From directing the fairly dreadful Rob Schneider vehicle, The Animal, Luke Greenfield has re-emerged with The Girl Next Door, the tender story of a romance between a college kid and a porn star. Whether Girl is the next Risky Business or, as our critic says, just another semi-amusing flick, is up for the box office to decide. Greenfield has his own ideas, though. And he got to meet both Jenna Jameson and Brianna Banks! How cool is that?
How closely does this film mirror your teenage years?
This is definitely a personal movie for me. There is a lot of Matthew in me. Like Matthew, I was very driven, very destination oriented. As a little kid, I wanted to follow in Steven Spielberg's footsteps—go to USC film school, and become a feature film director at 22. And in doing that, I regret not living, partying, and hanging out with friends. And if I could do that again, I'd be a drunk jock. Life's a journey, you've got to experience the things that come to you.
How do you feel the situations in The Girl Next Door reflect the problems kids have to deal with today?
I wanted to put this kid through hell, in situations he would never ever be in. I think that's the best way to explore his character. What you do when you are afraid of this and that, and conquering the things that stop you.
Your film has an R rating that could prevent many teens, its core audience, from seeing it.
PG-13, is so candy-coated. I didn't set out to make a teen comedy. I wanted to make an edgy, wild, volatile coming-of-age story, about an 18-year-old kid who wanted adventure and fun, and gets a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.
Do you think your film adds to the coarsening of America?
We are getting dumber, but I'm hoping not to help that. If I wanted to help that, I would have made a broad teen comedy, and just not cared. I really wanted to be emotional. I wanted people to "feel the chill," and I wanted to make certain moments memorable.
What, to you, is the most memorable scene?
When Matthew takes Danielle to the hotel room, and he's trying to make her be a slutty porn star. The hotel room scene has always been one of my favorites because it begins as sort of humorous as we see Matthew attempting to go through with his insane plan to have sex with Danielle, but then it gets dead serious when she calls him on it, and comes right out and asks: "Do you want to f--k me?" When you sit with an audience, they are completely engaged and no one moves in their seat. It's perfect. I got 'em.
Your film has considerable nudity, both male and female. Did you have any concerns about that? Was it deliberate to get as much skin up on screen as possible?
Not at all. Emile [Hirsch] kind of escaped, because he was 17; those were body doubles for him. He wasn't allowed to by law, but he would have done it in a second. In writing the script, we did not go about, saying, "Hey, how can we get everyone naked in the movie?" It was more what was needed. When you go to an adult film convention, there is skin.
Why did you choose to make a movie about porn stars?
I wanted to make a movie about the relationship between a kid and a girl trying to escape her past.
Do you have fantasies about porn stars?
I'm not really a porn film guy. When I was growing up, I was not a porn fanatic. I certainly wasn't against it. It wasn't that accessible to me. I wish it were a little more accessible. When I was growing up, serious porn films were not accessible. Today, you can easily go on the Internet and download anything you want. As a kid, I was very curious about sex and women, of course, but WHT and then Cinemax, Showtime, HBO, were my only outlets. We didn't have Playboy or Spice. It kind of sucked being me.
I noticed you didn't use any real porn stars in the film.
I met them all in auditions—Jenna Jameson, Brianna Banks—and they are great, sharp women, very intelligent. We wanted real porn stars, but the studio made a wise decision, saying, "wouldn't that take the audience out of it?" I agree with them.
When I met Jenna Jameson, I was blown away. She's a very, very sharp woman and very cool, down-to-earth. I would have loved to have her in the film but the studio was emphatic about having no real porn stars in the movie. I think Jenna thinks it's my fault, but I love her. I hope she reads this or someone can tell her that I really wanted her in the movie.
The same goes for Brianna Banks. Very cool woman. But again, the studio wouldn't allow it. It would've been nice to have given them a cameo to heighten the reality at the adult film convention in the movie.
You certainly play up the glamour of the porn industry, and very little of the harsh aspects of it. That seems somewhat disingenuous.
I didn't want to go there. It didn't belong in this movie. There is a very dark side to the porn industry. I wanted to make the porn convention more of an event. The adult film convention is very sterile compared to [The Girl Next Door]. I didn't want to go into the dark side.
How do you think your film contributes to the mainstreaming of porn, making it more acceptable in our culture?
I don't think it does. Did Pretty Woman glamorize prostitution? I think that the whole movie was Danielle trying to escape that world and be normal. I hope I am not glamorizing it at all. Porn is in the mainstream, and it has been for a while. I think certain aspects of porn will never make it into the mainstream. There is some really dark, immoral stuff out there. I don't think they'll ever get into the mainstream. We're not that type of society.
How was shooting in Las Vegas, fun or difficult?
I didn't shoot in Vegas—(the studio) wouldn't let me! Those were all visual effects. We shot green screens and put Vegas marquees in the reflection of the windows and we re-created the convention on stage in Los Angeles. The studio did not want to pay for us to go to Vegas!
Do you believe that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?
Definitely. I am a firm believer in that. I love Vegas.