excerpts from the article: “chloë sevigny is not your average cover girl. which explains why she is also not the audacious starlet you’d expect from someone coming off four high-profile movies within the last year—a map of the world, julien donkey-boy, boys don’t cry (for which she was nominated for a golden globe) and american psycho (which opens next month)…
“a nice catholic school girl” is more like it; that’s also how sevigny describes her first film role as jennie, the tragic aids victim in kids, larry clark’s 1995 gritty tour-de-force, written by chloë’s long-time friend, and sometimes love, director harmony korine (the two also collaborated on gummo and julien donkey-boy). though she jokes that her favorite novel is the bible—specifically the first book of corinthians because it mentions a “chloë” (it does)—she then laughs that she’s kidding (and praises robert stone’s a hall of mirrors instead). she says she must tell the truth, because “i’m catholic and i’ll feel bad.” but more often than not, which truth it is remains unclear…
“…these are the paradoxes that envelop this 25-year-old “it” girl of the nineties (dubbed so in a new yorker magazine article when she was still a teenager): cool/anti-cool, celebrity/anti-celebrity, fashionable/anti-fashionable and now we discover, good catholic/downtown rebel—and like any good enigma, there’s no indication as to where one ends and the other begins. plus, like any twenty-something, she appears nervously confused as to what happens next. on a collision course with fame ever since her sassy layouts and early style smarts, sevigny seems eager to circumnavigate the full force of impact. rather than patronize the first class amenities on her way to the golden globes in january, sevigny drove cross-country with one of her friends, stopping off in akron, ohio to visit a convent (her personal highlight), and tulsa, oklahoma (“second best”), the home of favorites s.e. hinton (author of rumblefish and the outsiders) and larry clark’s devastating photo-diary. recently, she also sailed from connecticut to antigua, hurling through a hurricane at 94 knots (“we almost died, we blew all our instruments”) and, as she relates below, had a rather adventurous time in jamaica. it seems the actress is doing everything she can to avoid the spotlight…
“it also explains why, in a potentially terrifying development, she moved out of new york and back in with her mother in their house in the quiet, conservative suburb of darian, connecticut. but with trees blowing outside her window, snow blanketing the ground, mom preparing dinner downstairs, and discussion ranging from harmony korine’s films, to the golden globes, losing control, and the future, chloë sevigny’s world starts to make plenty of sense...
feature story with actress chloe sevigny creatively directed by ucef hanjani. due to the exponential growth of chloe’s fame and the intimacy of the interview, this issue eventually found its way on ebay and was auctioned for a serious sum. view all work for editorial.
excepts continued – interview by anthony kaufman:
anthony kaufman: so how long have you been living in connecticut?
chloë sevigny: a couple of years. i have been traveling so much, it’s not really like i live here. it’s just sort of my home base. it’s just my room, with all my stuff; it’s where i grew up. it’s really pretty. except they’re building all these monstrous houses everywhere; we call them mcmansions. there’s one right down the road, it’s really sad. they have to buckle down on those building and zoning laws around here, i think, because it’s starting to look really ugly.
anthony kaufman: : it’s inevitable. in new york, the gentrification is really scary.
chloë sevigny: i hate driving down the long avenues and seeing all the shops; it’s scary, it’s like being in the mall. remember on avenue a, on 8th street, on the corner, there used to be a bike bar, now there’s this fancy-schmanzy japanese place. where is there to go now? i like gramercy. i like the gramercy park hotel bar.
anthony kaufman: you’ve been traveling, you said? where have you gone?
chloë sevigny: i went to jamaica and was robbed at machete point.
anthony kaufman: what?!
chloë sevigny: we were in port antonio, where errol flynn used to live and noel coward. you know that band, the slits, it’s this all-girl punk band, and this girl named ari up from the slits lives right down the road and they were my favorite band, but i didn’t see her. anyway, it’s really beautiful; it’s all colonial homes and shantytowns. and that’s where they filmed the blue lagoon, with brooke shields, and they light it up at night and it’s really blue, it’s the most outrageous thing you’ve ever seen. we were staying in this house of a friend of ours. and one night, we were sitting around, drinking rums, and three boys come in with masks around their faces, like bandits you know, with machetes and yelling in patois for us to get on the ground. and they went around the house and grabbed everything and frisked the boys and threw them on the ground and threatened them with the machetes. they didn’t touch me. we were trembling and shaking, it was like seeing everything under a strobe light; it was really scary. but my friend, alistair, he was in the bedroom, under the covers hearing the whole thing happening, which i think is probably the scariest.
