Almost 30 years after her first cover shoot with Interview magazine in August 1998, actress Michelle Pfeiffer reclaims her spot with the glossy’s April 2017 issue. Mikael Jansson lensed the 58-year-old beauty at Chateau Marmont in LA in a Valentino gown styled by George Cortina. Inside the spread, she wears brands like Dior, Nina Ricci, Valentino Haute Couture, Chanel, and Balenciaga. Not only does April mark Pfeiffer’s return to Interview, but it also signals her return to the spotlight, with an upcoming role in Barry Levinson’s HBO film The Wizard of Lies. Pfeiffer plays Ruth Madoff in a performance that will highlight Madoff’s life and family following the revelation of the crimes committed by husband Bernie (played by Robert De Niro). Some highlights from Pfeiffer’s interview with director Darren Aronofsky:
On whether she was the the ugly duckling or mean-girl beauty in high school…
“I don’t think I fell into either of those categories, honestly. I wasn’t plain Jane. I was a surfer chick. I ran around in flip-flops in the winter. I had long, blond, straight hair, and I just hung out at the beach.”
On why she went to stenography school…
“I didn’t know what else to do. And my friend’s mother was a stenographer. I thought, “Okay, I’ll try that.” I didn’t like it. So then I was working at Vons supermarket. I was a checker. And I got kind of frustrated there. I remember distinctly standing in the check stand in a fit of desperation and wanting to tell one of these customers where they could shove this cantaloupe. I thought to myself, “What do you want to do with the rest of your life?” And it was acting.”
On what’s changed about her craft over the years…
“I was thinking today, ‘Why do I hate being interviewed so much? [Aronofsky laughs] How can I explain this to poor Darren who has to do this dastardly interview with me?’ And I think it may be that I have this constant fear that I’m a fraud and that I’m going to be found out. It’s true. I just got this e-mail from Steve Kloves who wrote and directed The Fabulous Baker Boys [1989], and he said, ‘How’s it going on Murder on the Orient Express?’ which I just finished with Kenneth Branagh. And I said, ‘Oh, you know me. I feel like I’m ruining his movie.’ Because the first week into shooting Baker Boys, I said the same thing to Steve: ‘I think I’m doing a terrible job in this.'”
On returning to the spotlight…
“Well, the first thing that comes to mind is I’m an empty nester now. I’ve never lost my love for acting. I feel really at home on the movie set. I’m a more balanced person honestly when I’m working. But I was pretty careful about where I shot, how long I was away, whether or not it worked out with the kids’ schedule. And I got so picky that I was unhirable. And then … I don’t know, time just went on. And now, you know, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. I’m more open now, my frame of mind, because I really want to work now, because I can. And these last few years I’ve had some really interesting opportunities. And I have this weird synchronicity with Annette Bening. I was supposed to do Bugsy [1991]. I fell out of that. She did it, so she met Warren [Beatty]. That wouldn’t have happened. And then she was supposed to do Batman Returns [1992]. She fell out of that. I replaced her. So, we’re always kind of tag-teaming.
