'Bound' heats up the screen

October 4, 1996
Web posted at: 5:20 a.m. EDT

From Correspondent Sherri Sylvester

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- "Bound" is the classic story of a femme fatale seducing her mob boyfriend and then double-crossing him for an ex-con.

The only difference? "I end up getting the girl in the end," says actress Gina Gershon, who plays just one of the film's femmes fatales. "I've never gotten the girl before; it felt kind of good."

Gershon's role in the new thriller, set to open in theaters this weekend, puts her in the arms of actress Jennifer Tilly.

"For some reason, I tend to play lots and lots of gangsters' molls," Tilly says. "And I don't know why that is. I've never met a gangster in my whole life."

Tilly's portrayal of a gun moll earned her an Oscar nomination for Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway."

This time, she plays the sexpot girlfriend to Joe Pantoliano's wiseguy Caesar. The actor says he likes being on the wrong side of the law.

"I like playing bad guys, 'cause bad guys always get the good clothes," Pantoliano says. "When I play a cop, they put me in clothes like L.L. Bean. When I play a bad guy, I'm in like Cerruti, baby."

Gershon and Tilly would have gladly worn L.L. Bean or Cerruti for some of their steamy scenes. The actresses instead went for the natural look and helped each other with the cover- ups.

Gershon explains: "Jennifer's like, 'This part looks bad.' Then, 'OK, I'll keep my hand there. Look this part is so nasty,' 'OK, I'll cover this up, and we'll keep our legs like that.' You know, you really can't do that with a guy."

Some unusual scenes on the set came courtesy of the filmmakers. "Bound's" directors are brothers who once worked for Marvel Comics. That made for odd instructions to the cast and crew.

"When you're working with somebody that's really Hollywood they'd say, 'OK, we'll have a tight two,'" Tilly says. "The brothers ... wouldn't say 'A tight two.' They'd say, 'I want you to look like a double-headed hydra.'"

And how does a cinematographer compose a double-headed hydra shot? That's a secret left on the set.

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