The star of Jawbreaker may be engaged to notorious rock god Marilyn Manson, but she’s nobody’s trophy squeeze.

By Eleonore Snow

Even if you don’t recognize her name, chances are you’ll recognize other parts of Rose McGowan with no trouble at all. The 24-year-old actress secured fashion (and tabloid) infamy for the ages when she arrived at the MTV Video Music Awards on the arm of her now-fiancé, shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, completely bare-assed in a dress made of what appeared to be rhinestone-coated dental floss. She did it to get attention — and did she ever.

While perhaps now best known for her relationship with Manson, McGowan has a flourishing acting career, which should heat up this month with her role as an evil high school diva in Darren Stein’s Jawbreaker. A parody of the great teen movies of the last 20 years, Jawbreaker is, in the words of McGowan’s co-star Rebecca Gayheart, “Heathers meets Grease meets Carrie.” As the devilish Courtney Shane (AKA “Satan in heels”), McGowan once again exhibits the sexy, balls-to-the-wall fearlessness she first revealed in her breakout performance as speed queen Amy Blue in Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation.

It should come as no surprise that McGowan’s upbringing didn’t conform to the usual Barbie-bearing, Fluffernutter-snarfing mold. Born in Italy, McGowan was raised in the Children of God cult until her father ran off with the nanny and her mother relocated the clan to the Pacific Northwest. McGowan became an emancipated minor in 1991, and moved to L.A. to start her career. After bit parts in Encino Man and the TV show True Colors, McGowan was cast in Doom, for which she nabbed an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut. She followed up with a status-confirming turn in Scream (as blond loudmouth Tatum Riley) and starring roles in Miramax’s little-seen adaptation of Dean Koontz’s Phantoms and the indie release Going All the Way.

McGowan sat down with Mr. Showbiz on the morning of Jawbreaker‘s world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. Dressed in an outfit that paired her softer sensibility (a pale pink turtleneck sweater) with her wilder side (tight black leather pants), she talked openly about playing sexy, hanging out at the library, and being in love with Marilyn Manson.

Your character in Jawbreaker, Courtney, basically rules the school. Were you popular in high school?

I was actually home-schooled a lot, so I didn’t really go to a traditional high school. And I graduated when I was 16, so I didn’t get to do the whole prom thing or anything like that. But previous to that, I was always the girl who would stick up for the underdogs on the campus, and then the underdogs would start stalking me because I was their only friend. And I didn’t want to be their friend. I kind of repeated that pattern. But I mostly hung out in the library.

What made you want to do this movie?

Well, it’s funny, because I didn’t want to do any more high school movies or bitchy girl stuff. I just wasn’t in the mood for it. But I kept coming back to this script, and just kept repeating the lines to myself. And [Courtney] is so evil, and she’s only in high school! There are some pretty genius lines in there, and they stuck with me. And it was really fun to shoot.

Lots of female bonding?

Yeah, it was a very girlie thing. But it was really exhausting. I mean 16-hour days in high heels — that’ll kill anybody. I was hoping that the male crew members would have to wear heels too, just to average things out. Of course, they didn’t.

Do you have a favorite teen movie?

I love Sixteen Candles. Love Sixteen Candles! I saw that probably for the first time when I was 13 on video, and ever since I’ll just turn on the TV and it’s on, like, the USA Network or something. I love the movie. That guy Jake — where is he now?!

[Editor's Note: As reported last summer in Ask Mr. Showbiz, actor Michael Schoeffling, best known for playing Jake Ryan in Sixteen Candles, currently resides in his native Pennsylvania, where he owns and operates a successful hand-crafted furniture business.]

Jawbreaker has a pretty sexy undercurrent …

[Feigns innocence.] It does?

Yeah. And you seem comfortable with playing sexy. Are you?

[Takes on sarcastic tone.] I’m really uncomfortable with being sexy; I’m really shy. [Laughs.] It was such a campy role in a way that I just went for it. I was completely ridiculous. Upon seeing the movie, I was even thinking I’m ridiculous and evil — for shame, for shame. But it kind of fits right into it. I mean, her whole thing is about using the power of everything that she has. So she’s kind of a nouveau Southern belle in a way.

Were you not aware of her sexuality when you were playing her?

Well, if they put you in really high heels and tight pants, you kind of become aware of it, ’cause you can’t eat a big lunch. I wouldn’t be comfortable in that role wearing sweatpants; it wouldn’t work.

Courtney’s a master manipulator. What’s the most manipulative thing you’ve ever done?

