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In
the frank indie Thirteen, as in life, Hunter isnt afraid to bare
all.
Good
golly, Miss Hollyyour film career careens from the commercialism of
Broadcast News to the insanity of Raising Arizona to the nasty
indie grit of your latest, Thirteen, a no-holds-barred tale of teen
girls gone bad, cowritten by an actual 13-year-old. So tell us: Do you ever
feel about yourself in Hollywood the way your character in The Piano
(for which you won an Oscar) does at the end of that movie, when she declares,
Im quite the town freak?
[laughs] I dont know how Hollywood perceives me. I dont really
think about it.
From
the films you make, I believe you, honey.
I act on impulse an awful lot. And if youre talking about actors who
love to do theater and continually go back and forth between it and film
as
you do
there may be less of an intention to carve out a career,
an
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image.
So I always feel like theres room for me to move around, and its
not so scary in terms of Whats happening with my Hollywood Thing?!
Which
must drive people who are convinced you have the Oscar curse mad.
Thats a concept that has no relevance in my life. But, of course, Im
not utterly satisfied with my career because I would like to work more.
But,
as youve said, your choice is not to do pure, unadulterated shit
because Id rather be home walking my dog.
Yep, thats me. [laughs]
So
whats it take for you to say yes to a script?
Well, you know, in the 70s, the leading characters in movies were always
kind of electrifying, and there was a darkness explored. So, like, in [1998s]
Living Out Loud, there were elements that hearkened back to a different
era of moviemaking, certainly for women. And thats a rarityI havent
seen a part that complicated and unpredictable since.
Interestingly,
that was your last big starring role.
And
its one of my favorite performances; a tremendous opportunity [to play]
a very complicated, always fascinating woman. There was a scariness of What
will she do now? so the element of danger was inherent.
And
your roles are almost always dangerous. Like, how exactly do you prepare for
a scenespecifically, the one in David Cronenbergs Crashwhere
youre getting all horny by watching videos of car wrecks while, simultaneously,
feeling up James Spaders and Rosanna Arquettes crotches?
[laughs] Well, Ill tell you, David doesnt direct actors and he
doesnt create an atmosphere, eitherhe creates a WORLD. And, also,
I was in the room [in that scene] with Elias Koteasone of my favorite
actorsand his commitment was complete: He was immersed, he was gone,
and I wanted to go there, too.
Ive
long thought of you as the female Harvey Keitelhes one of the
thimbleful of male stars wholl do about anything for their art, including
frontal nudity. Which is to say, baby, Sharon Stone has nothin on you.
. . .
I just dont feel uptight about nudityIve never signed a
nudity clause in my life. And whenever Ive done nudity, I felt it was
rightI mean, weve got five senses and sex employs all of them,
so if youre expressing something about what it means to be alive in
the world, how can you subtract sex from that? And if youre having sex
with somebody, youre, generally, going to be nude. And, if not, well,
that can be interesting, too. [laughs] And if I feel comfortable with the
director , well . . . like in Thirteen, [director and cowriter] Catherine
Hardwicke and I didnt even TALK about the nudity much.
WowI
dont even remember any bare booty in Thirteen.
Thats interesting and kind of greatbecause its full nudity.
But theres nothing sexual about it: Its two people who live together
who are having this heated confrontation, and she just happens to have no
clothes on. I like that. It feels like real life.
Cool.
Last question: As the über anti-bullshit movie star, whats still
the best thing about having a Hollywood career?
Your car is here, Miss Hunter. [smiles] Thats pretty nice.
©
2015 Brantley Bardin. All Rights Reserved.
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