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Isabella Rossellini appears in approximately 15 minutes ofDeath Becomes Her, and she nearly steals the movie.
Rossellinis humor bursts through the screen, casting her in a kitschy new light.
Who better to spoof the aristocratic quest for unremitting beauty than the spokeswoman for Lancome?
Offscreen, the Italian-born multi-hyphenate maintains a28-acre farm on Long Island.
Thirty years ago, you hadDeath Becomes Herand MadonnasSexbookcome out back to back.
Do you look at that period fondly?Yes, I do.
I forgot that they were the same year.
For me, Madonna and Steven Meisel were my life as a model, andDeath Becomes Herwas cinema.
I wanted that role very much.
I kept on saying, But I work for Lancome!
I sell anti-aging cream!
Im the perfect one!
He called me a month later and said, You know what?
The role is yours.
I was so delighted.
So you saw the role as ironic?Sure.
I thought it was ironic and funny.
Were you auditioning a lot at that point in your career?Yes.
I dont know what happened, but they dont audition me anymore.
Even Catherine Deneuve was there.
We were looking at each other and laughing: Are we here to audition?!
The story was that the main woman was a foreigner.
It was so strange, but we were all respecting whatever America wants to do.
But its not that theyre testing your talent.
They test other things.
Theres chemistry between actors, many things.
That gave me a sense of control.
That gave me a lot of physiological strength to do the testing.
Ive never heard an actor frame it quite that way, and it makes total sense.
Often when actors talk about the audition process, they feel a little powerless.
And it sounds like you found a way to reclaim some of that.Yes.
One director said he wouldnt test me because he wanted to have total control.
He said, If you come and test, its up to me to say yes or no.
They dont tell you this information.
Sometimes on an independent film, theres a group of friends that makes it.
My father was one of those.
I was surprised to see that Robert Zemeckis was so inventive with the special effects.
It was a wonderful experience.
The movie was a hit at the time, but its really taken on a cult status.Yes.
We didnt know that.
We thought it was going to be likeRoger Rabbit, a film for families.
But it has a cult following, and mostly a following from thegay community.
That was surprising to us.
We appreciate it, but it wasnt the aim.
Theres something about your performance that is incredibly exotic and, if I may, erotic.
Being a model and selling beauty, you exaggerate that.
Working with Lancome, I represented another voice of fashion.
That was the inspiration.
In a way, Lisle is a caricature of the fashion victim.
That was the model I had in mind.
All my movements were very studied the way I stand up, sit down; everything was poised.
I thought that fit the character of this crazy lady who does everything for beauty.
And the costumes are the other part of that.Oh my God, the costumes were so much fun.
Some of them were even better in life than what resulted in the film.
It has to be incredible.
It has to look like Barbie, and I dont have a Barbie body.
What was her name?
Brigitte Nielsen?Exactly.
It needed to be someone who looked like that.
I dont have the perfect body Im rounder, my legs are not as long.
She swims with high-heel shoes.
Then when the scene continues and I talk to Bruce Willis, I have a coat.
Remember the coat that has the big collar up?
I dont think it was completely captured in the film.
It was important inBlue Velvetthat it be me with all my imperfection.
I would have been on a diet for two weeks.
There is a scene inBlue Velvetwhere I sing, and I remember how moved I was.
When I looked down and saw Dennis, he was crying as the character.
I didnt expect that.
But in fact hes in love with me, and thats what makes him angry.
Because if youre in love, youre vulnerable.
He loves me, but he hates his vulnerability and thats what makes him violent.
It was so amazing, that layer of complication.
Shes in shock and shes walking in the street alone.
David wanted to reconstruct that scene.
I called David and said, This only image that comes to mind for me is total helplessness.
The way she walks is so helpless because shes totally exposed with her arms out.
Instead, she shouldnt have anything.
That gesture, to me, is so much the gesture of total helplessness, and David agreed.
Davids visual references were more Francis Bacon paintings.
But inDeath Becomes Her, the nudity had to be a bodily nudity.
