Kate Bosworth

Emmanuel Itier: Did you gamble last night?

Kate Bosworth: Did you speak to Jim? I flew in last night and, as a group, we all became very, very close on this film, so I got very excited–overly excited–and had quite a big night out last night. I lost. Jim won. It’s kind of all or nothing for me. I had random spurts of just throwing in my chips and seeing what happens.

EI: Do you think you can be anything you want in Vegas?

KB: I guess. That is the whole idea of it, isn’t it? I guess you can kind of come to Sin City and do whatever you want. I don’t know. I guess so. I’ve only been to Vegas a couple of times. As much as I’ve been in this film, it’s not like I come here.

EI: During the six weeks of shooting?

KB: Honestly, on a film, we are so tired. We were just working. It’s a job. Yeah, I was in Vegas for six weeks, but we were absolutely exhausted. We worked a lot of nights as well, so it just gets weird when you are working at night, and you are going home when it’s bright out and you need to sleep. I got really sick as well. I got a bad infection, so there was some time when I just…I think it’s the air. I’m telling you, the recycled air.

EI: How was working with Kevin again?

KB: I feel very fortunate. I love working with Kevin and spending time with him, and Robert as well. This is the second time I got to work with Robert, so it’s nice to work with people that you like over and over again. There is a familiarity and trust.

EI: You feel safer?

KB: Yeah, absolutely.

EI: What did you bring to that part?

KB: Honestly, when they asked me to come on board for this project, the only element they hadn’t cracked was my character. The script that I read–the first script–was very one-dimensional. She was just the fantasy girl and that’s it, pretty much, and I just wasn’t interested in that. But I wanted so badly to work with Kevin again and Robert, and the studio was phenomenal. They said, “We know, we know! This is the one piece that we can’t really figure out. Please come in and let’s get it figured out.” So that’s when we came up with the idea of her father being a gambler and having that element brought in. And I said to them, “It’s so typical having her be…if you hire me, I’m not going to play this as being in Boston as this hot student. She should be a tomboy. She should just be sexier that way, just more down to Earth and be kind of the anchor.” And they let me do that too, which was great. Often studios wouldn’t be so into that.

EI: Are you a tomboy?

KB: Yeah, I think so. It’s funny, isn’t it, how people can…I think I’m definitely more of a tomboy than a girly girl, to be honest. I love fashion. I’m an only child, so I think that I grew up with sports. My dad was out throwing a baseball with me when I was young, so I think I did have that element.

EI: Were you the only girl on this?

KB: Lisa was on it as well, but I get along with guys really well. They’ll tell you. I give them a run for their money. I really give it to them. God, that sounded really sexual, but not in that way!

EI: So you are competitive?

KB: Yeah, that’s what I mean.

EI: What do you envy of men?

KB: God, like Freudian penis envy or something? I always find that whenever men are taking a pee, they are like, “Don’t you wish you could just do this outside?” It’s like they are so obsessed with their penises. It’s unbelievable.

EI: So the penis is overrated?

KB: I’m thinking… It just depends on the penis.

EI: That takes the clean-cut image away.

KB: That’s what I mean. If you really want to go for it, I can stay with you. I’d be even more crude, but I’m trying to be somewhat polite.

EI: Do you envy men?

KB: I guess it’s a constant battle of finding good roles for females. There are certainly more opportunities for men still today, but I’m up for the challenge. I’ve optioned a book. I’m producing it and putting it together. It’s called Lost Girls and Love Hotels. It’s my little passion project. So it’s like, if you can’t find it, do it yourself.

EI: You are a fashion icon now, yeah?

KB: Oh, god. I don’t… I think “icon” is Audrey Hepburn. You have to stand the test of time for that. I have to say of all the girly girl moments, when I heard I got the cover of Vogue, that was probably my best girly girl moment. I was pretty excited. I’ll give you that.

EI: You read Vogue?

KB: Yeah, absolutely! I love Vogue. I think it’s the classiest publication out there, in terms of magazines. I really do. Every photo shoot is so beautifully detailed and shot. Yeah, I’m a big fan.

EI: You have a relationship with designers?

KB: With some of them, yeah.

EI: Will you ever have your own line?

KB: Probably not. No, I don’t think so.

