Interview articles from September 2004

Interview archives from September 2004

Just in time.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Dear Interview, A more than enthusiastic high five goes out to those involved in putting together your July cover article on Natalie Portman. Recently our screens have been inundated with stereotypical teen actresses that, to be honest,...

Nobody does it better.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Dear Interview, It was sheer joy to see the fabulous photos and read the fascinating article on my idol Carly Simon in the July issue. Michael Kors deftly captured the spirit, beauty, and endless talent of this singer-songwriter legend....

Wouldn't it be nice?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Dear Interview, I am very happy your magazine printed an interview with Brian Wilson [July 2004]. He has been a big inspiration to me. The first time I fell in love, my feelings were so out of control that I did not know how to handle...

Keeping it brief.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Dear Interview, Thank you so much for "Beyond Bed & Bath" in your July issue. I am glad to see a unisex magazine featuring a hot, barely dressed male instead of the typical females. Please continue to have photos like this. If you do, I...

Nicoletta Romanoff: her family tree is the stuff of history, but this up-and-coming actress lives for the future.(One To Watch)(Brief Article)(Biography)
September 1, 2004... Despite some appearances to the contrary, Nicoletta Romanoff is no common starlet. Literally. She's a bona fide royal, related through her grandfather to Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia. At 25, she's also a mother of two, and to judge by...

Rilo Kiley: as a rankled intra-band romance threatened to tear them apart, these emotional rockers put together a riveting album.(Music Heat)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... If the members of Rilo Kiley seem preoccupied with the conflicting themes of love and war, it's with good reason. In the grand tradition of notorious kissers and quarrelers like Fleetwood Mac and Blondie, the Los Angeles quartet's singer, Jenny...

The Ditty Bops: while so many of rock's reigning women vie for attention as femme fatales, these vaudevillian vamps are putting the show back in showmanship.(Music Spotlight)(singers Amanda Barrett and Abby Dewald)(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 1, 2004... The Ditty Bops may live in the throes of the club-trotting star system of young Hollywood, but the singing Los Angeles duo of Amanda Barrett and Abby Dewald prefers old-time show business to nouveau schmaltz. Their self-titled debut (Warner...

Sam Roberts: Neil Young once predicted that rock 'n' roll would never die. This salt-of-the-earth singer is out to prove that it's alive and riffing.(Music News)(Interview)
September 1, 2004... Runaway facial hair, road-salted riffage, and a raging drive to wake up the neighbors--ever since the advent of Neil Young, these have been the hallmarks of Canadian rock 'n' roll. Singer-songwriter Sam Roberts is no exception. In his homeland,...

Cary Grant: a new biography offers a deeper look at the life and times of an actor who so many wanted to be but so few understood. Here, an exclusive first look.(Legend--Behind The Scenes)(Excerpt)(Biography)
September 1, 2004... "Cary Grant," said Alfred Hitchcock, his best director, "represents a man we know." Or one we want to know. A man who could make any suit look like it cost a million bucks. A man who became a movie star in just five years, whose charm and wit...

Draw your dream: this season we're all a blank canvas.(Look Of The Month)(cosmetics)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Looking at the plethora of pencils the beauty industry is offering this fall--and the wild scope of colors and applications they span--may make one nostalgic for what was one of the only thrills in returning to school come September. Back then,...

Mia Maestro: poised, prepped, and primed for around-the-globe adventures.(Movie Tip)(Brief Article)(Interview)(Biography)
September 1, 2004... Until recently, most Latin actresses who weren't named Jennifer, Salma, or Penelope had trouble finding steady work in Hollywood. But since moving to Los Angeles five years ago, Buenos Aires-born Mia Maestro has managed A-OK, appearing in more...

Stephen Campbell Moore: from adolescent lone ranger antics to playing stiff-upper-lip movie romantics.(Movie Buzz)(Brief Article)(Interview)(Biography)
September 1, 2004... "I'm just your typical repressed English twit," says Stephen Campbell Moore, the star of the new period satire Bright Young Things and of A Good Woman, the upcoming adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan. Yet for all his pat...

Paz Vega: bulldozing the language barrier and bad stereotypes in a bold Hollywood debut.(Movie Splash)(Brief Article)(Interview)(Biography)
September 1, 2004... With her English-language debut in James L. Brooks's upcoming comedy, Spanglish, Paz s Vega is crash-landing into her biggest fantasy. "It happened so much quicker than I thought it would," says the 26-year-old Spanish actress, who's been...

Trevor Morgan: once depicted as a carefree kid on the front of cereal boxes, he's now serving up moody, troubled kids by the spoonful.(Movie Spotlight)(Brief Article)(Interview)(Biography)
September 1, 2004... To enter Trevor Morgan's bedroom is to encounter the messy debris of male adolescence--an empty cereal box, an ink-stained basketball, a tattered poster of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) tacked to the wall. But for this 17-year-old...