I don’t know if it’s manipulative, but it’s a downright lie. I have killed my family so many times to get out of school and stuff. So many times. If there’s bad karma, baby, I am getting it in spades. I got out of an apartment lease by saying my father had a brain tumor. I was crying, sobbing hysterically mind you. My grandmother died so many times. And I have this lateness problem. I had a late problem with school. But I was always in detention, so I figured since I was in detention I might as well come 15 minutes late.

Are you happy with the path your career is taking? Is there anyone whose career you’d like to emulate?

Absolutely. It’s funny, when you know what you’re capable of and you’re not allowed to do it yet, it can be very frustrating. I’ve only been officially in the business for about three and a half years. Although I filmed Doom Generation four and a half years ago, it took me a year to decide if I was insane enough to do this. I just saw Elizabeth, and I know that I’m capable of that, you just have to keep pushing until somebody else has faith you can do it — and also they don’t often make films like that.

But I want to model my career after Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange, people who have really interesting careers with a lot of depth and weight to them, who are more than just a sexy flash in the pan. Which is why I’m not a TV person, particularly. Unless you’re Lucille Ball, I think that you burn out faster [on TV]. And I’m trying to pace myself more, make one strong film a year. It leaves me a lot of downtime to hang out in the library, but other than that, I’m OK.

You still hanging out at the library?

I am actually. The downtown library in L.A. is great. They just refurbished it.

Do you feel like you’ve entered this other realm of fame as a result of your relationship with Marilyn?

Everyone calls him Manson.

Whoops.

That’s OK — I listen to Dwight Yoakam! [Laughs.] People don’t freak out on actors as much. I mean, they freak out, but not like they do with musicians. I think because music is such a highly personal thing. Like, you can sit in a room and listen to a song over and over and really personalize it, and that person’s talking to you. A fan can get their identity kind of mixed up, so they can really freak out. I, to be honest, didn’t really understand the level of his fame until I started going out with him.

As a young woman I’ve learned how to have the horse blinders on when I walk down the street in life, even before I started making movies. Men can be hooting and hollering in the street, and I look straight ahead. It’s kind of like that, but it is much harder. He really can’t go to the store; he really can’t go shopping or go to a museum. So that part of it really sucks. But, on the other side of it, we have so much fun just together. Aside from the fact that we’re madly in love and best friends, we both have really deviant, twisted senses of humor. He thinks I’m very colorful. In fact, he has a cameo in this movie. He put on fake eyebrows, ’cause he doesn’t have eyebrows.

What about eyelashes?

No, he’s got eyelashes. They’re his — they’re nice and dark. He’s actually quite beautiful. I think he looks kind of like Jerry Hall with darker hair.

But anyway, he actually asked me if there was anything in the movie he could do. And then I found this part, and I thought it would be funny. It’s better than having to do a sex scene with somebody you don’t know. Because they were going to hire a day player: “This is Bob, he’s the one who’s going to be pretending to have doggie style sex with you.” “Nice to meet you.” I mean, we’re totally clothed and it’s more for the effect of it — it’s a joke. They actually cut the line that I said that I thought was really funny. [Whispers.] “Do it to me, Daddy, do it to your bad, bad girl.” [Laughs.]

Do you feel like your relationship with Manson is affecting how you’re perceived in Hollywood?

It’s interesting, because I wouldn’t go out in public with him for the first six months we went out. I had to gauge how we were, and I didn’t want his stuff to come over on me because people tend to have really strong preconceived notions, and producers can be scared off very easily. And also I didn’t want to align myself with something I didn’t really know about yet. And then once you fall madly in love with somebody, you’re like, “Who cares?” I don’t know if it’s affected my work negatively.

I imagine that I will probably have to do more to prove that I’m not this wild child. That’s certainly an aspect of me, and I hope it is to everybody. If you’re going to be flamboyant, be flamboyant — life’s short. You can’t do things based on what other people are going to think, because that’s going to lead you nowhere.

And I think actors a lot of times tend to think, “Oh, what will people think if I do this?” And that’s how they start winding up doing only one kind of film for the rest of their career instead of taking chances. The actresses I like aren’t just doing the same romantic comedy roles, they’re people who are really pushing the envelope. I think I can have a really interesting career.

What’s your next film?

Well, I like to say that this year I’ve ended up being a professional groupie. I took about 10 months off to adjust to the touring thing with [Manson]. I kept trying to break up with him before he went on tour because I am no man’s Jerry Hall. Please. In fact, I would say I’m the one he has to worry about. So, I’m just starting to get back into it, and there are a couple of things on the burner, but I don’t want to jinx them.