Sienna Miller: I struggled in Hollywood because of my tabloidy persona
Sienna Miller covers the January issue of Vogue to promote her role as BCoop’s military wife in American Sniper. She was photographed by Mario Testino, and I think the coat is Burberry. I’m not feeling the cover, but Sienna’s career has hit a new stride. She played Mark Ruffalo’s wife this year in Foxcatcher. Sienna just wrapped Unfinished Business with Vince Vaughn (ugh), and she’s appearing with Tom Hiddleston in High Rise. Plus there’s Black Mass with Johnny Depp and Cumby. Oh, and she’ll appear in Ben Affleck’s next directorial effort, Life by Night (based upon a Dennis Lehane novel).
Everything’s coming up Sienna these days. That’s surprising, considering where her career was five years ago. Sienna barely took any time off when she had a daughter (Marlowe) in 2012 with Tom Sturridge, but she had a big gap (via her IMDb page) in the three years prior. That was the period of time when Sienna struggled to recover from the Balthazar Getty debacle and the resulting (alleged) “vendetta.” Vogue has yet to release any of Sienna’s interview, but the cover alludes to her “second act.” She talks about her comeback in a new interview with the LA Times:
Praise from Clint Eastwood on Sniper: “Yeah, he’s quick. I definitely had heard that before I started shooting, so I was, like, ‘I better bring it on the first take.’ But if you want another one, he’ll give you another one. I understand this way of working now — there is something about the first time you say a line that can never really be repeated. Normally, I’m anxious and over-complicated and my process is quite thorough. I would keep going because I very rarely feel satisfied. But somehow with him, he’s so relaxed that you just kind of trust it. On our first day, after we’d shot an emotional scene, I went up to him, ‘I was just thinking, maybe –‘ and he was, like, ‘Have a great weekend.’ And as he was walking away he said, ‘You cast the right people,’ and that was the end of the day and I was, like, ‘Whoa.’ So that was kind of a great day — liberating. But then I had a bit of a meltdown.”
On her second act as an actress: “I think it’s narrow-minded. I struggled in Hollywood because people had really strong perceptions of who I was and it was hard to see me as anything other than this persona. I just think I was well known for the wrong things, maybe. My personal life. It got very tabloidly. My phone got hacked and I was in newspapers all the time in London, which is the most vicious city in the world for that kind of attention. Or I was known for being fashionable.”
How she fought that perception: “I sued everyone in England, basically. [Laughs] I have an injunction against paparazzi, so that’s now illegal. I obviously went to court with News of the World and the phone hacking and all of that. I took active steps and worked very hard to have a private life, which I have now had and enjoyed for six years. … So as a result of not having all those photos and not being on social media, I felt I’ve had the space to do my work.”
She tried social media: “I did have Instagram for a week, and it sort of fueled the worst part of my soul. I’d wake up every morning and have more followers and people were, like, ‘Welcome! We love you!’ And I was like, ‘Hee-hee, wow! This is actually fulfilling me!’ But I realized it was filling that part of you that will not ever be filled.”
[From LA Times]
Sienna is correct about her “tabloidy” personal life. That’s what happens when you date Jude Law, fool around with a married Balthazar Getty, and dump Rhys Ifans. Especially the second one. Now that’s she’s “sued everyone in England,” Sienna appears in the tabloids less, but it still happens sometimes. I’m surprised she’s still with Tom Sturridge. Maybe she really has settled down? I’m also interested to see whether Sienna’s new crop of movies will take off and establish her as a serious actress. Directors seem to have faith in her.
Update: Vogue released their interview with Sienna – go here to read. Most of the quotes are pretty similar to the LAT interview.
Photos courtesy of Vogue & WENN
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