I am waiting for her at a restaurant in one of the most prestigious hotels in New York City. I am as overwhelmed as a groom who is waiting for her bride at the altar.

But my emotional fever miraculously is subsides when I see her in the doorway.

Cheerfully she approaches me, giving me a welcoming kiss, hugging me tightly and saying “Hello, darling”. No, I am not dreaming. And she… she is so radiant, so unbearably beautiful. It’s time to start the conversation. We have 40 minutes for the interview. The clock is ticking and I feel the pressure. I have so many things talk to her.
Let’s begin…

Sasha Korbut: Usually a movie is a one time project (not talking about sequel or trilogy). You meet a crew for, let’s say from 2 to 6 month, shoot a movie + post production, and after this it’s over; everyone goes back to their business. And as I assume, in order to create a good movie, the team has to become a family for the project. How easy was it for you to adopt to a new project with a new crew and and what’s happening after the film wraps? Is there anyone from the cast or crew who you are hoping to keep in touch with?

Carla Gugino: I think because I had a very eclectic childhood, it actually has helped me very much, to deal with exactly what you are asking about. I had a bit of a gypsy nature. I was born in Florida and then my parents divorced when I was young, but they remained very good friends so the divorce was not traumatic for me. I live with my mom a beautiful house in California, by a river. We moved a lot. I also lived with my dad in Florida and traveled to Europe every year. So what that did for me is that is allowed me to be able to adapt to new people very quickly.

It’s interesting that you mentioned the family thing. In terms of the upcoming movie San Andreas, the film was shot in Australia. Usually, because I’ve been doing this for a very long time, if I am shooting in Los Angeles, or New York or in the states I know a lot of the crews. In those cases, I come on a set and say “hello, nice to see you again”; I work with the same people many times. In this case, I knew a few actors, for example Dwayne Johnson and I were working in a couple projects before, but in terms of crew, it was entirely new. And we did become close, it is very much like a family. And the Australian crew was fantastic. They had done all of the “Lord of the Rings”, and “The Hobbit.” Right now they are shooting a new “Pirates of the Caribbean.” They are all just such wonderful human beings.

In terms of keeping in touch after: I have made some of my very best friends on the set. But I would say that those are very specific, too. You do meet hundreds of people on a set and probably stay in touch with two or three from each project. So I guess it’s organically the end of the chapter. But it’s not a choice to close the chapter … It’s sort of summer camp, and you are all at camp but then you have to go back to school. And it takes effort to stay in touch.

SK: According to your filmography San Andreas became your first disaster film project. How does it feel to be in a catastrophe movie? In terms of other genres, how exciting was it to be involved in this project?

CG: Yes, it’s definitely the first huge disaster movie I’ve ever been a part of. I think, what I love about this movie in particular is the huge amount of heart in it as well. You know usually this kind of movie is on a massive scale and often times are just sort of spectacular to look at and you are on the edge of your seat but you are not necessarily emotionally invested. But in this, one of the things I fell in love with was the script, because it is exciting doing a movie where you really care about the characters. And people who’ve seen it, really cried, it’s very emotional.

Also, I got to do more stunts than I’ve ever done. Ever! So that was really fun. It was scary, but exciting. The stunt team gave me an honorary stunt woman certificate. They said that no actress has ever let herself be put in as many stunts as I did. At which point I thought maybe it was not the smartest decision I’ve ever made (laughing).

SK: This is the third time you have worked with Dwayne Johnson in the same project, (before it was “Race to Witch mountain” and “Faster”). How do you get along with each other?

CG: I really love him as a human being. He is a dear friend. And in this movie we got to go further than we have ever gone in terms of our characters. Our characters were married. And they are separated and we have a real tragedy in a family. And, in the midst of this huge disaster they get together to go find their daughter who is up in San Francisco while they are in Los Angeles.

