Janeane Garofalo

Woody Harrelson

Sarah Polley

Breakout indie film role

Reality Bites

Natural Born Killers

The Sweet Hereafter

Recent "edgy" magazine cover

Bust

Hemp Times

Interview

Interview etiquette

Refuses to do hair, makeup, or pose for pictures. If you ask a question, she'll ask, "Why did you say that?" before answering.

Shows up late, due to excessive partying the night before. Picks at a mango, or some vegan dish throughout the talk.

Refuses to do hair, makeup, or pose for pictures. If you ask a question, she'll apologize for being alive before answering.

Childhood sob story (good for street cred.)

Upper middle class New Jersey upbringing. Had trouble making friends due to weight problems.

Grew up near El Paso, Texas. Father is a convicted contract killer. Sent to private school for learning-disabled children.

Was a child TV actor. (Say no more!)

Bonus life drama factoid

Dated Ben Stiller. Has "8 or 9" tattoos.

People assume he's dumb like his character on Cheers.

Lived on her own since she was 15 years old.

Hobbies

Smokes two packs of cigarettes a day. Has published a satirical self-help book with Stiller. Crank calls Joan Rivers.

Yoga; spends time with family in the jungles of Costa Rica; has a play on Broadway; owns Sunset Strip restaurant that only serves raw, vegan food.

Indulges her idealism through various public demonstrations, evocative of, though not nearly effective as, the '60s anti-war student protests against Vietnam.

Favorite political causes

Feminism, particularly that which objects to the objectification of women as sex objects. Really hates Joan Rivers.

Very upset by the destruction of old-growth forests. Hemp: legalize it; don't criticize it.

Anti-war socialist, opposed to conservative Ontario government and its cutbacks in welfare and medical benefits. Pro-Canada.

Proof of sincerity to said cause

Has said mean things about Joan Rivers in public. Calls herself fat by "Hollywood standards." She's not fat.

Recently appeared before the Kentucky Supreme Court for planting hemp seeds. Arrested for climbing the Golden Gate Bridge to draw attention to old-growth forests.

Had several teeth knocked out during a particularly nasty Canadian protest.

Cool indie sidekicks

Margaret Cho, Ben Stiller.

Costa Ricans, his family.

Presumably, Canadian hippies.

Home

L.A.

Costa Rica, when he's not in L.A. or New York.

Toronto.

Sellout moment

"I starved myself, basically. For six weeks, I ate bananas, and when I was hungry, I would do shots of tequila or vodka... I lost about 30 pounds. I guess I weighed about 98 pounds or something. I got a bunch of auditions ..." (Bust, Fall '99)

Eight seasons of Cheers.

"... two years ago I did a little string of photo shoots where they dressed me up in designer clothes and sort of directed me to look sultry ... I thought, "This is against everything I've ever believed in ..." (Interview, Sept. '99)

Standard media gush

"Not only is the divine Ms. G. as fierce, as funny, and as feminist as you'd expect, she is also incredibly generous." (Bust, Fall '99)

"Mr. Harrelson's character in The Rainmaker, is a rootless wanderer, a dreamer who charms people into believing he can bring rain ... it is tempting to see all sorts of links between the actor and his latest acting job." (The New York Times Oct. 31, '99)

"Everything about Sarah Polley startles: her preternatural maturity ... her look, which begins with a comforting plainness and then shimmers into sudden luminosity." (Interview, Sept. '99)