Chloe Sevigny: On Obsession and Zodiac

Pretty, blonde Chloe Sevigny, most noted for indie film roles like she played in the much lauded Boys Don't Cry, started out in the entertainment world working for a teen magazine and modeling before being in the early skater boi movie Kids. The actress has always been noted for her cool style, which now leans mostly toward a vintage, retro 60's look. This comes in handy when you are asked to portray the wife of an obsessed 1960's era journalist played by Jake Gyllenhaal. In the true life crime thriller Zodiac, Chloe plays Melanie, a young '60's wife and mom who wears glasses and isn't exactly a fashion plate.

Near UCLA recently, we chatted with the candid Chloe about Zodiac, working with Jake, her style, her current and dream roles, including her TV stint in the edgy family comedy "Big Love" on HBO in which she plays one of three wives of a polygamist. For the uninitiated, the Zodiac was a serial killer who stalked the San Francisco Bay Area preying mostly on young lovers who were parking in remote areas. He was never caught although some lawmen agree on his identity.

Let's sit down with stylish Chloe, today wearing a long black, appropriately enough, Chloe retro coat over a short off-white, appliqued dress and black tights. Chloe's face is very natural. We only notice mascara...

TeenHollywood: As an actress playing a character who's not inside of the Zodiac investigation, but is affected by it, did you find that you had a different relationship to the material than Jake or Mark Ruffalo did?

Chloe: Yes. And, before I started the picture, a girlfriend of mine who was obsessed with Zodiac when she was a teenager, as lots of alternative girls probably were [laughs], gave me a copy of her book. I thought, 'Maybe I'll read it and try to get into where my husband in the movie's mind was, what he was obsessed with and what he was dealing with, day in and day out,' and I couldn't. I got almost through half of it and I had to put it down. I was like, 'I just don't want to read about this anymore'.

TeenHollywood: It was creepy?

Chloe: Yeah. [Laughs] That's probably how Melanie is. She doesn't want to hear about it anymore. It's this morbid subject. Her kids are threatened. I feel like that's probably how she was. She just wanted it out of her face. She didn't even want to read the newspaper articles. She'd heard way too much about it already. That's what I did, not because I'm lazy or anything. [Laughs] But, I truly was disturbed reading it. I was alternative, but I was never obsessed with Manson or Zodiac, or whatever else kids like that get into.

TeenHollywood: Do you think some of the retro clothes and the big glasses helped you and made you feel more like you were of the period?

Chloe: The wardrobe really affects me, and the hair and make-up, and all of that. I felt like they were trying to make me look frumpy to make Jake look less attractive. [Laughs] He has this unattractive girlfriend, therefore you can believe he's less attractive. I don't know. That's my own insecurities. But, I did like that she wasn't glamorous, in any regard. She was a working mother, and she was very practical. I got to be kind of cute, in the beginning. I liked that she was this practical, sassy, no nonsense lady.

TeenHollywood: Did you speak to the real woman that you portrayed?

Chloe: I did. She came to the set with one of her daughters and hung around for half a day. A set's kind of boring, so she didn't last that long. But, she was very spunky. They changed so much of the details, within their relationship. When they met, she also worked at The [San Francisco] Chronicle, and things like that. I didn't want to delve too deep. It's always difficult when you're playing [a real person]. After Boys Don't Cry, I actually vowed I would never play another living person, and then I have twice, already. It's always a little touchy.

TeenHollywood: It's cool that Melanie was strong and didn't really freak out.

Chloe: That's how it was written. But, I also didn't want to be this hysterical woman. I think that she respects her husband, and she knows he has this [obsession]. She wants to understand why because she wants to help him, but she's not going to go crazy and throw things around because she realizes that he's gotta do what he's gotta do. He's gotta follow it through, or else he's never going to come out of it.

TeenHollywood: Have you ever had a friend or a family member or a relationship where somebody's obsession is just wrecking it and you had to get out because of their obsession?

Chloe: With drugs, yeah, but not an obsession with something like a Zodiac.

TeenHollywood: What are you obsessed about?

Chloe: I've had obsessions with different rock stars or musicians growing up, throughout my life. But, right now, I don't have any real obsessions. I don't have time to obsess over things because I'm working on the second season of "Big Love" and we work five days a week, 10-16 hour days, every day. So, I don't really have time right now. I'm in a relationship [still with A.R.E. Weapons bassist Matthew McAuley?] and I did obsess over him, to a degree that we had to [take a break]. It was a little too much, so we had to back off. Now, it's good. [Laughs] I'm kind of a smotherer, which is slightly obsessive.

TeenHollywood: How was working with Jake, and how did you guys create those two people together?

Chloe: We had some rehearsals, where we went through all of our scenes and talked through the scenes and the dialogue, and he was very active in rewriting or adjusting his dialogue. I'm not a writer. I'm happy with the lines you give me, to a certain extent. But, he was very active in that and he would come with ideas for me, for my lines. [Laughs] He was very boyish and very funny. He kept the whole crew in stitches. They were all very charmed by him. He's very creative. He has so much energy. He's always bouncing off the walls. After 80 takes, I think he would get bored a little bit, especially when it was my coverage, so he'd be switching up the lines. His mind is always very active.

TeenHollywood: Once Jake's character starts obsessing over finding Zodiac, your house in the movie is a total mess. What would you do if you lived in a house like that, with everything piled to the ceiling?

Chloe: Oh, my God! I could not take it. Clutter drives me bonkers. I think I would just hide it all in the closet.

TeenHollywood: What was it like being the only female in the film? Did you feel kind of alone?

