Elisabeth Shue: Shue Shines Again
Q: Were you insecure as a child?
A: Completely. I had so little self-confidence. Yet if you knew me back then you'd have thought I was totally confident, because I had lots of ways of protecting myself.
Q: Did you think you were pretty?
A: No. I didn't have any feelings of what it was to be a woman or to think of myself as "pretty."
Q: How did your family see you?
A: They probably saw me as somewhat confused. I was pushing people away, acting a lot tougher than I really was.
Q: Didn't your mother say that when she watched Leaving Las Vegas she could see the loneliness you always had in you?
A: She said she recognized that there was pain inside of me, but I don't think she saw that in me when I was younger.
Q: How did the accidental death of your brother Will in 1988 affect you?
A: It stripped away what wasn't important. I stopped running away from who I was. I see it as a gift that he gave me.
Q: Do you think about him now?
A: All the time.
Q: When did you start therapy?
A: Not until I met Davis. That was another gift he gave me. He gave me the confidence that therapy would be a good thing for me. That was probably the major turning point in my life, in terms of understanding myself.
Q: Were you hiding a lot of fear?
A: Yeah, definitely. Before you grow into yourself, there's a fear that someone's going to find out that you're no: worthwhile.
Q: Do you still have that fear?
A: I'm slowly getting rid of it.
Q: When your brother Andrew found fame on "Melrose Place" were you jealous of him?
A: I feel we've gone so far into personal territory that I'm not that comfortable. Maybe I'm reacting in a real and honest way to where I feel I am in my life now.
Q: So, do you want to answer the question or not?
A: OK. At that time, it was confusing, because acting was my identity, so when another family member did it, it was ... confusing. But only for a short time. After that it was a bonding experience for us.
Q: Is Andrew still acting?
A: No. Acting wasn't the same passion for him as it was for me. He's now helping others through the organization Do Something, which trains people to become leaders in communities. It's made me think, what am I doing?
Q: Why did you choose political science and government as majors?
A: I made that decision 19 years ago when I was thinking about following my father into law, I thought I'd become a public defender one day. Back then I never thought about becoming an actress.
Q: Are you glad you're studying those subjects now or do you regret you ever took them up?
A: I feel very blessed because I'm learning about things that are happening in our world right now. One is the potential danger of globalization. Another is the dwindling of social capital in our country-- meaning everything from having a conversation with someone all the way to participating in organizations like the PTA. All aspects of personal human interaction have diminished more than 40 percent in the past 30 years. That really worries me.
Q: Who do you think will take us into this new century in a healthier manner, Gore or Bush?
A: I would definitely choose Gore.
Q: What do you think of Hillary Clinton?
A: My instincts tell me she's a good woman whose heart is in the right place.
Q: How calm are you?
A: I still bite my nails. But I'm not as orally fixated as I was when I was a smoker and had nicotine in me.
Q: What about dope?
A: Let's not talk about that.
Q: If you could live inside a painting, which would you choose?
A: I saw a beautiful Sargent painting at the Gardner Museum here in Boston. It was a stunning big painting of a flamenco dancer with a bunch of guys sitting at tables. I'd be the dancer.
Q: If you could choose anyone to have dinner with, who would it be?
A: I don't think I'd want to have dinner with someone I didn't know. I'd just want to have dinner with my husband.
Q: In Interview a few years ago you had a conversation with your friend Sheryl Crow and you asked her some questions I want to ask you. What are the moments when you feel the most joy?
A: When I'm with my husband and child.
Q: What scares you the most about your life?
A: Losing somebody.
Q: How do you reclaim your innocence?
A: By acknowledging that it's still in you.
Q: OK, now some of my offbeat ones. If you could steal one thing in the world without getting caught, what would that be?
A: I was such a klepto when I was younger, I wouldn't go there now. I wouldn't steal anything ever.
Q: If you could choose any face in history, whose would you pick?
A: I would never choose anyone's face but mine, that's just the wrong way to go with your life.
Q: If you could eat one food?
A: Ice cream.
Q: What flavor?
A: Cookie dough.
Q: What three rock singers would you like to see on one bill?
A: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger.
Q: What question would you ask God?
A: Are you there?
Q: What animal would you like to come back as?
A: A lion.
Q: If Hollow Man does really well, what kind of project do you want to do next?
A: I've come to the point where I'm picky. I have no right to be picky, but I'm going to be that way for the rest of my life.
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Lawrence Grobel's book, Conversations With Capote, comes out this month and Above the Line, his collection of stories about movie industry people, comes out in September. Both are from Da Capo Press.
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