Thats why I personally suggested a body double.
I do admit that nudity is complicated.
Steven Meisel is this fantastic, fantastic photographer that I worked with.
Maybe well do that.
It can be the most tender moments of our lives, and also the most violent.
She wanted it to be openly bisexual.
She was very liberating.
I was so persecuted.
There were so many complaints.
I said, I am willing to do any portrait of two women in love.
But I dont want to do another nudity because there were so many repercussions.
I dont have it in me anymore.
Thats why I agreed to be in the book but without nudity, instead portraying two women in love.
Oh, a different Adrian Lyne movie.Right.
I auditioned for that.
After seeing the film, in a way, I was happy I was not chosen.
I thought that Adrians films were a little exploitative.
It came across as, I am liberated and you are not.
I understand she may have wanted to say, Sex has many facets and I am exploring them all.
In that, I appreciated her effort.
But somehow the book missed something.
If you see a businessman naked, it will hit you as more shocking.
Madonna is almost too perfect.
She arranged everything: the makeup, the pubic hair.
In a way, it was too slick.
There was no vulnerability.
Its almost a little clinical in how perfectly art-directed it is.
It also has people like Naomi Campbell, who is superhumanly beautiful.Yes.
I think there was no vulnerability in the book.
But I did appreciate the attempt, and some of the photos are memorable.
Steven is one of the people I appreciate the most.
I also appreciated his attempt to say I dont want to do a retrospective of my work.
I only want to look forward.
He was doing photos forVogueand wanted to do something else.
I didnt think it was 100 percent successful.
With the Adrian film, I thought it was not very deep.
His films are a little exploitative.
I was lucky not to be chosen.
Sometimes God helps me.
I may not help myself, but God does.
Did you know Meryl Streep before this movie?No, I didnt.
I met her duringDeath Becomes Her, and I had met Goldie Hawn, who was a delight.
Goldie had worked with your mother onCactus Flower,a movie I adore.Isnt it amazing?
And she won the Oscar!
Did you two swap stories about Ingrid?Yes, of course.
I remember meeting Goldie with my mom and how delightful she was.
Goldie and I have a very good friend who unfortunately died of AIDS.
His name was Charlie.
He was my best friend and Goldies best friend, so we had Charlie in common.
So we were always joking, I want Charlie to marryme; I dont want him to marryyou!
Charlie was lucky to have such great options.
Originally, the movie endedvery differently.
That ending involved a scene with Tracey Ullman, who youve alsoworked with.
It was more poignant and hopeful, which audiences at test screenings did not appreciate.
Now that you say it, I vaguely remember that.
But that happens with a lot of films.
What were your feelings about plastic surgery at the time?I feel ambivalent.
I havent done any plastic surgery.
Some day I woke up and said, We have all these new technologies in surgery.
Why dont I take advantage of it?
Im going to call a plastic surgeon.
Then when I started to call a plastic surgeon, I ran out of courage.
Im not going to do plastic surgery at 70; my skin will not sustain it.
But in the years before around 45 or 50 I didnt do it.
Now I look back and say, Maybe I was right.
I think it is misogyny.
Its a complicated thing.
The fear is that maybe if I dont do plastic surgery Ill work less.But it hasnt happened to me.
Several years ago, Robert Zemeckis talked about doing some kind ofDeath Becomes HerTV spinoff.
I forgot who told me, but I said, I want to be part of it!
I could play the one that has not drank the potion.
That would be some interesting meta-commentary considering what your casting represented then and what it would represent now.
That would be great.
Its a subject that people are avoiding.
Either theyre scandalized and say, Why did you do it?
or they say someone is exploiting you or youre an exhibitionist.
Theres a big reasoning behind it every time, so Im so glad I was able to express it.
Its a weird contradiction.Yeah, it is strange.
In some countries, if youre gay or transgender, they kill you or put you in jail.
In America, youre protected and can get married.
And yet theres a puritanical streak.
What is the logic?
How does it work?
