Rie Rasmussen

“ If you don't play around and know your body's extremities, then you might as well lie down and die. ”

PLAYBOY.COM: What is the draw of writing and directing to you?

Rasmussen: As a writer and director, the people I love are like Orson Welles, the [artists] that really want to say something. His Lady of Shanghai is so profound and deep. It's third on my list of favorite films. The studio cut it. They took out his music, they raped and plundered the film. But his voice is still in that film because he wanted to say something. Writing and directing, your vision and your art are going to become pure.

PLAYBOY.COM: In Luc Besson's Angel-A, you taught yourself French in two weeks for the lead part.

Rasmussen: If I pronounce a word wrong, people are going to wonder, Why did Luc hire this girl? I had to be correct and perfect with my accent. He chose a Danish actress to speak French, in his first French [language] film in a long time, so I better be on it. I couldn't fuck up with Luc.

PLAYBOY.COM: You were born in Denmark, but you've lived primarily in New York, Paris and now Prague. Do you identify with the outsider?

Rasmussen: I adapt always. I learn the language right away, and I follow the rules. If I don't like it there, I just go somewhere else. I don't impose myself. I like the idea of the butterfly. I take what I like and mix it in with the environment I like.

PLAYBOY.COM: Are you always this intense?

Rasmussen: I have a sweet and goofy side. I'm very humble with everybody. I really am easily impressed. I cry at almost every movie, and I find something redeeming with almost everything I read, touch or come into contact with.

PLAYBOY.COM: Your book, published in France under the name Lilly Dillon, is an amazing portrait of the body.

Rasmussen: If you don't play around and know your body's extremities, then you might as well lie down and die.

Photo: Getty Images