Kristin Scott Thomas Talks Clogs, Christian Louboutin and the Secret to Looking Fabulous at 45
Natasha Poloszczuk
Kristin Scott Thomas is a very busy woman. She's promoting her latest film today, performing on the West End stage this evening, pausing only to pick up her youngest son from school. Not to mention dealing - in a characteristically graceful manner - with rumours about a new relationship with a younger actor and the breakdown of her 18-year marriage to French obstetrician François Olivennes, with whom she has three children, Hannah, 17, Joseph, 14 and George, five. But the pace of life seems to suit her. At 45, she's looking - and feeling - happier than ever.
As this is our Body Image issue, let's kick off with plastic surgery - what's your feeling on it?
It would be lovely to take some of the lines away, just because they make you look cross or tired. This one here [she frowns and indicates a line between her eyes] makes me look cross all the time. I'd love to get rid of it, but then what happens when you want to look cross and you can't? We have a whole new accepted look now and I'm worried that in 50 years, we'll look back at everybody's eyebrows up here and think they're mutants. There's no acceptance of the natural process. I don't mind the way I look now, but someone has already said to me, 'I think you should do something.'
How did you respond to that?
I just kept very, very quiet. Perhaps I'm not vain enough, or perhaps I accept myself with such gusto that I don't give a damn. I just think I'm good enough, and that's that. The other day I was sorting out a whole load of photographs and came across some which, at that time - in my mid to late twenties - I hated, I thought that I was ugly. And I looked at them, and thought, 'God, but I was lovely.' And I'm sure everybody does that.
Do you feel under pressure to look good?
Only from my children. They'll say 'Mummy, you're not going out like that, are you?'
Are good looks a blessing or a curse?
Acting is a difficult business to get into - there's always something wrong with you. You're either told you're too pretty or too ugly. When I was 28 people used to say 'she's too exotic' or too this or too that - I wasn't really, I just didn't look like a cute little button. One of the traps of being pretty when you're 25 is what happens when you stop being pretty? I'm very glad that my career didn't start until later.
Do you feel like a sex symbol?
Definitely not. That's another invention. This is what my play As You Desire Me is about - other people's projection of what you are on to you. I've gone from ice queen to sex symbol in two weeks. Why? I have no idea. None.
So you're not vain?
I am quite vain, but I hide it well. I can't stand pictures of myself, but when I'm photographed for a magazine, I know I'll be made to look acceptable. People aren't going to buy it if they see the withered old reality, they want to see glossy and gorgeous and wonderful. That's why I love doing things like Cannes Film Festival, where you get dressed up in the film star dress, with the make-up, the jewellery, the red carpet, the limo. People love seeing that. What I don't like is having to be like that in my life, which is why I keep a very low profile. I need time to be who I really am, stomping around in gumboots and clogs.
Clogs?
It's because of my orthopaedic clogs that I can wear Christian Louboutin's beautiful shoes - it's part of the process of preparation. And I wear the children's socks.
Do you diet? Does the shadow of Mireille Guiliano's French Women Don't Get Fat loom over your dinner table?
This is very funny, this French Women Don't Get Fat, because I've only heard of it in England. It is true that French women are skinnier and obsessed from the get-go about how they look, but it hasn't affected me. I love living in Paris because they eat proper food; no ready meals or monster supermarkets, but little local shops where you go to get your bread, fruit and vegetables, and meat. And families sit down and eat together - heaven.
How do you look after yourself?
I have quite a dedicated skin regime, Joëlle Ciocco's products, and I do Bikram yoga. It's a bit embarrassing, you become a bit of a yoga geek, but it's exciting when you can't do something one week and two weeks later you can. I love the non-competitiveness of it; I hate going to gym and looking at the girl next to me - I haven't been for a hundred years.
Do you enjoy dressing up?
I love it - it's the whole point of being an actress.
You mentioned that you also have a passion for Christian Louboutin heels?
Yes, they are the prettiest. I've got a special little cupboard for my evening shoes, where I line them all up so I can open the doors and just look at them. I have about 30 pairs of Louboutins and can just pop into his office - quite good, isn't it?
So do you like being 45?
