This story is from November 2, 2019

Andie MacDowell: Indian movie stars are the most beautiful. They are like a sculpture or painting

In an exclusive conversation by the sea, the actress, 61, spoke about her maiden India visit, causes close to her heart, the need for age inclusivity in cinema, the Timesup movement, her challenging childhood, and more. Excerpts...
Andie MacDowell: Indian movie stars are the most beautiful. They are like a sculpture or painting
Andie MacDowell at Marine Drive (Photo: Renuka Vyavahare)
BOMBAY TIMES EXCLUSIVE
Director Steven Soderbergh’s acclaimed film Sex, Lies, and Videotape, propelled American model-turned-actress Andie MacDowell to global stardom and helped her bag her first Golden Globe nomination. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) co-starring Hugh Grant, was another career highlight. On her first visit to India, Bombay Times caught up with the Hollywood actress in Mumbai as she soaked in the sights and sounds of the Maximum City.
Sporting her trademark curls, Andie was noticeably fascinated by the Indian head shake, our traditional saris and warm hospitality. In an exclusive conversation by the sea, the actress, 61, spoke about her maiden India visit, causes close to her heart, the need for age inclusivity in cinema, the Timesup movement, her challenging childhood, and more. Excerpts...
This is your first visit to India. What’s on the cards?
I will be here for a little over two weeks. I have been meaning to come here for over 30 years. India is amazing, and it’s also so diverse and complex. I landed here a few days ago, and you don’t know where and how to start, but the intention is to take off the beaten path and not explore just the regular tourist places. I want to feel like I am experiencing real India and real people, so, we went to have dinner at someone’s home. Not everyone gets to do that. We will be going to Kolkata, Udaipur and Jaipur. I have noticed so far that people here are super happy. They are open to welcoming you without feeling like you are invading their space. Everybody is so chill, and I find the Indian head shake fascinating.
What took you so long to visit India? Your timing was perfect though, since you got to see our festival of lights, Diwali...
I used to watch videos on India, and I kept waiting for the right opportunity. I told my friend Karen who works for an American home video distribution company, to see if we could visit India during some film festival. So, she figured out this trip. We will be attending the Kolkata International Film Festival (Andie will be the guest of honour there). Yes, the timing was also perfect since I got to see the fireworks at Marine Drive till wee hours of morning (during Diwali). I also took a local train ride (from Churchgate to Mahalakshmi), saw the Dhobi Ghat, Banganga temple and Sassoon Docks. I love the style in which the fisherwomen of Mumbai wear their saris.

Andie MacDowell at Churchgate station in Mumbai
Andie MacDowell at Churchgate station in Mumbai

Are you familiar with Indian cinema?
I told Aishwarya (Rai Bachchan) when I met her in Paris recently, that I will be going to India. She is lovely. I think Indian movie stars — male and female — are the most beautiful. They are like a sculpture or painting. I watched Satyajit Ray’s The Apu Trilogy and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s Celluloid Man, a documentary on legendary Indian archivist PK Nair. I’d like to watch more Bollywood films. I saw one on the flight, but I was tired, so I can’t recollect the name. It was fascinating because half of it was in English. I didn’t realise how much English is spoken in this country. Back in the US, if an Indian film is nominated for the Academy or if you are a total film buff, you get to see the Indian films that are supposed to be seen. Film people are exposed to Indian films for sure.
Speaking of diversity and inclusion, you’ve been vocal about the lack of representation of women in cinema, especially if they are over the age of 40. Good opportunities are hard to come by for actresses who have crossed a certain age, and this problem is prevalent in Hollywood and in India, too...
Hollywood has become much more diverse over time. We are not as white as we used to be. We have more Asian and Indian characters in our movies now, so that has noticeably changed. As far as age is concerned, worldwide, most movies are made about characters who are in their 30s. In general, the leads are young people. The concept of how you see mature people doesn’t exist. The younger generation starts to have more control and they want to see themselves on screen, so they don’t use us as much. Why is the story of someone in their 60s not interesting? Younger people see the world from their perspective. They want to put us in a box, but we are not really like that. We can’t be discounted. I am 61 now, but there is a lack of stories even for women in their 40s and 50s. You just don’t have great stories being told about people of my generation. When I turned 40, it was most frustrating and it was normal for a journalist to ask, “How does it feel to be 40 and know that you won’t get any work?” It’s so normal for people to expect women to disappear once they turn 40! At least now, we are asking questions and talking about this issue, which is a step forward.
You once even said that there’s a perception that ‘people go to the movies to watch men and not women’...
That’s Hollywood for you. I won’t name who, but an actress said that to me. It is a concept, but I have to say it’s true. There’s a lot of men out there and that’s how they hold on to the power. They want to believe that’s true. But there are also a lot of men who don’t feel that way. They are team players. They are allies who love their mothers and daughters. They want equality. But there are a lot of men who enjoy that power.
Your daughters have pursued acting as a career. Your younger daughter Margaret was the breakout star of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Were you overtly protective of them being a part of showbiz? In the wake of the #TimesUp movement raging in Hollywood, what is your advice to your daughters Rainey and Margaret?
Did I feel the need to protect them? We have had these conversations since they were little. I talk about sex with them. We talk about everything, so it helps. It’s easier for me to help them protect themselves. The Timesup and MeToo issues are not just an issue within the film business, but it’s an issue of the world. Boundaries need to be drawn and you need to stand for yourself and be less tolerant. My daughters teach me a lot, too. They feel I say sorry way too much. I am programmed to be submissive since I was raised in the South (Carolina) and women are expected to be docile there. They are not seen as leaders, so we learn to say sorry way too much.
Andie MacDowell at Banganga temple in Mumbai
Andie MacDowell at Banganga temple in Mumbai

