
Kim Cattrall is not shy when it comes to her well-known silver screen sex appeal after 35 years as a Hollywood actress. Even in her newest film, Meet Monica Velour, the notion of a washed-up, porn star-turned aging stripper still had Cattrall as the main lust appeal—even if she portrays a XXX has-been. Yet, to the 54-year-old actress, the idea of playing the part of a depressed adult star was not just a role to her—to Cattrall, it was the trials and tribulations of a lost Hollywood starlet that touched the Canadian born star to learn more about the adult entertainment industry.
“I think Monica Velour is one of those women who grew up pretty. People said she was cute and then when she went to California to become an actress, she didn’t really have the talent,” Cattrall tells The Vancouver Sun.”This happens all the time to pretty women. They may not be pretty enough or tall enough to become models, so they move into the porn business. And that’s what happens to [my character, Monica].”

Quickly coming to terms with Tinseltown’s fascination with appearance over talent, Cattrall molded herself to Hollywood’s standards in order to book roles. “When I first moved to Hollywood, I was told I was gifted but needed to lose some weight. I needed to have that little gap in my teeth fixed. I needed to cut my hair, and maybe wear something other than jeans,” she says.”Then there’s this big remodelling, this big redo that happens. Suddenly, I was seeing a dermatologist and I was on a diet. And I kept thinking, ‘Wow! This has nothing to do with the work. This is just about what I look like.’ “
One would think that after over three decades in the film industry, that women’s roles in movies would be more based on talent, rather than looks, but according to Cattrall, that very topic is what drove her to play the troubled Monica Velour.
“In this town, in Hollywood, when you reach a certain age you aren’t so cute anymore. You aren’t so pretty anymore. You aren’t so sexy anymore. So what do you do? Monica has no options.”Cattrall says.
The former “Sex and The City” star said that it was Velour’s misanthrope lifestyle that was one of her more difficult roles since she gravitates to characters with more strength sensability, whereas to Cattrall, the hopelessness that Velour projects is palpable, but most importantly—real.
“I didn’t want her to be the hooker with the heart of gold or some Hollywood carbon copy. I wanted her to be real. So she’s a narcissist, but there is strength in that.”
In a society where in Hollywood standards, men still run the show and base women on sexuality alone, Cattrall has been somewhat of a spokesperson for aging women actresses who still want to see their name in lights. However, according to Cattrall, no matter how loud her voice, the “sexy woman” role is a short-lived one.
“There’s a lot of age-rage in this town, especially on the Internet now because there’s no face to it. Talented people are written-off once they hit their 50s and 60s and the saddest thing is, we just get better as we get older,” Cattrall states.
Meet Monica Velour opened in select West Coast theaters last month, with Candian openings this coming weekend. More dates will be announced soon.
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