Scary Movie actress Anna Faris has revealed that she loves to play female characters that are constantly screwing up. Anna confessed that she would much rather play a character that is a screw up, than one who has everything going her own way.

Faris explained, “I’m very intrigued by playing women who are much more like men: messy and sloppy. Young men that I know that I went to college with, they kind of were losers, I think the reaction to that was a lot of type-A women: the perfect shoes, the perfect job, the baby, the husband, just driven, driven, driven. Not allowed to screw up. I just want to see the women that screw up.”

Anna Faris can next be seen on the big screen, when she appears in the Mark Mylod comedy What’s Your Number, alongside Chris Evans, Martin Freeman and Zachary Quinto. What’s Your Number is set to hit the US theatres and the UK cinemas on September 30.

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I saw “The House Bunny” with my family on the day it opened, in Miami Beach, where we were vacationing (yes, it was August), and it was obvious that it was a launching-pad for serious comic talent. In his Profile of Anna Faris in the magazine this week (available to subscribers), Tad Friend describes it as the actress’s “breakout film” (she plays a Playboy Playmate who is thrown out of the mansion and ends up teaching a sorority of social misfits the ways of seduction) but it also launched Emma Stone, who has ably filled the cinematic vacuum left by Lindsay Lohan’s indisposition and adds, to the role of sympathetic but socially challenged young woman, a charming tint of self-conscious intellectualism (which comes to the fore in “Easy A”).

One of the great virtues of the article is its rundown of the behind-the-scenes considerations involved in getting a Hollywood movie made, from the purely numbers-driven (e.g., Faris is less popular with international audiences than is Reese Witherspoon, which is why studios are inclined to meet her higher pay rate) to the politico-social: what Tad calls “the almighty Laws of Date Night,” which include such terms as “Men rule,” “Women don’t have to be funny,” and “Also, women aren’t funny.” Tad speaks with Nicholas Stoller, who directed “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek,” who says, “There’s a misogyny in audiences, a much higher bar of required likability for women stars.”

Here’s where the margins grow mighty: what Hollywood studios can, or dare, to do is necessarily dependent on producers’ sense of widely held attitudes; what independent filmmakers can do depends mainly on a filmmaker’s sense of what makes for a good movie. And when a movie connects with a crucial niche audience, the fast filtration (thanks to the world of the Internet) from the margin to the mainstream may well effect changes in popular attitudes—not because of any political persuasion or underlying social change, but purely because of the artistic equivalent of fashion and style—that would otherwise have arrived only very slowly and very gradually. I hope that Tad’s piece inspires women filmmakers to do all that the studios say they can’t—and the fact that Lena Dunham’s inspired “Tiny Furniture” has been brought under the aegis of Judd Apatow’s production company (as Rebecca Mead reported here last year) is a sign that it may actually be happening.

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For those with a crush on Anna Faris, the 34-year-old actress provides a quick reality check.

“If you saw me right now, you might have a different opinion,” she says. “I’m in sweats with a baseball cap on. My hair is embarrassing. I don’t even want my husband to see it.”

He will be allowed to see “Take Me Home Tonight,” where an aimless college grad (Topher Grace) goes after his dream girl at a wild Labor Day party while also dealing with his twin sister (Faris).

“Topher brought this to me, which was hugely flattering,” Faris says. “It was a nice change, too, because I never get to play the smart, brassy character.”

Q. Just because you were the “House Bunny,” does that mean those smarter characters elude you?
A. It’s true that I get a lot of offers to play that girl. With this movie, I’ve got brains enough to spar with Topher. She’s a little sarcastic but also has a sadness to her. It was amazing to play a woman who is really frustrated in her life. She doesn’t know where to go and how to make herself a happier person.

Q. This film is set in the ’80s. What are your memories of this time? Big hair? Shoulder pads?
A. I was a young adolescent during the ’80s and had my bigger moments in the early ’90s. I was excited to wear the ’80s clothing in this movie and do the hair. But the shoulder pads were mystifying. I kept thinking, What fashion logic brought shoulder pads into our lives? Was it to make your waist look smaller or maybe it was to make your hair look smaller because it was so big in the ’80s.”

Q. What fashion statement did you make as a teen?
A. In the late ’80s when I was 11 or 12, I’d wake up an hour and a half before school started so I could devote 40 whole minutes to hairspray and curling my bangs under. I had tsunami bangs, which went so well with my big, frizzy perm.

Q. Who was your ’80s crush?
A. I have to dip into the ’90s and go with Jordan Knight from New Kids on the Block. Oh, I just said this out loud and my husband [Chris Pratt of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation”] just got mad at me. Everyone loved him, honey!

Q. What’s next for you?
A. I am doing a romantic comedy called “What’s Your Number?” It’s about a woman who looks back at 20 past loves and wonders which one was The One. It’s my first rom-com and I’m excited about it, because the character is close to me.

