Carla Gugino has been quietly amassing one of the most diverse bodies of work in Hollywood, and it’s about time that’s recognized. She’s got a disaster movie in San Andreas, loads of family-friendly adventure films including Race to Witch Mountain, Night at the Museum, and the Spy Kids movies, and she’s currently soaring in the horror space with projects like Gerald’s Game and The Haunting of Hill House. We’d be here all day if I listed everything, but do give her lengthy filmography a quick scan. I’d be willing to bet that in almost all cases, consecutive projects fall in different genres.

Just recently, Gugino got the opportunity to show off a good deal of her seemingly limitless range in a single project, The Fall of the House of Usher. The stellar new Netflix series from Mike Flanagan and the “Flanafamily” focuses on Roderick and Madeline Usher, the extremely wealthy and powerful brother-sister duo pushing Fortunato Pharmaceuticals up and up while leaving a trail of dark secrets in their wake. They think they are untouchable, but when their heirs start dying one by one, they're forced to revisit past choices and reckon with Gugino’s character, Verna, or rather, “The Raven.”

While Verna is often seen in human form, she’s not. As Gugino has explained in the past, “She’s not the devil. She’s not even evil.” She added, “You could say she’s the executor of fate or the executor of karma.” Just before their death, each Usher sees a manifestation of Verna, and each version is different. It’s a one-of-a-kind challenge and Gugino absolutely soars while tackling it, so much so that she was just honored with a Critics Choice Nomination for Best Actress in a Limited Series.

In honor of that accolade, the success of The Fall of the House of Usher, and everything Gugino’s accomplished in film and television thus far, she joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation and offered up a closer look at how she did what many strive to do in Hollywood — avoid being “boxed in” and build a career with a wealth of unique creative opportunities.

00:00 Fall of the House of Usher Auction
00:56 Dicey Questions
11:45 Introduction + Invaluable Acting Class
15:05 Breaking Into the Business
20:39 The Buccaneers
23:04 Working in Every Genre
26:51 Spy Kids
33:25 Mike Flanagan
40:22 Fall of the House of Usher: Carla’s Favorite Vernas
40:24 A Version of Verna Was Cut
43:36 Movement Work for Verna
47:30 Verna’s Speech to Lenore
51:22 Carla’s Critics Choice Nomination

#carlagugino #interview #actor

BREAKING NEWS, REVIEWS & MORE: https://collider.com
SUBSCRIBE:    / collider  

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
  / collider  
  / collider  
  / collider