Elisabeth Shue: Shue Shines Again

Q: Has nudity ever been an issue for you?

A: Definitely. I would never do nudity just to do nudity. Every time I've shown a part of my hotly, it was integral to the character. I hope. Let's see: Cousin Bette, I was a courtesan. Leaving Las Vegas, I showed a tiny bit in some scenes. Molly, that was a real moment. They were going to hire a body double but I thought I had to do it even though I looked in the mirror and thought, "I'm not really prepared to show my body."

Q: Was it difficult playing an autistic woman in Molly?

A: That was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Molly was connected to a simple need to be loved. I connected to that because I was feeling very unsure of myself at that time. There, again, I had to learn that awful, awful, awful lesson, the worst lesson you have to learn. And believe me, I'm human--it hurts. You want everything to be applauded, embraced, accepted and appreciated.

Q: Wait, what's the awful lesson?

A: That it's not about the results. It's about the process. You have to live by char, because if you don't, your whole life becomes a feeling of bitterness. I don't have high expectations anymore. Maybe they've just been beaten out of me.

Q: For which film did you have the least expectations?

A: Leaving Las Vegas. And it was the most acclaimed.

Q: Are you aware that a role like that may never come again?

A: Now I am! I'm painfully aware of it. But it would be greedy of me to expect parts like that all the time.

Q: You've talked of being able to portray that character because of your own painful sexual experiences in the past. How painful were they?

A: They definitely were not as painful as what she experienced, not even close. I was referring to a time in my life when I was much younger and I didn't feel quite worthwhile. I did a lot of acting out sexually to feel worthwhile--the way you use your sexuality as a form of power.

Q: Who taught you about sex: your parents, your brothers or your friends?

A: My friends. And probably my brothers. It makes parents really uncomfortable. I wonder what I'll be like. I'll probably be so open it'll be inappropriate.

Q: You've said that acting helps some neurotic people to finally accept all their personalities. How many personalities do you have?

A: [Laughs] A lot. They're all still in me, but they don't compete for air time as frequently as they once did.

Q: Entertainment Weekly once criticized you for looking too bland, to which you responded, "When they begin to crucify you for the way you look, it makes you neurotic."

A: I guess that adds to your neuroses, but it doesn't dig as deep as when they criticize your ability or your choices.

Q: Are there any recent Oscar-nominated roles that you wish you'd been asked to do?

A: The nominated performances are usually parts for older women that I couldn't have played anyway.

Q: Like Jessica Lange, Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon, all of whom you've said have inspired you?

A: Meryl almost lives on a different level than the test of us, because she's able to create characters that are unique. Jessica and Susan are just beautifully strong and sensual women. I respect the honesty in their work, I also admire the way they lead their lives. They have separate lives from the Hollywood world.

Q: You worked with Lange on Cousin Bette. Ever ask her about aging in Hollywood?

A: No, but I'm sure it's a struggle. Forget being an actor, just dealing with it on a human level, it's difficult getting old.

Q: You once said you feared getting older.

A: I wouldn't be human if I didn't have that fear. I'm already old, so that's happening.

Q: You've said: "The best thing about getting older is accepting yourself for who you are and not taking any bullshit." Easier to say than do?

A: I totally believe that. The hard thing is that when you finally start feeling good about yourself inside, your outsides start going away.

Q: Would you ever consider having plastic surgery?

A: I would never rule out anything.

Q: You've mentioned older actresses you admire. Are there any under 40 who inspire you?

A: Name some.

Q: How about Winona Ryder?

A: Oh, let's not go through people, that would be awful.

Q: Which actors would you like to work with?

A: I don't know. I feel like even saying their names is just a pipe dream.

Q: Can't hurt to dream.

A: OK, Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Penn.

Q: You've said that your husband, Davis, got you to take acting more seriously. How?

A: We met each other at a really important time in our lives, when we were both 27. He was a producer at Outlaw Productions, but he wanted to become a director. It was going to take courage, because he was leaving a very lucrative job, where he had clout, to go make documentaries, which would give him no clout. I still hadn't faced up to the fact that I needed to find a coach and go further in my acting. The safety of our relationship gave each of us the guts to dig deeper in our lives.

Q: Did you fall in love right away?

A: I knew I'd marry him the second I saw him.

Q: Did he know that about you as well?

A: He says he didn't, but he's a liar.

Q: What was your first meeting like?

A: I met him at a bowling alley. I kept watching him the whole time, waiting for him to make the first move. He didn't. So I asked him if he wanted to get some coffee, and he said yes. We talked until six in the morning. We got together the next day, and then two weeks later I moved in. And I never left.

Q: So how good of a bowler are you?

A: I'm nor bad. He's better.

Q: What's your highest score?

A: Probably 130.

Q: And Davis bowls over 200?

A: No, definitely not. He's not that good. Maybe 160. I always thought if you got over 100 it's good.

Q: It's more like over 200.

A: Come on, 200s a perfect score.

Q: Not quite, 300 is. Guess you're not really much of a bowler.

A: Oh.

Q: According to your bio on the Internet, you separated two years after you married, and then reconciled. What went wrong?

A: In a bio? Isn't that amazing. That just goes to show you the terrible awfulness of people thinking things that are not true.

Q: What are you referring to?

A: That [rumor that] I had an affair with Val Kilmer. It set into motion the most ridiculous year of my life, and even after that people still thought my husband had moved out. [The supposed separation] is there in the bio just because of that rumor.

Q: This was when you worked with Kilmer on The Saint. Did he deny the rumors?

A: Well, he didn't outright deny it because it wasn't really happening to him, it was all happening to me. They weren't going to his house to ask him if he had had an affair with me, they were coming to mine.

Q: Why would people think you and Val were having an affair?

A: Just because we went to Wimbledon together with his daughter and walked around each holding one of her hands, Val and I were good friends and we spent a lot of time together.

Q: Did your husband believe the rumors at first?

A: No. But it still affected him because everyone he knew thought that it was true. Ugh, just to talk about it gets under my skin again. That really worries me, that people read something like that and take it as gospel truth. It's one of the reasons Davis was interested in directing Gossip, actually. This whole episode that happened to us, in a little nutshell, is the seed of what Gossip is about.

Q: Of all your siblings who was the most rebellious? Who smoked the first cigarette?

A: I did. Rebellion is so obvious. When you're going through it you have no idea why you're doing it, but when you get older you look back and think, "Oh, attention!" And nobody gives you attention, so you do worse and worse things.

Q: What were the "worse" things that you did?

A: I don't really want to drum it all back up. I was just a regular adolescent.

Q: C'mon. You say in interviews that you were wild, but you don't give any "for instances."

A: The truth is that what I did I thought at the time was extremely rebellious, but in comparison to the rest of the world it was probably relatively tame.

Q: Such as going to class stoned?

A: Did I say that?

Q: In a past article, yes.

A: Not that I didn't smoke dope in high school, but I don't remember showing up in class stoned. That was something you did after school.

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