Jacqueline Bisset
Interview by Justina Hart
Friday 14 May 1999 18.50 BST
The first film you saw?
The Mounting of Everest about Sir Edmund Hillary. The second was Snow White. I wasn't impressed by either of them; ballet was my thing.
Your favourite film?
Brief Encounter. I find it incredibly romantic, terribly sad, and in some strange moral way, it's a magnificent tribute to her behaviour to her husband: leaving this incredible attraction she has for this man and going back to her kind husband.
When did you last walk out?
I went to see Oliver Stone's Heaven & Earth, which I thought was a wonderful movie, but I walked out because I was so moved. It was too painful to watch.
Most erotic moment in film?
I think it was in Ingmar Bergman's The Silence. There was a scene in a cinema where two people are making love. I was about 16 and it made a very strong impression on me.
Most irritating habit in a cinema?
When I'm in LA. The Los Angeles Times make trailers for their newspaper which end, "Get the story. Get the Times". They construct little stories trying to demystify the film industry, but they find obnoxious people and so misrepresent it. We boo them.
Can you remember the last time you snogged in a cinema?
I certainly can but it's none of your business.
What is your favourite snatch of dialogue?
I have no memory for dialogue. The only thing I can think of is Lauren Becall to Bogart when she says, "Call me - you know how to whistle, don't you?" She's the queen of cool.
Which actor would you most like to be?
Marlon Brando or Anthony Hopkins. I think Hopkins carries so much depth, compassion and intelligence. I find him riveting, and he's got those beautiful blue eyes. Brando's a fascinating man.
Which actress?
I'm quite happy being myself. I'm a big fan of Jessica Lange and Jeanne Moreau but I don't want to be anyone else.
When was the last time you cried?
Stepmom with Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts.
The last time you hid under your seat?
In about 1971 I was making a film but had been told that we weren't allowed to go and see the rushes. I was very curious and I and a friend snuck into the rushes room. Suddenly the producer came in and we jumped off our seats and literally had to hide underneath them for a full 20 minutes.
Would you have chosen to be a courtesan rather than a wife in the 16th century?
Marriage wouldn't have been a lot of fun at that time. I think I would have been attracted to the educational aspects of being a courtesan.
Have you adapted well to playing mothers and not daughters?
I seem to be doing fine.
Jacqueline Bisset is in The Honest Courtesan, now on general release.
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