PRESS ARCHIVE
Allure - November 2001
CALISTA KICKS BACK

The Ally McBeal actress tells Allure about her Hawaiian vacation, her feelings for Robert Downey Jr., and her love for the new guy in her life.
By Oliver Jones.


Calista Flockhart has changed. Four years of media scrutiny, normally reserved for wayward politicians and corrupt business leaders, have given Flockhart a toughened gaze that hardly befits a 36-year-old actress. Gone, too, is the pale, fragile complexion; her normal teacup-white skin is tanned a cognac brown, the result of almost two months in Hawaii – her first vacation since she became the quixotic and quarrelsome Ally McBeal.

This past year has been filled with transitions for Flockhart. In January, she adopted a newborn boy, whom she named Liam. In the spring, much of the buzz that had surrounded the FOX television series Ally McBeal in its early years returned, thanks mainly to the electric current between Flockhart and Robert Downey Jr. Now Downey Jr. and James Le Gros are leaving the show, along with Lucy Liu and Lisa Nicole Carson (both of whom will be making sporadic appearances), and actor/rocker Jon Bon Jovi is joining the cast as Ally’s latest love interest, but Flockhart seems to accept these shifts with grace. "We've had a lot of changes right from the very beginning of Ally McBeal," she says. "It's always hard to say good-bye and let go of actors and characters with whom you've created a bond. On the other hand, whenever somebody new comes on, it's exciting. It changes the chemistry and it raises the bar. I'm really enjoying this season. It's the first year we haven't had any outside drama going on."

Flockhart’s last four years have been nothing but outside drama. Since bursting into the collective consciousness in 1997, she has been forced to become the national avatar of a hot-button issue not once, but three separate times. First, as the comically lovelorn and controversially short-skirted Ally, she became the face of post-feminist narcissism, or as Time famously put it in a June 1998 cover story, an example that "much of feminism has devolved into the silly." Then, following a now infamous red-carpet appearance at the Emmy Awards later that year, the media made Flockhart the prime example of how Hollywood is pushing actresses toward dangerous states of thinness. (She has, of course, always maintained that she doesn't have an eating disorder, and that she's been "all head and no body" since the day she was born.) Finally, her embrace of single motherhood initiated her into a club of celebrity mamas who have created controversy with their choice to bring up a child without a father. Nevertheless, as someone who has watched her television series live through the fluctuating highs and lows of hemlines, Nielsen ratings, and troubled costars, Flockhart has shown that one can survive acute public attention with dignity and humor. While most of us would have curled up in the fetal position on our therapist's couch, she's on David Letterman telling the press to kiss her "skinny white ass."

Today, said ass is comfortably seated in the back room of a seaside Santa Monica diner. She is wearing jeans and a black scoop-neck T-shirt, her slender neck and pierced earlobes unadorned because her son loves to pull off any jewelry she puts on "I’ll wear rings on occasion," says Flockhart, her voice low and deliberate. "Rings he just points at." She yawns happily ("I function very well on small amounts of sleep. Actually, I haven’t gotten a lot of sleep since I started Ally McBeal") and orders oatmeal and fried eggs (yes, yes, she eats them, OK?).


GOOD-BYE TO ALL THAT

"I have a very special affection for Robert [Downey Jr.], and we had a really wonderful time working together. I think chemistry like that is rare, and when it happens, you treasure it. But anybody who has spent any time with an addict knows what it's like, that it definitely presents difficulties. I guess what is important is, from what I understand, he's doing really well, and getting the right kind of help. But we were going to get married this season, and it was one of my favorite scripts of the year. [She sighs.] Oh, Ally."

CALISTA IN WONDERLAND

"I can't sit down and watch an episode from year one all the way through. Once, I was sitting in my dressing room, and I picked up a tape, threw it into the VCR, and watched an episode – I can't remember which one. It just looks all innocent to me. We looked much younger. There were moments that I should be shot for – mostly moments that I should be shot for. I was trying too hard most of the time. I was new in Hollywood, wanting to do well, wanting to please, and I was getting a lot of confusing acting notes that were trickling down from the network and the producers. Nobody knew me. Why would they trust me? There was a lot of pressure to do well, and the whole show was kind of riding on me."

THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT

"When we first started the show, David [E. Kelley] didn’t want the women to wear anything but skirts. We weren't allowed to wear pants in the courtroom. And now I wear pants all the time and I don't wear short skirts anymore. I have to admit that it was fun wearing them, but I had no idea at the time that an item of clothing was going to evoke such controversy. It was a little shocking. But then it became fun: We just kept making them shorter and shorter. And then I just looked at myself one day, and I said, 'That is so cheap.' It's hard wearing a short skirt all day. It's not as easy to bend over and pick something up quickly. You have to be a little more strategic and careful."

THE PRICE OF STARDOM

"In the beginning of Ally, I was lonely, and I didn't understand why. I don't know if my experience was unique, but it might have been a little unprecedented. I was really hounded for a couple of years, and it happened really fast. I think it was overwhelming and a bit frightening. I actually think that this vacation that I just took, the time off and the sleep and all of that, really helped me to concentrate on other parts of my life. I feel impervious to the negative attention now. It's not my focus. It's not what I care about. All the stories in the press had such a tabloidian feel to it. It's all about dirty laundry, and it's uninteresting. I understand the agenda: It's about ratings and money. It has nothing to do with people."

