|
|
|
HURLEY IN THE MORNING The last decade of Elizabeth Hurley's life hasn't been all about downturns and misunderstandings, however. She's flourished as the face of Estee Lauder; she has a healthy feature-film career, thanks to the big hit Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery; she's become an international icon and has appeared on "Most Beautiful" lists across the globe; she has several projects brewing at Simian, which she still runs with Grant; and she calls some of the most established people in the world--from pop star Elton John to fashion designer Valentino--her good friends. Hurley also has three films due for release: The Weight of Water, with Sean Penn; Double Whammy, with Denis Leary; and the comedy Servicing Sara, in which she plays the titular beauty who causes trouble for process server Matthew Perry--who had a bit of trouble of his own during production. I meet Hurley one morning at her leased house perched atop one of L.A.'s more famous hills. Looking sensational in tight slacks and a T-shirt, she greets me in her driveway with a hug and warmly welcomes me inside in that low, plummy voice that sounds as if she gargles Chambord. Despite the early hour, she is buoyant, supremely together and ready to have at the day. SR: You and Hugh handled your split admirably. EH: We cry, too. We both cried a while ago, actually. I was single at the time. He was single, as he always has been. We went out for dinner together in New York, then we went into a bar for a drink. For some reason, they played this incredibly sad Ella Fitzgerald song that we used to listen to, and we both sobbed. A nice Irish bartender just kept putting drinks in front of us and ignoring us. Life is sad. It's very sad when things don't work out. Q: Much has been written about Servicing Sara, and how production came to a halt when your costar, Matthew Perry, entered rehab. A: It was a tricky movie. The eight weeks we shot first were quite difficult. I've seen footage from that, and it's sort of astonishing that I don't think anyone's going to actually pick up that Matthew wasn't feeling his absolute best. PAGE 1 | 2 |
|
|
|
Q: In The Weight of Water you costar with Sarah Polley and Sean Penn, two highly impressive actors. Did they impress you? A: I got on with Sean very well. The film is cut into three time segments, and we star in the modern one, in which a crime that occurred in Nova Scotia in the 1800s is being investigated. When we were making the movie, Sean and I were convinced that our modern bit was the best of it. Now, when I watch the film, I realize the segment in which Sarah Polley stars is really wonderful. [laughing] I mean, Sean and I are fine, but, as it turns out, it's really Sarah's film. Q: Are you happy with Double Whammy? A: It's very clever. [Writer-director] Tom DiCillo has woven three different stories together. Denis Leary plays a detective and I play a chiropractor. It's a movie I like a lot. It's very charming. Denis, of course, is great. Q: If you read the papers, you two are more than friends--you're a hot item. A: He's literally one of my best friends in the world. I talk to him every day. If his wife [screenwriter Ann Lembeck] weren't married to Denis, I'd marry her in a heartbeat. They have two great kids. It's very offensive that everybody cannot accept that two people of the opposite sex can hang out and have a laugh. Q: Have you ever come face-to-face with a sex symbol you've looked up to? A: I got very tongue-tied meeting Elizabeth Taylor. I'm a huge fanÉ I met Elizabeth with Hugh when she invited us around once for a holiday celebration. I became the village idiot--very shy and gauche--but she was absolutely charming. Q: Have you ever written a fan letter? A: When I was nine I wrote to Jimmy Osmond. I got back a life-sized poster of him wearing pink corduroy jeans, which I hung on my closet door. Excerpted from "Hurley in the Morning," Movieline, November 2001 PAGE 1 | 2 |