Monique Parent: The Mr. Skin Interview

Hard to believe, but it looks like you've made over 75 productions in a little over ten years.
Yeah, something like that. It's been a little bit of work. There was a time when I was so excited about how I was working all the time, and I wasn't paying attention to whether or not what I was doing was good. I think that's fairly obvious. Now I'm trying to be more selective.

Your first film was the humble Night Visions (1991), but Secret Games (1992) would become a real classic of late-night cable.
Secret Games was actually my first film. I remember standing behind the door, waiting to make my appearance, and thinking, "Did they really just say 'Action'?" I'd been training as a stage actress, not for performing in front of the camera. I had no idea.

You weren't given much dialogue in your early roles, and were mainly used as this silent, graceful presence. Your m?ge a trios in Dangerous Touch (1993) (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3) is almost eerie.
That's good to hear. I thought I was hired to be a body. Apparently, I was doing more. I don't think about moving like a dancer in a conscious way. I've been trained in ballet since I was 3 years old, so that's the only way I know how to move. We all have certain things which are innate to us -- whether we want them to be there or not. That's a gift and a curse. What makes you stand out can also be what holds you back.

You were also used for some exceptional strip scenes, such as in Dragon Fire (1993) (Picture: 1 - 2) . It was kind of a shock to finally see you clowning around in Buford's Beach Bunnies (1992).
That was actually my second film. I remember being paid $75 a day for 3 weeks. You can go broke making that kind of movie. It's a very expensive hobby. It was fun, though, because my personality is very much the smartass. I go there very easily. It was fun for me to play the dumb one. I let every bit of my brain seep out. I would just do any stupid thing, to the point that the director finally had to say, "Okay, that's enough.'" It was so freeing to just do dumb things.

You're also a lot of fun in Night Eyes 3 (1993).
I remember reading the script and thinking that I wasn't the kind of actress who gets that kind of role. It was for a blonde bimbo with big boobs. So I said, "What the hell," and I went into the audition, went, "Uh-oh," and fell off my heels. A lot of actors and actresses are hindered by wanting to prove they're smart. I don't have anything to prove. I've done more drama than I ever imagined I would. I wish I'd done more comedy.

Was there a conscious moment when you decided that you were going to grace softcore with your talent?
I never intentionally chose softcore. It chose me. The very first thing I auditioned for was the first job I got -- which was Secret Games. Prior to that, my manager told me to never do nudity. It would kill my career. When I got this part, he said, "Okay, we're auditioning because it's a union production and you need your SAG card." He said that I'd do this one job, and then never do nudity again. But then the next thing came up, and the next one, and then I had an audition at Playboy. I felt absurd walking into the Playboy building. I'm not the Playboy type, in my cowboy boots and ponytail. But then Playboy loved me because I wasn't the Playboy type.

Is there a polite way to note that your specialty seems to be masturbation?
You know, that's just a fluke. It's really weird. Only recently did I start to look myself up online, and I'm reading things like, "Oh, Monique's up to her old tricks again." I never sought those roles out. I know it looks like Monique heads straight to the masturbation scenes, but those are so uncomfortable to do. If you're doing a sex scene with someone else, it's inevitably absurd, and you can turn your face into the other person if you need to laugh. In a masturbation scene, there's nowhere to go. I read a claim that I'm really masturbating in Play Time (1994) (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3) . That's not true. I never have on camera, and I never would. I keep my fake fake.

But it makes sense that directors would frequently cast you for a kind of scene that's particularly demanding.
Maybe so. I have excellent training. I studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse with Joe Santos, Milton Katselas, and Jeffrey Tambor. Calling up the feeling of an orgasm is no different than building up to a crying scene.

Sometimes we don't know it's you in a film until a character starts to seem really believable. You always seem to be changing your look -- often within the same movie.
A lot of times, I have my own idea of who the character is, but once I'm in the makeup chair, the make-up artist will start working with me, and we can create something completely different. People learn very quickly that they can change me. I've walked onto sets where I'd been working for weeks, and people who I've had conversations with will walk up and ask me who I'm there to see.

You also seem willing to look older in some roles.
The first time I was cast in an older role, it wasn't very flattering. "Excuse me? I'm the mother of grown children? Who wrote this crap?" But it was for Playboy, so I went along. It has nothing to do with reality. I have a weird look, anyway. I'm not a typical beauty. Some people think I'm really ugly. Some people find me really attractive. The truth is somewhere in-between.

You can also work a glamorous 1940's vibe -- but the only real-life actress you've portrayed onscreen was Ursula Andress (Picture: 1) in James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997).
My only regret with that role is that I was cast a day and a half before I had to shoot it. Frankly, I think my accent sucked. I didn't have anybody to coach me. I'm unhappy with that performance.

You were pretty amazing as Janis Joplin in the rock biopic Jimi (1996).
I had a lot more time to investigate that role. I pursued that job, because I knew that nobody could picture me in that role. I wasn't a particularly big Janis Joplin fan, but I knew I could do it. I like to change what people think about me.

You've done some serious stage work in Los Angeles. Has that ever conflicted with a screen role?
I've never really had any conflicts. You always anticipate that, but it hasn't happened. People in Los Angeles who do theater -- and I don't mean big-name actors -- have no idea about film actors. The last thing I did, one of the cast members came backstage after the show and said, "Are you famous? My friends are all excited, and they want your autograph." Obviously, she had better things to do than watch my movies.

How do you explain your work to other people?
It's really just been in the last year or so that I've started owning myself, and saying that my career is nothing to be ashamed of.

People will ask, "Have I seen you in anything?" and I reply, "Do you watch late-night cable?" "Well, yes." "Trust me -- you've seen me. The names of the movies don't matter, but you've seen me, and the next time you see me, you'll say, 'Oh my God, that's that girl!'"

And you recently took on a pseudonym for certain films - although it's a little weird that you chose to call yourself "Scarlet Johansing."
Oh, yeah. That's my dog's name. When I chose that name as a pseudonym, it was quite a few years ago. Nobody had ever heard of that other actress. You won't be seeing "Scarlet Johansing" anymore. You can look forward to seeing "Dylan Bailey." That's my other dog's name.