V Magazine ha pubblicato un'intervista particolarmente azzeccata e divertente ad Amanda Lear. Irresistibile lo scambio di battute con Claudia Schiffer che doveva essere scelta come protagonista del film sulla sua vita...
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Music
THE BALLAD OF AMANDA LEAR
Before Gaga, or even Madonna, there was a woman who played the strings of rumor and scandal against her own disco beat. But Amanda Lear, queen of the 70S scene, still has plenty to say about bad biopics, deceitful lovers, cougar castings, and the peril of tributes. Here she speaks with her dear friend Riccardo Tisci about then and now
Photography Willy Vanderperre in collaboration Riccardo Tisci
RT Is there an artist you feel is underappreciated today?
AL Yeah, me for instance! I sold about 18 million records in the days of disco, but people tend to forget that. That is the problem with people like me who do too many things. I paint, I used to host a television show, I now act onstage. It makes it difficult for people to put a label on you and so when they talk about singers, they talk about Grace Jones, but Im from the same era!
RT What do you think has changed since the 70s, in terms of the way people dressed and behaved then versus now?
AL I think were more discreet now. It was completely crazy fashion back then. I didnt like that fashion at all. The fashion now is a delight. Im not nostalgic, Im not looking back and thinking, It was so much better in the 70s.
RT What is something you love to wear every day?
AL Jeans, jeans, jeans. They make good legs, jeans. Not so low waist, you know, proper waist, high heels, and a little bomber. I think its very chic when you take some clothes from your boyfriend and underneath you wear a see-through blouse or something very feminine. Marlene Dietrich dressed like thatmixing masculine and feminine.
RT Do you have any favorite pieces by Givenchy?
AL I have a very nice trench coat from two or three years ago. Simple black trench, very chic. Im absolutely mad for accessories. I have all the Givenchy bags and I just got a Dolce & Gabbana. They actually contacted me because they want to print my face on all their T-shirts like they did with Madonna. Its very sweet, but when people start paying tribute to you it meansyou feel very old. You feel very, very old, like one foot in the grave! [Laughs]
RT What do you find attractive about others?
AL A sense of humor. I think whether theyre good-looking or not they have to be able to have a good laugh. I think humor is a form of seduction. I think now that Im not so young anymore people still enjoy my company because Im fun to be with. Thirty years ago when I got married in L.A., Paul Morrissey asked me what I would like for a wedding present, and I said I wanted to meet Mae West, who was very, very old already. She was into ESP and was a bit out of it, but she had that sense of humor, that incredible wit. And I think thats terribly important.
RT Youve lived everywhere. What languages do you speak?
AL I speak fiveFrench, English, German, Italian, and Spanish. With Salvador Dalí I spoke Spanish. On my television show and with my boyfriend I spoke Italian. But when I married my French husband, I started living again in France and got really into speaking French all the time. But for years I was singing in English. Actually I think there is a language for every situation. Some famous king said that. He spoke in English to his minister, in French to his wife, in Italian to his mistress, in Spanish to his soldiers, and in German to his horse. [Laughs]
RT But which nationality do you identify with most?
AL I kept my British passport and enjoy the company of British people. I had this flat in Chelsea for so many years around the corner from Manolo Blahnik, but I had a problem with French tax authorities and had to sell it. I got a flat in Paris and I have a beautiful house in the south of France, but England is more civilized than the rest of the world.
RT Who are some of your favorite artists?
AL I used to be mad about Picasso. I think he was an incredible painter. I didnt like Salvador Dalí at all, unfortunately. [Laughs]
RT But you were such good friends
AL I was with him for many yearsI liked the man but I didnt like most of his paintings. As far as music, Im mad for classical. On my iPod Ive got Mozart but also Ive got the complete works of Barbra StreisandI think she has the most incredible voice ever. It comes from deep down inside.
RT Is there an artist you feel is underappreciated today?