anthony kaufman: what was going through your mind when that was happening?
chloë sevigny: i just kept seeing limbs being chopped off by a machete, raped, the worst…but other than that, jamaica is an amazing place to visit. it’s the best food i’ve ever had in my life—red snapper on the beach.
anthony kaufman: what about harmony korine? is he doing anything new?
chloë sevigny: i don’t know. he lives in connecticut now, too. we’re going to see scream 3 tonight in darian. we saw angela’s ashes the other night. i cried; harmony thought it was boring…
anthony kaufman: : are you still in an on-again, off-again thing with him?
chloë sevigny: yeah. we’re still on and off-again, on-again. we’ll probably kiss in the movies. i’ve known him since i was 17, so it’s awhile.
anthony kaufman: so you and harmony are seeing movies, but not making movies?
chloë sevigny: no, we’ll make more movies. he’s been reading a lot of books and stuff. i don’t know if i should say, he wants to do something epic.
anthony kaufman: what do you think harmony korine’s films allow you to do, that you can’t do in other films?
chloë sevigny: harmony’s movies seem more truthful to me. and the characters are more real. i love acting in harmony’s movies. i was really unsatisfied with my part in julien donkey-boy, though. i was really upset over it. improvising really scares me. but there was a lot of stuff where i was a lot more active, but in the movie, i was very quiet. there was this scene i was playing with this bunny and that was pretty much all you had to do. like kim [peirce, director of boys don’t cry] analyzes every line, every gesture, and harmony says, just do it, there’s a lot more freedom. i like them both.
anthony kaufman: didn’t you once say in an interview you’d be happy doing only
harmony films?
chloë sevigny: i don’t know if i believe that anymore, depends on what kinds of movies he makes. i don’t want to be in julien donkey-boys the rest of my life. i want to do something like picnic at hanging rock. it’s one of my favorites. or they shoot horses, don’t they? jane fonda’s part, it’s one of the great female parts of all time. and i’d like to do other things, like period dramas. i’m going to keep saying that until someone puts me in one.
anthony kaufman: so what was the pizzazz of the golden globes like?
chloë sevigny: angelina jolie won, i lost. they love her there. i was really starstruck and i loved to see all the stars, but i don’t know, awards, they’re not for me. it was too soon. i don’t even know what i was doing there, really. it’s nice to be acknowledged, but i don’t know, it’s too soon in my career. lucky for me, it was a really bad year in film. but i do think hilary [swank from boys don’t cry] is going to win the oscar. that’s great for her.
anthony kaufman: and what did you wear on such an occasion?
chloë sevigny: yves st. laurent…the whole dress thing was such stress for the golden globes, i don’t know if i want to go through that again. joan rivers said that i was going to a tea party, but what does she know. randolph duke is her favorite designer.
anthony kaufman: what does that mean?
chloë sevigny: it means she has bad taste…oh no, i shouldn’t say that, it’s really snotty. (laughs.)
anthony kaufman: given all the attention, the golden globes, what are you interested in doing right now?
chloë sevigny: right now, i’m not really sure what i’m interested in. i don’t know. i think i’ve made some mistakes recently, and i’d just rather not work than risk another mistake. i can’t say what, it’s bad to say. things have been spiraling out of control. people saying i should do this, for recognition or for the money. i’ve sort of lost a little bit of control lately. it’s made me really nervous. so i’m just going to stop for a little while until i find something i really love.
anthony kaufman: is it safe to assume that you don’t have any oscar hopes?
chloë sevigny: no, i don’t really care about the oscars. they never award the films that i like. many great directors have never been recognized. that’s the way it goes.
anthony kaufman: of course, if you won the big “o,” things would really explode…
chloë sevigny: it’s kind of scary. no, i’ll remain in control; i’ve set myself straight, i know what’s up now.
anthony kaufman: what do you think of los angeles?
chloë sevigny: i love l.a. i don’t know why. it’s so bizarre there; it’s such a freaky town. but i don’t really hang out in the hollywood scene; when i’m there, i have a bunch of different friends who are into music and art. so for me, l.a. is a lot of fun, and i like the sunshine, and i like the chateau marmont (hotel), and i really like that radio station kxlu.
