Spotlight on actress Alicia Silverstone
The Clueless star is back in the TV series American Woman
FIERCE FEMINIST In her first starring role in a TV series since 2003, Alicia (41) plays Bonnie Nolan, a mom of two who decides to leave her cheating husband and raise her daughters by herself – no easy feat in the ’70s.
But she has the help of her best friends, Kathleen and Diana, and all three end up discovering their independence.
“Bonnie gets her whole world taken out from underneath her, and then has to fight to put her life back together and survive,” Alicia says. “The ’70s were an interesting time. We’ve come a long way in many areas, but in some areas we haven’t.” TOUGH IN TINSELTOWN The success of Clueless (1995) catapulted her into the limelight but the actress soon became disillusioned with Hollywood.
After presenting at the 1996 Oscars she had to deal with comments about her weight and was dubbed “Fat Girl” after playing Batgirl in Batman & Robin (1997).
“I had no interest in being famous or maintaining any kind of fame,” she says. “If you told me acting meant I was going to be called ‘fat’ and have to do things a certain way, then I was like, ‘F-off’. For me it’s quality not quantity, so I don’t really care if I don’t work for a few years.”
It seems she’s back in the game thought with rave reviews for her work on Broadway and two films in the past year – psy- chological thriller The Killing of a Sacred Deer with Colin Farrell, and The Book Club with Diane Keaton. TAKING A STAND After becoming a vegan in the late ’90s Alicia put a lot of time and energy into her other passions – animal rights and environmentalism. She’s taken part in People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) campaigns and in 2004 was crowned sexiest female vegetarian by the organisation.
Alicia’s published two books: The Kind Diet, a New York Times bestseller in which she shares her thoughts on feeling good and losing weight while protecting the planet by living sustainably, and a vegan pregnancy guide, The Kind Mama. She’s also staunchly anti-vaccination.
She attributes her youthful looks to her healthy lifestyle and shares recipes and inspiration on how to live a green life on her blog, The Kind Life. “Do I think I really know what works? Yeah. It’s no accident that everyone says to me all the time that I still look like I did in Clueless. I see the difference if I eat a certain way for a day.” LIFE AND LOVE Alicia says she’s excited to be dating again after filing for divorce in May this year from punk rocker Christopher Jarecki ( 41). They’d been together for 20 years. Of her son, Bear Blu (7), she says, “I hope most that he sees Mommy’s passionate about life, and maybe that will inspire him to find his passion in life and to live it to the fullest.”