CULVER CITY, California — With films like “Just Friends” and the “Scary Movie” franchise, Anna Faris has given us so many deep belly laughs that it’s hard to not develop an equally deep appreciation for her comedic talents. But as she revealed to us on Tuesday, her next film will not only be Faris’ most difficult role yet, but will also offer the actress one more chance to get deep.
“There’s a project about Linda Lovelace, the porn star, that we’re really hoping to put together soon,” Faris said of a dramatic biopic that will cast her as the infamous “Deep Throat” www.xxxdeepthroat.com, www.deepthroatenergy.com, actress who dragged the X-rated movie into mainstream culture. “It’s a really deep, dark drama — and it would be cool for me to do.”
The affable 30-year-old beauty hopes to get cameras rolling on the film with enough time to finish it before the impending writers’ strike in June, she and has targeted the subject of the 2005 documentary hit “Inside Deep Throat” for her most dramatic role yet. For those who aren’t versed in filthy ’70s cinema, Lovelace was the stage name Linda Susan Boreman adopted before starring in “Throat,” the 1972 flick about a frustrated woman exploring (and exploring, and exploring again) her sexuality.
“It’s called ‘Inferno,’ ” Faris said of the film, which she is currently putting together alongside a first-time filmmaker. She said other stars haven’t been cast yet but that director Matthew Wilder will helm the flick.
Lovelace became a household name after “Deep Throat” became a pop-culture phenomenon that had stars like Johnny Carson and Jack Nicholson attending showings. Porn became chic, and the film has to date grossed more than $600 million worldwide (some believe it is still be the most profitable movie ever made).
In the years that followed, however, Lovelace reinvented herself as an anti-porn crusader, toiled in poverty and insisted that she had a gun held to her head off-camera during those infamous “Throat” scenes, blaming the experience largely on her manager/husband Chuck Traynor.
“We’ve yet to find Linda’s husband,” Faris noted of the casting call she’s currently working on with Wilder. “That’s sort of our hang-up right now; we’re trying to get that.
“This would be incredibly intense,” Faris said of the script about Lovelace, who died in 2002 following a car accident and several weeks on life support. “It would be the most difficult thing I’ve done, and I’m really nervous.”
Although known primarily for comedies, Faris has made small appearances in dramas like “Lost in Translation” and “Brokeback Mountain.” She’s in the process of wrapping the Playboy-bunny comedy “I Know What Boys Like,” hopes to start shooting “Inferno” in the next few months and is currently preparing by immersing herself in Lovelace’s history.
“It’s a pretty tragic story,” Faris admitted with earnest. “It’s going to be a challenge, definitely.”