IT’S IMPORTANT TO UNPLUG
The producer/actress dishes on her hols with Kate Moss and her big plans to explore Durban
I try to combine work and pleasure when I’m travelling, so people will say, “Oh, you’re going on holiday to India?” and I’ll reply, “Actually I’m going to meet some investors in Delhi but I’ll have some downtime, too.”
As a child I lived on a bus for a while — a very nomadic existence, as my parents were very creative people. We used to travel from London through Europe into Morocco, then drive around North Africa. That’s when I caught the travel bug; I loved the free-spirited sort of camping vibe.
I produce films in locations I’m interested
in exploring. Last year we spent a lot of time in Dorset while filming Two For Joy. I’m planning to head out to Durban in South Africa at some point to work on future projects.
Luxury is not important to me when I travel. I want to experience the place and the culture and have that intimacy that travel brings. Mexico is a case in point; it was amazing. I filmed The Cisco Kid there in a place called Zacatecas. It was like going back in time, with cobbled streets and horse-drawn carriages.
Northern Goa is my haven. I go to a yoga retreat called Ashwem Beach in Panjim, where I can totally switch off. There’s no wifi and you can feel yourself decompressing. I take my daughter, Iris, too. Among other things, it teaches her a valuable 21st-century life lesson: we don’t have to live glued to our phones.
Fort Tiracol in India is
amazing. When I go to northern Goa, I take a day trip by motorbike and ferry into the neighbouring state of Maharashtra to visit this ancient cliffside fort, from which you can see dolphins jumping in the sea below. There are always monkeys in the trees and sometimes I spot the odd leopard.
New Orleans was intense. The first film I produced, Buttercup Bill, was shot there and it felt so anarchic. The humidity was high and we’d be doing night shoots in these little wooden houses with grass up to the windows. There were spiders everywhere and jazz playing and everyone was drinking.
I love solitude on holiday. Last year I went trekking in the Himalayas on my own. I only went for a few days but I had a great time.
Kate Moss and I are kindred spirits when travelling. All the close friends I’ve travelled with were like-minded and wanted to do the same things, whether that was group yoga or getting up early for a swim.
I didn’t expect to enjoy going on safari but it was incredible. We took the kids to Tanzania when they were little. I didn’t expect the reality to be mind-blowing. Seeing one animal pull another animal apart is such a primal experience.
Brazil never works out for me. The first time I visited, our rental car flipped over at night so we all had to walk 3km carrying bags and babies. Another time I visited one of its islands with my ex-husband [Jude Law] and we ended up packing our bags and leaving as there were hundreds of paparazzi in the trees.