Natasha Henstridge: The Henstridge Maneuver

Q: At 14 you left home to model in Paris. Did your parents flip out?

A: They were a little shocked. They didn't really want me to go, but I was very strong-willed.

Q: How did the opportunity come up?

A: Through a modeling contest called Look of the Year. I showed up at this contest, looked around and thought, "What the hell am I doing here? These women are gorgeous. This is embarrassing." All the other girls seemed so sophisticated. Then, when I got picked to be in the top 10, I thought, "They must have made a mistake." I ended up being first runner-up.

Q: What do you remember about your first day in Paris?

A: I walked into a modeling agency and they immediately tried to convince me to get an eye job--and I was only 15! I thought, "You guys are out of your mind." I was not a good model.

Q: A few years ago you were married briefly to actor Damian Chapa, right?

A: Yes, right after Species, while I was in my fishbowl-downward-spiral phase. I knew when I walked down the aisle that I was making a mistake.

Q: Why did you go through with it?

A: There's so much psychology involved it's beyond me. I was like, getting back at, who knows, my father, myself, and making fun of the institution of marriage by doing all these crazy things. I was really just being stupid. I did it without thinking it through for a minute and I felt like an absolute fool after the fact. Then I knew I needed to get a divorce. Living with the consequences of that was difficult. I come from a family that's really quite well put together. My parents have been married for years and all my aunts and uncles have remained married. After my divorce, I felt like the outcast.

Q: Where did you get married?

A: We ran off to Vegas, then I felt so guilty that I'd gotten married without my parents knowing that I had a ceremony in Canada.

Q: What got you out of that phase?

A: Age and time and just growing up a little bit.

Q: You're now engaged to an actor named Liam Waite, who, coincidentally, also appears in this issue. How did you meet him?

A: It's a funny story. I was on a blind date with one of his good friends and he showed up. It became obvious that I was just going to be friends with the blind-date guy, but we kept hanging out and we'd go to a movie or whatever, and I kept saying, "So, is Liam coming?" Eventually, I had to come out with it so I told him, "I gotta tell you, I like your friend." He was kind of in shock and I think his ego was a little hurt, but it was a fleeting moment.

Q: How did you end up hooking up with Liam?

A: The blind-date guy told Liam to call me and Liam was like, "No, wait a second, this is too weird." So I paged him about a month later.

Q: Numeric page?

A: Numeric page.

Q: At least you didn't have to come up with a message.

A: Right, I didn't have to say anything like, "Hi, uh, you left your sock over at, um, your friend's house." But he was so cool when he called back. He talked to me as if it wasn't at all bizarre that I was calling him, which it was. We went out that night and have been together ever since.

Q: Do you have any reservations about getting married for the second time?

A: I have some, because I don't want to make the same mistake.

Q: You two had a baby together last year. Did you think you'd be a mom this young?

A: Always. My mother was a mother at 18. Liam's mother was a mother at 18. I see my mother now, at 44, and she's just getting to have a life and it's beautiful. It's nice to have the energy for the kids and then after they get out of the house, you still have a life.

Q: Let's talk about your next film, The Whole Nine Yards. What's it about?

A: It's a really twisted comedy about a hit man, played by Bruce Willis, who's sent to jail for five years, and when he gets released he moves to a simple town where all kinds of crazy stuff happens. I play his estranged wife.

Q: The Demi of the picture.

A: Exactly.

Q: Did you get to make out with Bruce Willis?

A: Actually, I didn't have any scenes with Bruce.

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