Ashley Judd Discusses "De-Lovely"
By: Rebecca Murray

Was there pressure from your family when they heard you’d be singing?
No, I don’t tolerate pressure from anyone about anything.

Did you draw on your family as resources?
I should have. I really should have. I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been. The movie and the preproduction [were] all well underway when I was cast, so there wasn’t all that much time before I departed for London. I didn’t do a lot of preparation, therefore, in Tennessee. There just wasn’t a lot of time. And then when I got there, it was just busy. Stephen Endelman did, I think, such a beautiful job with the music in the whole movie - arranging it, conducting it, casting all the voices, dealing with the various musicians as they showed up, and according to their very busy schedules, recorded their songs. I just kind of got lost in the mix, really. He felt like I had a wonderful voice and he had no qualms about it whatsoever. And then all of a sudden, it was time for me to shoot the singing stuff and I just lacked confidence, so those were not my favorite days.

Coming from a musical family, was there a lot of Cole Porter in your house?
It was Cole Porter, but I didn’t know it was Cole Porter. We listened to the Andrews Sisters, the Boswell Sisters. I’ve always been crazy for the American songbook. I learned about Cole Porter through Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald renditions. And then when we were working on the movie, I couldn’t believe that all of those great songs with which I was familiar, were written by him. I think that that will be the same for moviegoers, that most everyone will recognize the songs but not realize Cole wrote them all. I had no idea he wrote “Don’t Fence Me In” for example. “You’re the Top,” I guess, I thought was written by Berlin.

Was Linda really this supportive or did she stray at some point, too?
We’ll never know and they’re not the kind of people who would’ve, I don't think, wanted us to know. But she was really abused in her first marriage, which is hinted at in the film. That also happened to her at a fairly tender age. I mean, the day after her 18th birthday she got married, and I think in those times, for the sheltered life Linda had led up to that point, she might as well have been 14 or 15. And to be married to such a beautiful, intelligent, stylish, hilarious and brilliant man who loved her so much for who she was and didn’t really care about sex, was a tremendous relief - at least not sex with her.

They did have sex at some point though, didn’t they?
That’s what we understand.

What was it like to see yourself in old age makeup?
It never bothers me. I don’t spend that much time looking at myself anyway, but Dario [Franchitti] was a little startled. But you have to remember, as I reminded him, Linda was really, really sick. In fact, she was feeble her whole life. They found out not long after she married her first husband that she had very aggravated allergies. She had very weak lungs. And because she smoked so much, she actually spent a lot of her latter years in an iron lung. So we did sick old makeup, which is hopefully quite different from the way I will age. We did a lot of yellow in the hair from the nicotine and stuff like that, all those [puffy mouth] wrinkles that people get.

There’s so much smoking in this movie.
Yeah, and you know what’s funny? Because of the duration of a take, I didn’t smoke that much. I didn’t smoke any nicotine whatsoever. It was all herbal, but I never had to smoke an entire herbal cigarette. That’s just the nature of shots and takes.Did you draw on any personal experiences?
Yeah, I’ve had the privilege to know a lot of really talented people. I think that that was something that drew me to the script, which at the time I didn’t even recognize. But I grew up with a vocal genius in my house. And then I married someone with a very elite, very different kind of gift. And therefore to play Linda, who loved this great talent, who really lacked a lot of confidence and relied on her and looked to her for approval – she approved all the songs he wrote, he never considered them finished until he showed them to Linda – is a pretty natural place for me to ease into.

Do you think Linda sacrificed a lot for her marriage?
I don't think she does. I think Linda Porter did everything she wanted every day of her life.

I think she was ahead of her time. She was very independent. She was super, super rich and did exactly what she wanted. It’s so interesting because I understand that interpretation, but once she got out of that first marriage and moved to Paris, Linda lived there independently for seven years before she even met Cole. She’d been to Egypt many times. She traveled the entire world, she was voraciously curious. She was kind of a minor cultural anthropologist. She had all of her own stuff going on the entire time she was with Cole. I think that even with the things about the relationship that were unusual, that she was very happy.

Was she naive?
No. I think there are, as there are in any marriage, there were probably some pretty lonely times. Particularly when Cole was falling in love with somebody. I get lonely when I’m a Playstation widow. People suddenly seize this thing and their hormones go crazy and they run off and do it for a while when he’s having his very, very passionate heterosexual affairs. And so, sure, there [was] loneliness. But naïve about men?

But she didn’t realize how many men he’d be with, did she?
I think that was that loneliness and the key thing about the Hollywood years is that it was a crime. It was a crime and there’s no telling what could have happened to Cole if he had been exposed. And I think that Linda left for the same reasons a person leaves when they don’t want to subsidize someone’s self-destructive behavior, such as drinking. He was really risking a lot. [He] could’ve been like Oscar Wilde and [been] thrown in jail, [had] songs taken out of jukeboxes, who knows?

Back then, the press would keep the secret.
But I mean, he went to Harlem all the time and slept with a lot of prostitutes. He engaged in behavior that could have easily fallen out of his little community.

