(Conclusion)
LOS ANGELES—Happy New Year! As we ring in 2012, we look back on our most memorable 2011 interviews one last time.
Angelina Jolie
ANGELINA Jolie: “I wake up first and foremost as amom.”
Being an ambassador to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees transformed her: “When I first went to a war zone, I was forever changed. I will never be self-destructive again. I will never take for granted that I know where my family is, that I have enough food to feed my children and that they are safe. I will never think of these other things that you see people get stressed about, especially in this town where we fill our mind with things that are simply not important in life. So I am very grateful that years ago, I was put in the middle of a conflict zone where I came face to face with what is really happening in the world. So I cherish my family—they’re everything to me.
“I’m just trying to be a good person and learn about all the aspects of life. Certainly, this Hollywood aspect, we live in that a little bit but that is not our life. I try to give myself education and travel. I’m giving my children that education. I wake up first and foremost as a mom. But my motherhood is also connected to other countries, so it’s part of my life. I love being an actor. I appreciate and have fun with all the blessings I’ve gotten from being able to be a part of it. But it’s a very small part of what is happening around the world. So that perspective has never been lost on me.”
PATRICIA Clarkson: “I got to see Justin Timberlake naked.”
Mickey Rourke
MICKEY Rourke on his greatest fear: “That there’s no heaven.
Is the use of steroids widespread in Hollywood? “I don’t give a f— about Hollywood. Whoops. I was kidding. David (Unger, his agent), that slipped out from the old days. You start to lose testosterone in your body at a certain age. I don’t do it for body-building purposes. If I choose, under a doctor’s supervision, to add a little testosterone to my program, then that’s my decision. I don’t recommend it for everybody. But listen, if my doctor says it’s not going to hurt me and that it will help my energy and temperament, and my c— will get a little harder sometimes….”
His fears: “That there’s no heaven. If this is it, it’s s–t. There’s got to be a better place to go after all the bulls–t. I hope there’s a good place, a big disco up there.”
CHRISTIAN Bale: “I wrapped a few days ago, so that will be the last time I’m taking that cowl (Batman hood) off.”
Christian Bale
He announced that “The Dark Knight” could be his last appearance as the masked vigilante: “I wrapped a few days ago so that will be the last time I’m taking that cowl (Batman hood) off. I believe that the whole production wrapped … so it’s all done. Everything’s finished. It’s me and Chris (Nolan)—that will be the end of that Batman era.”
Patricia Clarkson
KATHY Bates on the characters she dreams of playing: “All the rolesMeryl Streep played.”
One of the sexiest 50-something actresses, coquettish and blessed with the charm of a Southern woman, on being in “Easy A”: “I got to see Justin Timberlake naked. And you know what I mean….”
Kathy Bates
She wants to be as sexually free in her work, as Helen Mirren is: “Yes, hopefully, I still have time.” Characters that she’s dreaming of playing? “All of the roles that Meryl Streep played.”
On working with director Woody Allen: “I’ve had the distinct honor of being in his least grossing film, ‘Shadows and Fog,’ and his greatest grossing film, ‘Midnight in Paris.’ I didn’t enjoy working with him in ‘Shadows.’ I was surprised that he invited me to be in ‘Midnight.’ He was a different person when I worked with him. Now, he is much more personable, open and warm.”
ELLEN Barkin: “I’ve been asked many times how I broke my nose when the answer is never.”
Ellen Barkin
On her nose: “I’ve been asked many times how I broke my nose when the answer is never. This is just my nose. I guess I could have fixed my nose. I do have to say that my working-class parents did offer me a nose job when I was about 16. I said, ‘No, my nose looks just like yours. Why wouldn’t I want it?’ I have to make the best of it and make it work for me in some way. I don’t think I was able to do that until I was well into my 30s.”
Kristen Stewart
KRISTEN STEWART: “I’m not the type of person who can sit down and map out a career.” RUBEN NEPALES
Kristen was painfully shy and awkward in our first few interviews. But now she has remarkably grown into a very articulate woman. She’s one of a few actors who really weighs her answers. Kristen carefully considers the words she says because she means them. Sometimes, she appears somewhat nervous, but that’s just who she is.
She does not make long-range plans: “I’m not the type of person who can sit down and map out a career. As soon as you start doing that, there’s no way for you to know what you’re going to love. I don’t understand that mentality. I’ve gotten exceptionally lucky. The things that have spoken to me, like ‘Twilight’ and ‘Snow White and the Huntsman,’ could have been made for 100 bucks. I would have done it, both of them. I’m led by other things rather than how high the profile of a film is. That means nothing to me. Whatever happens, happens. Hopefully, I stay in a position where I can do things that provoke me.”
GLENN Close: “I think women in power will always be problematic formen.” PHOTOS BY RUBEN NEPALES
Glenn Close
On equality in Hollywood: “Men still make more money than women in our profession unless they are huge stars, like Julia Roberts when she was a big star, and Angelina Jolie. I was at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. That was wonderful, because I was in a room full of incredibly powerful women. I was the only actress there (laughing). I was very honored to be there, but it has been a long journey for women. I think women in power will always be problematic for men.”
TILDA Swinton: “Nomore dresses, that’s it.”
Tilda Swinton
The fashion icon, in the eyes of her brothers: “I remember when I was about 3 years old, being put in a very beautiful party dress and coming to the top of a stair. I have three brothers, two of whom are older than me. They kept me right. I remember my elder brother saying, ‘You look pretty…’ I was about to swell with pride until he added, ‘…horrible.’ I thought, OK no more dresses, that’s it.”
Jessica Chastain
JESSICA Chastain: “Nudity is something you’re uncomfortable doing.”
On doing nude scenes, including in “Jolene,” a 2008 indie film that won her a Best Actress trophy from the Seattle International Film Festival: “When I saw all the fantastic actresses whom I respect doing nudity, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s no problem.’ But, I still get embarrassed doing it. I’m naked in ‘Wettest County.’ A few days before doing that scene, I start picking fights with people. No one understands what happens. I was just acting out. Nudity is something you’re uncomfortable doing. But, I feel like it’s my job as an actor to be a more evolved person, to look at that fear in the face and say, ‘Well, I have to rise up and meet this.’”
E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com. Follow him at https://twitter.com/nepalesruben.