Q&A with Emmanuelle Vaugier

What could be hotter than the racing action found in the upcoming Need for Speed Carbon? How about the woman who plays your past flame in the game?

Emerging Hollywood actress Emmanuelle Vaugier -- best know for her work with the hit CBS sitcom, Two and a Half Men, as well as feature films Saw 2 and 40 Days and 40 Nights -- plays as Nikki, the ex-girlfriend of the hero who returns to his hometown to face his past.

David Footman, who has worked on blockbusters such as The Day After Tomorrow, I, Robot, and X-Men, served as director for the green screen video shoot with Vaugier; the full-motion shoot was used to give the computer-generated actors human-like performances and realistic facial expressions.

Yahoo! Video Games sat down with Vaugier at Electronic Arts' HQ in Redwood City, California, to discuss working on the game.

Yahoo! Video Games: What's your role in Carbon?

Emmanuelle Vaugier: I play Nikki, the player's ex-girlfriend. The hero takes off for five years or so and everyone thinks he stole some money. He returns back to the city to prove that he didn't. He approaches me to help him prove his innocence...I'm reluctant at first because I'm still pissed off at him, but I eventually agree to help him. He begins by taking over different territories, which unravels new pieces of the story. Eventually, information about that fateful night is revealed.

YVG: What was it like filming your parts compared to other work you've done for TV and film?

EV: It was great opportunity to something I've never done before. Games are for a whole different market, a whole new group of people. We did about a week of green screen work, which consisted of me and other cast-members standing around on a big green sheet with little X's where cars were supposed to be. This was a challenge because you're imaging this whole racing world, an environment that's not there, getting out of cars that are not there. It's a challenge, but a lot of fun. And then we did about three days of work in a sound studio, just getting sound bytes of lines throughout the game like "Coming up on your right!" or cheering him on or getting mad at him because he's acting like an idiot. That kind of stuff.

YVG: Are you like Nikki at all?

EV: Well, I think there's always pieces of you in any character you play, every performance. So, yes.