“From Hell’ role a heavenly experience for angel-faced Heather Graham (original) (raw)
Sept. 11 was supposed to be a big day for Heather Graham. Since starring in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” the 31-year-old actress who once specialized in indie efforts like “Drugstore Cowboy” and “Swingers” was noticing her career suddenly heating up.
She had just helped introduce two of her latest efforts, “From Hell” and “Sidewalks of New York,” at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was flying to New York City for a number of meetings with directors.
The day was going to be special for another reason as well. The quintessential Valley Girl — Graham grew up in Agoura Hills, Calif. — had just bought an apartment in downtown Manhattan. Sept. 11 was going to mark the first night in her new digs.
Graham was on an 8 a.m. flight from Toronto to JFK when she looked out of her window and saw smoke billowing from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Her plane landed at 9:15 a.m., approximately the same time the second hijacked jetliner crashed into the South Tower.
“When we flew by, I remember thinking, “Oh, my God!’ and I prayed that it was an office fire or something like that,” recalls Graham, the daughter of an FBI agent dad and a school-teacher mom. “We were one of the last planes to land in New York, and everyone was going crazy at the airport. It was scary and very sad.”
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, Graham has refused to stop flying. She has traveled from coast to coast on a number of occasions, and she’s managed to spend a few nights in her Manhattan apartment. “Out of my window, I could see all of these candlelight services going on,” she says. “It’s a wonderful thing to see so many people coming together.”
Surprisingly, since the attacks, movie-goers have flocked to violent, hard-edged movies like “Don’t Say a Word” and “Training Day.” Graham isn’t sure what audiences will make of “From Hell,” a blood-soaked mystery from the Hughes Brothers (“Menace II Society”) that offers up a new theory about the identity of Jack the Ripper.
In the film, which opened Friday in area theaters, Graham plays Mary Kelly, an Irish prostitute who risks the Ripper’s blade in order to help an eccentric police inspector (Johnny Depp) track down Britain’s first serial killer.
“I hope people will still want to see this kind of movie because I’m in it, and I think that it’s good,” says Graham during a late-afternoon interview in Marina Del Ray, Calif. “You know, finally, you do a movie that you’re proud of and you want people to go and see it.
“I do think the movie is escapism and entertainment because it’s so far removed from what we’re experiencing today. There is something almost fable-like about the film, with its misty streets and glowing street lamps. It’s certainly not about the modern-day problems we’re having.”
For Graham, co-starring alongside Depp on “From Hell” was a heavenly experience. “Johnny is so unique; he actually listens to music in an earphone when he’s working,” notes the actress. “He has this friend of his DJ music to him. He’s very nice to other actors. He was really nice to me. And he’s cute. I have never worked with anyone who’s [earned me] more jealous friends.”
Graham, who dyed her hair flame-red and adopted a thick Irish brogue for the role, was not the first choice for “From Hell.” The Hughes Brothers were hoping to cast an unknown English actress to join an ensemble that already included Susan Lynch (“Beautiful Creatures”), Lesley Sharp (“Naked”) and Katrin Cartlidge (“Before the Rain”).
But after meeting Graham, producer Amy Robinson says, “There was something about Heather that made you want to save her.” Adds Allen Hughes, “When she walked into the room, we knew it had to be her. She has a vulnerability and sweetness about her that is irresistible.”
Graham is the first to admit that she’s not as delicate as some people might imagine she is. “I think it’s the way my face is. I look sweet — sweet and innocent,” she says with laugh. “But I think it’s OK to use that whole sex-symbol thing in order to get jobs.
“If I go to a premiere or do press, I feel like I’m pretending to be a movie star. I’m pretending because I know that I’m just normal. But it’s a good way to impress the studios. They don’t go to the best theater company and get some great actor out of a play. They want someone who has a certain amount of heat behind them.”
Graham has certainly been blazing lately. Since playing Rollergirl in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights” in 1997, she’s skated to the top of the box-office charts in hits like “Lost in Space” and “Bowfinger.” (She’s also been in a few duds, including “Committed” and “Say It Isn’t So”).
After Graham popped up two years ago as Felicity Shagwell in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” she became a household name. ” Now, all these little kids recognize me,” says the actress, clad for today’s interview in a red-and-white, Marc Jacobs mini-dress.
Graham is close to signing up for “Austin Powers in Goldmember,” the next chapter in the series. Even though she hasn’t seen a script, she’s fairly certain she’ll be dispatched by the villainous Dr. Evil and replaced with a new femme fatale, just as she replaced Elizabeth Hurley, the star of the first “Austin Powers” film.
“I just don’t want to be blown up,” says Graham. “I told them I don’t want to be violently disposed of. I want to see how they’re going to eliminate me. If they can come up with a funny way, I’ll do it.”
Since finishing “From Hell,” Graham has wrapped up four more movies: “Killing Me Softly” with Joseph Fiennes, “The Guru” with Marisa Tomei, “Alien Love Triangle” with Kenneth Branagh and Courtney Cox, and “Sidewalks of New York,” the Ed Burns-directed movie which was originally supposed to open in September but got pushed back to Nov. 21 after the terrorist attacks. The ensemble comedy, a homage to Woody Allen and the Upper West Side, co-stars Burns, Brittany Murphy, Stanley Tucci and Rosario Dawson.
“I did the movie because my boyfriend at the time was directing it, and I wanted to do something with him,” she says. “It was fun. I actually gave notes to him, and he rewrote things with my ideas in mind. It made it a lot better for me.”
Since splitting up with Burns, Graham has vowed not to date other actors or directors — especially when she’s still working with them.
“If you’re an actor and you’re supposed to be in love with someone in a movie, I just think that sometimes you fool yourself into believing that,” says the actress, who previously dated “Diggstown” co-star James Woods, “Lost in Space” director Stephen Hopkins and Heath Ledger.
“I think I’d like to go out with a writer next, because a writer could travel and meet me on location and write things from there. Write that down and get it out there. I’m looking for someone with a laptop.”
Amy Longsdorf is a Palmerton-based free-lance writer.
Jodi Duckett, Arts & Entertainment Editor
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Originally Published: October 21, 2001 at 4:00 AM EST