So I think it’s an actors’ job, obviously, to have implicit trust in somebody. Very often in the first day of shooting, you shoot the last scene of the movie. Or you shoot the sex scene in a way that you meet a person for the first time sort of “Hi, nice to meet you” and then you start shooting. So you get better at becoming comfortable with the stranger very quickly, but the one thing you can’t fake is real trust and intimacy. That comes from knowing someone really well. So in this particular case, it was very helpful for us to create the history of the characters and the amount of chemistry that they feel for each other.

SK: Describe all the experiences that you’ve felt with “San Andreas” in one word?

CG: Exhilarating

SK: In terms of choosing roles, what are the most important aspects for you: script, director, budget, producer or is there something else you consider?

CG: The three pieces that really build a foundation for me, that I look at almost simultaneously are – the script, the director and the character. But if I can’t find the way in to the character, then I can’t do it anyway. Sometimes I’ll find the script where I think the directors and the script are really strong, but the character is not great. In which case I will fight to make the character better, but always I have to have something that I can connect with the character first.

SK: Well, imagine that you see the character in one way and the movie director sees it totally opposite. In this case, how would you negotiate?

CG: It’s interesting because every director does speak such a different language. Some directors speak in an actors’ language and some directors don’t at all and you really have to translate. If I trust the director I’ll try almost anything. If they are not good, then it becomes about translating that and showing them something else that maybe they will like better.

SK: Mostly you’ve been working with well-known film directors. How easily you go on a contact with unknown ones? Would you agree to work in a small budget movie project and work with an unknown director if you liked the plot?

CG: For sure. I do a lot of small movies, too. One just came out in the beginning of this year. I did a small film we shot in Brooklyn with Patrick Stewart and Matthew Lillard called “Match”. It was adapted from a play and a play writer Stephen Belber directed it and he has not directed many films. And certainly, it was not a financial job but I really did love thepiece. I also have done small budget movies with my partner, writer and director Sebastian Gutierrez. We’ve made four small movies together. Very small like it paid 100 dollars a day to the crew and the cast, and I was bringing lunch. We’ve got a really great cast and the script was really great but we made no money and still it was so fun. So yes, for me it’s very important to do small movies.

SK: Why is that important to you?

CG: I think that when you are doing a really big movie, there is a huge amount of cooks in a kitchen, a huge amount of voices and it has to make so much money. They are going to use as much to promote the movie around the world as they did to make the movie. It’s very hard to retain the vision of the person who began that film. So I love movies that don’t have these high stakes because then you can actually make the movie exactly the way that the filmmaker wants to make it.

SK: You are known for being a very diverse actress. Is there any role that you would never agree to play?

CG: Hmmm… I’ve never been asked that question before. I don’t think so. I always love to do roles that there is something about it that scares me or if it is something I’ve never done before. I will not do something that is really mean spirited. I think I definitely said “no” to things that I find are putting a message out into universe that I really disagree with. That being said, it could be a very dark movie but if there is an interesting point of view to it, I might still be open to do it.

SK: In 2009 you played a small role in a short movie by Andrey Zvyagintsev, Apocrypha. Let’s talk about your collaboration with Zvyagintsev…

CG: By the way, have you seen his recent film Leviathan yet? So good.

SK: Yes, I’ve seen it. Since you’ve brought it up, what do you think about Leviathan?

CG: I think it’s incredibly powerful. I mean, boy, the Russians know how to drink (Laughing). But speaking seriously, it is such a powerful movie. It’s to me what the movies have the power to do: reveal important issues that are going on right now in a world through art.

SK: Do you think Leviathan is about Russia or about the world in general?

CG: I am a big believer that the most personal can be the most universal. I believe that the art has to come from “I want to tell this story”, something very personal, and then can become something that relates to everyone.

SK: Going back to Apocrypha. What brought you to this project?

CG: This movie was part of New York, I love you. They sent me a piece and asked if I would be interested in doing it. I had seen Andrey's previous films and thought he was so talented. And, you know, I don’t speak Russian and he spoke very little English at that time. Also, there were no words in the movie for my role, so it was such an interesting experiment.

