Erika Christensen has a face that is quintessentially cherubic: cupid's bow lips, pink high on the cheekbones and gleaming blue eyes that gaze up at you, happy and expectant, as if waiting for more good news. It is hardly the face of a die-hard junkie selling herself for a fix, but that may be why Steven Soderbergh cast her in his latest film, Traffic. As Caroline Wakefield, an over-achieving high school honor student who just happens to have a vicious dope habit, Christensen embodies the unspoken side of drug abuse, the users who are able (at least for a time) to hide their habits behind money, prestige or good breeding. "It's amazing how long something can be hidden," says Christensen, "how long something can be going on without anyone knowing it."
Growing up in the suburban outskirts of Los Angeles, Christensen began her acting career early, but the extra jobs and modeling gigs ended when her mother felt she wasn't interested in the industry anymore. "She said, 'I don't want to be the type of mother that pushes you into it.' But later on, I realized it was what I wanted to do. It took a little bit of convincing her, but luckily my parents have been very supportive." Trained in both dance and music, Christensen has sung back-up on Neil Diamond's Christmas album and appeared in the Michael Jackson video "Childhood." "I didn't get to meet him, but he did send me an autographed picture," she says. "He seemed like a sweet guy."
Despite dabbling in music, Christensen's first love has always been acting. "Ever since I was twelve years old, it was what I wanted to do. It just seemed natural to me."
RSS