic.

Mena Suvari and Stuart Gordon at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival Photo by Matt Carr

So exploring the psychological dimensions is what's interesting to you.
You know, people have so many different corners to their personalities; they're not just one note. I wouldn't be accepted for [the more interesting parts]. It would be like, "We want her to come in for the pretty girl role." I just never understood why people couldn't be multifaceted, really. I guess I'm just drawn to those things, so yeah, when I read a script like this, I'm fascinated. I'm so fascinated by it. I'm actually going to start another project based on another true story, based on the Ted Binion murders. I always respond to things that I feel reflect real life and a lot of that, filmmaking-wise, is in the independent world, you know? It's kind of edgier. You have two different mediums, and one is a little sugar-coated and not so realistic with a lot of roles that are like, "I'm the girl, I'm the girlfriend, and I have one problem!" But I don't feel that way. Life is complicated.

What did you learn from working with Stuart Gordon?
Well, what I love about Stuart is that he gives you freedom — he's so supportive on set. It's a particular way of working and I think you have to be open to it, you know? It's not like everything is perfect with the sets, like perfect lighting — it's gritty and it's raw. But he'll kind of let the scene move. He's very respectful of that. I was mentioning to him the other day that I really enjoy that, because sometimes [directors] will really break up a scene, in terms of how they're gonna cover it. I love that some of those scenes, like where we're in the kitchen and my friend comes over and she sees what we're doing in the garage. The camera is handheld and you're able to have a wide-shot and I enjoyed working that way. He's very sweet and supportive, and he's just an amazing guy. One of the things I love about Stuart is that he has three daughters, and he's really sweet and soft-spoken but he has, like, the darkest imagination.

What kind of role are you playing in that murder movie you mentioned before?
I play Sandy Murphy; she was Ted Binion's live-in girlfriend... In 1998, in Las Vegas, [Ted] was found dead in his home of an apparent heroin overdose, but Sandy and her lover Rick Tabish were convicted of the murder. That was in 2000 and then they were acquitted in 2004, but it's just about the story, about her and her relationship with Ted Binion. It's based on a book called Murder in Sin City by Jeff German.

All this true crime stuff — is this Mena Suvari's dark period?
No! [laughs] I think I've covered a lot of things. No, it's just an interesting story to me, and it's an interesting female role to play. I'm just concerned that somebody's gonna come after me one day, all these "real life" things I'm working on.