Playboy.com: The Other Side of the Bed takes a breezy view of infidelity. Your character is sleeping with her ex-boyfriend's best friend. If you were in the same situation in real life, would it play as lightly or would it be more melodramatic?
Natalia Verbeke: I guess I would be more melodramatic. People love the movie because they feel identification with all the situations. Maybe you haven't cheated on your boyfriend with his best friend, but maybe with another person. Of course, you know what's gonna happen. That's the thing: You know what's gonna happen, so that makes you laugh.
PB: So, was it easy for you to identify with, on a personal level?
NV: It is easy, but not because of the cheating thing. It is easy because you fall in love with a guy and suddenly two months later this amazing guy appears, and you don't know what to do with the other one. You think, "Oh, my God. I thought I was in love, but I think I'm in love with this one!"
PB: There's always something attractive about Southern European culture: the warmth, the sensuality. What do you know that we don't know? What's the secret?
NV: Maybe it's the warmth. Maybe it's the sand. I don't know. You have to take off your clothes!
People have been really surprised. Oh, my God, does this really happen in Spain? Do you really do that? Cheating and sleeping with two guys? For me it is not that surprising. It's not that I sleep with two guys, you know, but the feeling of the story is very common in Spain. I don't know about here. Maybe you hide it, and don't tell it.
PB: There are different standards. Americans think of Europeans as being very free in their sex lives, and somehow more forgiving. But this country was founded by Puritans.
NV: Yeah. But they are no more forgiving in Europe.
PB: Just as much goes on over here. People just seem to suffer more for it.
NV: If Europeans do it, it must be funny.
PB: You seem extremely comfortable getting naked on camera. Is this the most exposed you've been?
NV: Oh, no. In Spain, you always do nude scenes. It's really weird to find a script where you're not nude for some good reason -- but they are not always justified. I don't like to make nude scenes, because I don't feel all that comfortable. But, of course, when I have to do a nude, I speak with the director and make sure it's not going to be rude or disgusting or porno. We get to a point where I can feel comfortable and he can show what he wants to.
PB: There are some big names now, like Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz, who came out of Spanish film....
NV: And they've been naked.
PB: They've been naked all over the place.
NV: But they come to America and you don't see them naked anymore! [Laughs] I have to move here.
PB: So we better enjoy you while we can, huh?
NV: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe here in America they don't show that many nude scenes. But in Spain that's life, and if I'm naked in life why am I not naked in a movie as long as it's justified? If I'm with a guy in bed and making love it looks weird if I'm dressed.
PB: You sing and dance in the movie. Is that all you?