anthony kaufman: you’ve only worked on smaller films, do you think there’s more or less pressure when making independent films?
chloë sevigny: i don’t even have anything to compare it to. well, i do, but i’m not going to talk about it—something for television, which i’m pretending never happened. there’s more money, there’s more time; it’s more relaxing. so there’s good and bad. when we were making boys don’t cry, we didn’t even have the money to finish it. we didn’t even know if we were going to finish the movie. and we were shooting 6-day weeks, 12, 14-hour, really long hours, 16-hour days sometimes. it was just exhausting. it’s impossible to work under those circumstances. you start going insane. and with a first-time director, she doesn’t know where she wants to put the camera. it’s kind of exhausting. (laughs.) i’m like, how about we put it over there. (laughs.)
anthony kaufman: let’s talk about the characters you’ve played. it seems as if you have these two sides, the white-sort of girl and the ‘80s insecure, yuppie (in last days of disco and american psycho). what do you think of those definitions?
chloë sevigny: well, in kids, i played a nice girl who goes to catholic school from the upper east side, who hangs out with kids in the park. trees lounge, it was sort of long island working class, i wouldn’t consider her white-trash, and gummo, yeah, that was pretty white-trash. last days of disco, a preppy girl from connecticut. in palmetto, i wasn’t really white-trash, was wearing lacroix and dolce & gabbana; i was like some stripper girl—even though i always said i’d never play a stripper. and boys don’t cry and julien donkey-boy…
anthony kaufman: and what are those characters about to you?
chloë sevigny: well, it’s not so much about their class, really. of course, that affects their life and the circumstances they’re in, so it affects them as people, but i don’t know, it’s more about the relationships with other people in the film or who i’m acting with. it’s really scene by scene for me, rather than overall. is alec guiness really obi-wan kenobi? how close is he to that?
anthony kaufman: of course he isn’t. the question is how do you find the character?
chloë sevigny: i’ve said this before, it starts with the wardrobe for me. wardrobe is really important in movies for me. that’s what i’d like to do if i ever decide not to act anymore. i think wardrobe can really make or break a movie. i don’t know why. (laughs.) i’m really enthusiastic about it, though.
anthony kaufman: what is the importance of fashion?
chloë sevigny: i’m really not interested in high-fashion, people who are into style are not necessarily into “fashion.” i like to look at people who’ve got something interesting going on with the way they look, their dress. plus, i have a staring problem. it’s just about pleasing the eye. i’m not really that into getting dressed up, anymore, personally, myself. not in life.
anthony kaufman: what’s the best piece of clothing you wore for a character?
chloë sevigny: probably in gummo, because i did the wardrobe. there was an outfit where i wear these brown and white sweatpants, and this sweatshirt with an air-brushed kitten on it. it was a really good outfit. i wasn’t even going to wear that outfit in the scene. i was just trying to keep warm, and i showed up with my curlers in my hair and this sweatsuit, just trying to keep warm and harmony and the cinematographer loved the outfit, so they said i had to stay in it.
anthony kaufman: so overall you’re pretty content with life right now?
chloë sevigny: pretty much. if i ever make any money, if i ever make a studio picture, then i’ll get my place in gramercy.
anthony kaufman: you couldn’t do that right now if you wanted to?
chloë sevigny: people don’t understand you don’t make much money in independent movies. i’ve never been really paid for more than scale. i don’t know if you know what the going rate is, but it’s not very much. but i make money in other ways. these were the things that were spiraling out of control. like advertising and stuff like that. they asked me to be in a diamond commercial in italy playing brad pitt’s girlfriend. isn’t that funny, me as brad pitt’s girlfriend? i didn’t know the establishment found me attractive in that way. it wasn’t enough money, so i said “no.”
(a voice calls out. it’s chloë’s mom)
chloë sevigny: mom, i’m talking, please.
sevigny’s mom is getting ready to prepare dinner, and thus it seems our time is drawing to a close. “fish,” sevigny answers before a barely audible response comes back. “okay…she was asking what i wanted for dinner,” sevigny nervously giggles. “sole. we eat fish all the time. harmony will probably come over, too,” she says sliding out of the interview and back into the comfort of home. “this,” she laughs, “is our life.”