Yes, I do, I certainly prefer it to 25. There's a great acceptance, a 'So, that's it then, that's who I am.' But I do have intense moments of deep immaturity - being silly or behaving badly - but that's what makes life fun.
Like dancing around singing with a hairbrush?
That has happened. Sometimes I do things and I think, 'Kristin, that was very stupid.' Slightly embarrassing silliness, like talking to automated telephone answering services. It's fun. They say, 'Sorry, we have not recognised that word,' and I shout 'Stupid cow!' And I talk to the television.
Are you a fan of television?
I think television is the root of all evil, aside from perhaps The Magic Roundabout.
Do you let your children watch television?
I do, but we didn't have one for six months and it changed the family: we spoke to each other, we played games, we did things together. But I do miss English television massively.
What do you do with your time off?
I spend most of my time in my neighbourhood, riding around on my bike or pottering about in my old jeans and clogs, looking after the children - picking them up from school, helping with homework - the usual.
Are you a big reader?
It is my favourite thing. I'm feeling very smug because earlier this year I bought The Sea by a man I'd never heard of, John Banville. I thought it was the best piece of writing, I hadn't read anything like it in ages. I loved it. Though, that said, I'm not a very literary person. A real regret is that I wasn't brainy enough to go to university.
Your latest role is in the comedy Keeping Mum, but you once said you "don't do funny". What made you change your mind?
I'm still not very good at it, but with this film it works out well, as I'm quite good at playing the straight guy. I said yes ages ago, then Rowan [Atkinson] and Maggie [Smith] came on board.
And Patrick Swayze is the love interest. Have you seen Dirty Dancing'?
[Guiltily] No. He is divine, really sweet, and very funny about being Patrick Swayze. I find as a rule that huge stars who have this massive image are usually really cool about it. They behave the way you expect them to. Look at Harrison Ford - apparently he does in fact rescue people off mountains.
Is it odd to bump into someone after an on-screen love affair?
What I find extraordinary is that people don't realise that we're just working, and all you're thinking about is technique. What actually tends to happen with filming is that you lose track of people. It's a bit like meeting people on trains: you pour your heart out to them because you know you're never going to see them again.
You're on every director's speed dial when they need someone to be icily aristocratic - are you bored with that?
Absolutely, but I understand why it is. You're only as good as your last film and in my first film, A Handful Of Dust, I was an aristocratic bitch, so that's what I was offered. After The English Patient, I was constantly asked to do anything that had a desert in it.
So you're resigned to the ice queen tag?
I'm not really bothered. It's irritating, but I don't really read my own press - I was once very hurt by an article about my family so, now I think, why bother reading it?
How do you deal with being a working mother?
It's extremely difficult. Full-time mothers deserve medals - I could never have done it. I always needed to work, but it's the most difficult thing. You need guts and determination. The guilt is really tough - you either get over it or accept it. Even now, I've got this little mental voice saying, 'What time is it? Will I be able to pick up George?' That never leaves you, but having children is still the best thing in the world.
Is life more complicated as you get older?
Yes, absolutely. You're constantly juggling your responsibilities and demands - family, children, partner, career. It's enough to make a retirement home in Eastbourne sound very tempting.
You've been open about the benefits of therapy - how did it help you cope?
If you're blatantly unhappy and can't really function properly then you must deal with it. I did it with psychotherapy and it took me a very long time, but it saved me from depression. Really gnawing depression is a horrible thing – people should be helped to get through it. If they want to take antidepressants, then they should take them, but I think it's great if you can do it through therapy. It's very interesting and you get to talk about yourself for an hour and a half - why deny yourself that pleasure?
Was it a difficult decision to make?
When I was in my early thirties and decided to start therapy, somebody older and wiser than me said, 'Don't do psychotherapy, you'll ruin why you're a good actress.' They obviously thought that being miserable is a really good thing for an actress. I've never heard such bollocks. I went to boarding school, that's where I learned to do misery. Everybody is entitled to be happy.
Are you still a worrier?
Pick a subject! I lie in bed worrying. I have a Rolodex of subjects to choose from.
But you're happy now?
I feel relieved to be 45 and have survived so far. Things seem to be panning out nicely, with one or two recent hitches, but yes, I'm in a very good place at the moment.
