Five Favorite Films with Juno Temple

Juno Temple

Juno Temple's star is definitely on the rise. The daughter of punk filmmaker Julien Temple, the 22-year-old English-born actress began her career with supporting roles in movies like Notes on a Scandal, Atonement, and St. Trinian's -- and later delivered a lead performance in Jordan Scott's excellent, unfairly maligned boarding school drama, Cracks. She'll soon headline several films including William Friedkin's Killer Joe, Jonas Akerlund's Small Apartments and the long-percolating lesbian werewolf project Jack and Diane, in addition to starring as a "street smart Gotham girl" in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises -- a role that has fans speculating could be anything from Selina Kyle's sidekick Holly Robinson to Harley Quinn to a female Robin.

In the meantime, Temple appears in this week's Dirty Girl, an autobiographical comedy-drama from debut director Abe Sylvia. Set in the strange world of Oklahoma in 1987, the film follows the unlikely adventure of two misfit high schoolers -- Temple's trashy, promiscuous Danielle and Jeremy Dozier's overweight, closeted Clarke -- as they bust out of town and head for the Californian coast, a posse of angry and/or confused parents desperately on their trail. Which means Temple gets to wear anachronistic hot pants, flip the bird to religious zealots and strip to Sheena Easton's "Strut" -- things we're pretty sure won't be called upon for her employment in Gotham City. We caught up with Temple recently to chat about Dirty Girl, but first, she took a few moments to run through her all-time five favorite films.

Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973; 98% Tomatometer)

Badlands

Badlands, I think is one of the best love stories of all time. I think it's beautifully shot and I think Sissy Spacek's flawless in it. I watched that movie and -- you know when your hair stands up on your body and you can't control it? -- that movie really affected me quite deeply, and I cried at the end. I based a character that I did last year in this movie called Killer Joe on Sissy Spacek in that movie. It's a big inspiration for me. I think it's a flawless movie.

 

 

 

True Romance (Tony Scott, 1993; 91% Tomatometer)

True Romance

True Romance, again... a romance at heart, a young couple on the run doing crazy stuff. I think Alabama is one of the coolest characters of all time. I love the script -- I think it's so dynamic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1988; 95% Tomatometer)

Heathers

Heathers -- again, a kind of weird romance story and a dark tale. I love the dialogue in that movie. I probably shouldn't quote it.
Please do.
"F--k me gently with a chainsaw." [Laughs] But my favorite is, "You're such a pillow case." It's so good -- it's like the worst insult ever but so funny. It's just so funny and so gritty and I love the performances in it, and I think it has one of the best endings of all time.

 

 

 

 

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten (Julien Temple, 2007; 89% Tomatometer)

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten

Because I think it's one of my dad's masterpieces, and Joe Strummer was someone who was a big part of my upbringing and was one of my dad's best friends. I have such great memories of hanging out with the two of them. It's something that means a lot to me. I really think my dad put his heart and soul into that film and that's the kind of film-making I wanna do. No, I don't wanna direct. I wanna act.
Did you learn from your dad, growing up around sets?
Yeah. I did. I mean, I learned a lot. He helped me with a lot of tough decisions at times and, you know, he's helped me with a lot of auditions, too. I really hope I get to do a movie with him one day, and he gets to direct me in a film. I would love that beyond words.
I'd love to see him do another narrative feature. Absolute Beginners is kind of great.
I agree. Earth Girls Are Easy is probably my number six on this list. [Laughs]

Beauty and the Beast (La belle et la bête) (Jean Cocteau, 1946; 95% Tomatometer)

Beauty and the Beast

La belle et la bête by Jean Cocteau. It's the movie that made me want to be an actress. I was four-years-old and my dad had it on laser disc. I was being annoying and bratty or whatever, I was a child, and my dad said, "Hey, watch this movie." This is when we lived in LA and we had this great giant striped couch and I was wearing -- I remember this so well -- this corduroy dress with red trim, and I lay there and started watching it. I had a really vivid imagination as a child but I had never seen anything like this in my life. Do you remember the scene where she faints and the Beast carries her and he has that incredible cloak that looks like it is actually the night sky? It's insane. And he carries her and all the arms -- we had these arms in our house, these giant arms that hold the candles -- all the arms move and he's carrying her and walks into her bedroom, and as he goes through the door with her, her clothes go from rags to riches. I remember that being the specific scene where I was like, "I wanna do that. How does that happen? I wanna be a part of that." That was the day I knew I wanted to be an actress. Also, the way that the Beast smokes, when he looks at her and his skin smokes; and when he takes off the glove and his hand's just smoking. The whole ending... it's this weird, twisted ending.