Most girls with wide noses, goofy grins, or hair that won’t behave (much less cascade) don’t dream of making it as an actress. But unconventional beauty Lili Taylor is exceptional in that regard, and in many other ways, too. Her gift for inhabiting the essence of her characters–who quite often turn out to be crazy–is consistently stunning. Who else could elicit sympathy for a psychotic would-be killer (I Shot Andy Warhol), or stand up to a cocky River Phoenix as his “ugly duckling” joke date and win his heart in the end (Dogfight)? And who else might a Japanese man driving through a blizzard in Iceland find hitchhiking (Cold Fever)? Well, it sure wouldn’t be Gwyneth Paltrow.
When we asked Ms. Taylor her necessities for a trip to The Rake’s totally deserted desert island, she stuck to the straight and narrow, in practical terms. Perhaps we should have asked what she’d bring to Gilligan’s Island instead. You could ask her yourself when she comes to the Walker this month for a retrospective of her work in nearly forty films, and a discussion of life in the indie lane. Meanwhile, on a desert island, Taylor would wish for these things:
1. A Leatherman multi-purpose tool. These things are way better than a Swiss Army knife. If I had the most souped-up Leatherman available, I could deal with many situations on my island.
2. Matches. Fire, for warmth and food.
3. Iodine tablets. Then I could drink the water, no matter how scary it was.
4. A pen with limitless ink. If I could write down my thoughts, I wouldn’t go insane.
5. In Search of Lost Time, Volumes I, II, and III by Marcel Proust. First of all, there is so much of it, chances are good that I might not even get to finish it. You can read the same passage over and over and still need to read it again. A lot of Proust’s stuff is about the actual moment, the reflection upon that moment, and the memory of it in the present that then transmogrifies the original moment. I imagine I would become very aware of present and past moments on this island, and with all that time to reflect, I think Proust is the one to help me do it artfully.
Lili Taylor appears at Walker Art Center on February 4 as part of its Regis Dialogue series. She’ll discuss her career with critic B. Ruby Rich; screenings of her films Short Cuts, Dogfight, Arizona Dream, Household Saints, I Shot Andy Warhol (with The Addiction), Girls Town, and Factotum run February 3 – 19. 612-375-7622; www.walkerart.org
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