In Her Fashion
Melissa Biggs Bradley
Kristin Scott Thomas, warming up in the latest couture, dispels the myth that she's always cool and collected.
She isn't the kind of woman fans approach for autographs. Whether they fear the biting wit she displayed as Hugh Grant's sidekick in Four Weddings and a Funeral or are intimidated by the elegant reserve that won her an Oscar nomination in The English Patient, they tend to do their admiring from a distance. In fact, the 39-year-old actress has had fans discreetly slip her adulatory notes in public places rather than disturb her. With this month's release of Up at the Villa, a gorgeous adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's 1941 novella, Scott Thomas' fan club is sure to grow. She plays Mary Panton, an impoverished young widow living in Tuscany's Anglo-American expat community on the eve of World War II. Forced to choose between marriage to a dull but wealthy and respectable British diplomat (played by James Fox) and her passion for a married American philanderer (Sean Penn), Scott Thomas once again proves that--as director Sydney Pollack once said--"there's something sexy about a woman like Kristin peeling away her defenses." Of course, it doesn't hurt that against the dramatic backdrop of impending war, Penn and Scott Thomas generate intense screen heat--something that Scott Thomas, who has been paired with many a Hollywood heartthrob, admits isn't always guaranteed. "There's a buzz that happens, a kind of electrical thing. It doesn't happen very often," she has said. "But it did happen with Ralph [Fiennes, in The English Patient]; it happened with Harrison [Ford, in Random Hearts]; and it happened with Sean."
Before I interviewed her, I, like most of her fans, expected Scott Thomas to be, if not icy, then at least distant. But even though we chatted long distance one winter afternoon, I found her immediately friendly and confiding. "I'm just making myself a cup of tea," she said upon answering the phone in the Paris apartment she shares with her husband, a leading fertility doctor, and their two children, Hannah, 11, and Joseph, 8. Over tea, she talked openly about men, movies, clothes, career, kids--and even poked fun at her very cool facade.
MBB: What did you like best about working on Up at the villa?
KST: I really enjoyed having "the boy's part," having to do all the work. I've had fantastic acting partners, don't get me wrong, and they worked incredibly hard, but there's a big difference between being the visiting woman's role and being the central role. I loved this woman. There is no solution to her problem. It's just a female predicament. Well, maybe not so much now, but certainly in that period it was.
Mary's predicament may not be a contemporary problem, but there is something very modern about the film.
Because it's a brutally honest piece of writing. What Somerset Maugham writes about so brilliantly is the way people keep their noses clean. His writing shows this flaw that we all have: thinking that we're so good, we can get out of these situations by being dignified. It's just brilliant.
The adjectives used most often to describe you are "cool" and "intelligent." Is this an accurate description of you or does it come mainly from the characters you play?
I think it comes from the characters I play.
So how would you or a friend who knows you well describe you?
Chaotic and a bit thick, I think. [Laughs] I don't know. I dread to think. It terrifies me. I don't think I'm cool at all, and I don't think anyone who knows me really thinks I'm that way. On the contrary, they know I'm fairly adolescent.
Well, then, here's an adolescent question.
I think I can feel it coming. [Laughs]
You've worked with some of the most charming men in Hollywood--Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Robert Redford, Ralph Fiennes...
which is the best kisser?
I was going to be more polite and ask if you have a favorite. But you can answer both.
They are all so completely different and they were all similar kinds of people. I suppose you'd put Sean and Ralph in the same basket, because they are more actors than they are film stars, and the rest are hugely important film stars and extraordinary businessmen. They have this amazing aura about them. I've had a great time and I've been incredibly lucky--and I've made a lot of my friends incredibly jealous.
Did Sean Penn surprise you at all?
He was someone we had always wanted to play the part of Rowley, and when he said yes we were very excited. He fit straight in and got on incredibly well with [the director] Philip Haas and was just great. He's fantastic in this movie. He's the sort of actor who makes me furious. Sean and Ralph. You think, "why can't I be as good as they are?" It makes me green with envy.
Are there other actors or actresses you'd love to work with?
Oh, yes. Lots. I'd love to work with Nicole Kidman. I'd love to work with Al Pacino and Cate Blanchett.
How did the Oscar nomination change your career?
