We’re here in Utah and you grew up in a similar climate — do you have any great tips for winter beauty?
“Moisturizing. It’s brutal...so dry here; drink lots of water. I just started using
Egyptian Magic. It comes in a little jar — I guess people have been using it forever, and I just found out about it. It’s just oils — natural oils — and I put that under my
night cream at night. I try to exfoliate and not wash my face too much because
all of the hard water is hard on my skin. Baby wipes and little tricks — I try not to
shower very much. I try not to wash my hair very much. Whatever you can do to
still stay clean but not use water.”
Westerns are becoming really popular right now, both critically and with audiences. As a native of the edge of the world, why do you think that is?
Do you think the time period of the wide-open West is one Americans find really romantic?
“Maybe. I feel like the landscape for this film was definitely its own character, but it’s just beautiful to watch. It makes the movie seem so epic even though we didn’t have a very large budget; we had these beautiful landscapes that brought so much to each scene. We were there in a rough time of year (there’s a monsoon season), so in the afternoon all these clouds would come in, and we’d have lightning and thunder and it led to some really beautiful skies, but it was tough filming.”
Photo: Courtesy of True Religion
When Betty Draper realizes she’s pregnant, it's a major problem due to the stigma of being a single mother and societal norms of that time. In your own life, you’ve provided a great counter-example to Betty as a working single mom. Is that a hard thing to do in Hollywood?
“I think being a mother in general is very difficult, especially when you are working and trying to
juggle everything. I think the difference between now and then is that it’s more
acceptable. People don’t frown upon it like they may have in Betty's time. I think that we’re really lucky to be in a time in our world and our country, at least, where women have all these opportunities, and being a working mom and juggling all these things — people are very supportive of that instead of ‘oh, she’s a blot in society.”
There are not a lot of positive
examples in media of a woman doing it on her own. Do you feel a responsibility to be a strong representation?
“Well, I don’t think I do it consciously. I just try to be a good mom in general. I hope I’m sending a good example. I know that there are people who have it a lot more difficult. Because of the job I do, I’m able to afford childcare, and I have a lot of family, so I am able to work, but it’s not easy. I don’t think it’s easy even if you have a partner. I mean, it takes a village.”
Kind of in a similar vein, one of the most striking moments of Mad Men is when Betty is about to have her third child. It’s her third time doing this — it should be comfortable, but it’s so procedural, clinical, and cold. Was that disturbing to you? As a woman, how did you react to that?
“Well I asked a lot of questions ‘cause when I read it I was like, 'Why is this happening?' I didn’t know that’s how they did things then: They were so drugged; it’s not a very friendly environment. The husbands weren’t even in the room. It was very difficult. I couldn’t wrap my head around that to
know how to behave in that scene. I mean, it was on the page, but I was like…I
just couldn’t relate to it in any way. I have never heard of anything like that. I
asked my grandmother about it, and she said, 'Oh yeah, you
know, the doctors barely said anything to you, and you’re just doped up.' I’m
very grateful that being a mother today means embracing a kind of more
happy surrounding. People are using midwives again and doulas. It’s a lot more
friendly. It’s about a beautiful experience and not just about getting that thing out.”
Yeah, that was really evocative.
“Yeah! It was really hard to shoot.”
Okay, so: Emma Frost is a beloved cult character. Are you going forward with her for Days of Future Past?
“(Laughs) I honestly don’t know. I haven’t seen a script.”
When you were preparing for her, did you get into some comic books?
“Yeah! It was really fun. I mean to say that doing research for a film by reading
comic books is kind of nice. I wasn’t familiar with her, so it was really cool to go
through and see all the different looks and try to collaborate with the hair
and makeup and wardrobe teams. It was the ‘60s, so it could be kind of retro, but still, we wanted to take pieces of different costumes she wore in the comic books and make them new and fresh for the fans. It’s also very daunting; it’s a big responsibility because she is so loved in those comics. So, once I found that out, I had already signed on and I was starting to get pretty freaked out about that, but it
was a blast. I’d never done a big, franchise, comic-book-stunts [kind of
movie] — it was awesome. I’m usually, like, the rom-com’er. I like
something easy to relax in to, but it was really fun.”
Photo: Courtesy of True Religion