Q. And is it true that you’ll be in “Ghostbusters III”?
A. That’s such a weird rumor. So bizarre. I feel embarrassed, because everyone asks me about it. I don’t know who posted this on IMDb, but it’s not true. That said, I’d love to be part of it.

Q. Any wisdom on how to navigate this business?
A. It’s such a crapshoot. I go home to a great husband, two awesome pugs and have an amazing family. That’s what really matters.

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Anna Faris and Chris Pratt (“Parks & Recreation”) talked to OnTheRedCarpet.com at the premiere of their new movie, “Take Me Home Tonight,” about falling in love on-set.

“We met making this movie and we fell in love during that time,” Faris, 34, told OnTheRedCarpet.com.

“And now we’re married,” Pratt, 31, continued. “So this is a pretty spectacular moment for us, to be able to come to this movie that we met on and fell in love making, so it’s kinda neat.”

Of course Faris had to poke fun at her new hubby and asked, “What do you mean love-making?”

“Fell in love, comma, making,” Pratt clarified. “I don’t even know if it’s appropriate to put a comma there. We didn’t fall into love-making. You always do this!”

The movie follows Matt Franklin (Topher Grace) an MIT grad who chose to forgo high-paying lab job in favor of a position as a video clerk. His smart sister Wendy (Faris) is marrying her vapid boyfriend (Pratt), his best friend (Dan Fogler) just got fired from his job and his high school crush Tori Frederking (Teresa Palmer) is back in town. Franklin has one night to make things right.

Faris and Pratt also discuss why the decade lends itself to comedy and Pratt brought up the fact that the ’80s aren’t exactly fit for any genre besides comedy.

“It’s a chance for us to sort of poke fun at ourselves as a society, it was pretty embarrassing when you look at what people were really committed to wearing and being in the ’80s, I mean, it’s automatically pretty funny. I think it would be hard to do a really gritty drama in the ’80s, with someone who shows up in, you know, peg jeans and big mall bangs. You know, it’s automatically funny.”

Faris, who is best known for starring in the “Scary Movie” franchise, “Just Friends,” and “The House Bunny,” was previously married in 2004 to her “Lovers Lane” horror movie co-star, Ben Indra. The couple’s divorce was finalized in 2008, the same year she became engaged to Pratt. Pratt and Faris got married in Bali on July 9, 2009.

“Take Me Home Tonight” hits theaters on March 4, 2011.

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I’ll show my hand here: The House Bunny is required viewing for anyone who wants to be my friend. And Anna Faris, the titular bunny, is an effervescent comedic genius, who also made films like Smiley Face, The Hot Chick, and Observe and Report. She also stars in Take Me Home Tonight, a sincere rom-com that is set in the 80s, but opens today. Since I love just about everything in the preceding two sentences—Anna Faris, her cinematic oeuvre, the 80s, 80s rom-coms, today—I gave Anna a call to talk about feminist film theory, universal bisexuality, seeing movies while high, and her co-star Topher Grace’s scary obsession with Star Wars figurines.

Brett Berk: So are you on some sort of four-interviews-an-hour schedule in the lead-up to the release of this movie?

Anna Faris: No. You’re my second and final for today. But I have a radio tour tomorrow. Those are a little brutal, because there’s always the shock jocks. They get really personal, and want to know, like, What’s your favorite sexual position?

I’d ask if I didn’t already know it. You’re, like, my second-favorite actress, ever.

Thank you! That really makes my day. I don’t get that very often.

In my opinion, you should be starring in a movie like The House Bunny twice a year.

Are you funding it? Because I think I might need some financing. [Laughs.] But I do have some good stuff coming up. I’ve got an R-rated romantic comedy coming out in September. And I’m really excited about that, because the character I play is kind of refreshing for me. She’s pretty flawed. She sleeps with a lot of guys, she drinks a lot, she’s unemployed.

I love her already. What’s that called?

What’s Your Number?

I’m going to watch for that. That’s like a black-tie event for my friends and me. Speaking of, we believe that The Hot Chick should be on the syllabus of every queer-studies or feminist-film course. It’s such a complex and hilarious assault on gender normativity.

Whoa. You know, I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about this. And I am a little surprised that The Hot Chick has had any sort of resonance. But I guess it sort of speaks to the notion that we all may be a little bisexual. You know, there might just be a hint.

My husband just got very excited.

One more about you oeuvre, and then we’ll move on. Is it possible—or even advisable—to watch Smiley Face while not stoned? (I’ve never tried.)

You know, my parents saw it, and I was a little bit worried, because my mom somehow thinks that I’m supposed to be a “role model.” But to my delight, they loved it. And they weren’t stoned—that I knew of.

