Having starred in such bottom-feeding trash as The House Bunny, the Scary Movie sequels, Yogi Bear, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, The Hot Chick (a 2001 Rob Schneider comedy if you've forgotten) and more - it's a credit to the talents of
Anna Faris that she keeps surviving and fighting back for more. She's one of a few actresses' under 40 who can sell movies consistently on her name alone and remains likeable and respected no matter how low she goes. Maybe it's because of her fearless nature and her regular performances as daft, 'a sandwich short of a picnic' loony but spirited characters in more smart minded fare like Lost in Translation and Observe & Report - which shows that she has a self-awareness about her and what her public image might be, and she isn't afraid to explore that on film. A few weeks ago, a writer in the
New Yorker called her
"Hollywood's most original comic actress", which shows the reputation she has managed to gain for herself despite starring in some of the lamest movies of the past ten years. Personally, I would really love an A-list director to have the balls to give her the material to do something really special with... I would love Paul Verhoeven for example to give her a kind of role he would once give to Sharon Stone... or at least somebody to give her a Meg Ryan role or just something that isn't from the lowest rung of the Hollywood ladder. Perhaps sick herself of the movie offers that have come her way -
The Hollywood Reporter say Faris has sold a stalker-roommate comedy she has co-developed with
Deanna Kizis to Paramount in about a roommate from hell. It's a comedy so it's not another Single White Female rip-off like
The Roommate but we can hope, at least, that it will be somewhat dark comedy. Apparantely the project was birthed from a conversation she had with her agent and her reps where Faris recalled a real life roommate she once had and from that strung the idea for this movie. The movie revolves around Paige, a nurse who takes on a new roommate named Ginny who on first impression she seems to share a lot in common with, only to find that Ginny is actually a wacko. From the sounds of things, Faris wanted to add to her CV of playing wacky characters and play Gunny But all the guys on my team want me to play Paige, because shes the lead" - so she will play Paige, the straight role instead. Personally I think this is a good thing and will give her the opportunity to try something different. Faris' next movie is a rom-com titled What's Your Number? where she will star as "a woman looks back at the past twenty men she's had relationships with in her life and wonders if one of them might be her one true love" which opens in the U.S. on September 30th.