PRESS PASS

"I was fortunate that I didn't pay attention to a lot of my press in the beginning. I mean, I was aware of it, but a lot of it I missed. I'm not saying that I didn't struggle, because I had real moments of depression. Actually, I think my depression was just fear that manifested itself as sadness. I was just afraid, and I was very upset about the fact that, from my point of view, my career was getting ruined. I stuck really close to my friends, and tried to maintain my sense of humor. And I learned not to take anything personally."

N.Y.C. VS L.A.

"A lot of my friends ask me if I'll move back to New York when the show ends. I'm pretty certain that I won't. I like the nature aspects of Los Angeles. It just seems more conducive to bringing up a child. I like that I have a swing set in the backyard, and I wouldn't have that in New York. It did take me some time to get used to it here. During my first years of Ally McBeal, I was living from hotel to hotel. When I finally moved into my house, things kind of fell into place. My home has been my sanctuary. But I still miss the theater in New York. My passion for being onstage hasn’t gone away. Maybe I'll just find a community theater in the Caribbean and move there. Aruba Rep, perhaps?"

AMBITION REMISSION

"I don't have any ambition left at all. This could change in a week, but at this point in time, I would rather take Liam to the park. However, if somebody called me right now and said Ally McBeal is over, I would not be excited about that. It would be very disconcerting. It becomes your life, and then somebody takes it away and you have to reinvent your life. It's going to take some adjusting when the show actually ends, I'm sure. I'm preparing myself already. I keep a journal, and I write down details of the few bad days, so my memory can't become convenient and earase all the bad times. Now I can look back and say, 'See, not every day was perfect.' Memories can trick you."


CALISTA, HEAD TO TOE

Old Favorites

"I use Vaseline petroleum jelly for my skin. I usually mix it with a cream from Cetaphil. It's just a great moisturizer. I don't use it on my face, but I do use it to take off my eye makeup. I have tubs of Vaseline all throughout the house. Sometimes the old things work the best. I use it on Liam, too. We share other stuff as well, like this baby lotion called Baby Magic. On my lips I use Clinique Black Honey. I've used it for ten years. And if they ever discontinue it, I'm going to die. It's just like a lip gloss with a little tiny bit of tint. It doesn’t really look like anything. It's just shiny and has a little bit of color."

Latest Indulgences

"I don't know who new it is, but I also use these products called Fresh. I just love all those lotions and creams, especially this cucumber sort of body spray. It's true: They smell really fresh. I wash my face with Cetaphil cleanser, and I just started using this face cream. It is French and I am not sure how you pronounce it. I think it's spelled C-A-U-D-A-L-I-E, with a little thing on the I. It's some fancy cream from Barneys."

Fantasy Haircut

"This season, my hair is about the same length as it was our first year, but the style is a bit updated. I hope that it is, anyway. I've flirted with the idea of cutting it all off really, really short, like Mia Farrow used to have. I don't think Ally has ever prevented me from doing it."

Spa Slacker

"I was never one to pamper myself. Occasionally, I would go to the Beverly Hot Springs, which I like. But I haven't done that since I've had Liam. And I don't get as many massages as I used to, and this is probably the exact time when I need them the most."

Cover-Up Clash

"I actually hate wearing a lot of makeup. In my opinion, I don't think anybody should ever wear foundation. I mean, men don't wear foundation – why do women feel the need to put it on? When I feel like it, I'll use a little bit of a bronzing powder, you know, to give me my 'extraordinarily healthy glow.' [Laughing] Don't write that, I was joking."

Sun In

"I live near the beach, so I normally wear sunscreen every single day. I put 45 all over my face and I always wear a hat, always, because I get freckles. In Hawaii, though, I allowed myself four hours in the sun a day. That's the first time I have tanned in, I would say, 15 years. I got really tan. I loved it. But now I’m afraid that I might become a sun worshipper again. When I was young, I used to go to the Jersey Shore and bake myself in baby oil, so I'm sure that one day my whole skin is just going to fall off. But I want to say, as I’m sitting here with a tan, that the sun is bad, and we should all accept our naturally white bodies."


Legally Blonde

Who? Calista Flockhart.

What? Allure's November cover, photographed by Michael Thompson.

Where? Lux Studio in Manhattan.

When? July 13.

Why? Flockhart, an established actor onstage, onscreen, and on television, recently earned her third Emmy nomination for her role on Ally McBeal.

Hanging Loose: Looking refreshed after a Hawaiian vacation, the actress moseyed into the studio at 10 A.M., wearing a gray T-shirt, khaki cargo pants, baby blue flip-flops, and a baseball cap.

Fuel Injection: At the shoot, Flockhart dug into a healthy breakfast of steamed vegetables and egg whites, and later ate a catered lunch of pasta, beets, and green salad.

Golden Girl: Makeup artist Laura Mercier lightly applied concealer and foundation to Flockhart's sun-kissed skin, then brushed on bronze powder and rosy brown blush. To give her smoky eyes, Mercier used black eye pencil, black eye shadow, and black mascara. Finally, she polished the actress's signature smile with rose brown lipstick.

Short and Sweet: Hairstylist Didier Malige worked a small dollop of volumizer through Flockhart's short hair, blow-dried it smooth, and added shine with a few drops of hair serum.

Crowd Pleaser: In spite of her acting accolades, Flockhart proved to be the anti-diva"Calista was very relaxed," Malige said, "and took the time to charm everyone she worked with."

-Laurel Naversen
Date of this item added :
2007-09-02