By Todd Gilchrist

Ray Romano and Famke Janssen could not have come from more different entertainment backgrounds: Romano has become a television staple over the last decade, and has only recently begun a journey towards big screen roles, while Janssen started as a Bond girl and has gone on to steal roles away from big name actresses on the merits of her talent and irresistible charisma. In the new film Eulogy, the pair come together for the first time, as loosely-knit members of a family who converge on their family home to mourn the death of their father, played by Rip Torn. Romano and Janssen recently spoke to IGN FilmForce about working together on the black ensemble comedy.

Q: Ray, was this a different type of comedy for you after playing the lead on a sitcom?

ROMANO: Yeah, well it was the first film I did and it was very much more edgy and dark than my TV fans are going to be used to, but that's what appealed to me. The script was good and the character was nutty.

Q: Was that character the one you originally wanted to play?

ROMANO: That's the one I wanted to play. The script came to me for the other, uh, what the hell is his name? Daniel! It's been a year and a half. Yeah, that was when the script came to me and then I just said, you know, I could do this character, but I'm more interested in the other one and they said, 'OK.'

Q: Why were you more interested in the other role?

ROMANO: Well, just for that reason. He had a little twisted side to him. A little sad, a little funny and I get to wear a little moustache glued to my face, which was annoying.

Q: Famke, the women of She Hate Me apparently went to a 'lesbian boot camp' for their roles. Did you do any research on lesbians for this?

JANSSEN: Yeah, um, yeah. I approached her as a person, not really as a lesbian. I mean, not to begin with. But there was some research involved that I won't discuss in front of Ray.

Q: Was it nice being in an ensemble comedy with no special effects?

JANSSEN: Oh, always, yeah. I always love to go back and forth between the two. The little independents, because in the independents, I get to play characters – in the studio films for some reason, most of the time they're either – I mean, there's a specific type of character. Not always action movies, but a specific type of very strong female character I end up playing. And in the independents over the years, over the last 10 years, I've been able to do like Love and Sex, a little comedy, and whatever. All these little ones that I've done have been great acting challenges and I get to play different characters in them so it's been fun.

Q: Did you contribute directly to the look of your character?

JANSSEN: Oh, yeah. Very much so. As a matter of fact, I have a friend in New York, I live in New York, who's a stylist and I went over to her place because she's got a lot of clothes. And I just had a very specific idea and I basically ended up wearing most of it. So it's all stuff that I brought over.

Q: In X2, it seems like all of the actors are fighting for screen time. Was it like that in this ensemble?

JANSSEN: What do you mean in X2? Does it appear like that on screen?

Q: Maybe just stories that you hear off camera.

JANSSEN: Right. I don't know on this movie. I think that everybody was–

ROMANO: No, on this movie the script was there. I mean we all had our adlibbing moments and stuff like that, but ultimately what got in the film was what was scripted for the film.

JANSSEN: I think the only thing that happened at times, that tends to happen in these little movies with no money and no time is that you have to consolidate shots. All of a sudden, instead of doing close-ups, people end up in three shots. And if there's no room to go to one more angle, then sorry, we're going to have to skip that angle and just move on to the next thing. So I think in that respect, maybe people could have tried to get more screen time or something but I wasn't really aware that people were doing that around me, so I don't know if [others] were fighting in the background, chewing up the scenery in the back.

Q: Would you be open to doing more character roles rather than leads?

ROMANO: Uh. You know, yeah, if the character was interesting and I thought I could pull it off and do it I would love to, yeah. I mean, I don't have a good experience with having a lead in a movie. I'm 0-1 I think as far as that goes. I like the whole process of getting into a different skin for the most part and I would do it again. I just don't want to play the same guy again over and over.

Q: Would you like to be buried or cremated when you die?

JANSSEN: Cremated. Just the idea of rotting...

ROMANO: Yeah, I don't know, I think I would go cremation.

Q: Famke, will you come back for X3?

JANSSEN: I might. It depends. It depends on many different things, who the director would be. Bryan Singer is no longer going to direct it. He did the first two and then he ended up doing X-Men movies because I thought that Bryan Singer did such a great job. He elevated that whole genre. He's a very talented director. So it really depends on–

Q: Joss Whedon was rumored to be taking over the series.

JANSSEN: I heard that rumor too. I've heard it on the street. I haven't heard it from close reliable sources yet, but I don't know. I'd really have to look at his take on [it]. It's so hard to imagine at this point anybody other than Bryan doing it because those two movies have such a specific distinctive look.

