Heather Graham on Why She Did Boogie Nights After Avoiding Sexual Content

Heather Graham recalls stepping out of her comfort zone to take on her role in 1997’s Boogie Nights.

The actress, who plays Rollergirl in Paul Thomas Anderson’s porn-industry drama, recently said on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast that she initially avoided projects involving sexual content.

“I grew up in a religious family, and they were like, ‘Don’t do anything with any sexual content,’” Graham explained. “But try to be a woman in Hollywood in your early 20s, mid-20s, and then to try to get no roles with any sexual content — it’s like impossible.”

The Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me star ultimately decided to go against her family’s wishes and not limit her opportunities in Hollywood.

“I had turned down a few things where there was sexual content, and then I saw other people, having really good careers,” she recalled. “I just said, ‘Screw it. I wanna do this. The [Boogie Nights] script is amazing.’”

While “they had originally offered that role to somebody really famous who turned it down,” Graham said she eventually landed the part, which served as a “turning point in my career.” (Gwyneth Paltrow previously told Howard Stern that she turned down the role of Rollergirl.)

As Graham wasn’t used to filming nude scenes at the time, host Michael Rosenbaum also asked her what that first experience was like. “It was terrifying,” she responded. “As a woman, I have to say, even if you go, ‘Okay. Well, maybe I know sometimes men find me attractive,’ you look at all the flaws. You go, ‘Oh my god. They’re gonna see these flaws.’  I remember just sitting in my trailer, like, being like, ‘Oh my God. I’m so scared.’”

But once the Chosen Family actress got into her character’s mindset, that’s when she found the courage to go out and give her best performance in the film, starring Mark Wahlberg and Julianne Moore.

“You just try to get out of your own head and just be, like, ‘What is the character thinking? I’m just gonna be this character,’” she recalled. “I don’t wanna be like, ‘Heather Graham feels nervous about this moment.’ I want it to be like, ‘I’m Brandy in this scene, and this is what I do. Oh, this isn’t a big deal and these people are my friends and my family. This is part of our life.’ I was just trying to think about it as the character would think about it.”

Overall, Graham had a positive experience filming the movie. She added, “My role was so fun, I had such a great time.”