Juliette Marquis: why are movie insiders leaping for this former ballerina?(Movie Heat)(Brief Article)(Interview)(Biography)
September 1, 2004... Early on in This Girl's Life, a XXX-flavored drama that recently premiered on Showtime, newcomer Juliette Marquis begins talking to the camera, taking off her clothes, and feigning sexual congress with a stranger. A run-of-the-mill screen debut...

Dax Shepard: the big laughs of a merry prankster.(Comedy Corner)(Brief Article)(Interview)(Biography)
September 1, 2004... As the goofy agent provocateur in the first season of Punk'd, Dax Shepard showed a nifty knack for fooling celebrities into making fools of themselves. Now he's hitting the big screen as a star of the new buddy comedy Without a Paddle, and he's...

Vanessa Ferlito: her Brooklyn-born stoop dreams brought her to Hollywood. Now her big TV break is bringing her back to the Big Apple.(TV Breakout)(Brief Article)(Interview)(Biography)
September 1, 2004... What's a nice girl from Brooklyn doing in the middle of a crime scene? If she's Vanessa Ferlito, she's putting tiny clues in plastic bags as a star of this month's new cop series CSI: NY, a homecoming of sorts for this native of Carroll...

Courtney Eldridge: turning streams of consciousness into a river of promise.(Book Buzz)(Brief Article)(Biography)
September 1, 2004... Unlike a great many writers, Courtney Eldridge wasn't raised on Masterpiece Theatre and Judy Blume. While she was growing up in Colorado with her hippie parents, the only books at home were the High Times encyclopedia and a collection of R....

Art's call to arms: with art as its ammo, and fervor for its fuel, a new coalition of the willing rallies its troops with a not-to-be-missed festival.(Action)(artists organize to make political statements)(activist group Downtown for Democracy, New York, New York)(Column)
September 1, 2004... I moved to New York City in 1989. The joke about George Bush being president then and George Bush being president now has been told too many times to tell it here, but other than that unfortunate coincidence, New York seems very different. Back...

Purple reigns: how to make a royal entrance this season.(Fashion Forecast)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... On runways presenting this fall's clothes, there were enough variations of the color purple--lavenders, lilacs, violets, grapes, plums, and burgundies--to make even Prince a happy man. The color, once reserved for royalty, was also a...

Back in business: exits are where the drama is this season.(Fashion Flash)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Is emphasizing the back the new black? That might have been the question on some people's minds this season as designers seemed to save many of their dramatic accents--sequins, drawings, cutaways, and in the case of MaxMara, a luxe, bejeweled...

Kirsten Hassenfeld: if Liz Taylor had studied origami, this artist's work might have been the outcome.(Studio View)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... "I was originally thinking of trying to provide a place you could project your own daydreams into." So says artist Kirsten Hassenfeld of her work, much of which resembles an oversized, pearly white re-creation of the inventories of the world's...

Carla Bruni: as a model she was expected by some to shut up and look beautiful. Now with a searing, soul-searching debut record that's already acclaimed in Europe, the former catwalker is letting the world hear the voice behind the face. Here, she talks to the one and only Jane Birkin.(Inter Women)(Interview)
September 1, 2004... When the sun has set on a supermodel's catwalk career, some retire to wealth or matrimony (or both) while others kick off their stilletos in search of new worlds to explore. In the case of Carla Bruni, the one-time face of Guess and Versace and...

The Hives.(Sound Advice)(Tyrannosaurus Hives)(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2004... THE HIVES Tyrannosaurus Hives (Interscope) Context counts. Three years ago, when the White Stripes and the Strokes were riding the wave of a raw, stripped-down rock revival, the excitement of hearing the Hives was clue at least in part to...

Interpol.(Sound Advice)(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2004... INTERPOL Antics (Matador) The rain has stopped, the clouds have parted, and the future is looking bright for this gloomy foursome on their much-vaunted follow-up to 2002's brilliantly bleak Turn On the Bright Lights. Last time around, the...

The Prodigy.(Sound Advice)(Always Outnumbered)(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2004... THE PRODIGY Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Maverick/XL) British producer Liam Howlett's long-awaited fourth album--his first since The Fat of the Land (1997)--is a shot of adrenaline, an unhinged web of hard-hitting beats laced with...

Jean Grae.(Sound Advice)(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2004... JEAN GRAE This Week (Baby Grande Records) Lyricist Jean Grae distinguishes herself from the pack of stiletto-heeled female emcees on this sophomore effort, fancying herself a sneakerclad B-girl with an enlightened worldview. An honors...

