Have you ever gone through a spell in your life where you’ve felt that you’d lost grip on yourself?
Oh my God, I went through that last night. [JL laughs] When I was a teenager, I was in a real sweet spot. Then in my mid-twenties, I really lost the plot. A lot of things shifted, and it felt like whatever that protective layer was, that mask that you build for yourself—this is my personality, this is who I am—totally shattered.
What shattered? Security?
The structure of my life shifted so much that I didn’t know how to relate to this new version, you know? My parents got divorced, and I went through this stuff with my career really starting. It all happened at once.
It’s so much more helpful to talk about your life in a realistic way instead of having these false realities. Like, if I look skinny in a dress, that’s probably because I was watching what I ate. I didn’t eat a whole pizza and fit into a size 2! [ES laughs] I find it irritating when people make their lives look perfect. I remember when you were first talking about anxiety and reading that and being like, “Me too.” And then I didn’t feel like such an ******* for bringing it up. You look at the world realistically.
You do.
You do.
You do! Let’s just say “You do” until the end of time, and that’ll be the whole article.
Wait! We need to talk about Maniac.
The thing I liked about Maniac was that it’s about people who have their own internal struggles and are trying to fix them with a pill. But you see over the course of the show that human connection and love is really the only thing that gets us through life. I liked that idea, and I love Jonah [Hill]. I had worked with him on the first movie I ever did [Superbad], so it was, like, 11 years later.
So when you met him, was he, like, a big deal?
I was 17.
And you were nobody?
[Laughs and changes voice] I was a nobody. I was a nobody. It was really early on for him, too. [JL gets interrupted by a call from her dad, promises to call him back]
He never calls me, so I could not ignore that.
Do you know that her dad makes jam?
He makes blackberry jam. But he only makes it for people if they’re really going to eat it.
She was like, “My dad wants to know if you want some of the jam, but only if you’re really going to eat it, because he doesn’t want to waste a label on you.” It was so good.
He’s so cute.
Truly the sweetest, it’s heartbreaking. Wait, what was I saying?
I don’t remember. Oh, Jonah!
Right! Obviously lots of things have happened in the past 11 years, so it was nice to just get to be around each other.
On another note: You have a beautiful voice, but you hate to sing.
I don’t hate to sing! I love to sing.
But you were talking about something recently, and you were like, “But it’s musical.” We went to see you in Cabaret [on Broadway] and you were like, “I was awful.” I feel like you don’t.
The night that Jen came to see me in Cabaret, both of my contacts popped out of my eyes.
She’s blind as a bat.
It was so weird. I’ve never had that happen in my whole life.
I would have never noticed. My jaw was on the floor the entire time; I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
You’re the best, Mom.
I want an album from you of lullabies.
I’ll record an album for just you. We’ll do ’90s country music!
Oh my God! Will you make me a ’90s country album? [Starts singing “Who I Am” by Jessica Andrews] “I am Rosemary’s granddaughter.” I want that one!
That’s your favorite.
We’ll do that. Okay, so you do like to sing. Do you like to dance?
I love to dance.
Really? God, you and I couldn’t be more different. Why do you like to dance?
Because it’s the most fun thing in the world.
Do you learn dances quickly?
Dance is my very favorite art form to watch.
Ugh.
What? You played a ballerina [in Red Sparrow].
Ugh, tell me about it.
Tell me more.
****ing miserable. I can’t learn choreography. It doesn’t click in my mind. The pizzas don’t come together.
The pizzas do not work.
I’ll watch somebody do something and then I’m like, 'But how’d you get your arm over here?' I would watch my choreographer and be like, 'But your head just did a 360. I can’t do that.'
You just fully exorcised it.
What’s your sad and lonely movie?
Anything Nancy Meyers.
Oh, **** yeah. What about Baby Boom?
ES and JL: [Both say] Baby Boom!
I put on Bridget Jones’s Diary. Bridget Jones feels me. I had one night of horrible insomnia, like random insomnia. I watched Bridget Jones.
I started 30 Rock, and that’s been a pretty good one.
That’s nice. We all need some Tina Fey. Do you want to be back on set again? Or are you kind of at peace with not working right now?
I’m at peace. I think it’s been a good time to get a little perspective, because things were so heavy work wise for the past few years. And honestly, so many of my dreams are now personal and less professional.
You don’t want world peace?
No, I do want world peace!
Well, it sounded like you didn’t want world peace for a second.
It’s less thinking about the next 10 years and what needs to happen and just sort of relaxing into what will be instead of trying to control the outcome.
You are very good about that, I’m telling you.
I’m getting better at it.
Would you be a mother? She’s going to be the best mom; she’s so nurturing.
That’s how you are! I think your maternal instinct is very strong and always has been.
Thank you, honey.
My perspective about kids has changed as I’ve gotten older. I never babysat or anything. As a teenager, I was like, I’m never getting married, I’m never having kids. And then I got older and I was like, I really want to get married, I really want to have kids.
When I was a teenager, every boyfriend I had I was like, I guess this is the one! I was that girl. [Laughs] Wouldn’t it be great if we could have a baby?
Aw, a whole village.
Science.
It’s the turning-30 thing where you’re like, I’m not that young. I’m young, but I’m not that young.
I can tell you’re fertile just by looking at you.
Jeez.
I can see it in your ****ing face.
Thank you. That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.
Elle US