Alicia Silverstone began as a child model before a guest spot on "The Wonder Years" steered her into movies. Her debut in "The Crush" earned the teenage actress the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and Breakthrough Performance, which encouraged Aerosmith to hire her for several of their music videos. She was propelled into the international limelight by Amy Heckerling’s sleeper hit "Clueless" which earned her a major studio deal for herself and her production company, First Kiss Productions. She was cast as Batgirl in "Batman & Robin" and her films have included "Blast From the Past," Love’s Labour’s Lost," and the global hit "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed."
On television she starred in "Miss Match," created for her by Darren Star, and her recent credits include "Beauty Shop" with Queen Latifah and Andie MacDowell and the first entirely digital feature film "Silence Becomes You." In her latest film, "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker," Silverstone plays the character of Jack Starbright, the American nanny who takes care of Alex Rider.
"Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker" is based on the best selling young adult adventure series of books by Anthony Horowitz and follows the adventures of Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer), a 14-year-old orphan who has been unwittingly trained all his life by his uncle Ian Rider (Ewan McGregor) with the skills – scuba diving, mountaineering, martial arts, and so on -- to become a secret agent. When his uncle, an MI6 agent, is killed, Alex learns the truth and finds himself forced against his will to take on a dangerous mission for the British Secret Service. Using the tools and gadgets of the trade, in the vein of 007, Alex must infiltrate the lair of billionaire and possibly evil mastermind Darrius Sayle (Mickey Rourke) in order to stop him from releasing a biological weapon upon all of England via his brand new, high tech Stormbreaker computers.
At the Los Angeles press day to promote "Stormbreaker," Alicia Silverstone sat down with Movies Online to discuss what it was like working with director Geoffrey Sax, starring opposite Alex Pettyfer and the rest of the cast, and engaging in a martial arts style cat fight with Missi Pyle. Silverstone appeared relaxed and enthusiastic. Here’s what she had to say about her new film:
Q: So why did you do this project?
AS: It sounded like fun.
Q: Was it?
AS: Yeah, it really was. It was like six weeks in London and it was in the summer time. I mean Ewan McGregor was attached to it when I said ‘yes’ and Sophie Okonedo and I was just like, ‘I would love to be in a movie with them.’ And it just felt like a big pile of fun and it really was. I didn’t have to work very hard. I only had to work like…well, I mean I had a few moments where I was working for sure, but (laughter) a lot of the time I was just wandering the streets of London trying to get into trouble. It was really fun.
Q: Well, what does that entail?
AS: Punting at Oxford and taking the train. I never take taxis there. I only walk and take the Underground. So just going everywhere and we went to… I like to feel like I live there and we went to Yoga a lot and went to the little health food store around the corner and I stayed in a really residential, lovely little area, like in a little boutique hotel. I’d come home and the door guys would be so cool and we’d hang out together. It was very like family-ish and we took a train all the way to Cornwall but we decided we wanted to come right back. Se we’d just been on the train for eight hours. We spent one night and we’re like, ‘Let’s go back.’ So we went all the way back and just loved being on the train and met people all around and that kind of stuff.
Q: Geoffrey (Sax, director) was praising your comedic skills. You started with "Clueless," but there’s been some dramas on your resume. Do you prefer comedy or is that something that just comes more naturally to you?
AS: I don’t know. I was thinking about that the other day because it’s like this strange thing where… Before "Clueless," I had done only dramas and I’ve done like "The Babysitter," and I think that was a pretty good movie. I mean for a small little movie. I’m pretty proud of the work that I did in that and it was like this really serious sort of … It’s spoofy in the way that it’s all fantasy and strange and whatever. But it’s like this little art house movie. And then "The Crush" had comedic elements to it but really it was like this campy thriller or something. I don’t know. Like I have to scream a lot and hide away with Jeff Goldblum. I’m like screaming and there’s all this tragedy and it’s like drama, drama.
So it’s funny that I ended up doing "Clueless" and then once "Clueless" happened I don’t think I did another drama until just recently, I think. But I never really thought about that. I never think about the roles as if they’re funny or not. You’re just playing the character. I play it the same whether it’s drama or it’s comedy so I don’t really. The only thing you might do is sometimes have a heightenedness to it. In "Beauty Shop" there was a heightenedness to it and in "Love’s Labor Lost," I had a heightened thing. And in "Clueless." A little bit like raised. I don’t know what that means but it’s just like there’s an element that’s just a little bit more heightened. But other than that I think it’s kind of the same, just playing it. I don’t know. I don’t really know.
Q: And then there’s also the industry perception that you’re a ‘babe.’ Most people see you as a comedic actress because that’s probably the majority of roles coming your way.
