Act I: Room 1900, the Peninsula Hotel, New York City, early morning. A cheerful Ashley Judd, twenty-seven, wrapped in a hotel bathrobe, is enjoying croissants and hot chocolate. On the table is a Polaroid of boyfriend Matthew McConaughey (who plays her husband in the upcoming John Grisham movie A Time to Kill).
What do you usually wear to bed?
Nothin'. But I love my nightgown. I drove across country in it. When I saw Something to Talk About, people went nuts when Julia Roberts pops up in a bar in her nightgown, because it seemed odd. But to me it was funny because it seemed real.
What's your favorite body part?
The back of my hand -- though it's swelled up at the moment from grease and water retention -- because my hands are like my grandmother's, and remind me of my grandparents, a real poignant part of my life.
Middle America is seeing you now in your first mainstream movie [Heat ] -- but it's already watched your life portrayed in a TV docudrama, Naomi and Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge, based on your mom's book.
(grimaces) That ain't any life I recognized. The girl was pretty and had hair like I used to have, but she was really whiny and dependent. And they filmed scenes that absolutely did not occur in real life, like me saying to my sister [Wynonna], "I don't hate you, but you got Mom -- I envy you." The three of us were watching it, and I just had a fit, totally exploded. We put it on pause and talked about it.
Who should have played you?
First thing that comes to mind is, who do I think is the best actress of my generation, and that's Jennifer Jason Leigh. But I would've never made her do such a shitty little part!
Act II: An hour later, the St. Regis Hotel dining room. Judd orders herself enough breakfast for three, explaining, "I'm on a major food holiday because I need a break between jobs. This is my free-for-all."
You may be the only young actress who doesn't smoke cigarettes, but you were smoking cigars long before it was trendy.
I think it has to do with being a Kentuckian -- I love tobacco. In third and fourth grades I spent summers at my grandparents' watching a lot of baseball on TV. When my pawpaw Judd would get up from his chair to get a Pepsi or go to the bathroom, I would poke through the ashtray to find the most recent cigarette butt and drag on it.
Speaking of Smoke, thanks to that movie you were in Jerry Garcia's last video. Were you a Deadhead growing up?
Not at all. I honestly thought that if I went to a Dead show, someone was gonna drop that liquid acid on me. I've never done drugs, but I wore a lot of tie-dye!
So how did you play the junkie so accurately in Smoke ?
No preparation -- you just do the work. You live truthfully in the imaginary circumstances -- that's what acting is. It's fun. I mean, if I didn't have some social restraint, I'd stand up and do something right here in this restaurant. I would like to find a part in a movie that's clean, to which I could take my grandparents.
You filmed another one-scene performance for Natural Born Killers, as a witness who testifies against the serial killers. Why was it cut from the final print?
It would've made the movie NC-17. The ratings board found it "too emotionally harrowing." I took that as a compliment.
Act III: A photographer's studio overlooking the Holland Tunnel. An Alison Krauss CD is blaring. Judd sits before a mirror being made up, wearing only underwear and a sheer pink chiffon robe. Her publicist comments that she looks like Mrs. Roper from Three's Company.
Did you watch a lot of television growing up?
It was limited.
How about The Beverly Hillbillies ?
I liked the animals Elly May had -- great big tigers and stuff, and they were all so tame. My sister says I act like a hillbilly when I go to the airport and I'm still rearranging my clothing -- with it all splayed out on the Mercedes in the parking lot.
Can you talk about your first real boyfriend?
(immediately) Chris Price, in the fifth grade. (pause) Oh, you mean the giving away of my virginity? No!
How old were you?
Too young. I'll just say, I was in the van, but I wasn't driving. Ha-ha-ha! (doubles over)
I was going to ask about your dating preferences, but now you have --
Sweetie Pie -- S.P. for short. I never dated very much, because it's so rare for me to be inspired. I've had a crush or two, but love is sacred, and by virtue of that, it's not pedestrian. You don't like somebody every other week.
Where did Matthew sleep when he visited your mom's?
He slept in the office out in the barn -- I don't want to be disrespectful to my parents.
Aren't you twenty-seven years old?
I know, but...Matthew and I lived together while doing A Time to Kill , which is not something that I would do in normal, straight life, because I don't believe in simulating marriage. You're either married or you're not.
Judd is beckoned to her place in front of the camera. She resembles an auto-repair-shop calendar girl. She playfully toys with provided props -- cigar, beer bottle, stuffed dog -- spanking the latter in a self-consciously Betty Page way.
What will your family think when they see this photograph of you?
My sister's gonna have a heart attack. My mama'll just shake her head and not speak to me for a week. Then she'll assign Pop to give me a lecture.(The sound system starts playing Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee," and Judd starts dancing wantonly.)Obviously, I am not from Muskogee!(Exeunt.)
Details, January 1996
