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Friday, August 25, 1995

By Lori Swingle

Summer Bruin Contributor

Once upon a time, it seemed Elisabeth Shue would forever play the girlfriend next door. Then came "Leaving Las Vegas," Shue's role of a lifetime, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Shue's career has entered a new phase, and her life will never be the same. However, before the movie opened and the acclaim arrived, Hollywood still resisted casting Shue in the roles she desired.

"I finished 'Leaving Las Vegas,' and I was having a tough time getting a job. I guess I definitely did want to keep going more extreme, I wanted to make more extreme choices," Shue recalls.

She did indeed get another job in the upcoming "The Trigger Effect," where she plays Annie. Though not as troubled as "Vegas"'s Sera, she possesses many of the same qualities. Clearly, the experience of "Leaving Las Vegas" has not yet ended for Shue. She is still eager to discuss the role that changed her life.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to escape (Sera) ­ on a lot of levels," Shue confesses. This glimpse into the darker side of life has allowed the actress to bring an added depth to her work. Shue was initially hesitant to take the role of Annie, an inadequate wife and mother whose life is drastically turned upside down by a widespread power outage.

"I loved the script, but I immediately judged the character as not being enough," she says. Once writer and first-time director David Koepp (screenwriter of "Jurassic Park" and "Carlito's Way") offered to let Shue develop the character further, Shue accepted.

"I always saw (Annie) as a wild child who got into a lot of trouble and who lived life on the edge. I think her overt sexuality was something that I pushed and pushed for, and David was very open to it," she says.

This added dimension came as a relief to Koepp. "I have a much easier time writing men than women, and I wanted collaboration. (Elisabeth) flushed everything out, she just had insight ­ I wanted the woman to be frustrated, I didn't exactly know why."

Shue has spent much of the last few years exploring the dark side of human nature. "I think it's the most interesting conflict in life, that we're all both responsible and irresponsible, dark and light, and this conflict is constantly going on every minute of your life. If you try to shut down one aspect of your personality, try to hide it, it's gonna come out in very dynamic ways," she says.

Until her performance in "Leaving Las Vegas," Shue was satisfied with less pivotal roles. Reflecting on her early years, she says, "I did not know what I needed to express, what I was capable of expressing. I was extremely young, and very happy to be working at all."

Shue has not yet forgotten the days when she was not one of the most sought after actresses in Hollywood, when she was overlooked for the big roles she now receives.

"When you've been working as long as I have, and you've gone through the ups and downs, you know that the downs exist. I just very much appreciate that I got the chance to work on a movie with an actor ("Vegas" co-star Nicolas Cage) that I respect so much, and I just focus on that," she says.

Shue doesn't have to worry, however, because she has already finished filming "Cousin Bette," a period piece with Jessica Lange, and is currently costarring with Val Kilmer in "The Saint." For now, the actress is taking her new found fame and acclaim with a grain of salt.

"I think (fame) is all an illusion. That's the creation of the business ... If I let it bother me, then it would isolate me and make me not live my life, and ultimately that's more important than being an actress."

Film: "The Trigger Effect," starring Elisabeth Shue and directed by David Koepp, opens Aug. 30.

Gramercy Pictures

Elisabeth Shue stars in "The Trigger Effect."