5 Questions With: Molly Sims

Molly Sims has graced the pages of five -- count 'em, five -- Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues, appeared in those memorable "You gotta get this look!" Old Navy commercials, romanced Fergie's main squeeze Josh Duhamel on NBC's 'Las Vegas' and recently caused Andy Samberg to prematurely ruin a pair of perfectly good jeans in the 'Saturday Night Live' digital short 'Ji** in My Pants.'

This February, the 35-year-old supermodel-turned-actress hits the big screen as a drop-dead gorgeous cheerleading instructor in the teen romp 'Fired Up,' about two high-school football players who crash cheer camp in the hopes of scoring women.

Sims opens up about nude dancing on the set of 'Fired Up,' speaks out against media critics obsessed with Jessica Simpson's weight, and dishes on her 'SNL' experience and what would have happened between Delinda and Danny had 'Las Vegas' not been canceled. -- By Tom DiChiara

1. With such a fun cast and subject, there were probably some pretty wild times on the 'Fired Up' set -- did any memorable shenanigans transpire?

Probably I think the funniest would be John Michael Higgins doing a routine of dancing while he makes the guys dance naked. That was pretty funny. And then, you know, just him cheerleading and doing the snake was very funny. His improvisational skills are like no other. He is the ultimate comedian in that way. I mean, listen, you've got a lot of hormones -- it's like 300 cheerleaders and two boys.



2. As a successful swimsuit model-turned-actress, how do you feel about the slew of stories this week based around celebrity body image? Jessica Simpson was mocked for apparently gaining weight, while Katie Holmes was called out for being too skinny. Does this set a bad precedent for, say, high school cheerleaders like the ones in 'Fired Up' who are obviously body-conscious?

I mean, I think it sets a bad precedent for everything. The way girls look at themselves and the way girls feel about themselves -- we are an obsessed nation right now. When they're saying that Jessica Simpson is too fat ... and Katie Holmes is too skinny, what does that say to your average girl? You know? It's so confusing. It's so -- first of all, it's ridiculous. It's just ridiculous. It's just something for the media to have something to talk about and have a story. But the problem with that is the more we talk about it the more we give it credit. And the more we give it credit -- that's when you do have girls who look at Jessica Simpson and look at [their] idols and start starving themselves because they don't want to be heavy. It's so bad.

3. On the lighter side of things, what was it like being a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model?

Literally I think I did it five times and I was like, "Give me a beach!" Probably the best was Greece. That was pretty phenomenal because we sailed between the islands. Argentina was amazing. But, you know, [most of the time] you're in the freezing, freezing, freezing cold water -- like in Colorado in like October in the river [laughs]. So it's definitely uncomfortable.

'Fired Up' Trailer




4. You were the cause of Andy Samberg's trousers-soiling in a certain 'SNL' video -- how'd that come about, and what was the experience like?

That is going to be the Oscar of my life! [Laughs.] I had a good time. I think what was the funniest was the boys trying to convince me: "Just hear the song!" So they sent me the 'Ji** in My Pants' the song. And you can imagine me trying to tell this to my agent, but I know some of the guys on 'Saturday Night Live' and they had heard that I was going to be in New York, so they called and Andy pitched it to me, and I was like, "I'm in." I mean, the success of 'Dick in a Box' was phenomenal. Those boys are so talented. Even working with them -- you know, you see the finished product just when you're watching 'Saturday Night Live every week -- but just to see it in person ... they are so freaking funny [laughs].

5. Were you upset by the abrupt way 'Las Vegas' went off the air? And what do you think was in the cards for Delinda and Danny?

I think the fans were devastated because you have a show on NBC for five years and there is no ending, there is no closure -- so I think that's why they sent all the baby stuff to NBC was because they wanted something. They follow the characters, they follow the lives, and -- not that they wanted a happy ending -- they just wanted an ending. And I think as actors -- and I know I can speak for Gary Scott Thompson, our creator -- that was the saddest thing for all of us ... because we didn't get to give the fans an ending. Even for us it was like, "Oh, would it have been a boy or a girl?" I think it was just because we had to end because of the writers' strike. But considering Delinda tells Danny what to do, we were going to have a girl and her name was going to be Ruby, and he was going to take over the Montecito, and then probably we were going to end up moving to another location, and James [Caan] and Vanessa [Marcil] would never die.