T2
Online Interview
T2 meets an actress who turns out to be
anything but clueless.
Sitting in an LA hotel, Alicia Silverstone
slurps on a fruit smoothie and smiles. "You could
say I've been on a journey. The journey of life."
Four years since claiming the title of world's most
famous teenager, Alicia reckons she's happier and more
sussed than ever.
Wearing virtually no make-up, a T-shirt and jeans, she
adds: "I used to be so serious about life. Now I've
learned to enjoy!" Working in the adult world of
Hollywood, it's not surprising Alicia was so serious. She
had to grow up fast - and not in the same way most
teenagers do. "I was never like Cher Horowitz when I
was younger," Alicia says of the supercool,
shopaholic airhead she played in hit teen movie Clueless.
"I was such a loser, I didn't care about clothes or
boys and went nowhere near the popular kids." Even a
term at Beverly Hills High (the inspiration for the 90210
TV series) didn't get her into mobile phones, designer
labels and the in-crowd.
What she was passionate about was acting. "Going to
the theatre was my favourite thing to do," she says.
That meant focusing on drama lessons, getting a break and
being the best. "I got my first film role when I was
14," remembers Alicia. "And all I worried about
was being respected. I didn't really know what that
meant, but I knew it was important because all the
actresses I looked up to were 'respected'."
Looking back, Alicia needn't have got stressed out. That
first film, The Crush, got her noticed and cast in
Clueless - the movie which made her a star around the
world. Not that that was enough for Ms Silverstone.
"As I read through new scripts, I realised there
just weren't enough great roles out there for young
women," she says. "So I thought, 'Why don't I
just make up my own?'." The result was Excess
Baggage - a film that she not only starred in but also
produced. "I worked on it for two years and cared
about it so much," she says. "It taught me you
can do whatever you want if you put your heart and soul
into it."
Alicia puts some of her own feistiness into her screen
roles. Take her most recent part, in the movie Blast From
The Past."I wanted to make my character Eve
shine," she says. "She doesn't let anyone - not
even her boyfriend - mess her around." Neither does
Alicia. She lives a quite un-Hollywood lifestyle in her
little house with her three dogs. "My dogs are all
rescued," she says. "I don't believe in pet
stores. We're all vegan - we eat no meat, no dairy
products, nothing like that."
A dedicated animal-lover, Alicia is a spokesman for the
charity PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals). She makes videos and advertisements for the
organisation, as well as giving talks at schools have to
suffer. to raise awareness of the cruelties that animals
have to suffer.
Days after we spoke, Alicia was due to leave for London
(she's here now!) to play the princess in Kenneth
Branagh's musical film version of Shakespeare's Love's
Labour's Lost. "I can't wait," she beams.
"I've been having lots of singing lessons."
Would she have been taking her dogs along if
Britain's new pet passport scheme was already in place?
"Are you kidding? Of course I would! I'm
going to miss them so much. They just better remember who
I am when I get home!"
Lesley O'Toole
From: http://www.t2online.com
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