Susan Sarandon
Interview By: Ray Dademo
'Junket Land', as Susan Sarandon affectionately calls making the
rounds of promotion, is going to be her home for quite sometime. In
addition to doing press for three winter releases, Sarandon is gearing up
for four more films, to be released in 2005. Before she can get to the
movies, however, she's forced to field endless questions about what has
turned her into a middle-aged sex symbol; a modern day Mrs. Robinson. To
anyone who's been watching, Susan Sarandon seems to be improving with age.
As she approaches sixty (can you believe that'), it looks like she's been
revitalized by a newfound confidence and strength (as she would put it,
she's become a "force.").
"Don't smoke," she says succinctly, as though that were the fountain of
youth. 'That's what I keep saying to every kid that asks me.' (Kids, take
note.)
Nevertheless, as Ms. Sarandon ages gracefully, her choices in film roles
seem to fade into the background. Since the year 2000, she has done
voice-over work for Rugrats in Paris and Cats & Dogs, and languished
in B-movie fare like The Banger Sisters and Shall We Dance' It appears
as though Sarandon is becoming better-known for pontificating as a
celebrity-activist than she is for being an Oscar-winning actress. As a
matter of fact, as a preface to an interview, she immediately begins
firing off the political. This might serve as a metaphor for the current
state her career is in: politics before cinema.
Still, Sarandon keeps a rosy outlook when it comes to what seems like an
absence from movies. 'I've done of little ensemble pieces -- it's been
kind of great in terms of flexibility and they've been really fun parts,
so I don't really mind that it isn't "my film." It's been kind of great to
stay on the bicycle and keep going in little bits and pieces because it
gives me a lot of flexibility at home.'
One of those 'little bits and pieces' is Alfie, a new release pairing
Sarandon with the much-younger Jude Law. In the film, she plays Liz, the
middle-aged vixen version of Law's philandering Alfie. As an actress,
Sarandon felt a duty to play the sexually-manipulative female without any
excuses. 'I didn't want to be apologetic about her lifestyle and I think
she's pretty happy. Maybe she has her days on a New Year's Eve where she's
not quite together, but I don't think she apologizes. I didn't want her to
be tragic.' Sarandon pauses, momentarily -- she's forming a philosophy. 'I
think she's having what a lot of men in this country do. I think she was
exercising her prerogative which is available to a lot of men. If you can
live a life that way and you're happy, that's your choice. Right''
And, what was it like hopping into the sack with Jude Law' 'I was the last
one into the bed. So we were trying to figure out what does she have' --
what hasn't been done' It's always much more interesting the first time
people touch each other. It's how that first touch comes to be that's hot.
I just thought that because she's older and a lot like him...she sees him
for what he truly is and accepts him for what he is. He doesn't have to
charm her. That's what she offers him: acceptance. What they do is they
really see each other. So, I said lets just make it about that
connection.'
The significance of the film runs deeper than just the obvious for
Sarandon. 'One of the major challenges of being a human is deciding if
you're ever going to be intimate with another human being. 'Do you ever
decide to be intimate'' is much more the question, than 'do you get
married'' 'Do you have a house in the country''' There's no question left
in anyone's mind that Susan Sarandon is an intelligent woman, but who knew
she had such insight into...well...everything' Ask her about anything and
she philosophize endlessly. '[Alfie is] looking for that statue that's
flawless. He gets close up and for him they all have cracks. He gets to a
certain point where it's broken and then he moves on. Well, the challenge
is to get to that point and take it to the next level. That's where it
starts to get interesting, not where you constantly get a younger, emptier
version of the person you're with.'
Sarandon is someone who knows a thing or two about relationships. Her
seventeen year relationship with actor Tim Robbins has certainly 'gone the
distance' (they have two sons). Now, after all that time, would she ever
consider marrying her long-term beau' 'Never say never,' she teases,
mischievously. 'I don't know. At the moment I don't need to. I'm always
afraid we'll take each other for granted. Maybe at some point we'll want
to change and make a statement that's different from the one that we've
been living for 17 years...which in Hollywood years is about 45.' She
laughs at her own joke, then with an air of seriousness: 'We haven't
talked about it in years.'
Now, at the age of fifty-eight, Susan Sarandon feels like something of a
role-model for 'women of a certain age.' 'I'm doing the Revlon account. I
think it's a record breaker,' she chirps, proud of her accomplishments.
'[I'm doing it] because of the idea that women my age should be
represented in a way that wasn't artificially changed that much.' Her work
in print ads permits Sarandon to work with younger actresses who claim to
idolize the Bull Durham actress. 'I feel like Helen Hayes or something.
It's so strange because I don't see myself that way. But I think if you
just manage to survive you get points already toward some kind of icon
status. Because it's a hard business to survive in and not be bitter or
insane or addicted, or whatever. I think that I've earned a certain
position but I don't really relate to it.'
In spite of her views on politics, Susan Sarandon is most definitely a
vibrant, sexy older actress. When asked what, exactly, makes someone
sexy, Sarandon stops to think. She cites offbeat choices like Anna
Magnani and Katharine Hepburn as examples of 'sexy.' 'There's something
about those people that says yes to life. I think that's how you survive.
Somewhere down the line you just turn into a force.'
raydademo@TheCinemaSource.com
