Page 40 - AVN September 2016

LIGHTS,CAMERA...
ON THE SET | |By Sharan Street
Papa Don’t Preach
Brad Armstrong gets religion in new Wicked movie
the last take it feels as if Fawx is completely in the moment, allowing herself to really feel fear. The
crew claps, and Fawx gives a smile that’s tinged with relief. She’s a newcomer to Wicked features,
and has passed with flying colors.
The break gives the director and actors a little time to talk about their roles. Showing some
gorgeous stills on his smartphone, Armstrong runs through the scenes they’ve already finished,
synopsizing his script. One stunning image shows Corvus and Malkova as the young lovers in
a happier scene, embracing outside by a picturesque railroad bridge—a location Armstrong was
particularly pleased to secure. He also has shots of other cast members who are not present,
including Jessa Rhodes and Blair Williams. He hasn’t worked with many of the performers before,
and he expresses satisfaction with how well production had gone.
One person Armstrong has worked with before is Xander Corvus. “Wonderful is the word,” the
director says. “The best actor in the business besides maybe Steven St. Croix.” He points out that
Corvus already got an AVN Award for Best Supporting Actor in Underworld, another Armstrong
movie, and the director predicts this one could bring a matching Best Actor trophy.
“I’m Billy Davidson, and I’m kind of the bad guy of the movie, I guess,” Corvus says. “Throughout
my whole career so far I’m always comic relief or the romantic good guy, I’m one of those thing. I’m
either the funny guy or the romantic. But they’ve finally started putting me into bad-guy roles. It’s so
much fun playing a villain. I feel like it’s a really cool experience.”
Another thing that’s familiar to Corvus is today’s location. “This was Peter Parker’s house in
Spider Man,” he volunteers.
arduous endeavor that has taken the cast and crew of
It’s the fifth day of shooting on The Preacher’s Daughter—an
the Wicked Pictures production all across the Southland,
from Ventura County to the San Gabriel Valley, in search
out the gaps in logic that sometimes come
of picturesque settings. And today’s set is certainly that.
Walking into this Victorian mansion surrounded by 1950s tract
homes is like stepping into another time. Stunning woodwork,
”The interesting thing is that this movie points
along with religion.
—Mercedes Carrera
soaring ceilings, period light fixtures—every detail looks
historically congruent. And director Brad Armstrong, bearded,
bespectacled and conservatively attired, fits right into this
picture from the past.
Playing the titular preacher, Armstrong is working both sides
of the camera. But at the moment he’s focused on bringing a
pivotal scene from his screenplay to life.
Inside the kitchen, the players take their places. Cast as the
preacher’s wife, sexy MILF performer Alexis Fawx is almost
unrecognizable, wearing jeans, a plain shirt and minimal
makeup. She’s preparing to face down Xander Corvus as Billy,
the bad boy who has seduced her daughter, Marissa, played by
Mia Malkova. Confronting the cocksure troublemaker who has
invaded their home, the angry mother shoves Billy’s legs off the
kitchen table: “Get out of my house!”
On a dime, Corvus turns on the heat, letting his own anger
flare. In character as Billy, he quickly regains control and
counterattacks: “I’m not the one running around with the town
whore and leaving my wife to tend the garden. ... He’s got you
fooled. He leaves you at home while he goes out with who
knows what.”
To a proud preacher’s wife, those are fighting words—and a
fight ensues. What follows is a pivotal moment in the story, so
we’ll spare the need for a spoiler alert and leave it at that.
Outnumbered by the crew in the tight space of the kitchen,
the players do the scene again and again, with small variations
in blocking and emotional intensity. Despite some mishaps—
Fawx’s faded blue jeans split at the seam with a loud rip at one
point, and Corvus chips a tooth when he’s inadvertently hit in
the face with a prop skillet—Armstrong gets what he’s after. On
“I’ve done a lot of Wicked,” Corvus says—no exaggeration, given that he’s closing in on 50 titles.
We tick off some of the movies, including Underworld. “Yeah, that was a good one. ... That was some
serious costumes.”
Also on set today is Mia Malkova, as Billy’s love interest. Her character, Marissa, “has a bit of a
rebellious side like any teenager. And she catches the eye of Billy, the town bad boy, and she has the
googly eyes for him.”
“I have the googly eyes,” Corvus interjects.
“She’s sweet, she’s a good girl, but she’s also a little bit of a whore,” she deadpans.
Malkova is no stranger to features, but Preacher’s Daughter is her first Armstrong production. “This
is one of the larger movies I’ve been on,” she says. “It’s been really nice. It hasn’t been stressful at all.
Everything’s been taken care of.”
Asked what was most difficult about the role, she says, “The only thing I’ve found challenging is
yelling because I have a very soft voice. ... I’m usually in a happy, chipper mood so it doesn’t come
naturally, so I have to practice.”
Fawx, too, is happy to be working on a production of this scale. “The crew and cast have been
great—I’m so happy. Doing this has been really fun. ... I can’t wait to see the finished project.”
Playing “the country woman, the wife” is a departure for Fawx, who’s more known for all-sex and
vignette titles. Asked how she got the role she says, “Brad actually contacted me on Twitter. ... Twitter
has become such a force in our industry as far as communication with other performers, directors
and producers.”
While waiting for her sex scene, still to be shot later that evening, Mercedes Carrera talks about
her character, Lana, a Native American denizen of the town who is also a hooker.
“I really love the role in this movie. I read the script and I was, like, ‘Yesss!’ It’s so awesome. She’s
kind of an interesting character. Lana is a very pivotal role in a lot of ways. She provides a lot of the
ammunition that is used against the pastor. She’s kind of subversive. But she’s also complex, and
that’s what I appreciated about her. ... She’s got an accent, she’s got a history, she’s complex and
she’s really—she kind of calls out a lot of the B.S. on the pastor.”
Carrera has two sex scenes in the movie, including anal with the preacher. She also has a
complicated relationship with Billy. “I lied to [the preacher] about my relationship with Billy and told
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