T OV UX T T
C hloe e ign is a legend in her own tiPe
s a teenager she fo nd her wa o t of sPall town arien onnectic t when at she was Sl c ed froP obsc rit b a fashion editor and Pade to Podel ndrea inett the fashion editor of c lt fa orite
D an analog RRNL if o will sSotted the teenager wal ing down the street and was so iPSressed b the teenager s st le and charisPa that she later Pade her an intern The woPan at D M st li ed the hat , was wearing hloe wo ld later sa b t soPe things are ndeniable he was fresh and charisPatic bra e and iPSossibl cool hen she was -a 0c,nerne the earl - s writer d Mo r and the Pan behind L K L K L L D oice of D generation o Pight sa sSotted her on the town and decided to dedicate se en Sages in K R N to one of the coolest girls in the world
That was before her role in the decade-defining L or her scar-noPinated t rn in R R oPe SeoSle it seePs M st ha e it nd in the earl s witho t an roles nder her belt an credentials to her naPe or the con entional loo s that ha e ignited Pan an ,t irl hloe e ign becaPe a legend on the willow bac s of charisPa and indelible Sersonal st le
Twent ears later and she s Pore than Sast Sro ing herself hile the other s girls Postl iPSloded in a clo d of selfdestr ction o rtne o e tabloid scandal inona 5 der she s Panaged to gain PePbershiS in the hallowed halls of eternal cool aPong the li es of 3atti Pith and .eith 5ichards the ind of icon that ne er tried too hard and SerhaSs sho ld ne er ha e to t hloe e ign is still as rele ant and of the PoPent as she s alwa s been b now Sro ing herself a cann Par eting head and a coPSelling actress
Between collaborations with the likes of 6 S HPH and 2SH L J
H HP , surprising turns on popular shows like 7KH 0L
3 MHFW, and a still exciting acting career, she took a cross-continental phone call from R and talked about women in Hollywood, 0indy . aling, Spike Jon]e’s H , and the crime series she’s currently starring in (A&E’s
7K H K . LOO). True to form, she was dry and witty, light but honest.
i, Kloe Kanks so mucK for taking my call :e re big fans Kere ou ve done everytKing from scar inning dramas like R R W to cult favorites like
D W 0R WH and L ,s tKere sometKing you ve al ays anted to do but Kaven t really Kad tKe cKance to play yet? ,s KR H KR
LOO one of tKem? ( ( , It’s one of them. I mean, I think there’s
so many different things that I haven’t done yet. I would love to do a sweeping period romance. That’s something that I’ve always wanted to do and I’ve never had the chance to do. But playing a detective, for a woman, doesn’t come along that often.
,t s a genre tKat e ve seen e plored a lot in recently ev
erytKing from KH LOOL to RS
R WKH D H :Ky do you tKink tKe genre appeals to vie ers so mucK?
I’m not really sure. I haven’t
watched 7KH .LOOL J or 7 S I WKH
H but I like that these are all shows driven by female characters, I think that’s really great. I feel like the genre has been dominated by males since the beginning of entertainment, from hilip 0arlowe on. So it’s cool to infuse it from a female perspective, maybe a more emotional perspective. I think that’s really great.
, m glad you mentioned Kilip arlo e )ifty years ago, you d be playing tKe femme fatale ut no you re playing tKe detec tive Kat s great ou started out in movies and got a lot of great
early roles in movies o after
L RYH, you ve done everytKing from guest spots on D D 2 H to PH L D R R WR to R W
OD LD to KH 0L RMH W :Ky do you find yourself gravitating to tKe medium more no ?
Those are just the things that I’ve been offered. I feel like the film industry is very different from before I started LJ YH, just the way films are distributed and the way films are made. I feel like the independent film world is a lot more competitive. They’re using a lot bigger names to finance those movies now. I just feel like the landscape changed a lot.
