XL: Cover Story
Traci Lords cleans up with 'Cry-Baby'
By Chris GarciaMay 20, 2004
More: Trash master John Waters embraces his medium & holds mainstream in his sway | Trashing the town
What would you rather watch -- a movie called "What Gets Me Hot!" or one called "Boogie Boy"?
Somewhere in this strictly rhetorical question (you picked "Boogie Boy," right?) lies the stark dichotomy of Traci Lords' cleanly bifurcated acting career.
From 1984 to 1987 Lords starred in 80 movies with distinctly evocative names. Then, suddenly, in 1988, titles like "Tailhouse Rock," "New Wave Hookers" and "Huge Bras 3" gave way to more mundane ones, like "A Time to Die," "Underworld" and "Blade."
By now we all know what happened. The busy career of underage porn star Lords was halted by the FBI So she went legit, beginning with a standard B movie, "Not of This Earth," by exploitation producer Roger Corman. Since then, Lords has played in scores of films and television shows, effectively inverting her lubricious image into something by turns kosher and kitschy. Her big-screen breakthrough was John Waters' camp musical satire "Cry-Baby" in 1990. Which is why we're talking to Lords, who was born Nora Kuzma 36 years ago this month. Lords, most recently in Austin promoting her memoir "Underneath It All" last August, is coming back tonight to present "Cry-Baby" and sign her book at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown.
In a sheer coincidence, Waters will be appearing across town tonight, doing his stand-up act. Unfortunately, the director and star couldn't combine their appearances, but who knows what might happen?
"You think Austin is ready for it?" Lords says by phone from her Los Angeles home. "There will be no margarita safe in the town."
Lords is effusively grateful to Waters for casting her as bad-girl Wanda Woodward in "Cry-Baby," where she played alongside Iggy Pop, Ricki Lake and relative newcomer Johnny Depp in the title role. The film formally made her a legitimate commodity in Hollywood, she says, leading to bigger movies and frequent appearances on "Roseanne" and "Melrose Place." She also had a role in Waters' dark comedy "Serial Mom."
Lords has reinvented herself impressively, and now she gets to do interviews like this. Our chat began with Lords asking me a question.
 Photo by Henny Garfunkel/UNIVERSAL Traci Lords credits her role in John Waters' 'Cry-Baby,' starring Johnny Depp, for opening the door to roles on 'Roseanne' and 'Melrose Place.' Traci Lords presents 'Cry-Baby' and signs her memoir When: 9:45 p.m. and midnight Where: Alamo Drafthouse Downtown, 409 Colorado St. Tickets: $12 Information: www.drafthouse.com, 476-1320 |
XL: People always say that. Elaborate.
Lords: I've been to Austin a couple of times. You guys have the best Mexican food ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. The town has got a really cool music vibe, the people are really nice. I think if I didn't have to live in Los Angeles, Austin would be my second choice of place to roam about in. I've spent some time there and I always come into town and drink up all the margaritas and eat all the Mexican food and leave. (Giggles.) Don't tell anyone.
XL: What kind of meaning does "Cry-Baby," which you're showing tonight, have for you?
Lords: Making that movie was one of the high times of my life. It was the biggest studio film I had ever done. And John Waters was just fantastic on a personal level and everything else. I have three chapters about "Cry-Baby" in my book, because it's such a huge, pivotal piece in my life, and about John in particular. The movie gave me a lot of positive feedback in my life at time when there was a lot of negative things being said.
XL: Was Waters hiring you as a lark of some kind, considering his affinity for misfits and underdogs, in the same way he fostered Patty Hearst's acting career?
Lords: I don't know if it was a lark. I auditioned for the role. I think he liked the idea of having me. He definitely has a knack for kitschy casting, but if I wasn't able to pull it off, I wouldn't have gotten the role. It was one of the greatest experiences, in many ways, of my life. It completely changed my career. It didn't make me an overnight movie star. But it did something important, saying that this was somebody you should take seriously.
XL: Has the stigma of your porn years finally burned off?
Lords: It depends on who you ask. It isn't something I think much about. It was 18 years ago. Obviously it's something that I can be sensitive about, that can be insulting when people mean it to be. It can strike a chord. But is it really relevant in my life? No, it isn't.
XL: When you first embarked on a mainstream film career, were you automatically offered exploitation and B trash stuff?
Lords: Like every other actress starting out, I worked for scale. I was working for Roger Corman, like a lot of people do when starting out. That was "Not of This Earth."
XL: And that was the last time you went topless in a movie, right?
Lords: Yeah. It's been a while. Whew, time flies!
More: Trash master John Waters embraces his medium & holds mainstream in his sway | Trashing the town
cgarcia@statesman.com; 445-3649