A side note but it’s connected: many years ago I went to Italy to study with an acting teacher and I took a class and everyone spoke Italian and I did not. So, I ended up watching all these scenes in Italian. What’s so interesting is that when you don’t understand the words, all you know is whether they are telling the truth or not. So you believe it or don’t believe it. And you realize how words are secondary; important but secondary. So because of this experience, I was very interested in that experiment of him (Zvyagintsev) not being able to understand me, me not being able to understand him but two people knowing the story that they wanted to tell. So it was a very interesting experience and I would love to work with him again.

SK: Did you feel like working with Andrey was different than working with any American director in terms of school of cinematography?

CG: No. I felt it was like artists coming together. And it is so thrilling to me that art really can cross boundaries.

SK: In William Somerset Maugham’s “Theatre” Julia Lambert says – “writers can not write a good role for middle age woman.” Something similar but said in a funny way, is something we heard at the Golden Globe Awards 2015. Speaking of Patricia Arquette's role in Boyhood, Tina Fey commented: “She’s proved that there are still great roles for women over 40 as long as you get hired when you’re under 40”. Despite the joke, do you really feel like it’s an issue for actresses over 40 to find good roles and keep their career in general? Do you personally feel it?

CG: No doubt that we live in a culture of youth and obsession with youth which is interesting because not all cultures are like that. And, it is represented in film, obviously. But, for example, Connie Britton, Julianne Moore, Helen Mirren who are a really wonderful actresses, their career took off in the most amazing way after they turned forty. So yes, I do feel it is true that it’s easier for men after forty to get a role than for a women, because there idea that men in their 40’s to 60’s become more handsome and interesting and there is some strange idea that women become old or less sexual, but that is not all true. I think it is a subject that’s important to talk about because we need more great roles for complex, interesting women, which usually happens when you become more interesting in your 40’s.

SK: Do you feel that you are at that same category right now?

CG: No, I don’t think that my better roles were when I was younger. Now I feel like it’s my ideal time when my outsides and my insides are kind of coming together.

SK: You are one of the most well-known actresses in the world, however, you have no world renowned awards behind you. How do you feel about the awards? Is it important for you to be recognized by Academy, or is it not?

CG: I think any time you look for your value outside of yourself you will be disappointed regardless. I remember Alan Ricman saying the reason that he does not read reviews is because “the good hand is never as good as you want it to be and the bad ones you’ll never forget.” And that goes back to Arthur Miller when I worked with him on “After the fall” - my first play on Broadway, when he was still alive. He said, “If I had listened to the critics I would have been dead long ago.”

In terms of awards - here is the thing – I would love to be recognized in that way. Since I was a little girl I dreamt of those kinds of things and certainly have been told in many occasions that I would get awards for different performances I’ve done. And, for whatever reasons, it has never happened for me.

SK: Do you feel that’s it is unfair?

CG: If you are looking for competition to be fair… maybe it can be fair in sports – it’s a question of faster time or slower time, but when it comes to putting artists up against each other or which one’s performance is better - it’s never going to be fair because it’s very subjective. So yes, I think that I feel that for sure it’s unfair. Hitchcock was never nominated, for example, Garry Oldman was never nominated until recently etc…So many people that I admire so much without a doubt should have been nominated over other people that got nominated. I would be happy to get one but I cannot spend that much time thinking about it. For me, more what stands the test of time will be a body of work and that is all that I have control over.

SK: Name me three directors that you would love to work with, but haven't had an opportunity to yet?

CG: Martin Scorsese, The Cohen Brothers, Andrea Arnold

SK: Actor/actress that you would love to work with but have not had an opportunity to yet?

CG: George Clooney, Julianne More and Meryl Streep.

SK: What’s your favorite movie of all time?

CG: “All that Jazz”. I love that movie so much! I can watch it endlessly. And I am a big fan of “The Shining.” It scares me every time I see it.

SK: Who inspired you to become an actress?

CG: Meryl Streep. When I saw Silkwood and Sofie’s choice. I loved how they were two completely different roles and she embodied them so organically. I said to myself: "I want to do that." 

This interview was originally published in June 2015.