Well, you get "Oscar nominee" written after your name, which is a lovely title to have, and it certainly opens more doors.
Do you feel torn between the demands of being a movie star and a mother?
Yes, but show me a professional woman who doesn't. It's our lot, I'm afraid.
Do you have any secrets to managing it?
No, I wouldn't dare give away any secrets, because you never know how your kids are going to turn out, do you? I think the thing is to be sure that you're doing the best you can, because working mothers will always have a huge streak of guilt and be very nervous of the future. It makes me quite anxious about not being a good enough parent. But show me someone who isn't.
Yet you would never stop working?
I stopped working last February. I still don't want to go back to work. But I will go back soon, because I'm starting to feel that I need the team spirit and to be working with other people. But it's becoming increasingly difficult to find something that's worth giving up this new pleasure of being at home. I haven't been away in another country or in another place in my head. I haven't been doing all of the traveling--physically or emotionally--that you have to do as an actor, and it's going to be very difficult to leave again.
How do your children feel about your career?
No doubt I will know that when they're grown up. But I think they're very excited about certain things that happen for me, and I think they regret when I have to leave. But they enjoy the trips to the exciting places they wouldn't otherwise get to visit. For instance, we had the most fantastic time when I was shooting Up at the Villa. We shot in the summer, so everybody brought their kids. We had this fantastic villa. They went to the Palio in Siena and did all sorts of fabulous things. And when I shot The Horse Whisperer, we spent two-and-a-half months in Montana. If you ask my kids to pick the best holiday they've ever had, they'd say that one. So there's good and bad. I try and balance it out.
Did you always want to be an actress?
Always, ever since I can remember.
Do you have favorite designers?
My American favorite is Calvin Klein, whom I love. His clothes always seem to be right for me. And in France, I really love Chanel, especially the new collection, which is just amazing.
So what do you wear every day?
I wear simple things. That's why I like Calvin Klein. The clothes don't leap out at you and say " Look at me!" You know you'll always look respectable even if you just throw it all together. It doesn't take much concentration in the morning.
Do you like to dress up?
Oh, I love that. I love being all dolled up and pretending I'm a film star. I love that.
What do you like to wear then?
Something super-glamorous. There's nothing better than getting ready for a big night--but only about once a month.
Up at the Villa's costume designer said, "Mary is damaged goods, so she dresses smartly to hide her vulnerability." Do you find clothes have that power?
Definitely. I mean, why do you think you find so many ripoff Prada handbags? all people want to look like they can afford something they can't afford, or have the choice they don't really have. Everybody wants that.
You've lived in Paris for twenty years. How do you think being at such a remove from Hollywood has affected your career?
I think it's helped in a way, because it's meant that I've only done the things I've really wanted to do; I haven't done things out of fear that if I didn't, someone else would. You see what I'm saying--that horrible feeling of the pressure of competition. I feel like I'm out of the race. I'm protected from that, which is beneficial, really. But then in some ways it has been a handicap, because I might as well be on mars as far as most people in Los Angeles are concerned. It's difficult for me to meet with people; people don't know who I am, so they think I'm cool and intelligent. [Laughs] which is probably a good thing, because if they met the real thing, they might have a bit of a shock. It has its pluses, but I wouldn't want to live in Los Angeles. I like living in France, you know. It's a good place to live and to bring up kids.
What do you like best about living in Paris?
It's very central to the rest of Europe. It's a good, comfortable life. And it's just a beautiful place to live. I really enjoy waking up in the morning and having my eyes pleased by what they see.
You've said that you feel more French than English. How so?
I have a certain aggressiveness when I'm waiting in line, but I think probably that my driving is my most French trait. Put it this way: I failed my California driving test after having driven in Paris for eight years.
What kinds of places do you like in Paris?
The things I really love about France are the brasseries. I love being able to go out at three o'clock in the morning to have steak--or at three o'clock in the afternoon, which is more my lifestyle. You can have a cup of coffee and read the paper and spend hours sitting and no one is going to bother you.
Do you get bothered much less in Paris than in London or the States?
I don't really get bothered anywhere.
It's that cool intelligence. It wards them off.
Maybe, but it's probably people thinking, That can't possibly be her.