AL Yeah, me for instance! I sold about 18 million records in the days of disco, but people tend to forget that. That is the problem with people like me who do too many things. I paint, I used to host a television show, I now act onstage. It makes it difficult for people to put a label on you and so when they talk about singers, they talk about Grace Jones, but Im from the same era!
RT What do you think has changed since the 70s, in terms of the way people dressed and behaved then versus now?
AL I think were more discreet now. It was completely crazy fashion back then. I didnt like that fashion at all. The fashion now is a delight. Im not nostalgic, Im not looking back and thinking, It was so much better in the 70s.
RT What is something you love to wear every day?
AL Jeans, jeans, jeans. They make good legs, jeans. Not so low waist, you know, proper waist, high heels, and a little bomber. I think its very chic when you take some clothes from your boyfriend and underneath you wear a see-through blouse or something very feminine. Marlene Dietrich dressed like thatmixing masculine and feminine.
RT Do you have any favorite pieces by Givenchy?
AL I have a very nice trench coat from two or three years ago. Simple black trench, very chic. Im absolutely mad for accessories. I have all the Givenchy bags and I just got a Dolce & Gabbana. They actually contacted me because they want to print my face on all their T-shirts like they did with Madonna. Its very sweet, but when people start paying tribute to you it meansyou feel very old. You feel very, very old, like one foot in the grave! [Laughs]
RT How do you pick a look for a performance?
AL It has to be striking, obviously. It has to shine a little bit because Im thinking of the light. It has to hide all the bad bits that I dont want to show. [Laughs] And show off the good bits, which in my case is the legs, so if I wear a long dress it will be a little bit see-through like what I wore to the Vogue ball.
RT What is your daily ritual?
AL Wake up, look in the mirror, and say Oh my God, what am I going to do! [Laughs] Im more of a morning girl, I must say. So the first thing: big breakfastcorn flakes, muesli, coffee Im very, very healthy. I take millions of vitamins, ginseng Then in the evening I do my performance onstage in the theater. So at 11 oclock at night after the play Im absolutely dead. Im not very much of a disco girl anymore, Im not going out to clubs. Im a working girl and I go to bed early. When I started doing theater, I said, Alright, people expect me to be really ****tyShe could never act, lets go and have a good laugh. So I insisted on being terribly professional and doing it right. And everyone was surprised.
RT Whats the name of the play?
AL Panic in the Ministry, or Panique au Ministčre in French. In the play I have a daughter who is the Minister of National Education, so shes terribly uptight, wears business suits, thinks only about her career. Then suddenly I arriveher mothercompletely out of my head, smoking a joint, having young men around. Its very funny and people adore it. Ive been doing it for two and a half years now. And after this Ive already signed up for a movie and a TV series so I think Ill be acting for a few years.
RT Do you think your book, My Life with Dalí, will ever be made into a film?
AL My Life with Dalí was interesting because it was an account of an intimate Salvador Dalí. There were hundreds of books written about the public Dalí, but what he had for breakfast, what he did every day, I was the only one to tell that story. So they called me when they had the big retrospective in Philadelphia, and people talked about me like I was Dalís widow, which Im not. They said they wanted to make a movie, and I said, Okay, but who is going to play Dalí, and most importantly, who is going to play me?
RT Who do you think?
AL I was a model back then, so it could be a model. We were thinking about Claudia Schiffer, who was very much in fashion at the time. So we gave her the book and we finally met and she said to me, Oh I love your book, who wrote it for you? Who wrote it for me?! I said, Im glad you like it, who read it to you? [Laughs] So that was the end of that. I dont know at the moment whos going to play me or if it will be made. Theyre going to **** it up anyway. Whenever theres a movie, like the life of Marilyn Monroe, or Picasso, or Modigliani, its very difficult, especially if its filmed by some director who never met the person, who wasnt there at the time. They made a movie with Robert Pattinson playing Dalí and it was totally ridiculous. Can you imagine Robert Pattinson from Twilight playing Dalí? I had nothing to do with that.
