The Always Drool-Worthy Laura Harring

"Mulholland Dr."'s Laura Harring talks David Lynch, her new film "Drool" and taking a bullet.

“Mulholland Dr.” was quite a journey to make. When it was going to be a TV series, the entire first season would be unraveling who my character was. When ABC thought it was too dark, I guess David [Lynch] just wanted to put it on a shelf because he didn’t like the time slots when ABC was going to air it. A year-and-a-half, maybe two years later, I continued to feel that something was going to happen with it. I kept in touch with David and Naomi [Watts], and then an old friend of David’s from Canal+ saw the television version, fell in love, begged David to finish it off as a movie, and gave him a little more money. David wrote some more, and low and behold, he re-cut it and made it into the experience “Mulholland Dr.” is — because it really is an experience to watch.

When “Mulholland Dr.” was voted the Best Film of the Decade, that was very meaningful for me. That film opened up incredible doors for me, and I believe that that was the reason I was given opportunities to play all kinds of characters. At first, they said I was too glamorous, and then slowly, my agents kept pushing for these more artistic films and got me in the door to do “The King” with William Hurt and Gael Garcia Bernal. After that, I started getting a lot of offers for all these incredible, meaningful little films. “Mulholland Dr.” changed my life.

David Lynch is such an enigmatic figure, partially because the man doesn’t seem nearly as strange as the films he makes. What’s your take on him, and have you heard any misconceptions about him that you could personally squash?

To me, David is a total artist. He’s always creating. He’s one of the rare auteurs left in Hollywood, and he’s a gentleman, a gentle soul. I don’t know anybody who dislikes him. He speaks to people with such heart, and he’s very passionate about his vision. He keeps true to it, but in a non-harmful, compassionate way, as if he were the Dalai Lama. That’s how he speaks. I don’t find anything weird in that.

A lot of people think his films are strange, but [if you take] a deeper look — and if you study Eastern psychology, philosophy and mysticism — his films actually have a lot in them. He talks a lot about the mind and how it functions, and the nature of reality. I guess for the normal viewer who doesn’t have a lot of knowledge in that arena, it might seem a little strange, but somehow it still touches the unconscious of people because they’re always talking about his films.

It’s been a decade since you filmed “Mulholland Dr.” but it’s been two since you danced the Lambada onscreen. Do you still get recognized for 1990′s “The Forbidden Dance”?

[laughs] Yes. I really do — it’s so funny you ask because I get recognized all the time for Lambada. That’s a crazy cult film. When we were promoting it, they tried to market it like it was a really naughty, naughty film. It’s rated PG. I went on one of the big national shows at the time, and they asked me what my father would think if he saw the movie. [laughs] In retrospect, you look and it’s a fun little film. It caught on with diverse audiences all over the world, like in Dominican Republic, I think it was a big hit. In Korea, it was a super-blockbuster. I do get recognized from it. I guess they still replay that in certain countries.

You’re playing Chuck Bass’ mother on TV’s “Gossip Girl.” Please tell me you were already a fan.

I had heard about it, but I hadn’t really watched. I used to go to the East Coast a lot, and all my friends [there] watch it. I have a lot of friends that are in New York society. I started watching and it was just so amazing, so funny. I love the elements of fashion it has, and it’s very upscale and snooty. Everything about the show is so glamorous and well-written. I was very happy with the way they wrote my character, and the way they ended my arc. It was a wonderful experience, and it got me to move to New York, which I’ve been wanting to do for 20 years.

“Drool” opens in Los Angeles on January 22nd.

[Additional photo: "The Forbidden Dance," Columbia Pictures, 1990]

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