Chloe Sevigny must be a veteran of film festivals. The types of movies she usually does often get their start at Sundance or Cannes looking for distribution. At this year's South by Southwest film festival in Austin, TX, she had two films, Barry Munday and Mr. Nice.
Barry Munday is a comedy starring Patrick Wilson as a womanizer who loses his testicles in a comical attack. He finds out he's impregnated one of his one night stands, Ginger (Judy Greer) and tries to do the right thing for his last chance at fatherhood. Sevigny plays Ginger's sister Jennifer, an antagonistic provocateur who may or may not be a stripper by night. Mr. Nice is a stylized true story of British drug smuggler Howard Marks (Rhys Ifans). It would screen later in the week.
It's been 15 years since Sevigny's debut in the controversial indie drama Kids. That film tackled promiscuity, rape and AIDS among New York City teens in 1995. Sevigny also won acclaim and notice in films like Boys Don't Cry, American Psycho and The Brown Bunny (notoriety in that case, giving on-screen fellatio to ex-boyfriend Vincent Gallo). Now she stars on HBO's controversial polygamist drama Big Love, which just wrapped its fourth season.
Jennifer seems the polar opposite of Sevigny, and indeed Barry Munday is a rare comedy in her body of work. She took the previous interview out into the hallway of the Four Seasons hotel in Austin, because she was nervous with all the onlookers in the interview suite. She kept this interview in the room, but still remained shy and guarded. It's cool. That's what makes her such an independent enigma, the rare actress who's not trying to be the center of attention.
Suicide Girls: You look very stylish today with a striped top and a blazer. How did you put this outfit together?
Chloe Sevigny: My friends are designers in New York. I went into their showroom and just pulled a bunch of stuff to wear during the festival.
SG: Is that how you usually pick your clothes?
CS: I guess so. Sometimes I look on Style.com and I pick stuff and I have it sent, but usually that's more problematic because you don't know if it's going to fit. So it's easier always just to go into the showroom and try stuff on. I always like to have new stuff when I go to festivals. You feel a little more sparkly.
SG: Was it nice to get to be funny in Barry Munday?
CS: I don't think I was that funny though. I think I was more the straight person to Judy's comedic [one], but I tried. I tried. It was really scary. It was hard.
SG: Her aggressiveness at making Barry uncomfortable, didn't you find that funny?
CS: I hope so. I think she was kind of more bad than funny, more of a troublemaker, but I hope it's funny. I hope some of it is funny. I feel like my stuff with Judy at the dinner table was kind of cute and funny.
SG: Are you just self-critical?
CS: I think also because I've only seen the film one time and the first time you see it, you're always just kind of like, "Oh my God, no." So I think I'd have to see it a couple more times to feel more confident about the performance. The first time you're always so critical.
SG: How would you describe the rhythm of this comedy?
CS: I don't know, how would you? It's very odd, no? It's kind of flat. It's not ba-dum bum. There's something different and I think mainly that's Patrick Wilson's performance. He's so hilarious. He's so good in this. His looks, every nuance, every face I was rolling on the floor.
SG: You do it well too.
CS: Do I? I'm just impersonating him though.
SG: Jennifer wouldn't wear something as hip as you are right now. What did you think of her basic suburban style?
CS: Oh yeah, I thought she was very boring. I mean, I think she was supposed to be more contemporary, kind of looking pretty cool but not too cool as opposed to Ginger. I think she was just supposed to kind of be her opposite. It was Ginger still dressing like she did when she was in elementary school in the '70s. I think Jennifer was more just supposed to be her opposite.
SG: You looked great with dark hair in the stripper scene.
CS: Oh thank you. It was a terrible wig. Really bad wig.
SG: Were you happy with that look?
CS: I wasn't crazy about the wig but I liked the look. It was fun. It was fun to do the dance sequence. I practiced the dance sequence a lot and then of course it only lasts for a few seconds and you barely see me once, but it was kind of fun to do although I vowed to myself I would never play a stripper or a hooker, but I thought in this case I could kind of get away with it.
SG: Does it count as playing a stripper when it might just be Barry's fantasy that it was Jennifer?
CS: Yeah, it might be a fantasy. It might not be her. That's how I justified it.
SG: Performing it, were you playing the dance straight and sexy or hamming it up a little?
CS: I was just trying to get through the routine. I wish I had hammed it up more. I wish I had been more comfortable. I think I was dancing pretty straight.
SG: You must be a veteran of film festivals. What are your film festival survival tips?
