By Joseph McCabe
Okay, true confession time. Marley Shelton?s given me a weird new fetish.

I?ve always had a thing for women in lab coats, particularly those wearing black pumps (something one only sees in movies, comics or on TV). But Shelton?s defined that predilection more clearly: Now I realize I prefer women in lab coats and pumps with their blonde hair pinned back, their hands limp and a syringe gun full of anesthesia strapped to their inner thigh.

Blame it on Dr. Dakota Block, Shelton?s character in Planet Terror?the first half of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino?s Grindhouse double bill. As Block, Shelton alternates between sexy sadist and doting mother, before transforming?like so many of Rodriguez and Tarantino?s female characters?into an avenging angel.

I had the opportunity to chat with Shelton at last week?s Grindhouse press junket in Beverly Hills; and she shared her experiences working with the film?s two directors and on her brief but memorable scene in Rodriguez?s Sin City.

?It was fun,? says Shelton of shooting Sin City?s opening, in which her character is slain by Josh Hartnett. ?It made us more motivated, because we were tap dancing for [Sin City comic creator] Frank Miller. We were courting Frank Miller. [Robert] was trying to get Frank to give him the rights, so they struck a deal. He?s like, ?Come to Austin. I?m gonna shoot the first scene of the movie. If you like what you see, we?ll keep going; and if not, well, that?s it?no harm, no foul.? So they shook hands. Frank came out, loved it, obviously the rest is history. But for Josh and I it was just an honor to be part of the inception of that whole Sin City machine.?

After that initial experience with Rodriguez, Shelton leapt at the chance to work with him again on Planet Terror. She says both directors were the number one reason she signed up for Grindhouse.

?First and foremost, Robert and Quentin,? she says, ?They?re always up to something extremely cool. And secondly, when I read Robert?s script it was something entirely original. I just never?it blew out every principle, every notion of classic filmmaking. I was like, ?Yes, got for it!??

After accepting her role, Shelton got an invitation that would make any self-respecting movie geek?s head explode with envy?to attend Tarantino?s famous all-night movie screenings at his home in Los Angeles. ?That was the first order of business. He hosted these screenings the minute we started rehearsing.?

Shelton confesses she hadn?t normally watched the movies she saw at those screenings, but, like the rest of the cast, she quickly developed an appreciation. ?I think we?re sort of converts now. It?s really odd. It?s like being a connoisseur?they?ve taught us about the fine wine of exploitation films.?

When asked if she has any favorites, Shelton makes my heart melt. There?s nothing sexier than a beautiful woman who knows her horror films: ?Zombie, Vanishing Point, Macon County, City of the Walking Dead, Cannibal Holocaust, Last House on the Left, Fight for Your Life, Cheerleader?s Revenge, The Girl from Starship Venus?the list goes on.?

After prepping with yesterday?s classics, Shelton plunged into shooting, and faced some intriguing challenges. At one point in Grindhouse, for example, Dakota?s hands are anesthetized while she?s under attack from zombies.

?A lot of that stuff I?m doing with a stunt double or just a piece of tape,? Shelton laughs. ?No, I jest, sort of. But the hand stuff?I do have hyper-flexible wrists which is just this funny little thing about me. I never though that it would come in handy for my acting career. I guess I was born to play Dakota.?

Her handicap proves particularly difficult when, in one disturbing scene, while attempting to open a car door, she breaks her wrist. ?The kind of flopping around that I do with my wrists, that came naturally. But we took a prosthetic hand, I stood next to it and then?[effects wizard] Greg Nicotero once again?it was attached to a long stick and he jimmied it so it fell as I fell.?

Despite the torment she suffers, Dakota gets at least one moment of comeback heroism, in which she puts her syringe gun to good use.

?I was happy that all the female characters, in most of Robert and Quentin?s movies, are very strong and they get revenge or they end up triumphant in some way. My character in particular gets so victimized that I was so happy he wrote in that she does have her moment of fighting back.?

And was there any difference between the Rodriguez she worked with on the super-stylized Sin City and the man who directed Grindhouse?s zombie opus?

?He?s pretty consistent in terms of his bedside manner,? says Shelton. ?He?s a visualist. He sees things in pictures. He likes to show you what to do by showing you on the monitor. He?s just really inspiring to be around, because he has such creative autonomy, you know? He writes directs, D.P.?s, scores, edits, mixes, cooks?he cooks for the cast. There?s just nothing this man is incapable of. So both experiences were amazing.?