GEM issue
aRUDE comment
ONLINE content
ARBITERS
Value Added Paul Wilmot interview by Idris Mignott
Sexy Haute Damaris Evans interview by Kathryn Cullen
The Gem Weaver Mish Tworkowski interview by Alan L. Scott
BEAUTY
Napoleon Complex photography by Jamie Nelson
Naked Ambition Joanne Gair interview by Dale Johnson
A Girl's Best Friend photography by Andrew Matusik
BON APPETIT
Questions for Annisa's Anita Lo
Questions for Indochine's Jean-Marc Houmard
FASHION
Portrait of a Lady Carolina Herrera interview by Iké Udé
Wicked Ways photography by Iké Udé
Dangerous Liasons photography by Simone Falcetta
Madame X photography by Iké Udé
KULTURE & ART CINEMA
Saint Richard of Celluloid Richard Pena interview by Brandon Judell
He Can Bark in French Robin Williams interview by Brandon Judell
No Botox For Her Mena Suvari interview by Brandon Judell
No Cock & Bull for Him Michael Winterbottom interview by Brandon Judell
OFF THE WALL THE COLOR OF MONEY
Franco Maria Bruccoleri
REVIEW
aRUDE Comment by Iké Udé
Telescope A close-up of the stars, notables, scenesters and picturesque dilettantes
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Renaissance Man Barnaba Fornasetti interview by Iké Udé
STYLE
Element of Style aRUDE's template for style
aRUDE comment
gem_issue_msuvari.php
ONLINE content
ARBITERS
Value Added Paul Wilmot interview by Idris Mignott
Sexy Haute Damaris Evans interview by Kathryn Cullen
The Gem Weaver Mish Tworkowski interview by Alan L. Scott
BEAUTY
Napoleon Complex photography by Jamie Nelson
Naked Ambition Joanne Gair interview by Dale Johnson
A Girl's Best Friend photography by Andrew Matusik
BON APPETIT
Questions for Annisa's Anita Lo
Questions for Indochine's Jean-Marc Houmard
FASHION
Portrait of a Lady Carolina Herrera interview by Iké Udé
Wicked Ways photography by Iké Udé
Dangerous Liasons photography by Simone Falcetta
Madame X photography by Iké Udé
KULTURE & ART CINEMA
Saint Richard of Celluloid Richard Pena interview by Brandon Judell
He Can Bark in French Robin Williams interview by Brandon Judell
No Botox For Her Mena Suvari interview by Brandon Judell
No Cock & Bull for Him Michael Winterbottom interview by Brandon Judell
OFF THE WALL THE COLOR OF MONEY
Franco Maria Bruccoleri
REVIEW
aRUDE Comment by Iké Udé
Telescope A close-up of the stars, notables, scenesters and picturesque dilettantes
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Renaissance Man Barnaba Fornasetti interview by Iké Udé
STYLE
Element of Style aRUDE's template for style
MENA SUVARI no botox for her
interview Brandon Judell
photography courtesy of Warner Brothers click image to enlarge
Mena Suvari: In Sonny (2002), I was a call girl, and in Spun, a methamphetamine addict.
BJ: Spun was shocking.
MS: Yeah.
BJ: Are you choosing roles to display the wide range of your thespian skills or just looking for something new in each part to bite into?
MS: Yeah. I think it's more the latter. It's just things that interest me, and they happen to be really dark and interesting and different. I love to challenge myself, show different sides of me. It's just something that I enjoy doing. I think my personality is a lot like that. I mean, there are kinds of things that I like to do in my life—I go through phases; I don't think I could do the same thing over and over again.
BJ: Sonny was Nicolas Cage's debut as a director. Was being bossed around by an actor a plus?
MS: You know it wasn't such a key issue for me. I loved working with Nick. I think he's just a great guy. For him, coming from that background, I just think it's great. It helped in the way that he really understood what we were going through. In moments where there was intense emotion, he really let you have the freedom and the space to kind of do what you wanted. It wasn't really so much about him caring about his needs and having to get what he needed. It was a lot of focus in giving you the amount of time that you needed to feel comfortable and to do what you wanted. And it was really important to feel that you could talk with him about anything and suggest anything.
BJ: Having a shrink for a father, does that help you tackle each role with ease, because you've been exposed to your pa's analytical skills?
MS: No. I mean, I know that I'm his daughter—maybe I've inherited something. But I don't think… um… I don't even have like… you know, his knowledge.
BJ: There's a stereotype about shrinks that they analyze everything. When you're conversing with them, they dissect your choice of words.
MS: Yeah.
MS: No, I don't think so. Those are things that I'm interested in. I think that I'm very perceptive. I'm very interested by people, but it has nothing to do with my dad being a psychiatrist. It's just, you know…! (Laughs).
BJ: Going back to Sonny again, which is one of my favorite DVDs, you starred opposite James Franco, who's won an Emmy playing James Dean. To those on the other side of the screen, he's so charismatic. He seems capable of becoming one of our next great stars. Do you see that, or having played against so many actors, such as Alan Arkin, Mickey Rourke, and Tim Roth, do you just see him as another thespian?
MS: Oh, wow! I mean, all I can say is that I think James is great. I think he just did an amazing job.
BJ: What about Spun? I love it, but I'm almost ashamed how much—I have trouble believing you ever agreed to star in it—your character actually takes a dump!