AS: Well, that’s so funny because people say that comedy is so much more difficult than drama and I don’t know which is more difficult. I mean I can see how people mess up comedy more maybe, but I think people can mess up both. So I don’t really know. I don’t know why people say that because I don’t really evaluate that stuff very much or think about it very much. But probably people whose jobs it is to evaluate that could probably answer it better in terms of what is more commonly well executed versus not. But I like comedy. Here’s what I really do like about comedy.
I like laughing and I think when you do comedy, you play it with the same seriousness, right?, which is what makes it so funny, but you’re having more… I really enjoy laughing and having a good time so there is sort of a lightness to comedy that makes me think I might really enjoy comedy more because I don’t have to be so heavy. Because when you’re saying funny things, although you’re saying them seriously, they make you laugh. Like it’s very hard to not have a good time doing that and then drama can be a little bit more intense.
Q: I absolutely love how your character, Jack, eats sushi. Just stabs it and gets right into it.
AS: Did you notice that? (laughs) I’m glad. Thank you.
Q: Did you add that in there?
AS: Yes.
Q: What does that say about the character? What is that a metaphor for?
AS: Well, I was trying to make it that the character doesn’t really do anything well. I like the idea that she’s a really bad nanny. She’s passionate and she really loves the kid and that’s what she does well. And who wouldn’t want their nanny to really love their kid and really do anything for the kid. That’s the most important thing, but in terms of cooking, cleaning, showing up on time, no chance. You know what I mean? And I think she’s also going a little insane and bored. She’s been there for like eight years in this house and she’s just a young girl who… I think she’s a little bit spinning out of her brain and she’s like…
I think she does it for him to try and entertain him, but I think she’s also just entertaining herself. So she dresses up in the costume and she takes it all. She loves Summo wrestling and she gets really into the whole thing, but I think when it actually comes to preparing the meal, she’s all about the hype and she gets all into the excitement of it. But actually preparing it, she has no idea what she’s doing. So that’s why I tried to have her stab it. Like she tries to use the chopsticks. I know how to use chopsticks perfectly by the way. (laughs) But I wanted her to be more like *not* have that experience. I thought it would more interesting if she’s a mess and the whole time she’s talking she’s trying to use them, and finally she just says, ‘Fuck it’ because she’s just like that.
Q: How is married life?
AS: It’s nice.
Q: What’s the best thing about it? How’s it changed you or anything like that?
AS: I’ve been with him for a really long time and I don’t think it’s much different than just being in a really healthy relationship. I really feel lucky that I have him in my life. Like super, super lucky.
Q: Any plans to start a family anytime soon?
AS: For sure, just not planning it, because it seems too hard to plan. Too hard to plan with this kind of job. Like I don’t know… It’s one of those things where every time I think, ‘OK, I’m ready now.’ I’ll get ready and then I’ll think, ‘There’s a job. I want to do that job.’ Right now I’m still in that sort of toss-up area. I’m not ready to completely… I know you don’t have to give up your career or anything like that but I think you definitely can’t be pregnant while you’re playing some hot babe, you know, to some guy, depending on the role. It really depends on whether you can be pregnant or not.
Q: Where do you see, kind of like in the future, do you want to raise a family and kind of get out of acting or move out of L.A. or you want to kind of get a mesh of the two?
AS: I don’t know. It’s this really funny thing. I go through total different periods. I change my mind all the time. We’re adamantly trying to get out of the city and move away and live a completely different life and then I adamantly want to stay in L.A. and be… I love my house in L.A. I love it and it’s sort of a trade-off. Either the things that I love about being in London or New York is that sort of… I love the community of walking everywhere but then you can’t have the house that I have in L.A. in those places. Or maybe in London you could. You could live in like a little village with this amazing…but then the weather or else it’s just really far away from everybody and all the people that you’ve cultivated in your life and that you love. So it’s always like a trade-off, but I really like where we live.
We love our house and I love my job. I love being an actor. So it’s sort of like in a perfect world, I’ll only take projects that really inspire me or really make me happy and have a family and maybe find that perfect place where we want to live. We found one place that we really want to live but it’s so far away. And so it’s like really difficult in terms of having dogs, you know, you can’t just kind of like… Like ideally we’d be like, ‘Let’s go there for the weekend,’ but it’s like nine hours away travel time and the dogs we can’t bring so it’s like that defeats that purpose. But it’s the perfect place. It’s like the perfect little village. I’m not going to say it because I don’t want to spoil this place. It’s like this perfect little place because you can walk everywhere and you can ride your bike everywhere and people are so cool. But it might be too quiet for … You know, a lot of people might find it really snoozy. But it’s such a great little summer escape place. But it’s far away and I can’t bring the dogs.
Q: What’s the most romantic thing he’s done for you lately?
AS: I think he made me breakfast this morning. He makes me breakfast almost every morning.
