Eva Amurri has been acting in films and on television since she was seven years old. But you may know her best from the third season of Californication, in which she played Jackie, a sharp-witted, boldly sexual student who moonlighted as a stripper and bedded David Duchovny’s ever-lucky professor, Hank Moody. It was our first full glimpse of the gorgeous gams and other, um, feminine assets with which Eva’s been blessed – in addition to her bona fide smarts (she went to the highly respected Brown University) and wicked sense of humour. Sure, she had a little help from the gene pool – she’s the daughter of screen siren Susan Sarandon – but we tend to think Eva was destined to become a star no matter what.
You look incredible. Did you enjoy this shoot?
I loved it! I imagined I was the sexy wife left alone, posing around the house in lingerie. My now-husband [American soccer analyst Kyle Martino] visited the set, and we got engaged the next day. Everybody teased him, “The MAXIM shoot sold you, huh?”
Are you a soccer fan?
I played growing up and have always really loved it, which is lucky because we watch a lot of soccer in our house.
Did you play any other sports as a kid?
Yeah, I’m pretty athletic. I played softball and ice hockey, and I also danced a lot. Actually, I was in an African dance group.
That must have been tough for a tall white girl.
Right, so this is the thing: You’d better practice, because you definitely stand out.
Will we ever see you on Dancing With the Stars?
No chance! But we do Dancing With the Stars in our living room sometimes. Kyle can do a mean “Thriller” dance, so we try to top each other with Michael Jackson moves.
You spent a lot of time in Italy as a kid, plus you studied there in college. What can we learn from our Italian brothers?
Italians have a great appreciation of dressing well. They’ll never go to dinner in sweatpants. And they celebrate so many things over there – wine, food, women, and football – so their quality of life is fantastic.
Aside from clothes, what else is a turn-on?
People underestimate how wonderful it is to have good manners. And do not ever split the bill on a first date – horrendous! I don’t care if the date’s at In-N-Out Burger and you have to work five months to save up for it.
This may not be good manners, but we must compliment your performance as a stripper in Californication. Was that hard for you?
Not at all. I loved it! I’ve wanted to play that part my entire life. You can tell from the way girls dress on Halloween, we just want to wear cute outfits that let us show off. We’re always told, “You can’t look like a slut”, so to be able to prance around like we do in our bedrooms, it was a dream come true.
What was it like having a famous mum?
We don’t really look alike, and I have a different last name, so in auditions a lot of people didn’t know. But people love “got off the bus from Idaho” stories, so they’re not rooting for you if you’re from a family that’s done it. They think you don’t deserve it, even if you’re working to fight that perception. But it’s also great in some ways, so, you know, don’t cry for me, Argentina.
For the full feature and images grab the July 2013 issue of MAXIM.
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