Chloe: No. There were lots of wardrobe and make-up girls. I'm not one to go sit behind the monitor with the producers and chat. I always go off in a corner and read my newspaper. I'm not so ambitious that I'm trying to work everybody. I know I'm only there for 10 days, so I'm going to do my work and do it the best I can. That's it for me. I'm not trying to make any friends. I've got enough. [Laughs] Was that horrible to say? I like my friends.

TeenHollywood: What can you say about the next season of "Big Love"?

Chloe: I think people will be really pleased. It moves at a much faster pace. Last season, I think it was a little slow, especially in the beginning. It kind of picked up towards the end. We'd have these problems that went over seven episodes, and now there's a problem and a resolve, almost per episode. A lot of unanswered questions are answered, and Nicki, my character, gets into some trouble again, and it's quite funny. But, I don't know if I can give you any specifics. I might get in trouble. The show starts airing again in June.

TeenHollywood: What's it like working on a show that is more fast-paced, like 'Big Love,' compared to a film like this, where there are 80 takes?

Chloe: As tedious as the 80 takes was, I liked it because you just got to try so many more things. You got to just experiment with it. The 80 takes wasn't just because of performance, obviously. [Director David Fincher] is so technical that a lot of it had to do with camera moves and lighting or background. With the children, it was obviously very difficult, so any of the scenes with the kids, there's always lots of [takes]. The pace of the TV show is just insane. What they make us do is unfair. It really is. [Laughs] There's all this chaos and then they're like, 'Okay, we're shooting, now act!' It's very hard.

TeenHollywood: Do you get to contribute ideas for your character, or do you just want to act and have nothing to do with that?

Chloe: I do a little bit. If there's something I really feel that she wouldn't do, I'll voice my opinion, but I can't write like they can. I think they're pretty brilliant, and I'm pretty pleased with the character, overall.

TeenHollywood: On Zodiac, the 1960's music was a big part of the film. Did you ever listen to that music?

Chloe: Yeah. I like girl groups, like the Shangri-Las.

TeenHollywood: What are you into listening to now?

Chloe: I still listen to a lot of stuff that I listened to when I was younger. Actually, this box set just came out on Rhino called 'Rockin' Bones' that's all 1950's punk and rockabilly. It's a great box set. I listen to a lot of Johnny Thunders. It goes from Morrissey to The Misfits.

TeenHollywood: Sounds really great. Did Fincher play music on set like some directors do to get you into the mood or no?

Chloe: No. I think that would be distracting. But, he watched back every single take. He had two plasma screen monitors and he would watch back every take. And, Jake would watch them too. I'd be in a corner, [covering my face]. I don't like to hear my voice.

TeenHollywood: You don't like watching yourself at all?

Chloe: No because then I become really too self-conscious, the next time I do it.

TeenHollywood: Can you watch your movies later?

Chloe: Later, yeah. I didn't watch the TV show. I thought the lighting was terrible. [Laughs] I watched one episode -- the episode they made us do commentary on [for the DVD] -- but that was it.

TeenHollywood: What was it like to look at it and then talk about the show?

Chloe: Luckily, I was with the other girls, so we were just gossiping and girly. We just goofed and praised everybody else, or each other.

TeenHollywood: Are you already thinking about what you're going to do after "Big Love"?

Chloe: I'm looking around, reading things and trying to find the right project. Last hiatus, I did three pictures. I did Zodiac, Lying, that went to Cannes, and a remake of De Palma's Sisters. It's going to be at South by Southwest [film festival]in a couple weeks. It was too much. I was so drained by the end. So, I'd like to find one great thing, but who knows if it will come. I mean, come on, how many great movies are out there, and how many am I going to get a part in? [Laughs]

TeenHollywood: Is there a character out there that you would like to portray on film?

Chloe: I was talking to these guys, years ago, about playing Alla Nazimova. She was a Russian actress that came to America, and she played 'Salome' when she was 50, or something. She was the first woman to write, direct and produce a movie in Hollywood. That was back in the '20's. She did silent films. You know where Sunset 5 is? [We indicate that we do] She had a house there and all these little bungalows, and it was called the Garden of Allah. She had a pool shaped like the Black Sea and all these panthers in the garden.

TeenHollywood: Wow, that's wild!

Chloe: Yeah. She was very eccentric. I love stories of immigrants. Or, maybe I'd do something turn-of-the-century in New York City, like playing Hester Street -- playing a Polish immigrant. I love the stories of people coming to America because I still love this country and I believe it's great, and I think it's great to show the positive aspects of it. Certain things aren't so great.

TeenHollywood: You've done so many independent films. Is that something that you like, compared to the bigger movies?

Chloe: I haven't had enough experiences on bigger movies. We made Lying for about $100,000 and I have to say, I don't ever want to make a movie for that little money again. It's just too taxing. We would have one holding room for all the girls. There was no catering. There was no money for anything and no time to do anything. That's ridiculous. [Laughs] So, I don't know if I have the patience for that low a budget again. Maybe $10 million or under. I don't know if I want to do any more $1 million films, like Boys Don't Cry or Kids.

TeenHollywood: You said earlier that you were too disturbed to finish the book, but you liked the Zodiac script. Is that what made you sign up for the film?

Chloe: That and Fincher. For me, throughout my career, I haven't necessarily always liked the parts. It's been more about the opportunity to work with [the directors] and be in one of their pictures. So, I like David Fincher. Like in American Psycho, my character shows more of the human side, and I felt like Melanie brought a bit of that to Zodiac too and I liked that.

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