CS: Well, I always do the wrong thing, like last night I went out too late because I want to experience the city. You have to work but you want to go out and have fun, so it's always a balance that I can never get right. Plus, with the time change, it got me all screwed up last night. Film festival survival, bring a friend or a companion. As an actress at least, I have one of my best friends here with me because sometimes when you're here alone it gets lonely and it's more fun to have someone you're with to go to parties with and run around town with and what not. Visine, for an actress. Drink lots of fluids, remember to eat. I can't obviously see a lot of films because I'm working the whole time I'm here but I think if you go as a viewer to a festival, just to be educated on everything that's out there and pick and choose. Like for me, when I go to music festivals, I always know who's playing on every stage and have mapped out what I want to see.
SG: Do you get to make any new friends when you're at all the events for your own films?
CS: Well, at events you're always meeting tons and tons of people of course. Sometimes you make new friends. I once made a boyfriend in Cannes. I met a boy in Cannes who was a journalist and he became my boyfriend. So you never know.
SG: Which film was that on?
CS: Oh, it was a long time ago. I don't want to talk about it.
SG: When can you sleep? I'm having a hard time with that one.
CS: God, hopefully I'll be able to sleep for a couple hours this afternoon because I have another premiere tonight, Mr. Nice. So I need to rest my head a little bit.
SG: Since you have two films here, are you being pulled every which way?
CS: Not so much. I think we're trying to keep it to a minimum here. It's not like Cannes or one of the bigger festivals where there's so much press. I think the press is more like a grass roots kind of thing around here, South by Southwest.
SG: Have you gotten to see anything?
CS: No, I kind of want to see that Lemmy movie. I don't even know how to get in. I have to ask one of these publicist people if I can get in.
SG: It's hard to believe it's been 15 years since Kids.
CS: I know, shocking, right?
SG: How do you look back on that movie?
CS: I'm really proud of my career and my trajectory and the films that I've made. I'm surprised it's been that long. I'm just glad I'm still around. I'm glad people are still hiring me. I'm glad that I've remained true to myself and only worked on films that I want to work on. Now with the TV show, I feel like people are more exposed to my work which has been really great. I'm pretty satisfied.
SG: Would Kids have to be different if made today? Would it have to address all the texting and social networking?
CS: I don't know. I was watching that How to Make It in America on HBO which has a little bit of a Kids feel. It is a different time. There were a lot more freedoms in the '90s, at least in New York City. You could get away with a lot more on the streets, less distractions. You could say, "Well, let's meet in the park" and you'll meet there. You're not like, "Oh, I'm late" or "I'm not going to make it." You couldn't just cancel on people. It's just a different feeling, different time.
SG: Where are you in your life now, 15 years later?
CS: I'm really happy as I said before with my work. I'm a homeowner. I don't know where I am in life. Just trying to do my thing. Working, hanging out with my friends.
SG: Is it different being part of an artistic community as a grown-up than it was when you started out as a young adult?
CS: I don't know. There's a lot of young kids now on the scene in New York, at least the scene that I'm in. They seem really wild and they're acting out and they're doing their thing. It's kind of amusing. Then you see a lot of kids that behave really crazy and oh, well, they're young. I say, "When I was young, I didn't act like an idiot." I was more of the observer which I still am I guess. I feel like now I have more confidence as a person, walking into an opening or doing whatever. I feel more comfortable in myself and that's a great feeling.
SG: Is there a different TV world you've traveled in now?
CS: I guess so. There's definitely the HBO family because I go to a lot of their events and I think they have great programming and great actors on their shows. I never really felt embraced at all by the film world. Definitely indie film but Hollywood never. I've never even made a studio film. Well, Zodiac, but I feel more embraced by the TV community. I feel like there's less snobbery and elitism.
SG: Is Big Love done for the year?
CS: We're done. We start shooting again next August, the fifth season.
SG: Do you have any insight into why polygamist wives are common but not multiple husbands?
CS: I mean, that was their religion. Brigham Young, what can you say? That was the religion they started. It's kind of stuck. I'm sure if there was another religion, the other way around, of course men as they say rule the world so the men are going to be a more dominant force.
SG: Do you think the women of those communities are getting to see Big Love?
CS: No, I don't think they even know who the president of the United States is. I think that they're kept really repressed and it's really shocking that it happens in America right now.
SG: Do you see awareness happening?
CS: No, no. Not within the compound. I don't even know if they get to look at newspapers.
SG: But at least are people on the outside trying to reach in and help?
CS: Oh, I hope so. I hope so. I think that would be great. I think hopefully people are supporting these different organizations where women can go to to escape. I know I have.
