Jennifer Tilly Unbound

Q: Your first film was No Small Affair, What do you remember about working with Demi Moore?

A: I thought she was a total movie star. She was doing that Cyndi Lauper look with the vintage clothing, and I remember saying to her, "Are you going to try and buy some of your clothes after the movie?" She said to me, "I always put in my contract that I get to keep the clothes." That's what I learned from Demi Moore.

Q: I checked the reference guide at my video store and apparently, after Bullets Over Broadway, you were in a movie with Alyssa Milano called Embrace of the Vampire. What in the world is that?

A: Please, I did one day on it and I got great billing. I hadn't worked since Bullets Over Broadway and I really needed the money. The first time I met Quentin Tarantino was so funny. He said, "Jennifer, there's something I've always wanted to ask you." and I'm thinking, "Which of my distinguished movies is he going to ask about'.'" He goes, "Moving Violations! How did you do that scene in the antigravity chamber?" I thought he was making fun of me, but then I realized he was serious. My friend who was with me said, ''How come I've never heard you mention Moving Violations?" So I brushed it off and said, "Well, it was like my first movie." Quentin went, "No, no, no, the first movie you ever did was No Small Affair, with Jon Cryer and Demi Moore." And I'm thinking, "If you weren't Quentin Tarantino, I'd think you were a stalker."

Q: You can take the boy out of the video store, but...

A: When I ran into Quentin at [this year's] Oscars, he said, "Jennifer, I just saw a great movie you were in," and this time I knew exactly what he was going to say. He said, "Embrace of the Vampire," and I said, "Oh, well, you know..."' But he said, "No, that's a great movie." I said, "Quentin, it's a terrible movie," and he said, "It's a great bad movie." So I said, "Speaking of great bad movies, you were good in From Dusk Till Dawn."

Q: What's this other movie you did recently, Edie & Pen?

A: It's with Stockard Channing and Scott Glenn. Victoria Tennant wrote it. It's a very sweet film about these women who go to Reno to get a divorce.

Q: What's up next for you?

A: This Disney movie with Dave Foley called The Wrong Guy. It's a spoof on The Fugitive. I'm, like, the girl. After that, I'm doing a picture with Jeff Daniels.

Q: Let's get back to your love life. How did you learn the facts of life?

A: I was in seventh grade, and the bad girl down the road told me. I was so grossed out that afterwards, I lost all respect for grown ups. I lost my virginity very late, because when I was growing up, we didn't have a TV, so our role models were like [the girls in] Little Women--I really thought I was going to be a virgin until I got married. However, in college, every body was incredibly liberated and, since I didn't think then I'd ever get married, I decided. "Oh, just gel it out of the way," so I did.

Q: Did your first time live up to the hype?

A: No. It was over in three minutes and then he was sleeping. It wasn't fun at all. But then one day I went out with an older man, and I thought. "Well, this is more like it."

Q: You said earlier you're currently single. Have you thought of using your celebrity to meet a man you've dreamed about?

A: Well, my publicist has been trying to set me up with Jon Stewart.

Q: The talk-show-host-turned-actor?

A: Yeah. He's so cute. I just did his show last week--I mean, he was taking over for Greg Kinnear. Actually, he has a girlfriend.

Q: How old is he?

A: I think he's 31, 32.

Q: Can I ask how old you are?

A: [Laughing] Let's just say Jon is not too young for me.

Q: What about all the men who don't have a girlfriend--are you out there trying to meet guys?

A: I am. I'm really trying to actively be out there and meet people, but no one looks good to me. You know, you go to the gym and the men are wearing the muscle T-shirts, there's hair on their backs, and they leave little wet spots on the machine. [Laughing] I think that when I'm ready to be in a relationship, all of a sudden everybody will look really great to me.

Q: Last question. What's your favorite snapshot of yourself?

A: One I really like is me and Michael Madsen, coming out of a bar, on our way to the set [of The Getaway]. I'm poking my head out from behind him, and my hair is in pigtails. It just looks like I don't have a problem in the world. You know, those moments where you say, "I'm really happy," are so fleeting. I like pictures where if you saw that person walking down the street, you'd go, "There's a pretty girl that has a happy life."

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Dennis Hensley interviewed Gary Cole for the July issue of Movieline.

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