7 Questions With … Betsy Rue of Cinemax’s “Femme Fatales”

Betsy Rue plays Libra in Cinemax's "Femme Fatales"

Betsy Rue gets to keep her clothes on (mostly) for her stint on Femme Fatales. Best known to audiences for her audacious nude scene in the 2009 slasher flick My Bloody Valentine, Rue has also turned up in roles on TV hits like True Blood, NCIS, The Mentalist and (believe it or not) iCarly, where she played a talent-challenged pop star. She’ll play the title character in “Libra,” the Season 2 capper for the Cinemax anthology series — airing Friday at 11pm — starring as a costumed vigilante out to exact high-heeled justice upon the bad guys of Cuesta Verde.

Rue, who says she would love to play Libra on a weekly basis, took time out from her crime-fighting schedule to answer our 7 Questions:

1. You’re at a magazine rack and can only pick 3 titles. Which ones do you choose?

Maxim, People and US Weekly.

2. If your TV only carried three shows, which ones would you want to have?

Breaking Bad, True Blood and Girls.

3. What has been your strangest fan encounter?

I go to horror conventions every once in awhile because I’ve done a couple horror movies and I have a little fan base there. I was getting ready to go to the Monster-Mania convention, and on my Facebook — I pretty much add anybody, I don’t put much private things on there — there was a fan on there who was going to be [at the convention]. Three nights before I went to Monster-Mania, I just wrote on my wall, “Watching Chucky, getting inspired …” Because [Child’s Play] is just a classic corny horror movie. So I get to Monster Mania, and this fan brings me his Chucky doll that he had paid like $1,200 for. He said, “I saw that you were watching Chucky and I want you to have this.” That was very odd. It’s just so bizarre, how you can get connected. I ended up being like, “I don’t want your Chucky doll. This is yours, but I’ll sign your Chucky doll.” So I signed the Chucky doll and he was ecstatic.

4. When was the last time you were starstruck?

I was starstruck when I did a chemistry read with Channing Tatum. It was for White House Down. The movie comes out probably next year, so this was just a couple weeks ago. It was pretty amazing, and he’s a very, very nice guy. Super gentleman. Love him.

5. What are three things you must have in your fridge or pantry?

Dried mango, goat cheese and wine.

6. What was more nerve-wracking for you, your nude scene in My Bloody Valentine or having to sing on iCarly?

It would probably be having to sing on iCarly, because My Bloody Valentine, the environment was just so lax and they were such a great group of people. There wasn’t the amount of pressure to get it right like in TV. It’s so fast that you don’t have a lot of time to f@#$ up. I feel like there’s more pressure on me as an actor to get it out and do it perfect the first couple of takes because otherwise you’re holding up the whole day if you’re forgetting your lines or anything. My Bloody Valentine was like, “OK, if I don’t have balls, this is not going to work, so you better grab ’em and go.”

7. You’re a few years removed from that scene now, so do you have any regrets about it?

No regrets. It was amazing, and I think that I would’ve had some regrets, but the reviews were so fun from it. The Hollywood Reporter and Variety wrote up some amazing reviews, and that made me feel really good. That was the whole point of what I wanted to do, like, “OK, I’m going to be naked, so I better be good instead of just being naked.” I wanted the audience to forget about the fact that I was naked running around the parking lot  getting killed and actually have them be scared for me, and from the reviews and the feedback that I got I think I got there. That was my main concern. I don’t want to be this naked chick running around just for the sake of running around naked, because we all know that’s what happens in horror movies. Yeah, I was the naked girl, but for my sake I hope that I brought a little more to it than just being a screaming naked girl.

Photo: Courtesy of Femme Fatales