Rena Riffel

Rena Riffel (born March 5, 1969) is an American actress, singer, dancer, model, writer, producer, and director. She is known for her supporting roles in films such as Showgirls, Striptease, and Mulholland Drive.

Career

Showgirls Riffel landed her breakthrough role in the 1995 film Showgirls starring Elizabeth Berkley, Gina Gershon, and Kyle MacLachlan. Initially reading for the lead role of Cristal Connors, Riffel was cast in the supporting role of Penny/Hope after director Paul Verhoeven decided that she was too young to play an aging showgirl.

While on the set of Showgirls, Riffel approached the music supervisor with a song she recorded, "Deep Kiss". The music supervisor tested the song on the production office (without telling them it had been written by one of the actresses) to determine if it was suitable for the film. Director Paul Verhoeven listened to the song and decided to include it in the lap dance scene at the Cheetah strip club.

Although an initial box office failure, Showgirls enjoyed success in the home video market, generating more than $100 million in video rentals and became one of MGM's top 20 all-time best sellers.

For the 2004 re-release as a DVD limited edition box set, Riffel, along with cast members Lin Tucci and Patrick Bristow, had their hand prints and names put in cement in front of the Hollywood Vista Theater at the red carpet event where they were also interviewed by Access Hollywood. Riffel and Bristow were also special guests at Peaches Christ's Midnight Mass midnight screening of Showgirls in 2008 in San Francisco, California. They were interviewed on stage after the live performance of the Goddess volcano dance performed by drag queens in gold lamé and featuring Peaches Christ as Goddess.

When asked if she expected Showgirls to produce such a cult legacy, Riffel replied, "No. I went into it thinking it would be a really erotic, serious, shocking exposé. People would be sitting on the edge of their seats from suspense. [... But] some people were trying to play straight comedy – I played my character with comedy; I was hoping to get a laugh – but no one was acting with tongue in cheek. I know that everyone went into it thinking it would be like Basic Instinct. [...] Maybe it's Verhoeven. Even [Basic Instinct] seems kind of campy now [...] I think it's something with European filmmakers. I think – and this is my theory – [...] that there's something that European filmmakers have, a punched-up, extreme vibe. Everything's extreme."

She is also quoted as saying, "Showgirls just keeps getting more and more popular, it's a total phenomenon. I don't think a film could even try to have this afterlife happen to it. This cult status and celebration is all created by the fans and the people who saw something special in the film. I seem to be one of the only actors that represents and gets involved with the cult status. I think Elizabeth (Berkley) is still upset about how the film was received initially. I think she is brilliant in her role and she should have won best actress at some film festivals, and I think Joe Eszterhas's writing is remarkably brilliant. I suspect because the way they marketed the film, that is what led to the backlash. The marketing campaign was misleading. But at the end of the day, it all worked out for the best."

Striptease Following her role in Showgirls, Riffel was cast in Striptease with Demi Moore and Burt Reynolds. Showgirls was generally disliked and the filmmakers feared people would pre-judge Striptease for that reason. To avoid any association between the two films, advertisements projected Striptease as more comedic than Showgirls, which had been marketed as a drama. Aside from a common context, Striptease and Showgirls shared two notable connections: Marguerite Derricks choreographed both films, and Rena Riffel played a prominent role in each.

Mulholland Drive In 2001, Riffel appeared in the David Lynch film Mulholland Drive. When interviewed about the film and if she "got it", Riffel replied, "See...I can't remember. No, I guess it still doesn't make sense to me. It's been a while – I'd like to watch it again....one website put a lot of clarity on it with their theories."

Other film and television work After Striptease, Riffel accepted minor roles on the television series Married... with Children in 1997, and Clueless as well as the HBO movie Breast Men before making a string of films with European director Lloyd Simandl, including Dark Confessions, Bound Cargo, Caligula's Spawn, and No Escape. These films, coupled with Riffel's roles in Showgirls and Striptease led to her being cast in a handful of erotic/thriller films such as The Pornographer and Scandalous Behavior (with Shannon Tweed).

In 1999, Riffel appeared in Citizens of Perpetual Indulgence, a gay-themed comedy/drama/art film. Riffel also appeared in several horror/thriller movies including Candyman 3: Day of the Dead, Unstable Minds, and Dark Reel starring Edward Furlong and Tony Todd.

Directing In 2008, Riffel directed, produced, wrote, and starred in the film Trasharella, a comedy/crime/fantasy musical. She edited the film herself and her production company, Rena Riffel Films, released the film on DVD through Amazon.com in 2009.