Q: The series seemed to set your character up for the 'Dark Phoenix' storyline from the comic books.

JANSSEN: And Bryan really wanted to follow that storyline because it's one of the biggest storylines in the X-Men comic books. So it would have been great for me if that had happened and that scenario. I'm not sure what they're going to do. I know Dark Phoenix is a huge part of the X-Men saga, so I'm assuming they're at least going to want to touch on it, but I don't know and I don't know whether I would want to be involved. That depends on many different things.

Q: Would it be weird to see someone else play Jean Grey?

JANSSEN: If they went with the Dark Phoenix storyline, then maybe not because I think she's supposed to be very different anyway.

Q: Is nip/tuck left open for you to return?

JANSSEN: It has, I just don't think that I will. Just because – it was a great thing. I just love doing films because I like the time that I get to work on a character and, you know, I live in New York. I don't really particularly want to move to LA. So there's many reasons why, and also I feel that that was a very, very strong character to play and it was a wonderful arc that they created for me and I'm just not sure that I feel there's anything left to do with that character.

Q: Ray, do you have as lackadaisical an approach to parenting as your character in the movie?

ROMANO: I'm bad. Bad meaning I am like him a little bit. I'm a softy. My wife's the hard ass in the family, and she gets on my case. I give 'em stuff. I bet stuff. I got my kids a trampoline (he says with his head in his hands).

Q: What did you have to do to create the character, since the disciplinary approach was not a stretch?

ROMANO: No. What I did with this guy... it wasn't a crazy character stretch, but he reminded me of this guy in my neighborhood. I won't say who of course, so I tried to channel that guy and that guy...I remember driving to the set in the morning and that guy has this certain thing he says. He has like a signature line that he always says so I would say it in the car on the way to the line to try to kind of click in to this guy. So I used him. I was lucky to have this guy to kind of imitate almost. I tried to just know who the guy was and where he came from and the whole father issue and being the forgotten son and all that. That helped.

Q: What was the energy level on the set?

ROMANO: The energy was good. A lot of different personalities. Everybody was fun.

JANSSEN: The great thing I think when you do independents is that people are really there for the same reason. They're not there because they got a lot of money and they want to just go home and get it over with. They're there because they believe in the script or the director or the cast or whatever it is, and they want to make it work. So everybody just puts their best foot forward.

Q: Did you have a lot of freedom to elevate the irreverent tone?

JANSSEN: It was a comedy. It was always a comedy, written as a comedy. They adlibbed a lot more, you and Hank did most of the time.

ROMANO: Yeah we adlibbed, but the tone was there. When we adlibbed it was just to try to get a laugh.

Q: What scenes did you adlib?

ROMANO: On the porch when Hank throws the lemon at me. That was all kind of winged. Even little things like when you say "triple-tonguing your g-spot" and I make that noise...all those little things and in the basement Hank did a lot of...

JANSSEN: I haven't seen the final basement scene. I know a lot got cut, so I don't know what's in it anymore.

Q: Is that a real slang vocabulary?

JANSSEN: Triple tonguing? It was sort of invented. It wasn't in the script. It was something that I came up with.

Q: Did you learn that in research?

JANSSEN: Yes.

Q: Where do you stand on gay marriage?

JANSSEN: I don't see why somebody just by virtue of being in love with – or whatever. Just because you're of the same sex, what difference does it make? Get married to whomever you want.

ROMANO: Hey I'm married, if somebody wants to ruin their life that's fine by me.

Q: How nasty was the non-narcotic joint?

JANSSEN: That was bad. In the scene I was smoking. I have smoked. I can't believe you could actually handle any of it.

ROMANO: I don't smoke or drink. I was really high in that scene because that was the first time smoke was going in my lungs.

Q: What is it?

JANSSEN: It's herbs that they – you can pick from different flavors. It's just nasty. Leaves a really disgusting taste in your mouth.

Q: Once the show is done are you going to return to stand-up like Seinfeld did?

ROMANO: I'm not going to do like him. He went and threw out all his material. No, I want to do stand-up but I would love to write new material. I like performing now, but I just hate that I just have the same material because I don't have time to write new material. You have to go on stage and you have to grind it out. You gotta go on stage 20 to 30 times to know if this bit...OK this is a new bit in my act and I just don't do that I just don't have the time. I'd like to write new material because I get real excited doing that also.