I’m really happy with my career and all the parts that I’ve been able to play. I’m a huge fan of 0indy and a huge fan of 3 WO L . Those were great opportunities for me to try to do comedy that wasn’t a movie. It feels less of a heap of pressure to be able to exercise or play in a T environment than in a movie. )or me, it’s a bit more freeing and more fun. It feels less precious.
But I’d rather be working on movies, honestly. JK I don’t know if it’s my age or the landscape but there haven’t been a lot of opportunities and I feel like if there is even a supporting part in a lot of these indie movies, like from H to whatever it is, they’re going to put Olivia Wilde or Amy Adams. There are these big names that just get the parts over and over again, and there seems to be less work to go around in film right now.
:o , tKank you for your Kon
esty D K
Of course. ( JK )
nd Ko as it like orking itK indy .aling?
Actually, it was really scary doing that show. I think it’s super awesome that she has that show and I think she’s really funny, but there’s a lot of improvisation that goes on.
It was the same as 3 WO L , and I don’t think I reali]ed that. I thought everything would be more kind of written out for me, and then you get on set and it’s like her and a couple of the other writers, who are the actual actors, are always throwing things around. That’s a real muscle
t the actress and eternal icon of do nto n cool finds herself back in the spotlight in the unlikeliest of roles as a detecti e on the criue series hose ho 3ill
that you have to exercise, and they’re just really good at it, and I’m not. ( JK )
So it was just like a new interesting situation to walk in, cause they’re doing it all day long, every day, for like months a year, playing these characters, working these muscles. Like I did these scenes with James )ranco and he’s really good at it because he also does it a lot in movies and stuff. I don’t know if it’s a talent I have, but I was really impressed with her. I just thought she was really cool, a really nice girl.
o you feel like you ere able to get tKe Kang of improv?
I feel like if you did it a lot, if it was something you really worked at…I feel like the main thing you need in order to do it is confidence. You have to be confident, and I don’t know if I have that confidence.
ou re an anomaly in tKat you re an cademy ard nominated, olden lobe inning olly ood actress Ko doesn t really seem to cKase prestige, or fame for tKat matter , mean you still do some small films and guest spots, like
D D 2 H and PH L D R R WR , as Must curious, Ken faced itK forks in tKe career, Ko do you make your decisions?
There’s a lot of factors…. Something like 7KH 0L 6K . eople would never expect that. So it’s kind of something also to do with the way people see you in the industry to something that’s a challenge for yourself. Or if you’re just a fan, like I was a fan
of 3 WO L . There are different things that factor in.
But really, I’m almost and I’ve been working in the industry for years now so there’s gonna be different ups and downs and plateaus and stuff and you just wanna keep working and keep relevant I think, however you can do that. Stay in the public eye and surprise people.
Like you said, you would never expect me to be on 2 H . That was kind of a funny thing for me because it’s like a real rite of passage in New York. Every single New York actor has been on the show and I knew that it wasn’t going on for much longer. I was like, I want to be on it before it’s done. It’s kind of like being in a Woody Allen movie almost. It has this kind of funny—not prestige—but it’s just something that everybody’s done.
I guess I kind of still feel like some people don’t think of me as an actor. It’s like, “She’s a personality, or she’s this town- town It girl, fashion girl or whatever. You know, doing 2 H , it was like, “No, I’m just an actor and I just want to work hard like everybody else and play different parts. So it’s different for different things.
, as gonna ask tKat, actually (arlier in your career, you ere cel ebrated for your taste and do n to n cool o you ere labeled as tKis fasKion indie ,t girl nd , as ondering, did it ever become dif ficult to continue being an actress? )or people not to see you tKat ay? id it ever get in tKe ay?
I think it does, and it did, and it still does a little bit, but you can’t let that affect you so much. There’s so much rejection in the industry, and so much judging from the way you look to whatever it may be. So you just have to stand by the decisions that you make and keep going, I guess, as uninteresting as that is as an answer. ( JK )
I don’t really know what to say. If we were afraid of what everybody thought of what we did all the time, we would never do anything, I guess. F WFK Those Who .ill F ,7 HYH 7K S P