Chloë Sevigny Is Calling From The Chateau Marmont Landline…

All Clothing and Accessories by SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO.

Welcome to Saint Laurent’s Interview: a collaborative project between our editors and Saint Laurent’s Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello, featuring Q&As with some of our favorite creatives of the moment. You’ll also find original fashion editorials and a portfolio of archival Interview photos of the likes of Bianca Jagger, Winona Ryder, and Keanu Reeves, all reimagined in Saint Laurent by the collage artist Fabrizio Massimiani.

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CHLOË SEVIGNY: …Is the connection okay? I was just on the phone with the Darien Times, which is the paper in the town where I’m from in Connecticut. Then the writer pitched me her book.

INTERVIEW: What’s her book about?

SEVIGNY: A female serial killer.

INTERVIEW: Wow. We’ve been thinking about what makes a person or an image iconic. What was it like to see yourself act in a film for the first time? Was it surreal?

SEVIGNY: No, strangely. Although I do remember going to see KIDS for the first time with my parents, and I think that probably colored my experience. I was like, “Oh, god, what will they think of this?” When I watch myself, I often think about how other people are going to interpret it.

INTERVIEW: A lot of people hate seeing themselves on camera. Have you graduated past that?

SEVIGNY: I have a hard time looking at images. I did the photo shoot for this the other day with Roe Ethridge and a totally A-list team, and they were like, “Do you want to look at the monitor?” And I was like, “Hell no!” I don’t need to have my photo taken ever again. It’s just a part of the process now. Roe and I had a nice dialogue, but in the end, I looked him in the eye and said, “Make me look good.” I’m not the easiest to photograph, I don’t think.

INTERVIEW: In terms of your demeanor, or your physical appearance?

SEVIGNY: Physical appearance.

INTERVIEW: Well, the photos look amazing.

SEVIGNY: They had better, or I’m gonna hunt that boy down.

INTERVIEW: From KIDS to now, has your relationship to your own image changed?

SEVIGNY: It depends on how I’m captured. I can tell how the photographer or cinematographer feels about me by how flattering or not the images are. I’ve been on some shows recently where it was the most unflattering, and I even called up and said something to the directors afterward. I’m not afraid of looking ugly. But at the same time, do a girl a favor.

INTERVIEW: There’s this notion that making yourself look ugly is somehow more avant-garde.

SEVIGNY: I don’t subscribe to that idea at all. I know people love it when actresses go “ugly,” but I don’t know why.

INTERVIEW: Is aging something you think about?

SEVIGNY: More than I’d like to. I’m in that “not old, not young” period. I mean, these are problems that are hard to even talk about as problems, but I’m put next to Elle Fanning, who is 21 years old, and I’ll be 45 in November. Or they’ll have you looking all whatever on a terrible red carpet with awful overhead lighting. With Instagram, you constantly have your image put against young girls now. I don’t do filters or any of that. I don’t have someone on-hand doing my retouching. And I’m too old to take selfies.

Read more stories from Saint Laurent’s Interview.

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Hair: Tamara McNaughton using Bumble and Bumble at Bryant Artists
Makeup: Emi Kaneko using Chanel at Bryant Artists
Production: Emily May
Digital Technician: Jonathan Nesteruk
Lighting Design: David Diesing
Photography Assistant: Will Englehardt
Fashion Assistant: Susan Walsh
Manicure: Ada Yeung using Dior Beauty at Bridge Artists