You did a nude scene for the first time in your career in Love After Love (2017), at the age of 60. Was that liberating, unnerving, or both?
I was raised in a religious background. There was a lot of shame attached to nudity. It’s still hard for me. Also, that scene in the movie was very vulnerable, it’s not about titillation. I think there’s something fabulous about doing a nude scene at 60. My daughters are freer with their bodies and they thank me for not making them feel shameful about it. They don’t want to be used in a way that’s inappropriate, but if it’s an important aspect of a story, they won’t find it embarrassing or shameful. Will my aunt see this? I didn’t want them to have those issues as an artiste. Margaret has studied painting in New York, and they have nude models. Museums all over the world have nude bodies. Bodies are beautiful and it’s liberating to have the freedom (to show it off). I wish I was comfortable about my body when I was younger and didn’t think of nudity as vulgar or something wrong. Even Helmut Newton (late renowned fashion photographer) had asked me to do it (nude photoshoot), but I didn’t. I tell my daughters that they need to find a good photographer and do some nudes. Not penthouse nudes but beautiful artistic nudes. I made safer choices because of my taste and sensibility and where I came from.
You are passionate about environment and film preservation. Your visit here is integral to that, isn’t it?
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s Film Heritage Foundation supports the conservation, preservation and restoration of film. He invited me here. My visit here is to support the cause as my friend Karen is into film preservation. I prefer film. Love After love was done on 16 mm film. I like the quality of it. Texture and light are better and the way a picture looks. Imagine not having Satyajit Ray’s films! That would be horrible. Every frame of Satyajit Ray’s film looks like a painting. I will be heading to the Kolkata Film Festival to speak about the cause and my passion for acting. I am also really concerned about the environment as far as causes are concerned. I love what Jane Fonda is doing right now. I should go join her and get thrown into jail at least once.
When you were growing up, your mom was battling alcohol addiction. You had to be responsible from a young age. Do you look back and wish you had a normal childhood?
Probably yes. We worked at a restaurant together. She was a teacher, but she kept losing her job because of her alcohol problem. She would pass out and I couldn’t get her off the floor. I would put a pillow under her head and a blanket on top. It was terrible. She even lost the restaurant job. I tried to get her sober. She died five years after that. I dealt with a lot of psychological stuff as a child, but it also made me who I am. I don’t know how many people come from a perfect family. I loved her and didn’t have any animosity towards her. There was a lot of empathy. Mental issues are so complex. Right after I was born, she had gone to an institution for intense depression. They diagnosed her as schizophrenic, but she wasn’t that. I think I understood that mental issues are health issues. They don’t mean that you are crazy. It’s just like another part of the body. The brain is the most complex part of our body and we still don’t acknowledge that.
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About the Author
Renuka Vyavahare

A lipstick obsessed compulsive shopper, Renuka is not spaced out when watching a good film or a good game. A film critic for The Times of India and entertainment/sports writer for Bombay Times, she likes everything British, especially Tom Hiddleston.

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