When asked to describe Trasharella, Riffel stated, "It is a satire on B-movie horror films... I went against the grain and instead of trying to make this slick Hollywood film, I just let things be as they were and made it into a really bad grindhouse style exploitation film. ...it's not a dumb film, it's just 'bad'... in a good way. Mae West said: 'When I'm good I'm good, but when I'm bad I'm better.' And we use her quote in Trasharella."

Filmography

Film + Film performances Year Title Role Notes 1990 Satan's Princess Erica Dunn Malediction (UK video title) 1992 Sinatra May Britt Television film 1993 Fishmasters Bikini Girl Television film 1994 Art Deco Detective Julie / Meg Hudson Gunmen Mrs. Loomis 1995 Undercover Heat Rain Showgirls Penny / Hope 1996 Striptease Tiffany 1997 Breast Men Swimming Pool Girl Television film (HBO) 1998 Dark Confessions Erica Chained Heat III: No Holds Barred (UK video title) Shark in a Bottle Receptionist MP Da Last Don Dancer 1999 The Pornographer Tiffany Candyman: Day of the Dead Lena Candyman 3: Day of the Dead Goat on Fire and Smiling Fish Party Girl #2 Smiling Fish & Goat on Fire (US new title) Singapore Sling Michelle Drake Scandalous Behavior (US) Citizens of Perpetual Indulgence Uncredited 2000 Between Christmas and New Year's Blue 2001 Mulholland Drive Laney 2002 Unstable Minds Pamela 2003 Lady Killers Fantasy Girl Uncredited; Gold Diggers, National Lampoon's Gold Diggers, National Lampoon's Lady Killers Bound Cargo Widow White Slave Virgins Welcome to the Real Hollywood Rena 2004 Roomies Female Caller Wild Roomies (US new title) 2008 One, Two, Many Tiffany Caligula's Spawn Druscilla Dark Reel Detective LaRue No Escape Brandt 2009 Trasharella Trasharella / Helena Beestrom Also director, producer, writer, and editor The Making of Gnome Killer 2 Detective LaRue / Gnome Queen The Gertrude Stein Mystery Agent Agnes Goddard 2010 Sickle Penny Eerie, PA Condi 2011 Spreading Darkness Elle Showgirls 2: Penny's from Heaven Penny Slot / Helga Also director, producer, writer, and editor 2013 The Trouble with Barry 'Pussy' Johnson 2016 Astrid's Auto Portrait Astrid Von Star Also director, producer, writer, and editor

Television + Television performances Year Title Role Notes 1988 Paradise Teenage Prostitute Episode: "Childhood's End"; Guns of Paradise 1992 Freshman Dorm Lisa Episode: "My Boyfriend's Back" 1995 Land's End Taffi Bishop 2 episodes 1996 Minor Adjustments Leslie Episode: "The Model Wife" 1997 Married... with Children Stripper #1 Episode: "How to Marry a Moron" 1997 Clueless Second Masseuse Episode: "Sharing Cher" 2000 The Pretender Mona Jeffries Episode: "Cold Dick" 2000 The X Show Herself Episode dated 26 January 2000 2001 Spyder Games Lydia 2 episodes 2005 Dante's Cove Tina 2 episodes 2008 Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew Herself Episode: "Sex and Trauma"

Producer 2000: Between Christmas and New Year's (associate producer) 2009: Trasharella 2009: The Making of Gnome Killer 2 (associate producer) 2009: The Gertrude Stein Mystery (associate producer) 2011: Trasharella Ultra Vixen 2011: Showgirls 2: Penny's from Heaven 2016: Astrid's Auto Portrait

Composer 1992: Back in the USSR 1995: Showgirls 1999: Bloodthirsty 2004: Roomies 2009: Trasharella

Soundtrack 1995: Showgirls (writer and performer: "Deep Kiss") 2004: Roomies (performer: "Geisha Girl") 2007: Forbes 20 Billionaire Heiresses: Young, Fabulous and Incredibly Rich (performer: "Livin' in the Fast Lane" – theme song) 2009: Trasharella

Director 2009: Trasharella 2011: Trasharella Ultra Vixen 2011: Showgirls 2: Penny's from Heaven 2016: Astrid's Auto Portrait

Writer 2009: Trasharella (screenplay) (story) 2011: Showgirls 2: Penny's from Heaven 2016: Astrid's Auto Portrait

Editor 2009: Trasharella 2011: Trasharella Ultra Vixen 2011: Showgirls 2: Penny's from Heaven 2016: Astrid's Auto Portrait