Q: In bed?
AS: Not in bed, because I wouldn’t want to eat it in bed. I’m sure he would bring it there if I wanted him to but I’d rather eat it out on the balcony or something. No, he’s always really romantic. I can’t think of what… He does stuff every day. Really and truly, every day, he’s just such a considerate, thoughtful, cute, cute, cute person. He was romantic this morning like I was getting the dog food and he’s making out with me. It’s like, ‘Wow!’
Q: What’s going on with his music? Does he tour or what?
AS: He’s working with a new band right now called "Little Wolverines." He’s in the studio making one of those EP’s. Is that what they’re called? There’s five songs. I think it’s an EP. I don’t know what EP stands for.
Q: Extended play.
AS: That’s right. (laughter) Extended play. So he’s making one of those right now and he’s really excited. And now they’re talking about touring so it’s a little bit like, ‘Aaahhhhh.’ Because I hope he gets to go on tour but in just a little bit more civilized manner. Because the last time he went on tour it was for a whole year and a half and I was working on… There were two years when I was doing This Match??? and "The Graduate" on Broadway where we really barely were in the same city for more than three months for the total of those two years and it was very strange. I don’t think it will be like that now. I think we both want that not to have happen.
Q: Will you go on tour with him?
AS: I love going on tour with him. I went on tour… But I don’t know. It depends because it gets really smelly. (laughter) I was on tour with them, The Stung?, the last band he was with. They still might get together too. He hasn’t like abandoned Stun. It’s like he’s doing both. But these guys…oh, it was so gross. Like you’d be… First of all, you’re in a bunk bed which is like being in a coffin. I don’t know if any of you have laid in a bunk bed before. But they’re not regular bunk beds.
They’re tour bus bunk beds so they’re really small spaces. And he and I are sharing this space because they’re not like going to give me my own bunk. There’s only so many bunks and each guy has a bunk. So I’m sharing it with him. But like we don’t sleep that close… I mean I like my space and he likes his and you don’t have a big bed and this was like…you’re so stuck and so when he’d wake up, like if somebody got up earlier, you’d go get into another bunk. But then the different bunk would smell like the guy and I’d be like, ‘Ewwweeee.’ And some of the guys don’t shower for days and they get told to shower. They’re like, ‘Dude, you’ve got to shower.’ And the guy’s like, ‘I’m not showering.’ He doesn’t…they don’t want to. It smells so vile on the bus.
I can’t tell you. And there’s no air. (laughter) Woody Harrelson developed this amazing bus. He calls it the Mother Ship and it’s like this beautiful big blue bus and it runs on bio-diesel fuel and it’s got massive windows. It’s an old school bus that he converted and painted and it’s awesome. And that’s the bus you want. That has a king size bed in the back with windows all along, you know, school buses have all the windows, and it’s just this awesome thing and it’s got like a kitchen. This bus is like…there’s no air. You can’t open a window. No one will ever let you open a window. It’s really hard. But it’s super fun. It’s super, super, super fun.
Q: If this movie ends up doing well and they make maybe a sequel, would you like to reprise the character and where would you want to take it? What would you want to see her do?
AS: I definitely would want to do it for sure. And I hope that they would just play on the parts that I added to which was… I liked the idea of her not being very good at her job. I just think it’s funny. I mean, I don’t care. I’m sure whatever they do will be brilliant. But I just like that element of her just being sort of … You know, maybe she could be more involved in his … Maybe she has to become his partner or … not his partner, but be involved in some way. Like I don’t want her to just sit back there and keep going, ‘I’m worried. I’m worried,’ forever because that would be kind of boring. It was fine for this but like after a while, she can’t just be worried all the time. She’s going to have to accept that he does this and get involved somehow or do something. I’m sure she’d find it kind of fun because she’s sort of wacky anyway.
Q: And how was the fight scene? Was that really you and Missy (Pyle) throwing each other around?
AS: Well, we did a lot of it, but we definitely had stunt doubles. Our stunt doubles are these two Chinese guys who would dress up… Like one guy, Andy, he was brilliant and he didn’t speak English and I don’t speak Chinese so the two of us had a really great way of communicating through our eyes and it was just super fun and I would follow him around everywhere because I loved Andy. I loved his moves. He had … He was so brilliant at what he did.
