Isabella Rossellini Talks 'Green Porno,' Dogs, and Exploring the Sex Lives of Animals

Model and actress Isabella Rossellini may be one of the world's most beautiful women, but she is not above making sucking noises and painting her face and lips green to simulate sex with a praying mantis. "I'm an entertainer," Rossellini, daughter of legendary actress Ingrid Bergman and famed Italian film director, Roberto Rossellini, tells Paw Nation.

In her critically acclaimed series of short films called "Green Porno", which Rossellini created, wrote and co-directed for the Sundance Channel, she dons all manner of outrageous costumes while exploring the sex life of insects, snails and marine animals. "'Green Porno' is meant to be comical about a scientific subject," says Rossellini. In one episode, Rossellini, dressed as a giant male squid, demonstrates the sex act while saying in a serious, yet sensual, breathy voice, "If I were a squid ... I would slip my spermatafore, a package full of sperm, into her spermateca." Are you blushing yet?

Conceived as a series of very short films, all episodes are less than two minutes in length, save for one six-minute episode about the elephant seal. (The shows were designed to be viewed on iPods, mobile phones and computers.) Since debuting the original eight episodes of "Green Porno 1" in 2008, the videos have garnered millions of views on YouTube and at Sundance.com, and spawned (pun intended) two ensuing seasons. On October 7th, the Sundance Channel will make the latest episodes of "Green Porno 3" available on demand to watch on the relatively big screen of your television set.

Rosseillini spoke with Paw Nation about "Green Porno," her fascination with animal behavior, why she trains service dogs, and her would-be life as a zoologist.

Have you always been interested in animals?
People are born with an affinity or interest in one thing or another, whether it's sports or music. I've always liked animals and read books about animal behavior. Since I was a little girl, I've always had pets and always had to have a dog. So, it stayed with me. It wasn't something I grew out of.


What fascinates you about animal behavior?
The basic questions: do they think, what do they think, do they have emotions -- the basic things that a naturalist would contemplate.

Is it true you wanted to be a zoologist?
Yes, when I was little. I grew up in Italy and there weren't any studies on animal behavior; it was mostly done in England and some in America. It was something that I read about, but it was very removed from something that could have been a possible path. My parents certainly saw that I had this passion, but they were unable to help me. Then I became a model, I became an actress, and then, you know, life goes on. It wasn't a particular frustration that I didn't do it, but it remained as a hobby.

Where in Italy did you live?
I grew up in Rome.

Were you one of those kids In the backyard, digging and looking at worms crawling around?
Yes, exactly. [Laughing]

How did "Green Porno" come about?
I had done an earlier short, 20-minute film, that I had written called, "My Dad is 100 Years Old." In 2006, my father would have been 100 years old and there were a series of scheduled events and retrospectives of his work in major museums around the world. Each one asked me to tour and do interviews to promote their events, and I thought, 'Well, I'll do my own little film because I know the interviews will not give voice to my memory. They will ask me a bunch of things, but it will be not so personal." So I made this little surrealistic film and the Sundance Channel bought the film and liked it very much. When they started commissioning these very short, two-minute films, they thought of me and offered me a chance to direct. I co-directed "Green Porno" with Jody Shapiro, who was the producer on "My Dad is 100 Years Old."

What made you decide to explore the sex lives of animals?
Sundance wanted the series to have an environmental subject because they are interested in the environment. I thought, "I could talk about bugs." Because the lower animals, the animals that are further away from us, they have these very strange ways of mating. So it could be about sex because I know that people are interested in sex [laughing] but not a lot of people are interested in animal behavior -- just a few friends of mine who have the same interest as I.

How did you come up with the title for the series?
Sundance had a series of programs that were already called "Green" something, like "Green Food," meaning organic, or "Green Housing" -- making your house greener with solar paneling. So when I thought of the name "Green Porno," I thought, "Oh that's very catchy, that's good."

Was it your visual concept to make "Green Porno" look like a cartoon?
Yes. We wanted to address the fact that the screen was going to be small. So it had to be clear and conceived for an aesthetic that could be good for the small screen. When we looked at different films, we saw that animation really didn't lose much. You can see a Walt Disney film on the big screen or a television set or on a cellular phone and it still looks pretty good. So we decided that the look for "Green Porno" was going to be like animation, with only two or three colors, two dimensional, very contrasted. The costumes are executed by Andy Byers and Rick Gilbert. They added so much to my drawings in terms of detail and charm, so I owe them a lot.

Do you have any pets?
I have several dogs, one cat, and some chickens at my house in the country an hour and a half outside New York City.

What kind of dogs do you have?
I have two dogs that are mutts that I just picked up in the street. I volunteer for the Guide Dog Foundation. They give me puppies that I raise for a year then return to them. I socialize the puppies and give them a series of commands and then they are returned to be evaluated and be taught further and become guide dogs. Most of these dogs are either Golden Retrievers or Labradors or a mix of the two. Right now, I have a little puppy from the Guide Dog Foundation that is about four months old and he's a mix Golden and Labrador. Then I have a dog from the Foundation that is a mixed Labrador poodle that failed the final exam and I adopted him.

What made you want to train service dogs?
I wanted to have more than one dog, but I didn't want to end up like a bag lady with millions of dogs and cats in the house. I thought if I worked with the Guide Dog Foundation it will be a good way for me to have many dogs and be exposed to many dogs and their behavior, but also channel these dogs into some services, so that they don't just wind up being my pets. That's why I did it, primarily. And it's very moving to see them go off and help people.

How long have you been training dogs?
Since I was a little girl. I always had puppies, so it's not that difficult for me to teach the puppies. In fact, yesterday I picked up one from the street. A person had attached a puppy to a tree and the puppy was crying and went even crazier and the person didn't know what to do. The police were there. Finally, I went there and said, "Give me the dog." The person was really happy because he wanted to get rid of the dog. [After a while,] the puppy stopped crying and was completely calm. Some people go nuts and don't know why a dog cries. [Chuckling] I have a knack for it, I guess. I knew exactly what to do with the dog.

You're a natural Dog Whisperer!
Well, I don't know. [Laughing] That guy [Cesar Millan] seems to know much more than I do. The TV show [National Geographic's "The Dog Whisperer"] that I've seen, he deals with dogs that are very aggressive and I wouldn't know what to do with those.

Will there be a "Green Porno 4"?
No, because there is a book out now and we have done 18 episodes, so we're not going to continue it.

What can readers find in the Green Porno Book?
it's a just very funny little book that looks likes a children's book but, in fact, talks about sex. The book comes with a DVD with the entire collection of "Green Porno," which cannot be seen anywhere. Right now, Sundance.com is just showing a few episodes and YouTube is showing some others, but there is not the complete collection. So if you want to have "Green Porno" in your collection like you have books or DVDs of other films, you have to buy the book! [Laughing]

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