ESPN.com - Shannon Elizabeth

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Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Shannon Elizabeth

Page 2 Staff


	Shannon Elizabeth is not just another pretty face.

You know her as the beautiful woman from "American Pie" and the funny girl from "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." But Shannon Elizabeth is more than just a pretty face, and she's no one-trick pony.

What does she want to do? What does she want to be? Just everything. Eric Neel caught up with the ambitious Ms. Elizabeth while she was on a break from snowboarding at the CuervoNation SnowFest in Teluride last week -- told you, the woman's on the go.

1. What's your best trick as a snowboarder?

Shannon Elizabeth: Falling down.

What's your best trick as an actress?

Elizabeth: Hopefully, comedy. I like to do that, I like to make people laugh.

2. Right now, you're most known for the "American Pie" movies. What do you hope to be known for when your career is done?

Elizabeth: I hope to be known as a chameleon actress, as someone who can play any part out there, and someone who can transform herself into any kind of character there is.

3. You've got two first names: Shannon Elizabeth. Any nicknames?

Elizabeth: My husband sometimes calls me Angel, but that's not like really a nickname, it's more of a pet name. I call him Buddha.

How'd that come about?

Elizabeth: He started calling me Angel first, and it just seemed right. I don't remember how it came about.

Nice the way you've got two theologies working there ...

Elizabeth: Yeah, you like that?

4. You were a pretty serious tennis player as a kid, and you even thought about going pro at some point, is that right?

Elizabeth: Yeah, I played a lot growing up. I still play every once in a while now, but not nearly as much as I'd like to.

How good were you?

Elizabeth: Umm, you know, I feel like that I could fake it really well. Like, I didn't always have a great forehand, but if I was playing somebody with a great forehand, I knew how to mess them up. I had a great backhand. I still had a lot of work to do, but that's what I wanted to do for a while. I just didn't end up pursuing it. I ended up moving to New York and working, and things kind of took off from there.


	"Sorry dude, she doesn't even know your name ... but she idolizes my dome!"

Who were your tennis idols?

Elizabeth: Andre Agassi.

Have you ever had a chance to play him?

Elizabeth: No, I haven't. I did play with somebody though. I played with ... this is gonna sound awful, I can't think of his name, Išm blanking on it ... the guy that always used to throw temper tantrums ...

McEnroe! Oh, he's going to have his heart broken that you couldn't remember his name.

Elizabeth: Well, don't say that. Don't tell him.

5. I understand you're somewhat of an expert in Krav Maga. What is Krav Maga? (Editor's note: Eric totally botched the pronunciation of this, by the way. Shannon politely pointed out that the stress should be on the last syllable of Maga.)

Elizabeth: Krav Maga is an Israeli self-defense fighting tactic. It's similar to kick-boxing. It's meant to be for self-defense. They train the Beverly Hills police department in Krav Maga. They don't really teach you to stay and fight, they teach you to fight enough so that you can get away.

How did you get involved in it?

Elizabeth: There's one place in L.A. that trains, and my husband and I just tried it and we really liked it.


	J-Lo and Shannon Elizabeth could defend us with their Krav Maga skillz, anytime.

Any Krav Maga-themed scripts or project ideas floating around out there? You going head-to-head with Jackie Chan?

Elizabeth: I would looooove that.

6. What is your favorite role so far?

Elizabeth: It's a toss-up between "Jay and Silent Bob" and "Thirteen Ghosts," actually.

Is there a role out there you especially want to play?

Elizabeth: I want to play everything I haven't played. I don't want to do what I've already done.

Because you broke in doing comedy, do you find it hard getting people to take you seriously?

Elizabeth: Yeah. I still like doing comedy, but yeah, it's hard to get people to see you as anything they haven't already seen you as.

If it all went away tomorrow, what would you do instead?

Elizabeth: That depends on whether I'd have all the money in the world or not. If I had all the money or I had somebody taking care of me and I could do anything I wanted, I'd take care of animals. To actually make a living? I don't know ...


	Reality TV is now a slice of Americana pie.

7. What kind of TV do you like to watch?

Elizabeth: Eeeeeeverything. I'm a TV junkie.

Three favorite shows?

Elizabeth: "NYPD Blue," "Will and Grace" and "Big Brother." Give you three different genres there ...

"Big Brother," eh? That answers my next question: What is your favorite "guilty pleasure" show?

Elizabeth: I watch every reality show out there.

Would you ever be on one?

Elizabeth: I'm not allowed to do that stuff. I'd love to do it and I wish I could, but I'm not allowed to. I would do it if there weren't cameras on.

What do you mean you're not allowed to?

Elizabeth: It's just that it's not the kind of career move I should be making right now.

You and your husband spend a lot of time in the public eye. What is the weirdest thing that's happened to you as a Hollywood couple?

Elizabeth: Well, we were at a premier one night, and we'd driven there and were just parked on the street. And a bunch of people started hounding us. They were following us. They jumped on top of the car, and shot video in the window, and wrote down our license plate number. It was really weird.

8. Fair enough. What's in your CD player right now?


	Shannon's discman dons country ditties.

Elizabeth: Garth Brooks. I'm a big country fan. Enrique Iglesias. I'm very cheesy when it comes to music.

9. If you could invite any three guests, from any time in history, to dinner tonight at your house. Who would you invite?

Elizabeth: Gary Oldman, because he's the kind of actor I strive to be. He's a chameleon. He's amazing to watch. And I'd say Michelle Pfeiffer, because she's also the kind of actress I really admire. And, Steven Spielberg.

Because, you know, he could hook up a real good project for you with Gary Oldman and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Elizabeth: (Laughs) That's right.

10. If I could give you a choice between three super powers -- you could fly, you could be invisible, or you could have the strength of 100 women -- which would you choose?

Elizabeth: I have to pick one of those? It's a toss-up between flying and being invisible. It's a real toss-up.

If you could be invisible today, what would you do, where would you go?

Elizabeth: I would make sure everyone in my life is being faithful, listen to phone conversations, overhear conversations, that kind of stuff.