Barry Munday is currently seeking distribution. Look for it later this year.
Barry Munday is a comedy starring Patrick Wilson as a womanizer who loses his testicles in a comical attack. He finds out he's impregnated one of his one night stands, Ginger (Judy Greer) and tries to do the right thing for his last chance at fatherhood. Sevigny plays Ginger's sister Jennifer, an antagonistic provocateur who may or may not be a stripper by night. Mr. Nice is a stylized true story of British drug smuggler Howard Marks (Rhys Ifans). It would screen later in the week.
It's been 15 years since Sevigny's debut in the controversial indie drama Kids. That film tackled promiscuity, rape and AIDS among New York City teens in 1995. Sevigny also won acclaim and notice in films like Boys Don't Cry, American Psycho and The Brown Bunny (notoriety in that case, giving on-screen fellatio to ex-boyfriend Vincent Gallo). Now she stars on HBO's controversial polygamist drama Big Love, which just wrapped its fourth season.
Jennifer seems the polar opposite of Sevigny, and indeed Barry Munday is a rare comedy in her body of work. She took the previous interview out into the hallway of the Four Seasons hotel in Austin, because she was nervous with all the onlookers in the interview suite. She kept this interview in the room, but still remained shy and guarded. It's cool. That's what makes her such an independent enigma, the rare actress who's not trying to be the center of attention.
Suicide Girls: You look very stylish today with a striped top and a blazer. How did you put this outfit together?
Chloe Sevigny: My friends are designers in New York. I went into their showroom and just pulled a bunch of stuff to wear during the festival.
SG: Is that how you usually pick your clothes?
CS: I guess so. Sometimes I look on Style.com and I pick stuff and I have it sent, but usually that's more problematic because you don't know if it's going to fit. So it's easier always just to go into the showroom and try stuff on. I always like to have new stuff when I go to festivals. You feel a little more sparkly.
SG: Was it nice to get to be funny in Barry Munday?
CS: I don't think I was that funny though. I think I was more the straight person to Judy's comedic [one], but I tried. I tried. It was really scary. It was hard.
SG: Her aggressiveness at making Barry uncomfortable, didn't you find that funny?
CS: I hope so. I think she was kind of more bad than funny, more of a troublemaker, but I hope it's funny. I hope some of it is funny. I feel like my stuff with Judy at the dinner table was kind of cute and funny.
SG: Are you just self-critical?
CS: I think also because I've only seen the film one time and the first time you see it, you're always just kind of like, "Oh my God, no." So I think I'd have to see it a couple more times to feel more confident about the performance. The first time you're always so critical.
SG: How would you describe the rhythm of this comedy?
CS: I don't know, how would you? It's very odd, no? It's kind of flat. It's not ba-dum bum. There's something different and I think mainly that's Patrick Wilson's performance. He's so hilarious. He's so good in this. His looks, every nuance, every face I was rolling on the floor.
SG: You do it well too.
CS: Do I? I'm just impersonating him though.
SG: Jennifer wouldn't wear something as hip as you are right now. What did you think of her basic suburban style?
CS: Oh yeah, I thought she was very boring. I mean, I think she was supposed to be more contemporary, kind of looking pretty cool but not too cool as opposed to Ginger. I think she was just supposed to kind of be her opposite. It was Ginger still dressing like she did when she was in elementary school in the '70s. I think Jennifer was more just supposed to be her opposite.
SG: You looked great with dark hair in the stripper scene.
CS: Oh thank you. It was a terrible wig. Really bad wig.
SG: Were you happy with that look?
CS: I wasn't crazy about the wig but I liked the look. It was fun. It was fun to do the dance sequence. I practiced the dance sequence a lot and then of course it only lasts for a few seconds and you barely see me once, but it was kind of fun to do although I vowed to myself I would never play a stripper or a hooker, but I thought in this case I could kind of get away with it.
SG: Does it count as playing a stripper when it might just be Barry's fantasy that it was Jennifer?
CS: Yeah, it might be a fantasy. It might not be her. That's how I justified it.
SG: Performing it, were you playing the dance straight and sexy or hamming it up a little?
CS: I was just trying to get through the routine. I wish I had hammed it up more. I wish I had been more comfortable. I think I was dancing pretty straight.
SG: You must be a veteran of film festivals. What are your film festival survival tips?