Q: What kind of watch is that?

ROMANO: It's a Casio baby, $12. That's when I did stand-up, this was the stand-up watch because you could immediately time your set when you go on and believe me my wife gets on my case for having this, but I love it. I have three watches, but this is my one connection. I'm keeping it real.

Q: Ray, has there been any progress on Ice Age 2?

ROMANO: Yeah, there's a script and negotiating and I think it's going to happen. That's what they tell me. I believe now. Let's see, I read the script a couple months ago. What happens now is I think they're worried about everything melting. Yeah I think it starts out where they have to flee because they're about to get flooded. And I know Manny gets a girlfriend in it. My character, yeah, and this is how sad I am, I'm excited about it. You know how you get when you're playing a film and you're going to have a boyfriend or girlfriend. You know there's a little bit of excitement. I'm excited that my animated character has a girlfriend. Maybe I'll get a crush on her.

Q: Are you trying to do a film a summer?

ROMANO: The show is over this year so there will be no time frame, but that's what we tried the last two years. We did one over the summer with Kevin [James]. It's temporarily called Grilled, and it's a dark comedy also. We play meat salesmen who are down on our luck and we have this very bad day where things go wrong we just need to make a sale. They said January, but I know it's pushed to April.

Q: Did you model the character after another neighbor?

ROMANO: No, we met the guy. The meat guy and I actually sat and wrote a backstory. I don't know, I mean, I hate getting all actorly because I'm the last person to, you know. The director was great and he worked a lot with me and Kevin. When you hear me and Kevin you think it will be a broad comedy and it's really not. It's kind of twisted and dark and I'm just worried people are going to expect it to be zany and it isn't. This character I play is a little more selfish and lecherous than this guy (laughs) and he has a full beard and a moustache.

Q: What's next?

JANSSEN: I just did a movie over the winter called Hide and Seek with Robert De Niro, coming out January 29th I believe. I did nip/tuck over the summer for 10 episodes and I'm going to direct something with two other actresses. We're directing. It's Christina Ricci, Rosario Dawson and myself. It's one narrative but there's three different storylines that you follow, and each one of us is going to act in one of them and direct one of the other ones. So we're directing one another but we're not acting and directing in our same pieces.

Q: Are you close friends?

JANSSEN: No, actually a producer put this together and it's through Content Films in New York.

Q: Isn't that risky to have three different directors on one project?

JANSSEN: The reason why it actually could work out is that's sort of irrelevant because each piece can have its own tone. It doesn't have to have – I mean, overall, it's going to be one, but because it's really three distinctive stories within this one narrative, and it's bound together by a beginning and an end, which is going to be directed by another person, we can all have our distinct look and feel of each one of the pieces.

Q: What's your segment about?

JANSSEN: I know the entire story, but I'm not going to bore you with the whole thing, but I know which one I'm going to direct and I know which one I'm starring in. It's really fun. We're working on the script right now to get it polished and ready.

Q: Does the film predominantly deal with feminist themes?

JANSSEN: No, I mean, we all are either married or have boyfriends in the film and there are guys too. It is set up – I mean, it's us three actresses and a female producer at the moment. We're looking for a DP right now and are looking at some females but it really depends when whomever is available and is the best, obviously. So it was written by a woman originally but we're going to have another writer come on to do a rewrite. We're workshopping it and stuff like that so it's not entirely – it's not a feminist project or anything like that but there are a lot of women involved in it. It's called Real Women, Real Stories.

Q: Famke, are you looking for a Monster-type vehicle to showcase your acting?

JANSSEN: That was Eulogy, didn't you see it? No. I always feel like I want to do my career my own way. I never follow anybody's path, what they've done. Like "Oh, that would be the next great idea because somebody did it successfully and it got them an Oscar nomination or whatever." I've set out to do this in my own little bizarre way. I want to work with great directors. I want to work on good material with good actors and sometimes you're successful in that and sometimes not. I've probably done 20 movies at this point and a lot of independents and there's a lot of risk when you do those, but it's been an incredible ride and I love it and I'm just going to keep going and doing what I'm doing. But it's never been important to be a huge star or to have some breakout role. I just want to do good work. Whether I'm supporting somebody or the lead in a film, yeah. If you're the lead, you get a lot more screen time and you get a lot more chances to develop that character more thoroughly than you would if you do it in a little supporting part, but I just love what I do so it doesn't really matter that much.