Citizen Cope: the Clarence Greenwood Recordings.(Sound Advice)(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2004... CITIZEN COPE The Clarence Greenwood Recordings (RCA) This hair-bunned bard's second solo album is subtle, low-key, and heartfelt. Always melodic and propelled by gently swinging funk, Cope reveals himself--his real name is Clarence Copeland...

Phoenix: Alphabetical.(Sound Advice)(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2004... PHOENIX Alphabetical (Astralwerks) This second album from the French foursome (and Sofia Coppola fave) behind 2000's influential United is an inspired piece of retrofuturistic rock art. Phoenix are like children run amok in a musical candy...

Radio 4: Stealing of a Nation.(Sound Advice)(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2004... RADIO 4 Stealing of a Nation (Astralwerks) In the days prior to 9/11. Radio 4 were prime purveyors of New York City's disco-punk movement, getting parties started with their pulsating live performances and upbeat night rolls attitude. But...

Angela McCluskey: The Things We Do.(Sound Advice)(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2004... ANGELA McCLUSKEY The Things We Do (Manhattan) Scottish singer Angela McCluskey proves a whiz at the arts of both seduction and storytelling on this compelling solo debut. A gritty goddess. McCluskey is captivating from the very first note,...

Ray Charles: Genius Loves Company.(Sound Advice)(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2004... RAY CHARLES Genius Loves Company (Concord/Hear Music) This final offering showcases not only Charles's gift for understatement and mercurial phrasing but also his Zelig-like capacity to morph from pop to country to blues to jazz singer. His...

Black Dice: Creature Comforts.(Sound Advice)(Sound Recording Review)
September 1, 2004... BLACK DICE Creature Comforts (DFA) Despite the title, Creature Comforts is uneasy listening at its apex. This Williamsburg, Brooklyn, trio of ex-art students gambles on dissonance, and wins: Their ambient noise rock-tronica rattles and hums...

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.(Preview)(Movie Review)
September 1, 2004... PREVIEW: SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (Paramount) Directed by Kerry Conran It's yesterday's future today, or something like that, as Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie battle giant robots and deadly villains in a...

The Exorcist: the Beginning.(Preview)(Movie Review)
September 1, 2004... PREVIEW: THE EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (Warner Bros.) Directed by Renny Harlin Prequels of late have been bad bets, so whether this trouble-plagued prologue to the 1973 original will conjure even one moment as indelible as a head-spinning...

Wicker Park.(Preview)(Movie Review)
September 1, 2004... PREVIEW: WICKER PARK (MGM) Directed by Paul McGuigan A reimagining of the 1996 French thriller L'Appartement, Wicker Park relocates the story from Paris to Chicago with Josh Hartnett laboring broken hearts and betrayals at the hands of a...

Cellular.(Preview)(Movie Review)
September 1, 2004... PREVIEW: CELLULAR (New Line) Directed by David Ellis Kim Basinger stars as a modern-day damsel in distress who, in attempting escape from her murderous kidnapper (Jason Statham), reaches out and touches a stranger (Chris Evans) via cell...

Hero.(Movie Review)
September 1, 2004... REVIEW: HERO (Miramax) Directed by Zhang Yimou Three assassins and an enigmatic lawman (Jet Li) contend with a feudal lord set on unifying predynastic China in a thrilling film that might otherwise be called Crouching Tiger, First Emperor....

Criminal.(Movie Review)
September 1, 2004... REVIEW: CRIMINAL (Warner Independent) Directed by Gregory Jacobs Crosses and double crosses abound in this fun, stylish remake of the Argentinean caper hit Nine Queens (2000), in which an experienced con man (John C. Reilly) teaches a young...

Vanity Fair.(Movie Review)
September 1, 2004... REVIEW: Vanity Fair (Focus) Directed by Mira Nair William Makepeace Thackeray's novel springs to life with Reese Witherspoon as conniving par-venue Becky Sharp, upending lives left and right in Napoleonic-era England. Vibrant performances...

Silver City.(Television Program Review)
September 1, 2004... REVIEW: SILVER CITY (Newmarket) Directed by John Sayles A densely plotted political drama featuring murky ethics, toxic waste, and an inept candidate uncannily resembling a certain sitting president, Sayles's latest populist fable boasts a...

Open Water.(Movie Review)
September 1, 2004... REVIEW: OPEN WATER (Lions Gate) Directed by Chris Kentis This late-summer treat fuels every hydrophobe's worst fears when a scuba-diving husband and wife are stranded by their boat and left to fend off Jaws's offspring. At once a...

Shots in the dark: more than a century and a half after her creation, the character of Becky Sharp still reverberates. A new film shows how social politics and social hunger have--and have not--changed.(Movie Column)(Movie Review)
September 1, 2004... Reese Witherspoon--national sweetheart or national pain in the neck? A salve or a thorn? At her best--and she may be the finest comic actress in America--she is relishably irritating. In Election (1999), Legally Blonde (2001), Sweet Home...