And he’s so sharp. I had decided that my character thought she was Bruce Lee so she would get really loud (makes loud, high pitched sound) to just like scare Missy’s character and he thought that was hilarious so he took that on and showed me how I could exaggerate my moves and stuff. I don’t know that we really ended up going with a lot of that stuff but we practiced a lot of it and it was really fun. There was this one move where I had to like literally jump up on him, but it was supposed to be Missy, and fling my legs around his neck and crush him like that and pull him down on the ground, but I like barely have any stomach muscles and barely any muscles to begin with so I was having a really… When I was done, it was like my legs were going to fall off. It’s really hard to jump up onto somebody like… It’s not like jumping up and grabbing them. I’m jumping up to their neck with your legs. It’s very difficult so I didn’t really accomplish that very well, but it was fun. (laughter)
Q: What’s going on… I think Geoffrey (Sax, the director) had come in and had said something about a TV show that you were doing that he just read about? Can you tell us anything about it?
AS: I start on October 2nd I think and it’s going to air in the spring and it’s on NBC and it’s called the "Singles Table." And it’s got John Cho in it
Q: From "Harold & Kumar"?
AS: What’d you say it was called?
Q: "Harold & Kumar."
AS: Oh, yes. That one.
AS: And he’s in it and he’s very funny. And it’s just like these five people who… Well, what happens is the pilot opens up on this wedding and it’s like the tables in the back are the Porta Potties. Table 18. And all the single people are put at this table and they’re all kind of bitter … different degrees of bitterness… John Cho’s character is really bitter because his wife is there but she’s on a date with somebody else because they’re split up and he like hates her.
He’s so angry because he loves her so much. He just can’t bear…like he’s struggling with, ‘I was in a relationship and I had everything and now it’s all gone.’ My character is this…she’s a doctor and she’s working all the time and so she’s doesn’t have a lot of social skills and doesn’t date and doesn’t really … You know, she’s just working all the time and sort of in this strange…but she’s realizing that’s not the way she wants her life to be anymore. So she’s sort of developing and blossoming. There’s a rabbi who everybody treats him like a rabbi all the time and he’s like, ‘I’m not just a rabbi, you know, I’m a person.’ So they’re all sort of struggling with their … It’s a very edgy, sharp show. Very intelligent and the words are fun.
Q: How are you staying in shape these days and are you still eating the same way you’ve always been eating?
AS: I’m still a Vegan which is great because I don’t really have to worry about what I’m eating so much. As long as I don’t have seven Vegan cookies a day, I’m fine. I still eat sort of macro-biotically, Vegan, do Yoga and Pilates, and run, and walk the dogs and just sort of try to be active like that, and surf. I like surfing now. I've only been twice, but it was really fun. I like bike riding.
Q: Is there a role you want to play?
AS: Well, I mean, there’s so many things I still want to do. It's hard to kind of identify a role and say like, ‘That's the role I want to play.’
Q: Is there something you've always wanted to do?
AS: I've always wanted to do a really romantic period piece, where it's really a love story--a period love story. Sort of Pride and Prejudice-ish. I was really inspired by that. I've always wanted to do that, Helena Bonham Carter kind of stuff that I had always wanted to do. She kind of got away from that, but that's what she was doing when she was younger.
I always loved those sort of pieces. So I've always wanted to do something like that. I kind of dabbled in it with Love's Labour's Lost, but that was more of a comedy. I mean, like a real, true, passionate, like with the essence. I loved Pride and Prejudice because I loved the rawness of it. I loved how nobody had make-up on, I loved how the costumes were really raw, and I just loved the camera movement. I just thought it was really beautiful. So something like that kind of feeling of passion and all that sort of thing. And I loved the actor who played Darcy. I thought he was brilliant. Hated him like the whole time. ‘Why is he like this?’ And finally you're like, ‘Oh yeah, because he's
Darcy.’ And then he blossoms. I've never seen a guy love the way that he did. He was so beautiful, and he was like so nervous, and walks in the room...It was just so beautiful. So anyway, something with that kind of passion. But I also really loved Ibsen's play. You know, "A Doll's House" I think is incredible. But Janet McTeer really knocked it off its feet, so after that, I don't know that I could ever do it. But if that came around, that would be fun. But anything. Chekhov has amazing plays, Shakespeare has amazing stuff. There's so much to tackle still. There's just so many things.
I still really love "Romeo and Juliet," but I don't know if now I'm too old or not. But I really love that play, and have wanted to play with it at different times. But I don't know if I'd feel the same way about it anymore. But anything Shakespeare. I mean, it's just so fun. Shakespeare's awesome. You know, it's just fun stuff. I don't know. Anything like that. I want to work with David Mamet a million times again. I want to work with Kenneth Branagh again. I would love to work with Sean Penn. Meryl Streep, really, I think is amazing. And just work with inspiring people. That's really all. I mean, I don't really mind who they are, as long as I'm inspired by them and they get me all excited. [laughs] Do you know what I mean? That's really all that matters.
Alicia Silverstone recently completed the television comedy "Pink Collar," a satirical look at female relationships in the workplace. "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker" opens in theaters on October 6, 2006. I invite you to read my interview with the film’s star Alex Pettyfer.
