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Self-effacing star plays down her sex appeal
SOME women exude sex, and one would assume that Heather Graham is one of them.
She looks ravishing in a floor-length backless purple dress that accentuates the slimness of her figure, her long legs and a dcolletage to die for. Yet mention sex appeal, sensuality and this self-confessed hippy giggles before confessing her big secret.
"I feel like I'm more this nerdy person and I've fooled people into believing that I'm this sexy girl, you know what I mean? That's how I grew up and how I relate to myself: this nerd. I've always wanted to do a classic romantic comedy but I think sometimes they want that girl to be someone so accessible – somebody like Renee Zellweger. You look at her and she's Everywoman, you know? If they look at you and think you're overly glamorously beautiful then you wouldn't get that Everywoman role."
It's hard to believe this pole-dancing babe is being serious. She is. What's more, she peppers her conversation with the word "like" so many times that she can barely get through a dozen words before, like, she says it again.
A veteran of more than 50 films, Graham at 39 is coming to the end of her tenure as the girl whose curves have graced everything from Boogie Nights to Two Girls and a Guy. She's made some seriously edgy films in her 20 years in the biz and clearly has no hang-ups about her physique or the fantasy aspects placed upon it by her male followers around the world. And unlike some of her contemporaries, she's not self-obsessed.
"I guess I just try and make myself happy. Look at someone like Madonna. It feels that she thinks about her image. She changes it, does all these different things and looks at it from an outside point of view. I try and avoid that.
"There's probably a lot of other women who could be more beautiful but it's almost like when we see people on a movie it's a quality that the person has. It's not necessarily the actual beauty. It's all about pleasure – finding all the pleasure in life, seeking out pleasure and not living life like a martyr."
She describes her character in The Hangover – a dippy stripper named Jade with a heart of gold – as "quirky and kind of cool". Everyone around her sees Graham as personifying the ideal woman while director Todd Phillips remarks on her "breeziness", adding "She just brought so much sunshine to the set."
Clearly, the actress and the image are very different, which is exactly how it should be. Graham smiles and her face lights up.
"I don't think I'm really that objective when watching myself. I try not to look in the mirror too much. I try to just find a good feeling inside myself and radiate that out and not think too much about how I look.
"I think if you feel good about yourself, if you are enjoying your life and you have the sensual pleasure of your life, then that is sexy. I guess I try to think of it more that way as opposed to, like, looking at every feature on your face. What do you think?" I tell her she defies the ageing process and looks a long way from being 40. Her response: "Aww, that's so sweet." Nevertheless I cannot resist a quasi prurient question. Thus it is that I am treated to Heather Graham's views on pole dancing.
She took up this energetic sport as an adjunct to her regular yoga class. Her audience is made up of her friends and other women in her group though she did make the mistake of showing off to her boyfriend.
I suggest that performing to a band of fellow amateur pole dancers means the energy of her sexuality doesn't go anywhere. Graham disagrees. "You can cheer on the other women to help them feel really, like, sexy. Women in society are taught to see each other as competitors. (Performing pole dancing] is kind of reprogramming your brain from 'Oh, this woman can take something away from me so I better put her down in my head' into thinking 'We can all feel amazing and hot and sexy, and we can all be happy.'"
The Hangover (15) is on nationwide release.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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