by Brad Balfour

G21 Contributing Editor

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NEW YORK, NY, USA - Actress Gina Gershon has done one trippy thing. She went from being an actor playing a lesbian musician in "Prey for Rock & Roll" to actually appearing onstage as a big-lipped rock singer (but not necessarily a lesbian one).

This 40-something former California Valley Girl moved to the Big Apple, went to NYU, got a Bachelor of Arts degree and changed her image. A founding member of the Manhattan-based theater group Naked Angels, Gershon also has starred in an array of films (including the controversial "Bound," "Demonlover" and "Showgirls")and guested on a plethora of TV shows. But now she has a six-episode self-generated documentary series on IFC (the cable television Independent Film Channel) detailing her adventures touring with a band.

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G21: Were you oneof those teenagers who pretended to be a rock star?

Gina Gershon: I got into music in a couple different ways. I always liked music, and a lot of my family members are involved in music. So to get into my brother's room wi th his groovy friends, I learned how to play "Stairway to Heaven" because I thought, "Oh, this will get me in," because that was what they were listening to.

G21: Were you ever in a band?

GINA GERSHON: I sang in one band called Fellow Johnson when I was 15. They needed a singer, so I did a couple clubs with them. I was more into musical theater, dance troupes, and that stuff. So I put aside the music a while, but people wanted me to do a record. They kept coming up to me and I kept saying no. Then all of a sudden I started singing again and I was really into it. Doing "Prey for Rock & Roll" was a way for me to start playing guitar again, although I've never played electric guitar because I wanted to be a country singer.

G21: What was the tour like?

GINA GERSHON: I like playing live. I used a lot of my songs on the tour which were written when I was in a rock-and-roll mode. I knew what kind of tour it would be because I had to promote the movie, but I knew all the songs wouldn't translate live. So we played my rock songs, and I stuck a couple of my slower songs in there.

G21: Most actors shy away from showing their private life. Why was it important to do this documentary series?

GINA GERSHON: When people found out I was going on tour, I had three or four companies that came to me and said they wanted to do a reality TV show, and I said, "No f---in g way." Then Seth Jarrett, who is my producing partner, was very persistent.

I told him I'm really private; in fact, anything that you read about my personal life in the press is probably a lie.

But when IFC approached us, I knew I needed more money for the tour, and since I shoot a lot of video myself, I was going to film the tour anyway. IFC said I could do whatever I wanted. So I said I'd want to do a kind of video documentary where the audience isn't going to see my personal life, not going to see fights backstage, and we're not going to see anyone being humiliated. I'm not into that.

G21: Were there fights backstage?

GINA GERSHON: Of course there were, but I cut them out [laughs]. We got along pretty well, but there were certain moments -- I didn't want people to feel bad. I wanted it to be more like a home movie that I'm letting people watch, but there were definitely moments when I was like, " OK, the camera is going away now."

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G21: Was there a point on the tour when you crossed the threshold from being an actress to feeling like a rock star?

GINA GERSHON: The first few times I played, there were a couple of songs we did that were so personal to me that singing them in front of people freaked me out a bit. But as it went on, it would emotionally affect me and then, at other times, I was just trying to figure out how to make it all sound good. So sometimes I was in and sometimes I was out.

G21: You've been quoted as saying that you program your dreams to help you with your film roles and your career. Do you still do that?

GINA GERSHON: Not for the tour; I was on autopilot. When I use dreams, it's for a character to try to figure out what someone is thinking. When I'm playing music, it's my music, so it's already my subconscious mind. It's already what I'm thinking; I'm not playing a character. I was lucky just to sleep, let alone dream.

G21: So when you're onstage, it's you?

GINA GERSHON: It's pretty much me. I don't think about what I'm doing. I just think about singing the song and playing.

G21: What made you pick Girls Against Boys to be your touring band?

GINA GERSHON: I wanted an established band as opposed to getting single people because we only had two weeks, so at least if they knew how to play together that would be a plus. Also because of this style of music, which is a little punky and a little hardcore; they're great at that.

I like them as people. I really thought they were smart and interesting and I thought I could live in a bus with them for three weeks.

G21: How many other people did you talk to?

GINA GERSHON: I talked to three other bands and a lot of individual people. In my head I always thought if I went on tour, then I would put together different friends of mine in kind of a select band. But when you only have two weeks, dealing with people's schedules, it was so crazy.

So they're great guys, and when I look back at the documentary, I couldn't have cast a better group because they all have such a great personality and they're so cute. Actually, everyone was perfectly cast, from my assistant to my tour manager to my cat.

G21: Did your cat go on tour with you?

GINA GERSHON: For the record, I didn't take Cleo on the road. I took Cleo from New York to L.A.

G21: Many of the fans who came to see you play music seemed more interested in your lips.

GINA GERSHON: [laughs] That was the San Francisco crowd, but I was just glad people showed up. I kept thinking, What if no one showed up and I'm only playing to three people? It ended up being really crowded all the time,

G21: What do you think of being a lesbian ico n? Were you Alice B. Toklas in a former life?

GINA GERSHON: Maybe Gertrude Stein; yeah, that would be a good one. I think she's cool.

G21: Who would be the perfect mate for you?

GINA GERSHON: I just met Eddie Izzard the other day; I realized he's probably the perfect guy for me. He's a straight guy but he's a lesbian. He's an action transvestite.

G21: So you hope to encourage other people to take risks?

GINA GERSHON: Yeah, that's what I liked about the message from "Prey for Rock & Roll." It's basically, at what point do you give up what you love to do just because you haven't "made it." The worst thing that can happen is that you can completely humiliate yourself; then you can just move to another country [laughs].

G21: Have you gotten more into music as a result of this?

GINA GERSHON: I've always been interested in music and I've always liked musicians. I rediscovered Patti Smith, the Pretenders, Television, the Sex Pistols, and the Clash.

It was a great excuse to watch music videos and to listen to music all day long. I discovered the Distillers. The White Stripes had just started coming out when I was doing the thing and I was like, "Can't we make it sound like that?"

G21: Was your recent role on [the HBO original series] "Curb Your Enthusiasm" your first Jewish character?

G INA GERSHON: It is. Isn't that funny? I was like, "Mom, I'm finally playing that nice Jewish girl you always wanted me to play."

G21: Are you going home for Passover?

GINA GERSHON: I'm going to go to my brother's house.

"Rocked with Gina Gershon" airs Friday nights at 10:30 on the Independent Film Channel (ifctv.com) and is repeated on Monday and Tuesday nights. "Prey for Rock & Roll" (preyforrockandroll.net) is now available on DVD from Lions Gate Home Entertainment.

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