'The Banger Sisters'' Erika Christensen-- Sitting on Top of the World
Hollywood stars though, her performance also pigeonholed Christensen in the dark drama genre—- something she's trying to break out of with her roles in The Banger Sisters, Swimfan and The Perfect Score. The role also caused the rising star to put an enormous amount of pressure on herself to find the next Traffic, something Christensen says she has since given up search for.
"Traffic is one of those movies that goes beyond entertainment and really means something to the country—- it really means something to the world," she says. "It approaches a subject that really needs to be addressed and it started discussions among families and amongst the government. It was just an unbelievable impact that it had, which is wonderful when it happens, but it's not every film. I remember complaining almost to Steven Soderbergh saying, 'what am I going to do? I'm looking for that next Traffic,' and he said, 'Then you are never going to work again.' So I have to be realistic and realize that Traffic was a once in a lifetime thing and appreciate it for everything it is and was because I couldn't have dreamt a more perfect kind of breakout piece. Now though I'm really just looking to broaden my horizons and do a musical. I really want to be able to do it all."
Doing it all just happens to include the ever-dreaded teen movie, or at least ever-dreaded amongst Hollywood's young stars who can't venture out of being "the jock" or "the token black guy." For Christensen, however, the average teen movie is just another stepping stone to show the world her acting abilities, and something she admits she's having a blast with.
"I'm doing this movie in Vancouver right now called The Perfect Score, and it's about six kids in high school who steal the answers to the SATs. So it's a high school movie, but I'm really really really excited about it," she says. "The cast is me, Scarlett Johansson, Darius Miles—- who plays for the Clippers—- and three new guys who are just awesome. Brian Robbins is directing and it's going to be really, really great. All the shots that I see I'm like, 'that's going to be really cool!' And I get to play a character who's sweet and a lot different than the other girls I've played."
Christensen's role as the femme fatale in Swimfan is also another stepping stone for the
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