Gabrielle Christian Dishes About ‘GIRLTRASH’

Fans pining for Spashley (Spencer and Ashley) since the demise of “South of Nowhere” can give a sigh of relief now that “GIRLTRASH: All Night Long” will officially premiere at San Diego’s FilmOut film festival on Saturday and come out on DVD June 3.

Christian and Mandy Musgrave, the teen lovers of “South of Nowhere,” are paired up again in the latest feature film from POWER UP. I asked Christian if it felt like a return to “South of Nowhere.”

“There were a couple moments where we’d look at it each other and we’re like, are we going to be 80 years old playing the same coming-out lesbians?” asked Christian, laughing. “The fact that we have worked together helped with just making it easier, knowing our limitations, knowing what makes the other person uncomfortable.”

Christian plays sorority girl Colby, who’s never been with a girl but is crushing on Misty, a D-list actor played by Musgrave. Colby is sweet but not as naïve as her “South” character Spencer, who was fresh off an Ohio farm. The girls of “GIRLTRASH” are edgier, streetwise and up all night carousing the clubs of Los Angeles, and nobody’s worried if it’s a school night.

“The tables have turned,” says Christian. “Mandy is the one who is not at all interested in me. So my goal in the movie is to do whatever it takes to be with this girl for one night.”

As an actress, Christian was momentarily in crisis mode when she had to shoot a sex scene on the very first day of filming. And it wasn’t with her familiar love interest Misty, but with the resident lesbian Lothario, Tyler, played by former Sports Illustrated model Michelle Lombardo.

“It’s bra and underwear, which I’m OK with,” says Christian, “but it was also simulated sex, which is supposed to be funny, and I kept thinking, ‘keep it funny, keep it funny, it’s suppose to be funny.’

“But when you’re gyrating another female in your underwear and bra.… Michelle Lombardo, I give her complete credit for the scene. Without her I would probably have fainted or something. She was just like, ‘Let’s do it!’

On “South of Nowhere,” Christian explained, “when Mandy and I would have sex scenes, it was the director, one cameraman, one boom guy. But on our first day shooting [GIRLTRASH], we were still getting organized, and there were like 40 people [laughs], and I’m like [panic], it was the first shot of the movie.”

“GIRLTRASH” began as a gritty lesbian Web series, the creation of Angela Robinson (“D.E.B.S.”; “True Blood”). The Web characters were a crew of lawbreaking misfits, so Christian had certain expectations for her role going into the feature film.

“I was thinking that Mandy and I would be more bad-ass, that we would be taking on grocery store owners with like, guns, this total action thing,” Christian said laughing. “For my character at least, it’s more about her coming out experience and more of this emotional journey.”

Michelle Lombardo’s transformation from swimsuit model into the sexy, brooding-andro-babe Tyler has already produced some eye-popping photos and recruited many a fan to the film.

“Michelle is really gung-ho about acting, very method, and she’ll just do whatever it takes to make it real, [she] helped me a lot,” says Christian.

The cast is full of “L Word” alumni, including Kate French, Rose Rollins, Clementine Ford and Malaya Rivera Drew. Lisa Rieffel, a former child actor and current lead singer-songwriter of Killola, plays Colby’s lesbian big sister Daisy. Rieffel also co-wrote the music for the film with her husband, Johnny Dunn.

“GIRLTRASH” might portray one wild night in Los Angeles, but along the way, Christian says that Colby makes important decisions for herself. She “is somebody who is determined, and she has these goals to get her education and to be different than every one of her family members.

“But she gets a little bit giddy about love and I think that happens to everybody,” Christian says. “Without love, there’s like no purpose to life, right?”

For more about the film see www.girltrashallnightlong.com.