Issue Date: May 1, 2005
So hot, it's scary
"24's" Elisha Cuthbert hopes to scare up new fans and a meaty career with her latest flick, the new remake of the horror classic "House of Wax."
By Michele Hatty
Elisha Cuthbert, 22, is destined to forever link starring in her first horror flick with one of the most important moments of her life.
She was wary of sharing the screen with tabloid favorite Paris Hilton.
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That's because smack in the middle of filming "House of Wax" in Australia last year, she and boyfriend Trace Ayala escaped for a little rest and relaxation -- and while they were gone, Ayala, Justin Timberlake's creative director, popped the question.
Now, the happily engaged couple are back in their brand-new Hollywood Hills digs, playing house and looking to set a wedding date. Oh, and sporting matching rings. "We do everything equally. There's no way I'm wearing this massive ring with him not wearing one, too," Cuthbert explains, referring to her fiancé's brushed silver adornment with its 3-carat inset diamond. "Gotta do the same. We're going to start a new trend: guys getting engagement rings!"
Wedding planning aside, Cuthbert is gearing up for the release of Wax on Friday and hoping it will attract a whole new generation of fans to horror.
Unlike the "Scream" trilogy, which used camp to its advantage to renew the genre for teens and 20-somethings in the mid-1990s, this remake of the 1953 Vincent Price classic flick is deadly serious in its attempt to scare the pants off moviegoers.
With a cast that includes pretty young things like Cuthbert, plus "One Tree Hill's" Chad Michael Murray, "Gilmore Girls'" Jared Padalecki and infamous socialite Paris Hilton, the film definitely has the sex appeal to draw viewers in.
But the creepy premise -- a group of friends are stranded in a seemingly deserted town where the main attraction is a wax museum -- is what promises to keep scare-seekers on the edge of their seats.
"You can go see a drama and cry during the film and say, 'Wow. That really moved me,' " Cuthbert says. "With horror films, we take that to an extreme. When you go into the theater, you know the film is going to make you jump and get you really frightened. It's like a roller-coaster ride: You're going on this thing that you're completely terrified of, but it's a thrill."
For Cuthbert, "Wax" is just one more step in a career that began in Canada when she was 14. Born in Calgary, the actress grew up in Montreal and in Vancouver, British Columbia. Taking cues from her dad's fix-it attitude -- he was an auto mechanic -- Cuthbert soon was hosting TV's "Popular Mechanics for Kids." As a result, she has little patience for people who eschew simple tasks. "Everyone should know how to hang a picture. I can also lay tile pretty well," she says. "Last Christmas, we bought a load of toys for kids in Trace's family, and guess who assembled them all. Six guys in one room, and no one can figure out how to assemble them except me!"
Cuthbert's big break came as perpetual teen in peril Kim Bauer on Fox's "24." After three seasons, multiple onscreen kidnappings and a storyline in which she played opposite a cougar, Cuthbert left to launch a film career. Playing the lead in last summer's comedy "The Girl Next Door" brought encouragement; now she hopes "Wax" will push her to the next level.
She admits she was a little reluctant to share the screen with tabloid favorite Hilton, who makes more news with her offscreen antics than with her acting. But the hotel heiress ultimately won over Cuthbert: "With Paris, what you see is what you get. And I can't knock her for being who she is. There's no separation between Paris in real life and what you see in magazines. She's interesting. And fascinating to watch."
Murray, who plays Cuthbert's twin in "Wax," says Cuthbert is equally fascinating to observe, but for different reasons. "She sings all the time," he reveals. "She makes up all sorts of crazy lyrics as she goes."
Cuthbert doesn't deny having a silly side, but she also seems unusually mature for 22. Asked whether she feels she may be too young to wed, she points to the longevity of her parents' 26-year marriage.
"It happens for some people before others, and sometimes it never happens. I said yes because I didn't feel any sort of fear or hesitation about it. Being with Trace feels right."
For now, she has other things on her mind, tending to her burgeoning career and the garden of their 1930s bungalow: "Right now it's blooming. There's pink jasmine, lavender ... cool stuff. I can't wait to dig in."
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