EI: Do you have a fashion sense?

KB: Yes. Look, one of my best friends is my stylist. She was my best friend before she was my stylist, but now she gets paid for it and we get to play dress-up, so that’s fun. There might be something she thinks looks great and I’ll say no, it’s not. You just know when it’s not you, and I think that’s probably the biggest thing–that you can tell when someone is just not quite comfortable in what they are wearing. Feel good in what you are wearing. Don’t try too hard because that will really show. If I’ve ever done something where I feel uncomfortable, I’ll look at it and go, “That was dumb. You shouldn’t have done that.”

EI: When did you get into fashion?

KB: You should have seen me in high school. I was going to school in pajamas. I looked like those kids in hoodies. When you get up at 6:00 in the morning, go to school, study, and stay up until 3:00 in the morning, you don’t really care. And, to be honest, there wasn’t anyone I was really…like I said, it’s a small town. If I went to school dressed up, it would be ridiculous.

EI: So when did you get a fashion sense?

KB: My father is in retail so I was always around fashion, and he always said to me, “Just stay classic. Trends will come and go. Fads will come and go. It’s fun to explore and experiment, but if I have any advice to you, just stay classic.” And I think it was a really good piece of advice. I do. And sometimes I’ll see people looking really trendy and working it, and I’ll go, “That looks really cool, but that’s just not me.” I just know what works for me and I think that was right, what he said.

EI: Elegant or comfortable?

KB: Hopefully both. These Jimmy Choos are comfortable. If I were going to work, it’s not like I’d show up in this. I’m putting on a nice impression for you guys.

EI: Did you know you were more beautiful than average?

KB: No! No way, man. I was always really, really skinny and had more of the boyish figure. All the boys in school had Pamela Anderson on their wall. I was not the beauty in high school. I didn’t get any superlatives. They had Best Hair and Best Eyes. I didn’t get any of those.

EI: So what happened then?

KB: I guess when I graduated from school and lived on my own, I started defining myself as a person. That sounds silly, but with clothes or fashion, it is an exterior thing. You are sort of saying who you are with your clothes or what mood you are in.

EI: You seem grounded. What keeps you that way?

KB Quite honestly, the people you say are grounded or are not grounded from the very beginning are probably that way, and in terms of fame, it will just heighten whatever it is. You are either going to stay the same person or become some kind of a nightmare. I had a wonderful upbringing. I’m really close with my parents.

EI: What happened when you left LA?

KB: I’m still in LA. My parents live in Boston, so when I graduated school, I moved out to LA on my own and got this apartment probably the size of this room, if even this big. I just went on six auditions a day and I’d done my school thing, and I thought if I’m doing acting, I’ll give it a go to see what happens.

EI: Is disappearing between movies important?

KB: There are some events I choose to go to because there might be people I know hosting the event that I’d like to see, but clubs give me anxiety, to be honest. They really do. I feel like, oh, it just freaks me out. I’d rather hang out at a bar and play pool or have a dinner party at home, or go out to a nice dinner with my friends. I don’t feel particularly too interested with the whole scene.

EI: What about staying in the public eye? Do you prefer privacy?
KB: That’s important to me.

EI: What about theater?

KB: I’d like to do that one day, but I’m too chicken shit now. I will at some point. I know I’ll love it. That will happen at the right time.

EI: What about the subject of education in the movie?

KB: That’s so expensive now. That’s crazy. I don’t know how people…

EI: Should education be free?

KB: Yeah, I do. I think everybody should have a right to education. I think everybody should have a right to health. We are going to get political here, but the whole health insurance thing, I think, is outrageous. I think France has it right in that way, I do. I just think, as human beings, we should have a right to health, to see a doctor if you are not well, and to not have to sacrifice anything for that. And education as well, I think.

EI: Hillary or Obama?

KB: So you immediately assume I’m a Democrat? [Laughs] I was being sarcastic! I’m interested. I think this is an interesting campaign. I’m following it pretty closely. I think it’s a good one. Who do you like?

EI: Will you still be here in ten years?

KB: I think it will be a combination of things. Right now, I just feel like I’m trying to get through the next day. It’s all so new. I feel so young with it all still. I’m learning with every experience, but I am really enjoying taking the reins with this next one, and maybe that will lead to other things.