CS: Well, I always do the wrong thing, like last night I went out too late because I want to experience the city. You have to work but you want to go out and have fun, so it's always a balance that I can never get right. Plus, with the time change, it got me all screwed up last night. Film festival survival, bring a friend or a companion. As an actress at least, I have one of my best friends here with me because sometimes when you're here alone it gets lonely and it's more fun to have someone you're with to go to parties with and run around town with and what not. Visine, for an actress. Drink lots of fluids, remember to eat. I can't obviously see a lot of films because I'm working the whole time I'm here but I think if you go as a viewer to a festival, just to be educated on everything that's out there and pick and choose. Like for me, when I go to music festivals, I always know who's playing on every stage and have mapped out what I want to see.
SG: Do you get to make any new friends when you're at all the events for your own films?
CS: Well, at events you're always meeting tons and tons of people of course. Sometimes you make new friends. I once made a boyfriend in Cannes. I met a boy in Cannes who was a journalist and he became my boyfriend. So you never know.
SG: Which film was that on?
CS: Oh, it was a long time ago. I don't want to talk about it.
SG: When can you sleep? I'm having a hard time with that one.
CS: God, hopefully I'll be able to sleep for a couple hours this afternoon because I have another premiere tonight, Mr. Nice. So I need to rest my head a little bit.
SG: Since you have two films here, are you being pulled every which way?
CS: Not so much. I think we're trying to keep it to a minimum here. It's not like Cannes or one of the bigger festivals where there's so much press. I think the press is more like a grass roots kind of thing around here, South by Southwest.
SG: Have you gotten to see anything?
CS: No, I kind of want to see that Lemmy movie. I don't even know how to get in. I have to ask one of these publicist people if I can get in.
SG: It's hard to believe it's been 15 years since Kids.
CS: I know, shocking, right?
SG: How do you look back on that movie?
CS: I'm really proud of my career and my trajectory and the films that I've made. I'm surprised it's been that long. I'm just glad I'm still around. I'm glad people are still hiring me. I'm glad that I've remained true to myself and only worked on films that I want to work on. Now with the TV show, I feel like people are more exposed to my work which has been really great. I'm pretty satisfied.
SG: Would Kids have to be different if made today? Would it have to address all the texting and social networking?
CS: I don't know. I was watching that How to Make It in America on HBO which has a little bit of a Kids feel. It is a different time. There were a lot more freedoms in the '90s, at least in New York City. You could get away with a lot more on the streets, less distractions. You could say, "Well, let's meet in the park" and you'll meet there. You're not like, "Oh, I'm late" or "I'm not going to make it." You couldn't just cancel on people. It's just a different feeling, different time.
SG: Where are you in your life now, 15 years later?
CS: I'm really happy as I said before with my work. I'm a homeowner. I don't know where I am in life. Just trying to do my thing. Working, hanging out with my friends.
SG: Is it different being part of an artistic community as a grown-up than it was when you started out as a young adult?
CS: I don't know. There's a lot of young kids now on the scene in New York, at least the scene that I'm in. They seem really wild and they're acting out and they're doing their thing. It's kind of amusing. Then you see a lot of kids that behave really crazy and oh, well, they're young. I say, "When I was young, I didn't act like an idiot." I was more of the observer which I still am I guess. I feel like now I have more confidence as a person, walking into an opening or doing whatever. I feel more comfortable in myself and that's a great feeling.
SG: Is there a different TV world you've traveled in now?
CS: I guess so. There's definitely the HBO family because I go to a lot of their events and I think they have great programming and great actors on their shows. I never really felt embraced at all by the film world. Definitely indie film but Hollywood never. I've never even made a studio film. Well, Zodiac, but I feel more embraced by the TV community. I feel like there's less snobbery and elitism.
SG: Is Big Love done for the year?
CS: We're done. We start shooting again next August, the fifth season.
SG: Do you have any insight into why polygamist wives are common but not multiple husbands?
CS: I mean, that was their religion. Brigham Young, what can you say? That was the religion they started. It's kind of stuck. I'm sure if there was another religion, the other way around, of course men as they say rule the world so the men are going to be a more dominant force.
SG: Do you think the women of those communities are getting to see Big Love?
CS: No, I don't think they even know who the president of the United States is. I think that they're kept really repressed and it's really shocking that it happens in America right now.
SG: Do you see awareness happening?
CS: No, no. Not within the compound. I don't even know if they get to look at newspapers.
SG: But at least are people on the outside trying to reach in and help?
CS: Oh, I hope so. I hope so. I think that would be great. I think hopefully people are supporting these different organizations where women can go to to escape. I know I have.
Barry Munday is currently seeking distribution. Look for it later this year.