Alicia Silverstone: In the Hood

She's about as "white chick" as you can get; long blonde hair, big blue eyes, but the actress who played "Batgirl" is here to prove that she has got some soul as Queen Latifah's supportive hairdressing pal Lynn in the new ensemble comedy Beauty Shop. Alicia admits that she never quite got the hang of the hairdressing thing. Practicing on one of those big Barbie heads, didn't quite cut it. This is a gal who has done Shakespeare and triumphed in "The Graduate" on Broadway. She was also the bad girl in Scooby Doo 2 and played the affable "Miss Match" on TV, so we can't say that Alicia doesn't tackle a wide variety of roles.

In Beverly Hills, our sit down with the actress started with us complimenting her on her Stella McCartney outfit; light green sleeveless top with ribbons, dark blue silk skirt and silver pumps with Stella's "suitable for vegetarians" credo embossed on the bottom (Alicia took off one shoe and handed it to us to prove it). After putting her foot back into the silver shoe like Cinderella, the friendly actress chatted about everything from childhood trauma dealing with prejudice to the fun she had on the Beauty Shop set and her new TV series.

TeenHollywood: You did a wild, pretty hot dance in this. Was that choreographed or just Alicia gone wild?

Alicia: (laughs) They choreographed the whole thing, but I definitely like to dance, so it was fun. But it made me really shy, because it was very sexual, and I've never danced like that before.

TeenHollywood: We understand the cast had to go to hairdresser bootcamp to learn to do hair. How did that work out for you?

Alicia: Well, we went to Inglewood, and we had to learn how to wash people's hair, so you don't get the water up in their face and around the room, and stuff like that, and that was really complicated. And then I had to learn how to put the towel around the neck and the cape. There's a talent to that, but I don't remember it, it's something very complicated. And then, cutting hair, and using the hot thingies.

TeenHollywood: That would be curling irons or flat irons?

Alicia: Flat Irons (crinkling up her nose). They make smells. I don't know what they are. They burn your hair and I would smell the burning of hair. They're like really hot.

TeenHollywood: What surprised you the most about hairdressing?

Alicia: I just grew an appreciation for what talents and skill it takes and concentration. I've been developing that over time. You start to realize how talented some people are and how less talented other people are at it. You start to realize like it's really a skill and an art. It seems like hairdressers have a really good time, it seems like a really fun kind of a job.

TeenHollywood: Is it something you were good at?

Alicia: I could never be a hair dresser, I didn't have the attention or talent for it. It's really not fun for me, like they wanted me to practice at night, and bring home this head of hair on this little dummy. I would try so hard to get Randy (the director) to get me out of it, like please don't make me take this home! I don't want to! But I learned how to do what I had to do [laughs].

TeenHollywood: You have a thick southern accent in the film. Did you model that after anyone you knew?

Alicia: I did a lot of research and I picked a really specific voice, a person who lived in Blue Ridge, Georgia. And I worked with a dialect coach. It's like another language. It's hard but it's such a fun thing to work on.

TeenHollywood: You are like a fish out of water in this film; the only white girl in an all black shop and you end up fitting in great, although some of the girls are mean to you at first. Did you ever have anything like that happen to you?

Alicia: Not as specifically as it is in the movie, but definitely when I was 12, I was like shunned by all my girlfriends and lost all my friends in school. Definitely, that was a weird time. I don't know why they hated me. But it was seventh grade. They were just mean. It was in San Francisco. They all went to one school, so I went to a different school, because I didn't want to hang out with them anymore. You get some thick skin, and you learn a lot from that stuff. Everybody has some kind of prejudice whether you're too young or you're too old, or you're not skinny enough, you're too skinny, all that stuff.

TeenHollywood: Was it only the girls who were mean?

Alicia: No. When I was little, little boys used to say 'you dirty Jew'. That was a fun one. One of them tormented me because I didn't shave my legs, and I was ten! First it was because I was Jewish. I think he had a crush on me.

TeenHollywood: Did you get to interact with the kids in Beauty Shop a lot?

Alicia: Yeah! I mean, Paige [Hurd] was around a lot and the little boy, 'Lil J.J. He was so cute and he was really funny, because he would be just muttering stuff quietly over in a corner. Then when I saw the movie, he stood out so much. He was so funny and I thought he was great, really cool.

TeenHollywood: This was a huge female cast but you were often with the guys, right?

Alicia: I spent a lot of time with Bryce [Wilson] and Djimon [Hounsou], and Kevin [Bacon], and the girls too. I didn't feel like it was an all girl cast, but I've heard that a lot, so it must come off like that. Kevin Bacon was outrageous. I found him very difficult to work with. I love him so much, and he made me laugh so hard, that it was impossible to get through the scene. He's just so funny, he had his butt clenched so tight and with his little hand like this. Just watching him walk made me laugh.

TeenHollywood: Djimon was saying that he doesn't think he's a sex symbol yet.

Alicia: Oh, please. He can't not know it. Every time I tell any woman that I'm in this movie with Djimon, everyone's like [gasps]! Oh my God, he's so hot! In the movie, whenever his character came in, all the girls in the shop would go, 'Hi Joe'! I love that.

TeenHollywood: What was it like to have Queen Latifah both acting and producing the film?

Alicia: Oh, she was great. I thought this was so lovely. On one hand she's so mellow and so laid back, and so easy going, and like there's no drama, everything's cool. It's like she's hanging out watching TV or something, she always seemed so calm. That's mixed with this incredible force, and this incredible humor, and energy. It's like she's just got this perfect balance. It's a great way to lead a show. And, she's so pretty. I always love looking at her face.

TeenHollywood: Aren't you working on a new TV show?

Alicia: I'm working on a show right now that I'm producing with Imagine, and it's for Fox network, and it's a half hour single camera comedy. It's called 'Queen Bee.' And Danny DeVito's gonna be directing the pilot, and hopefully he's gonna do a role in it too.

TeenHollywood: What is it about?

Alicia: It's about a girl, I'll be that girl, who in high school and in college was the most popular girl in school, and everybody worshipped her. Of course, she has had to live with that, and it's been hard for her, but not really, you know. In the first episode, she learns that Queen Bee did not stand for her name, it stood for Queen Bitch. And she has to suffer the consequences, and she's sort of mildly in shock by this news, and she has to prove to everybody that it's not true.

TeenHollywood: What does she do for a living?

Alicia: In advertising there are these really neat little boutique agencies. Like Coca Cola will hire them to do this specific amazing report. They'll research and say 'you really need your Coca Cola bottles to be green this year, or to have this shape or whatever. They help them to sell their stuff. She fancies herself good at that. She does it in San Diego, and I'm sure she couldn't really compete with the big boys. She's the big fish in this small pond, and that's where she's gonna stay, forever.

But, Alicia couldn't stay with us forever. The last time I saw her, she was carrying her Stella McCartney heels and running barefoot down the hotel stairs.

***

Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.