Chris Evans & Evan Rachel Wood in Gucci ad

ROME — “There’s something appropriate about the name Guilty coming out of Rome. It’s a very Catholic word,” said “Sin City” creator Frank Miller here on Tuesday for the preview of Gucci’s new women’s fragrance, dubbed Gucci Guilty and slated to hit shelves worldwide in September.

Miller directed the scent’s TV advertising campaign — his first film foray for a fashion house — a sexy love tryst set against a futuristic cityscape filmed in his cartoon aesthetic style and featuring actors Evan Rachel Wood and Chris Evans. The ad was shot in Rome’s famed Cinecittà Studio. “When I found out we were shooting in the same studio he used, I thought I would either be inspired or drowned in some very big shoes, ” said Miller, who revealed he has the script ready for “Sin City 2” and the story for “Sin City 3.”

Moving from one ancient civilization to another, Miller’s new graphic novel, “Xerxes” — a prequel to “300,” a tale of Spartan glory in ancient Greece — is set for release in 2011.

Wood joined Miller, Gucci creative director Frida Giannini, chief executive officer Patrizio Di Marco and 120 guests for dinner and a 3-D preview of the commercial here on Monday night. Wood revealed she had learned Italian for her role in HBO’s forthcoming miniseries “Mildred Pierce,” alongside Kate Winslet and directed by Todd Haynes.“I play an opera singer, and a couple of months before we started shooting I studied Italian and German so I could lip-synch,” she said. The all-black-clad actress is also looking forward to the release of Robert Redford’s film “The Conspirator,” in which she stars with Robin Wright, slated to hit screens later this year. “I’m such a ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ fan. Every time he came over, I got a little flustered.”

It’s not only Wood’s face that gets a featured role in Gucci’s 60-second spot, but her ankle tattoo does too — “an homage to Pink Floyd’s ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond.’” Giannini noticed that Wood and Evans both had matching body art.

“Her tattoo is part of her character, so we left it in. We didn’t want to transform her into someone else,” said an upbeat Giannini. She said the ad’s fittingly noir soundtrack is courtesy of London-based band Friendly Fires and its cover version of Depeche Mode’s song ‘Strange Love.’

Source: WWD.com