Anyone who’s got “Girl at rock concert” (in Kids in the Hall’s Brain Candy) listed as one of their first film credits was probably destined for a strange ride through show business — and, so far, that’s just fine with Selma Blair.
From being a face in the Brain Candy crowd, Blair carried on to land a standout role in Cruel Intentions, the youthful, contemporary remake of Dangerous Liaisons starring Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Michelle Gellar. A romantic lead in the Hellboy franchise followed, as well as the supporting role in Legally Blonde and the TV show Kath & Kim, but Blair removed herself from the casting Rolodex shortly thereafter.
“I took a step back the last few years and haven’t worked. I took care of some kids and horses. I actually bought a horse … and it saved my life,” says Blair.
“I started riding seriously at 17 … show jumping. Now I do dressage, also, but I finally decided last year I’m not going to devote everything in my life to the next movie or the next TV show. I’m going to move on.”
Now back in the saddle professionally, as well as personally, Blair is in the midst of shooting a Vancouver indie thriller called Replicas. The debut feature from music video/ magazine publishers Justin Tyler Close and Jeremy Power Regimbal, Replicas features Blair in the lead role as a mother trying to enjoy some quality time with her family — when things go horribly wrong.
“A friend gave me the script and it was something I hadn’t done before. (So) I said yes and attached myself. It’s a really quick shoot, and when you do an indie with a new director and a new producer, you feel their excitement,” says Blair of the film currently shooting in Langley, B.C.
“I’m definitely the veteran on set. I’m certainly the oldest. It’s a young crew, and they’re so happy to see their dream coming together.”
As someone who describes herself as “a tough smile” who “never had a lot of twinkle and shine,” Blair says she’s lost some edges with age, and says the nice thing about getting older is that she can finally detach from any ingenue expectations.
“I’ve never been the most ambitious actress. I don’t look like Julia Roberts; that’s not what I bring physically to a role. Now I can play mother roles and it works. I feel something good is happening,” she says.
“If I could dream of the kind of career I’d like to have, it would look like Catherine Keener’s or Dianne Wiest’s — OK, I really am fantasizing here. But I think those actors are a huge pleasure to watch.”
Blair shouldn’t sell herself short. She, too, has a proven track record for being interesting, whether it’s as the villain-turned-ally in Legally Blonde or an ill-fated turn in The Fog.
“So it’s not Titanic,” she says. “I get confidence from doing it consistently, even if it’s under the radar. I can say to myself: ‘OK, I’m sticking around. I’m going to keep doing this,’ ” she says.
With personal and professional esteem surging, Blair says the other half of the confidence equation is crushing the bogeymen.
“It’s not an overwhelming thing. It’s just that somewhere, there’s this little bit of knowledge that someone is willing to take you down a notch. And you know, to not be paranoid of it, but just to realize it, and that’s the way a lot of people work,” she says.
“You can’t do anything about it except be mindful, and then move on with your life.”
And Blair is certainly moving. In addition to Replicas, she’s working with Todd Solondz on Dark Horse alongside Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow.
She’s also slated to appear in Four Saints, a First World War drama about brave nurses, and A Different Kind of Love with Richard Dreyfuss.
“I love Todd Solondz. I love a director with great vision who really knows what he wants.
“It makes the job easier, because you can understand the vision that much better and communicate it better. I want to do that for every director.”
Replicas wraps this month, with a release date to be determined.
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