So Take Me Home Tonight is like an homage to 80s-youth romantic dramedies. It reminded me of Valley Girl, one of the best of the pack. Do you have a favorite movie from that time period?

This question is a little tricky, because my parents were very strict and didn’t let me watch any movies. So I kind of skipped that period. But I was able to see them later. And I think all the John Hughes movies are great. I think that they speak to a frustration that you have when you’re growing up. And I think 80s movies dealt with socioeconomic factors a little differently than we do now. The rich kids had all of the power. And the poor kids, you know, were the ones you rooted for. And I think in Take Me Home Tonight, we touch on that same conflict.

Why exactly was Take Me Home Tonight set in the 80s?

I think because Topher Grace—who was one of the producers—is obsessed with the 80s, in a way that’s…it’s actually a little crazy. He’s got a lot of Atari gear, a lot of Star Wars figurines. But it was really important for him to not mock anything, and to have this be a grounded movie. I think some of our characters are all eighties’d-out with their looks, but for the most part, he really wanted to honor the realism and not make a spoof out of it.

I appreciated that, having been an adolescent in the 80s. But I saw it with a friend in his 20s and he was like, “It should have been more 80s.”

I think he might not be alone in that. It was a conscious effort—we just didn’t want to overdo it. The poster, on the other hand, is a little bit embarrassing, because I look nothing like my character [Wendy]. I mean, my character is a really insecure person, even though she’s got a lot of sass.

Yeah. You often play seemingly ditzy and endearingly insecure characters whose underlying genius and insight is eventually revealed. But in this movie, you play a seemingly smart and endearingly secure character whose underlying lack of insight is eventually revealed.

I think because I’m really an insecure person, I think that I love to hide behind characters, and I feel like a lot of the characters I play tend to hide behind character as well.

That is so fucking meta.

[Laughs.] Yeah. But I think playing Wendy for me was a really nice change—to feel like I could be a little quieter and a little more grounded. Wendy is a bit of an observer in the movie, and that was a nice switch.

Last question: You’re well known for your spoofs in the Scary Movie franchise. If you could spoof one of the roles that was up for an Oscar this year, which would you choose?

I think it would be amazingly fun to do Natalie Portman, because I’d love to, like, pick my skin off up to my elbows. But do you have another suggestion for me?

I’d love to see you do Jesse Eisenberg from The Social Network. But even better would be James Franco from 127 Hours. If you like picking your arm, you could have even more fun sawing your arm off.

That would be awesome. You’re so right. I wasn’t really thinking male. I should have had an open mind.

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Anna Faris, costar of this month’s Take Me Home Tonight, on the soundtrack to her life.

Name a song that you’ve listened to in the past 24 hours?
Best Coast’s “Boyfriend.” Isn’t [Bethany Cosentino] supposed to be the coolest person in the world right now?

What’s the first album you bought with your own money?
Whitney Houston. My first concert was supposed to be Whitney in Seattle, but I was doing a play that night. I was Scout in a production of To Kill a Mockingbird. That was probably my last dramatic role.

If you were to portray someone in a rock biopic, who would it be?
Karen O. I love the way she writhes onstage. Amy Winehouse would also be a blast and could lean towards the comedic.

What was the last concert you attended?
Grizzly Bear and Phoenix at the Hollywood Bowl.

Take Me Home Tonight is named after Eddie Money’s hit and set in the ’80s. What’s your favorite song from that decade?
Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.” I must have been about eight or nine when I first heard “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” but this became my ballad. Romance, heartbreak — I knew it was all waiting for me down the line after “Time After Time.”

Is there a song that you associate with your first kiss?
I was embarrassingly old, like late 16, and I remember being enthralled with U2′s “With or Without You.” My first kiss ended up becoming my first relationship. Now this song reminds me of what an idiot I was. I blame it for those three years.

Do you recall what you were listening to the first time you smoked pot?
Freshman year of college I would hole up in my friend’s dorm room and get really stoned to early 311 albums. One afternoon, we got stuck in the elevator for, like, an hour, and the floor buttons lit up on three and 11. We freaked out. We thought for sure it was some kind of sign. I’m shocked that I graduated.

Name an album that’s guaranteed to get a person laid.
When I was falling for my husband, I was listening nonstop to Peter Bjorn and John’s Writer’s Block. It’s not necessarily a sexy album, but it was to me.

What song would you be happy never to hear again?
“Hotel California.” It goes on forever.

Whose music do you want played at your funeral?
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. They’re a very infectious African band that inevitably gets played at Thanksgiving and Christmas when my family’s had too much wine. Suddenly, we’re pulling back the rug and dancing. I would like to think my funeral would be a celebration, although I don’t know how people could have a good time without me.

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PopSugar chats with Anna Faris on the red carpet for the LA premiere of Yogi Bear. Check out what Anna has to say about her family-friendly film in our video!