Could you forgive a man like Linda forgives hers?
I would certainly hope that someone could forgive me that way. I think that the key to their relationship was a really profound reciprocity. There’s a lot of dialogue that is lifted from Cole’s own quotes, such as “The intimacy was stunning.” And whatever they did, it worked for them. You don’t stay married for 35 years by accident. I think that that’s willful and intentional and something that both people really want. And maybe the true nature of his reasons were known only to them. But from what we know and what other people said about them, there was a whole lot of love there. An incredible amount of admiration. She was seven years older and his mother was a big figure in his life, so Linda had a little bit of that going on too. He looked to her for approval and comfort.

Are they good role models?
Absolutely. Unconventional. They treated each other with so much dignity. They treated each other with so much respect.

Did you keep any costumes?
I kept them all. They were so beautifully made, and not just the ones that Mr. Armani did, but the woman in London who built the traveling suits and the day dresses and stuff. They were beautiful. They went to Italy and bought this incredible fabric, like faux fur and stuff because I don’t wear fur. The detail, oh, it was beautiful.

Will you wear them again?
I will, absolutely. I might mix some of the pieces up so it updates it a little bit but they’re beautiful. I’m going to auction a few things off, too, because I think that the Armani dresses, if auctioned [at a] Youth Aids function for example, could raise a pretty penny.

How was working with Kevin Kline?
Good. He’s sweet, he’s funny.

He’s got that “Pink Panther” movie coming up soon.
Can you wait to see him in that? It’ll be so funny. He always looks vaguely in pain with that moustache, and then the slightly mad professor hair. Kevin has all these talents that we all know about and then he’s got hidden talents underneath too. He’s just very thoroughly talented and funny and sweet and good.

What movies hit you and made you want to become an actress?
“Dollmaker” - plus it was about people from eastern Kentucky so it was the double whammy of a great female performance and it was about my people. So that’s always so interesting when you feel like your art is relevant to your identity.

Did you see “Songcatcher?”
I did. I did. All those British people playing Southerners. This woman was asking me earlier today about Dario and me having different cultural histories. I didn’t bother to give her a tutorial, but we don’t.

What’s it like watching him race?
It’s fun. He’s on pole this week.

Have you ridden with him?
No. I have the opportunity to because they have a two-seater where the driver is in the front and you slip in right behind and are able to go out and do a couple of exhibition laps. So I’m looking forward to that. I couldn’t do it at Indy. It was just too busy and then in Arizona, I still had a cast on my foot. They only take the car to certain tracks.

How does he like your world. Is he comfortable with you kissing other guys?
Who is comfortable with that? Let’s see, I think he’s fairly comfortable on set because I create a very consistent atmosphere. We travel with our animals, we take a lot of things that are familiar wherever we go. And he’s very sweet and supportive about my work. I remember on “Ya Ya,” I got really worn out. I did a movie and then I went and did that immediately afterwards. It was only six weeks but it was pretty intense work for six weeks. I was only halfway through one morning and I woke up crying, I was so tired. And he just gave me so much support and love and encouragement. He said, “Don’t think about getting through to the end of the week. Just think about what you can do between now and lunch. And then after lunch, think about doing your best between then and wrap.” You know, he’s just a very gentle, kind, dear boy.

Do either of you want to slow down?
I think that we give the impression, to carry on your metaphor, that we go a little faster than we actually do. I’m fairly lazy so I’m always interested in slowing down.

Did you know anything about racing before you met him?
I thought it was silly.

What about being an Indy car family in a NASCAR state?
There’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that we watch it.

You watch NASCAR and Indy?
Yeah, but you have to promise me you’ll put this into the full context. What I mean is that Dario is so voracious about motorsport, that we watch literally everything. This past Sunday, we went from… There was something on first, and I can’t remember what it was. I don't think that there was a Formula 1 but there was something. Then we watched the CART race. Then we watched the NASCAR race. Then we watched the 500cc bike series. It was the Italian Grand Prix with Valentino Rossi, who is the great hero in Italy at the moment, with the announcer so obnoxiously extolling his many virtues. It was the most loud program. And then we watched the Isle of Man TT bike race. I was losing my mind. That’s like 12 hours of motorsport pouring out of every TV in the house.

Has your mom started asking you about kids?
She is so funny. She’s so charming about it that I don’t mind her little remarks. I still have to draw her a dirty look because I wouldn’t be a dutiful daughter if I didn’t.

Why did you leave “Catwoman?”
Just conflict of dates. Nothing was going to stand in my way of doing that play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Have you healed from your injury from that play?
A little bit. I’ve still got an orthodic in my shoe, but it’s coming along. I didn’t realize how hurt I was until my cast came off. And then it was like, “Oh, it’s not better yet?” Because it’s one of those ligament things that’s very ongoing.

Did you miss a lot of shows?
It happened on a Tuesday and I finished the week and then had to leave the show because I had to have surgery. So I missed the last three weeks, but interestingly, those last three weeks were an extension and I ended up leaving the show on my original closing date. So, for whatever reason, it was all meant to be.

>> Back