What do you think about reality TV? Is there any kind of television show you wouldn’t do?
I’m not a fan of reality television but I’ve done a couple of shows now, and I think the days of scripted television are pretty much over (though I hope they’ll come back). People watch these kind of shows now, and they like the human relationships. With ‘Dancing with the Stars’, I love to dance and I never knew I could and it was the one of the things I could do to overcome that. What a great opportunity, to have a professional dancer be with me every day, and by the end of it, I probably knew one dance. I just came back from Tel Aviv where we went to open their ‘Dancing with the Stars’ show (not to compete). ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is in some 30 countries and ‘Big Brother’ is in 52 countries, and I thought this is such a great opportunity to come to India. I learnt a little bit of the culture, how to cook, how to speak a little Hindi, and some Bollywood dance, and got to meet people and talk about politics, relationships etc. [In the future] I’m not going to be eating bugs or anything, I’m vegetarian and too much of a girl to push myself like that.
Tell us about your favourite media – the books you read, the music you listen to and what you watch on TV.
I’m not very good with technology. I read all the time, people are always amazed to see the big stack of books beside my bed. I read a lot of poetry – Dylan [Thomas], and a lot of the Beat Generation of[Allen] Ginsberg, [William] Burroughs and [Jack] Kerouac. Right now, I’m reading ‘Big Sur’ by Kerouac. It’s great because I just love his style of writing and I read [Pablo] Neruda practically every day. I carry his poetry with me and I have a little book in my purse.
As for the music I listen to, I loveThe Crash, but I love the blues. I play jazz, I play the saxophone. I like [John] Coltrane and [Charlie] Parker. I don’t like this new techno music which makes me feel very old. My ex-husband Tommy [Lee] loves it and plays it all the time, and my oldest son loves it, and I can’t stand it. I’m a real romantic and I like romantic music.
I have lots of iPods, people keep giving me one all the time. It’s interesting because the kind of music you listen to is a year out of your life. I would not know how to put one song on an iPod.
As for TV, I watch CNN a lot. My kids watch a lot of sports (Fuel TV) which is an extreme sports channel. I also watch a lot of movies, old ones like [Federico] Fellini movies, funny tongue-in-cheek movies and documentaries.
Coming to the advertising you do, how do you choose the brands you associate with?
With endorsement deals, it’s about going with a brand you see yourself associate with. I love music, and when people ask me to do my own show – like Sirius and DirecTV. I work with Vivienne Westwood a lot, she’s worried about the environment and she uses her fashion to get her word out (I like people who are activists and speak out). So, I was very fortunate to work with people I have similar beliefs
An advertisement for Sirius Satellite Radio
Any particular shoot that was memorable over the years?
There are so many! I work a lot with David LaChapelle and I have a lot of friends who I work with and shoot with, and it’s always a unique experience. You never know what’s going to happen, there are so many characters involved. I enjoy it. When I came to Los Angeles, I didn’t really know what modelling was supposed to be. Now, I look back and I think nobody probably has as much fun as I do.
friend David LaChapelle
Any brands whose advertising you enjoy?
I think the Geico insurance commercials are funny.
Geico Insurance started its ‘Cavemen’ series in 2004
Do you remember the first ad you did?
It was when I was in Canada. I wore a t-shirt with LaBatt Beer on it to a football game and the cameraman found me in the audience and put me up on the big screen. The company called me to do a poster. And the gym that I was working at asked me to do their advertising, and I was doing all this for free, because I just couldn’t believe anybody would even ask me. Then Playboy called me, and I was concerned about that. I kind of wrestled with that in my mind for a bit. It was just for a cover, so there was no nudity, but I called my mother and she said, “Life is short. Do it.” She came with me to Los Angeles for the
Does the advertising you do for social causes, like PETA, really help?
When you show something like animal cruelty in a documentary, you have to cover your eyes, because it’s really difficult to watch. So I think what PETA’s done really brilliantly, is writing a fun message or using a glamorous image for a really heavy hitting issue. That way people can digest it and then when they’re more curious about it or want to help, they can do more research and find out the gory details. I work for M.A.C. cosmetics too, and we urged people to get tested for AIDS and Hepatitis C and [the money from] every lipstick that was sold went to the cause. In this case too, glamour brought attention to a disturbing issue. Because people sometimes want to turn away from that because it’s easier not to know, but we have to know.
