Elizabeth Hurley: The Most Resilient Star in Hollywood
Q: Are you happy with The Weight of Water?
A: I like it a lot. I didn't have a huge amount to do, it's an ensemble piece.
Q: You're naked in it.
A: I'm not naked. I have a bikini. And I hate being in a bikini in public. I'm self-conscious.
Q: You have a great body, why so self-conscious?
A: Every girl is self-conscious in a bikini. And if you're not, I'm jealous.
Q: You initially formed your production company with Hugh Grant to create parts for him--what's going on with it now, and are you finding vehicles for yourself as well?
A: We don't have a great deal of projects, because it's unlikely we're going to make many films. One or two which would be right for me, and more still that would be right for Hugh. They're all in development. There's one book which we bought for me called Too Late for Tears by Roy Huggins. It was made into a movie in the '40s, a schlocky genre film with an evil lady. But it's a great story.
Q: Do you think you'll ever be able to open a movie?
A: I'm not a huge A-list movie star who opens an $80 million movie.
Q: You made two films with Denis Leary, will they be released theatrically or go straight-to-video?
A: I really hope Double Whammy is released theatrically. It's a lovely film.
Q: What makes him such a wonderful friend?
A: He's so like family. On the surface we are chalk and cheese, as the English say, but deep down we're not. His parents are Irish, my dad was Irish. We both cackle with laughter at the same things. He's a great confidant. I've cried on his shoulder many times. We just get on really well, like brother and sister.
Q: Let's talk about you and Hugh Grant. You said that your separation from Grant was to discover if what you had is as good as it gets. Was it?
A: Well, I haven't discovered that it's not, so...I don't know. Hugh's still so much a part of my life.
Q: Hugh said that you have two physical deformities, do you know what those are?
A: My fingers and my ears.
Q: Right. He said the absence of little fingers and unusually big ears.
A: How dare him! He's obsessed with my fingers and my ears. He draws pictures of my ears. He thinks I should wear a brace to hold them back. He thinks they stick out--they don't!
Q: Hugh also said you liked to steal things.
A: Hugh did? From him?
Q: What have you taken?
A: He thinks I steal things from him, which is very untrue. Not only is that not true, it's the reverse. Because I will go to his house and it's true that I will leave with an armful of books, because they're mine--he took them from my house to his house when he was packing up his stuff. If you open them up, they all have my name inside them. I write the month and year I bought each book. So I'd say he steals stuff from me much more than I do from him.
Q: Are you a very sexual person?
A: In what way? What do you mean?
Q: How many ways can there be?
A: My feeling is that that is going to be in the eye of the beholder.
Q: Do you have plans on reinventing yourself?
A: There may well be a need, but certainly no desire [laughing].
Q: In Vanity Fair it was written, "Hurley must be all too aware that very few former models and actresses of her level continue to 'make it.'" Then a fashion editor was quoted saying, "In the fashion world, to be considered glamorous you need to retain a glamorous lifestyle--and that costs millions."
A: Millions? Oh well, there must be so many people with that lifestyle.
Q: "If Elizabeth stops flying first-class, she's over, and she knows it." What do you say to something like that?
A: Almost definitely written by the journalist who was peeving. Whoever said that is completely moronic, because anybody in the "glamorous fast track" never has to pay for a flight, and doesn't need millions to maintain anything because we don't pay for anything when we're working! Funnily enough, I'm not paying for this suite today.
Q: So you don't spend a lot of money on clothes?
A: I'm fortunate in that I don't buy the things that cost the most money, which is the evening dresses. Because I can only wear them once, so there's no point. So people make them for me. Yes, that is spoiled, but they get a ton of free advertising.
Q: Who are your favorite designers?
A: Mostly Versace. Dolce & Gabbana. Ralph Lauren.
Q: Do you like to go to second-hand shops or swap meets or flea markets?
A: Absolutely not. Never. Not my bag.
Q: Which actors do you consider well dressed?
A: Gwyneth Paltrow. Sean Penn. Denis Leary.
Q: Who do you consider beautiful?
A: Isabelle Adjani, ravishing. Sharon Stone, beautiful face.
Q: And how about yourself?
A: I'm like any girl who looks in the mirror and your eyes jump immediately to imperfections.
Q: What are your imperfections, besides your ears and your little fingers?
A: I don't care about my ears or fingers, goddamnit! I'd rather not point them up. Because my income is linked to looks, I'll make an effort to stay slim, to use moisturizer, have my roots done, because I want to build a nest egg for a rainy day.
Q: What does money mean to you?
A: The freedom to choose what to do, when to do it, where to do it.
Q: If you never earned another dollar, could you survive?
A: We've got enough for our need, but not our greed. I have added problems that other people don't have: security, safety, that sort of thing. I don't feel I can retire yet.
Q: If you could live inside any painting, which would you choose?
A: Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. My favorite painting.
Q: Your father was an army major. What did he think of you when you were a pink-haired punk with 12 earrings?
A: Daddy always loved and worshiped me whatever I did. He was very uncritical.
Q: Did either of your parents give you advice that meant anything to you?
A: My parents were unbelievably positive towards all three of us children. It sounds cheesy, but my mother always used to say, "You have to aim
for the top, and you can afford to slide down a few bits." Now I don't agree to that last part, I want to aim for the top and stay there.
Q: What would you like to do if you weren't acting?
A: I don't have an answer for that, because all my adult life has been in this business. I think I would have been in business of some kind. Not work for anyone else, but some kind of entrepreneur. Either be completely broke and starving or some kind of Donna Karan.
_______________________________________
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