RT What do you feel Dalí taught you?
AL He taught me how to be an entertainer. Hanging out with him was a bit like being around Elvis because he behaved like a rock star, surrounded by all sorts of hangers-on. Whenever there was a camera crew around, immediately he changed the way he spoke and moved. So from him I learned how to manipulate the media when you want people to talk about you.
RT What was it like receiving the Chevalier dans lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres in 2006?
AL Oh my God it was embarrassing. I thought, What have I done to deserve this? But they said, Your career! Youve done so many records and movies, you paint, youve had all these TV shows, you deserve it. So I said, Alright, if you put it that way. Then last week I received a letter from the government. They want to give me the big medal, the Legion dhonneur, and this time I said, No. I have to decline. I cannot accept the Legion dhonneur because it is really for those who have served the country of France. I didnt go to war or anything, so I find it a bit embarrassing to tell you the truth. To me it sounds so grand, so political.
RT So youve officially declined it.
AL Well I think Im going to decline. I just received the letter last week and I asked a few friends. Some of them said, You
cannot accept, people will laugh at you. Others said Take it, dont be silly, it will be fun. So I dont know.
RT I think you should go for it.
AL Its a little red ribbon that Id have to wear on my lapel so it will look good on my black Givenchy dress. [Laughs]
RT You have to accept. You already have the outfit for it!
AL Maybe [Laughs]
RT What is your dream?
AL My dream is one day Ill be sitting in a restaurant and Woody Allen will walk by and say Hey, I want this girl for my next movie. [Laughs] But really I would like a director to see the possibility. Because right now they only see a part of methe cougar, the 60-year-old woman who still looks good, goes out with young men. Thats Sex and the City, but there is more to me. I would like to go deeper into acting and see what I can do, play Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire Thats my dream, it will come some day. It takes time but I have no doubt it will come.
RT What is a quote that sums up your life?
AL I think it was King Ludwig of Bavaria, who was completely crazy, who said, I want to remain an enigmato others and to myself. Some people go into years and years of psychiatry because they want to understand You know what? I dont want to know how it works inside. So Ill have that written on my grave: I want to remain an enigma. If not that then Ill have them write: No more shopping. [Laughs]
RT What is something you cant live without?
AL Black eye makeup.
RT Out of everything in the world, thats the one thing?
AL Absolutely. Until age 40 a woman should wear a lot of black on her eyes. And after forty, she should wear even more. [Laughs]
RT Do you have a secret to defying age?
AL I never think about itI think thats it. Its like any other fear. Once you start counting the minutes, you get older every second. You might as well jump right out the window.
RT What is next?
AL The only thing that Im missing in my life is a beautiful love story to end it all. And I am waiting. The man has to be very patient, good-looking, and faithful. I dont mind if hes black or white or whatever as long as he has a sense of humor and is not desperately jealous because Im not Miss Faithfulness. I was with a beautiful Italian boy for ten years until we split last year.
RT Who was he?
AL Manuel, an incredibly good-looking boy. He was a model and then he was on this show called Im a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! He was starving on an island somewhere and he made quite a bit of money after that. He wasnt just Amanda Lears boyfriend. But then last year, unfortunately, he started hitting it off with a weather girl. Those weather girls are terrible. So I dropped him on the spot. He begged for forgiveness but I said, Thats it, thats it, its finished. So I will find another one, and he better keep away from the weather girls.
Amanda, 60, wears
Clothing and accessories Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci
Black coat, tone-on-tone leopard jacket, black bone necklace S/S 2011 Menswear Knit vest, jersey top, sheer gloves with leather palm Resort 2011 Chain necklace and ring Lears own
Makeup Adrien Pinault for Dior Beauty (Management Artists)
Hair Tomohiro Ohashi for Redken/Cutler Salon (Management Artists)
Manicure Anny Errandonea (Marie-France Thavonekham)
Photo assistants Romain Dubus and Corentin Thevenet