MS: I love it. The thing about it is that it's really kind of dark. It's twisted. It's, like, this drug movie about methamphetamines; it's just nasty. When I watched it, I was on the floor laughing, it was so funny. You feel like you're on drugs when you see that movie.
BJ: Did your husband get jealous when he discovered you spent so much time with John Leguizamo, when he was only wearing a sock?
MS: No!!! He was watching the movie and going: "What?!" It's so weird.
BJ: Do you worry about aging as an actress? Or does appearing in films with older actresses such as Brenda Blethyn give you a sense of security that you can have a long, varied career?
MS: Well, that's two different things. I would love to be successful in whatever I do. I mean, that's important to me. As for aging, I think that's a natural process of life, and…
BJ: But aging usually works better for male actors than female actors career-wise.
MS: But that's not right: I think that Hollywood just has a bad attitude about aging. For me, nutrition is really important. And I think that it's all about how you take care of yourself. All this, like, surgery—it's just, like, fighting life. It's funny, because I went to…Oh, God! I can't remember the name of the event—it was in Las Vegas: ShowWest!, and Eva Marie Saint sat behind me, and she's just gorgeous. And we were talking about family, and she was so nice, and she hasn't had anything done to her, and she's beautiful, you know, and I was like, "that's what it's about". It's not about trying to look the same age for the rest of your life. It's not real. There are so many more important things in life than being concerned about Botoxing your wrinkles.
interview Brandon Judell
photography courtesy of Warner Brothers click image to enlarge
Mena Suvari: In Sonny (2002), I was a call girl, and in Spun, a methamphetamine addict.
BJ: Spun was shocking.
MS: Yeah.
BJ: Are you choosing roles to display the wide range of your thespian skills or just looking for something new in each part to bite into?
MS: Yeah. I think it's more the latter. It's just things that interest me, and they happen to be really dark and interesting and different. I love to challenge myself, show different sides of me. It's just something that I enjoy doing. I think my personality is a lot like that. I mean, there are kinds of things that I like to do in my life—I go through phases; I don't think I could do the same thing over and over again.
BJ: Sonny was Nicolas Cage's debut as a director. Was being bossed around by an actor a plus?
MS: You know it wasn't such a key issue for me. I loved working with Nick. I think he's just a great guy. For him, coming from that background, I just think it's great. It helped in the way that he really understood what we were going through. In moments where there was intense emotion, he really let you have the freedom and the space to kind of do what you wanted. It wasn't really so much about him caring about his needs and having to get what he needed. It was a lot of focus in giving you the amount of time that you needed to feel comfortable and to do what you wanted. And it was really important to feel that you could talk with him about anything and suggest anything.
BJ: Having a shrink for a father, does that help you tackle each role with ease, because you've been exposed to your pa's analytical skills?
MS: No. I mean, I know that I'm his daughter—maybe I've inherited something. But I don't think… um… I don't even have like… you know, his knowledge.
BJ: There's a stereotype about shrinks that they analyze everything. When you're conversing with them, they dissect your choice of words.
MS: Yeah.
There are so many more important things in life than being concerned about Botoxing your wrinkles.
BJ: Did that rub off on you at all?
MS: No, I don't think so. Those are things that I'm interested in. I think that I'm very perceptive. I'm very interested by people, but it has nothing to do with my dad being a psychiatrist. It's just, you know…! (Laughs).
BJ: Going back to Sonny again, which is one of my favorite DVDs, you starred opposite James Franco, who's won an Emmy playing James Dean. To those on the other side of the screen, he's so charismatic. He seems capable of becoming one of our next great stars. Do you see that, or having played against so many actors, such as Alan Arkin, Mickey Rourke, and Tim Roth, do you just see him as another thespian?
MS: Oh, wow! I mean, all I can say is that I think James is great. I think he just did an amazing job.
BJ: What about Spun? I love it, but I'm almost ashamed how much—I have trouble believing you ever agreed to star in it—your character actually takes a dump!
MS: I love it. The thing about it is that it's really kind of dark. It's twisted. It's, like, this drug movie about methamphetamines; it's just nasty. When I watched it, I was on the floor laughing, it was so funny. You feel like you're on drugs when you see that movie.
BJ: Did your husband get jealous when he discovered you spent so much time with John Leguizamo, when he was only wearing a sock?
MS: No!!! He was watching the movie and going: "What?!" It's so weird.
BJ: Do you worry about aging as an actress? Or does appearing in films with older actresses such as Brenda Blethyn give you a sense of security that you can have a long, varied career?
MS: Well, that's two different things. I would love to be successful in whatever I do. I mean, that's important to me. As for aging, I think that's a natural process of life, and…
BJ: But aging usually works better for male actors than female actors career-wise.
MS: But that's not right: I think that Hollywood just has a bad attitude about aging. For me, nutrition is really important. And I think that it's all about how you take care of yourself. All this, like, surgery—it's just, like, fighting life. It's funny, because I went to…Oh, God! I can't remember the name of the event—it was in Las Vegas: ShowWest!, and Eva Marie Saint sat behind me, and she's just gorgeous. And we were talking about family, and she was so nice, and she hasn't had anything done to her, and she's beautiful, you know, and I was like, "that's what it's about". It's not about trying to look the same age for the rest of your life. It's not real. There are so many more important things in life than being concerned about Botoxing your wrinkles.