All the dish: down on the farm without stepping in the mud.(Food Column)(Restaurant Review)
September 1, 2004... Like so many big ideas, the impetus behind legendary chef and restaurateur Alice Waters's decision to open Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, in the early 1970s was born out of a seemingly simple observation: Seasonal, organically grown food...

Letter from the editor: September 2004.(View)(Editorial)
September 1, 2004... Sometimes an issue of Interview turns out to have a common thread weaving through it that was not planned but that occurs organically. We'll be reading and editing the transcripts of the interviews that we produce each month and begin to notice...

Selma Blair: the title of America's sweetheart was hers for the taking, but Selma Blair had another crown in mind.(Elvis Mitchell gets the scoop)(Interview)(Cover Story)
September 1, 2004... Many of the characters Selma Blair has played--Cecile in Cruel Intentions (1999), Vivian in Legally Blonde (2001), Vi in Storytelling (2002)--etch an acrid, smirking superiority across the screen; it could be a quality associated with the...

XL: this season livin' large takes on a whole new meaning ...(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... Model: CINTIA DICKER/ Marilyn. Hair: MALCOLM EDWARDS/Holy Cow Management. Makeup: SAM BRYANT/Holy Cow Management. Special thanks: WRENCH LTD, DIGITAL IMAGING; DRIVE IN STUDIOS. Cosmetics by M * A * C. Hair products by BUMBLE AND BUMBLE. This...

Diego Luna: since a randy road-trip movie sent his star soaring three years ago, he's racing full steam ahead into a sky's-the-limit future.(Interview)
September 1, 2004... Though few can actually testify to its drawbacks, becoming a poster boy for anything--a movement, a cause, or in Diego Luna's case, the future of Mexican cinema--must be a total drag. Forever tied to a historical moment, burdened with...

Le Tigre: the do-it-yourself doyennes of political dance-punk are looking to rouse music from its apathetic slumber with a fiery new album and a furious dos of activism.(Interview)
September 1, 2004... What becomes a Riot Grrrl most? In the case of Kathleen Hanna, former front woman for the feminist punk band Bikini Kill, it's a bona fide dust kicker. This Island (Strummer/Universal), Hanna's latest effort with her dance-punk outfit, Le...

Boys will be girls will be boys will be girls.(Fashion Flash)(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... MEMO TO ALL MEN: FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF FASHION FUTURIST KARL LAGERFELD, MEN HAVE GAINED ENTRY TO A PLACE THAT WAS ONCE EXCLUSIVELY RESERVED FOR WOMEN--THE WORLD OF CHANEL. Models (from left): ANDREAS CARRERE/Success...

Stuart Townsend: he boxed his way through drama school and has battled his way through the film industry, sparkling in indies, lighting up blockbusters, and crafting honest-to-goodness characters out of leading men. In his latest film, Head in the Clouds, in which he spars with real-life love Charlize Theron, the Irish actor turns heavyweight.(Interview)
September 1, 2004... He may not have the battered mug to prove it, but actor Stuart Townsend has been through his share of battles: While attending drama school in his hometown of Dublin, the 32-year-old actor paid his rent as a boxer. And while straddling the...

Squeak!(If you love fashion)(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... Model: SUSAN ELDRIDGE/Elite. Hair: DENNIS LANNI/Art Department. Makeup: DEVRA KINERY/Art Department. Manicure: SOFIA SHUSTEROV/See Management. Prop stylist: CAROLINE COLSTON/Halley Resources. Digital imaging: CHARLES CANNET Special thanks:...

James Purefoy: he's the man who puts the oomph in this month's movie adaptation of the literary landmark Vanity Fair. Here, his co-star Reese Witherspoon takes off her crinoline and corset, puts on her reporter's hat, and gets the goods.(Interview)
September 1, 2004... The league of extraordinary British stage actors teems with fierce talent and fiery nerve, and in no one is this more evident than in James Purefoy. The 40-year-old actor's boyhood in the bucolic English countryside of Somerset led to three...

Drea de Matteo: she was wired, wigged-out, and finally whacked by "the family" on the HBO superhit The Sopranos. Now the feistiest actress on television is beginning her second life on the season's most heavily scrunitized sitcom.(Interview)
September 1, 2004... Drea de Matteo's used to getting roles that are to die for--literally. But despite the fact that her breakthrough character, the beloved Adriana on The Sopranos, was putatively rubbed out at the conclusion of the show's last season, de Matteo's...

The out-and-about crowd.(Page 5)(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... Beyonce Knowles at NYC nightspot Marquee for a party hosted by Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Zac Posen. Angela Bassett and Betsey Johnson at the Combs and Posen party. Amanda Lepore at Bumble and Bumble Downtown for the salon's opening...