INTERVIEW
Nastassja
KinskiPrague, November 1995
by David Speranza
Sitting down with Nastassja Kinski—a woman for whom the word "sensual" may have been invented—can be a tad disconcerting. This is especially true if your high school fantasies included Ms. Kinski and a large cat or snake. Luckily, it was some time since my imagination strayed in Ms. K's direction, due not only to changing tastes on my part, but the actress herself had spent much of the last decade eschewing movie stardom for motherhood.
She doesn't show it. At 34, she remains a lovely, youthful presence. In fact, there is a bit of the earth-child about her, a kind of mystic responsiveness and curiosity to the world which belies over 11 years of motherhood. Being a mother is clearly her most cherished role; the sense of fulfillment her three children bring her is nearly palpable. They fuel her, they guide her, and from all appearances they are also her best friends.
Nastassja and I met in the Hotel Don Giovanni during her final week of shooting Danielle Steele's The Ring. She managed to combine warmth, flirtatiousness, and wariness all at once, but beneath the professional veneer she was eager to return to her children, who were preparing to leave for their home in Los Angeles where the family has lived for the last four years.
From Prague it's sometimes difficult to keep track of your current films. I know you did Crackerjack, and—
(Smiling) That was my first project since I came back to America. I needed to work, and I needed to work all of a sudden, and so I just did it.
Then there was Terminal Velocity, with Charlie Sheen. Was there anything between those two?
Well, I was trying to work where we lived, and the projects that were offered to me were always away. Once when I was working in Russia, my daughter had a burn accident, so from then on I always swore I would not go far. And I didn't. In Italy I kind of worked just in Italy because we were there, and when I came to America I wanted to do the same thing, but that was less easy. The Ring happens to be something that I really love—I really loved the book. And [the kids] were able to come for a bit.
Do you see these films as a way of climbing back up the career ladder after your long absence?
Yeah, but I also...feel I owe it to the people that believed in me since I was 12, and I owe it to myself, to begin again and do some things I'm proud of. This is not something that I ever chose, it chose me.
The acting?
Yes. The work chose me. You know, when you're young, you want to do a million things, you want to be with your friends... I was happy because acting allowed my mother and me to live better, but I just wanted to have a normal life. After Tess, there was such a big responsibilty: "Don't do this, do that. Don't say this, say that." I was just 17, so I was like, "Okay, whatever." I loved doing Tess, but I couldn't hold up under all the pressure. I mean, you have to do the best you can, but you cannot not be allowed to mess up. And then I found myself facing the fact that this was what I was doing, and I didn't have anything else, I had no diploma... So then I started to take night classes and tried to catch up, but it was just all kind of like a whirlwind until I had what I'd wanted so much, which was my kids.
And that was when you decided to take time off?
Well, when you work you get up before the kids are up, and when you come home they are already asleep. And I thought, "This is insane, this is not what I want to do with my life and my children." Because it really is all-consuming once you do a movie. What I would like to do now is really good projects that are like, two weeks, and then every once in a while do something that's longer. You have to play with it and balance it out. If you don't create the time for your private life, it just won't happen.
What was the longest period you weren't working?
Two years here, two years there.
Were you getting a lot of offers?
I got some offers. There were a couple things—two theatrical plays and various film projects. Like Immortal Beloved, things like that. But they were always far, far away.
Immortal Beloved, of course, was shot in Prague.
That was shot here. But back then I thought, "Czechoslovakia! Please! I cannot go that far!" But I had to make a choice, and then people kind of forgot me and wondered if I was a mother or not, or whether I wanted to do this [anymore], or if I was any good in the first place. And then you have to prove yourself all over again—which is fair, it's the way it is. There are thousands of people out there doing the same thing I do.
Do you feel you've had to re-learn your craft as an actress? Is it something that gets rusty without use?
Definitely. Anything does.
Was there anything you missed about the film business?
I'd wanted a family for so long—since I was 15 or 16—I didn't really miss anything. Also, I thought I could always [work when I wanted], but then I realized it's not that easy to just jump back and forth. And I suddenly panicked, thinking "What if something happens?" I didn't ever want to be like a lot of mothers, like my own mother was—suddenly with nothing, no job, no money, a kid. Ever since I was little and supporting myself, I never wanted to be in that situation. So that also pushed me back to work.
How do you compare the Nastassja of the early '80s with Nastassja today?
In the '80s, I didn't have any rhyme or reason. I was in love a couple times, but I had no real reason not to do what I was doing. To do that created for me a fulfillment—being wanted, being needed, being cared for by a group of people, creating a story and a world that was interesting, that needed me. For two months or whatever there was this kind of warmth with all those people together. There was no reason for me not to do that, I wanted to do it very much. But now, when I have my own [family], everything changes.
How old are your children?
11½, 9½ and three.
Which of your films would you be most proud to show them?
Well, the usual. You know—Tess, Paris, Texas. Storywise, Maria's Lovers.
As a mother of three, do you have any reservations about the sensuality in your early films?
Oh, yeah. I mean, I used to just run around doing that—like in Cat People. But there, of course, it was justified by the fact that I was an animal as well as a human being. But when [nudity] was needed for a film, I just did what I was asked. I mean, not anything. But now I have a very hard time doing scenes that are...love scenes or whatever. You just think differently. Not that you become a super hypocrite or anything, but you change. You do imagine your kids seeing your films at some point. But one also has to have the courage to just explain to them, "I'm an actress, this is a story"—I think kids will understand.
What do you see as the biggest difference in the film business now from earlier in your career?
Whether it's back then or today, I think it's about people and how hard everyone works and how much the work means to you. Of course times change, and nowadays—especially in America—there's such a pressure if a film makes money, if a film doesn't make money, how much it costs—but you can't think about that. You just have to try to do as well as you can.
Which directors have you admired over the years that you would like to work with?
Well, I'd rather not say, but... There's Scorsese, there are a few others. And I would like to work with Jodie Foster as a director. We've known each other for many, many years and I think that would be interesting.
What were your feelings about One From the Heart? It was such a bizarre film.
I loved working on it. First of all, I was just so happy that Coppola actually chose me to work with that group of people. It was an incredible experience. For a director to tell you you have so many months to work in a circus school and work on the highwire and on the trapeze (which wasn't in the movie, but I did it), and who trusts you to do that and be an actress, and just loves you and loves his people, and creates this kind of family for many months—you never forget that.
So you actually did your own highwire walking?
Yeah, everything.
I guess you had a net for insurance purposes?
Yes, but I was actually higher than it seems in the movie, which is usually the opposite.
The other day I saw someone reading an article about you in a Czech magazine. The headline was, "I Am Always an Animal." What's that all about?
This is why, if I never do another interview again, I would be very happy. This is what I and many other actors suffer from, especially when you've done it since you're very young. People write so much crap that has nothing to do with you, and after a while you just say, "Whatever, have a good life." It gets so you just don't want to talk to anybody.
So there's no context for "I Am Always an Animal?"
No context at all. None.