One of Hollywood’s most respected actresses, JENNIFER CONNELLY remains something of an enigma, despite 30 years in the business. EVE CLAXTON meets a complex, compelling talent.
Jennifer Connelly – satiny black hair, luminous skin, vivid green eyes – is poised in her chair in a cafe in New York’s West Village, ready to talk about her latest movie, Shelter. In it, Connelly transforms completely to play Hannah, a homeless woman who, clad in a baseball cap and grimy oversized clothes, spends her days on the streets of Manhattan, begging for change to feed her heroin addiction.
“I spent time at a needle exchange and outreach facility on the Lower East Side,” says Connelly, 44, of her preparation for the role. “I walked through the city at night, and spent time with a woman who’s now recovered, but who had been using and living on the streets for many years.”
The actress reportedly shed 25 pounds to play Hannah, in the kind of full-blown character immersion we have come to expect from her. During her three-decade career, Connelly has played an assortment of troubled women – loners, drifters, depressives, the wronged and the marginalized. Is she consciously drawn to complex roles, or do they find her?
“People are complex,” she says, pausing carefully, as she does throughout the interview, to find the right words. “I appreciate inconsistencies and contradictions because everyone I know has those contradictions in their personalities. I’m absolutely drawn to that in a character.”
Shelter is directed by Connelly’s husband of 12 years, fellow actor Paul Bettany, whom she met on the set of A Beautiful Mind in 2001. They worked together again on Creation (2009), with Bettany as Charles Darwin and Connelly playing his wife, Emma. Shelter is the first time Bettany has taken on the role of director. Did she find it strange to be on set with her husband calling the shots?
“I thought it would be stranger than it was,” Connelly admits. “In a way, it felt very familiar. We met at work. We’ve been on the same set; we’ve been on each other’s sets. And it was really great to have that much trust, to have that degree of intimacy with your director, especially when the subject matter is so intense. It’s an amazing feeling of freedom and safety.”
When I remark that it must have been an advantage for Bettany to have such a talented muse on set too, she smiles. “Well, he didn’t have to worry. I was doing my homework... He saw me hunkered down! And we have similar sensibilities, we respond to similar films, we like the same performances, and I think that he had a sense of comfort, knowing we were creatively aligned.”
Ordinarily, the couple organizes their schedule so that one of them can always be at home with their three children. Connelly has an 18-year-old son, Kai, from her relationship with photographer David Dugan, and two children with Bettany: Stellan, 12, and Agnes, four. Shelter has been the exception to the rule, with both parents consumed by a single project during the same period. It has been tough to balance the competing demands of work and family, says Connelly. “Because it was low-budget with only a few days to shoot, we really couldn’t leave it all behind at the end of the day,” she recalls. “We had to prep each night for the next morning. Although it was probably somewhat miserable for the kids, it actually helped that the film was being made on such a short schedule. If it had been longer, it would have been more miserable.” She points out, however, that there is an inherent double standard in the question of work-life balance: “No one ever asks Paul if it’s tough juggling work and family.”
On the subject of motherhood, the actress, who is known for her reticence and restraint in interviews, noticeably relaxes. “It’s wonderful. There’s never been a day when I’ve thought I’ve needed my space,” she says. “I love spending time with them and I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the position where I can take time out between projects.”
The family has recently entered into a new chapter, with Kai leaving to go to college. “I just dropped him off last week!” Connelly exclaims, still not quite believing it. “It’s a huge milestone. The thing that helps [with missing him] is how happy he is.”
Kai’s departure has also provided her with a reminder of the vital role her career plays in her life. “I’ve always felt instinctively that it was important for my relationship with my kids for me to have my work,” she says. “That’s really been driven home.”
Beyond family, there are her fashion friends. Most notable of these is Nicolas Ghesquière, whom she has been close to since his tenure at Balençiaga, and now his current role as Creative Director of Louis Vuitton. Designer and muse met 13 years ago, when Ghesquière made Connelly a dress for the Oscars. “We instantly hit it off,” she says, “and stayed in touch over the years. I was drawn to him as a person, but also to his designs.”
Connelly, who has appeared in campaigns for the label, remains loyal on the red carpet, wearing a black vinyl and lace Louis Vuitton dress to the Shelter premiere at the Toronto Film Festival last year. “Nicolas makes it really easy. He makes me far more fashionable than I am,” she smiles. Connelly revived that old Oscar dress for a scene in Shelter, where Hannah breaks into a plush New York apartment and borrows a gown from the absent owner’s closet.
These days, she is making sure to keep all of her favorite pieces, so that her daughter can inherit them when she’s older. “Already, Agnes likes to walk around the house in my shoes,” Connelly laughs. “When I left the house today, she had on two hats, one on top of the other, and a scarf tied around her neck like a cape. She definitely has theatrical flair.”
Next up for the actress is American Pastoral, an adaptation of the Philip Roth novel, directed by Ewan McGregor and co-starring Dakota Fanning. “It’s something [my husband] Paul and I talked about years ago,” Connelly says. “I loved the book. It’s so interesting to think about the American dream and its devastation.
“I feel like I have been lucky,” she continues. “I love what I do, and I really try to do things I feel strongly about. I don’t know what has enabled me to keep doing that over the years but, knock on wood, I’m still working.”
Shelter is out November 13
