Star on kids, love and growing old
I couldn't imagine giving up a child for adoption
Says Michelle Pfeiffer
By GRANT ROLLINGS
MICHELLE PFEIFFER was one of the first superstar actresses to adopt a child before it became a Hollywood craze.
Back in 1993, the stunning star of Batman Returns and Dangerous Liaisons took the controversial decision to adopt the baby daughter of an African-American nurse.
But Michelle insists that the arrival of her daughter Claudia Rose, now 14, transformed her life for the better.
And the dedicated mum, who also has a son, John Henry, 13, with second husband David E Kelley, says she could never put a child of her own up for adoption.
Michelle says: "I couldn't imagine giving up a child. The biological mother of my child knows where her daughter is."
Talking about the joys of motherhood, the 49-year-old continues: "I think from the age of 34 onwards has been the most enjoyable time in my life, because that's when my daughter was born. I've heard it said that once you become a mother you become a mother to all children. I really find that true - when you hear about tragedies involving kids you just think 'Oh my God, what would you do'. But you don't allow yourself to go any further with that thought because its just unimaginable."
Honest
When she adopted Claudia Rose, Michelle was a single divorcee and claimed she didn't want another man in her life. But later that same year Michelle met and married TV and film producer Kelley.
In 2002, she took four years out from her career to spend more time with her children and this summer returned to the big screen in the hugely-popular Hairspray. From tomorrow she can be seen in director Matthew Vaughn's new fantasy adventure film Stardust.
Michelle confesses that spending time with her teenage children made her want to wrap them up in cotton wool.
She smiles: "I have to force myself to let them take responsibility for themselves and not mollycoddíe them. I'm really overprotective."
The refreshingly honest star also admits to having been a bit of a control freak in the past. But she says that parenthood taught her that she could not have her own way all the time.
Michelle recalls: "For someone like me, where control is a big issue, I really had to learn early on to let it go. Before I became a parent I could control everything in my life and
get away with it. When you become a mother you realise trying to maintain that will kill you because kids are so unpredictable. Having said that, you have days where you truly feel disabled as a parent - like you are ruining your child's lives. You start thinking, 'Let's put money into an account for them so they can get therapy'.
"I truly believe being a parent is the hardest but most rewarding thing a person can ever do."
Michelle certainly looks good for her 49 years - so her role in Stardust must have been a strange one for her. She plays a 5,000-year-old witch called Lamia who is desperate to regain her youth.
In order for Lamia to achieve this she must cut the heart out of a
fallen star, played by Claire Danes. While surgery will help her character achieve a life of everlasting beauty, Michelle has resisted the temptation to go under the knife.
She says she enjoyed playing the haggard witch because she wants to "shine a light on the lengths women will go to find eternal youth and how we mutilate ourselves".
Michelle hasn't always had the super-svelte figure we associate with her now.
Feminine
She remembers: "One of the things my teachers used to write on my report cards was, `Michelle is one of the biggest girls in class'. I shot up when I was younger and, apparently, I was 'big'. Teachers felt the need to point
this out - all I wanted was to be one of the petite girls. My mother always cut my hair in pixies but there was just nothing feminine about me."
Michelle admits she was a tomboy at school and still likes "building things - like my kids' playhouse". But her maternal side is evident in her other hobbies. She explains: "I like knitting. It's like I run a little arts and crafts store."
Michelle says she had a great time making Stardust - but it tough getting ready for work every day. She had to spend hours in make-up to transform her into a convincing 5000-year-old.
And it wasn't a case of just washing it all off at the end of the day. She recalls: "I'm sure I lost so many layers of skin because they
had to peel off these prosthetic layers. It took about an hour every day for them to scrub it all off. "None of us had really done a prosthetics movie before so everyone was surprised by how long it took and the toll it took on us." Michelle made it clear to director Matthew Vaughn - who also directed Brit flick Layer Cake - that she was unhappy with her original prosthetics.
Monster
She says: "Lamia's image was an evolution because at first it was really monster-like make-up. I remember calling him saying 'Matthew, I look like a monster'. We started out with a much more exaggerated look. I had big eyebrows, like a Neanderthal on steroids. So we kept toning it down and finally got to something that looked hideous but still human."
Stardust is a tale of romantic destiny, with the main character Tristan Thorn falling in love with the fallen star.
But Michelle doesn't believe love is that easy and says you have to work at it. She concludes: "I think life is all about the choices you make. I worked really hard to be the kind of person I was when I met my husband. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been ready for him when I met him. I wouldn't have appreciated it and I could have sabotaged it. The fact I didn't is down to the choices I made."
Don't miss The Sneak's review of Stardust, only in tomorrow's Sun. |
