Hollywood highs and lows
T.G.: What made you decide to immigrate to the U.S.?
J.S.: I was first brought to
America by a producer who wanted me to star in a movie. He
wanted me to do a screen test. When I came out I had a horrible
experience because the director of the movie was an Englishman.
The last thing he wanted was an English girl playing an American.
He did everything he could to botch my audition. It was very
unfortunate. While I was in Hollywood another producer saw
me and said he wanted me for one of his movies. At that time
this man was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. He
did a number on me; today you call it sexual harassment.
I chose not to go that route. l said thank you, but no thank
you! I decided to go back to England to act, I wasn't going
to do any favors to get a job. I was so horrified by this
that when I returned to England I actually left the business
for a year. I gave up. I felt that Hollywood was really sick
and that was my first experience in America.
I had done some very successful movies in England. My then
boyfriend convinced me to go back to America to help with
the publicity for these movies. I met a major casting director,
a woman named Renee Valenti. She knew that I had talent.
She told me to lose my English accent; she felt that no one
could act like I could. I packed my bags, took what little
I was allowed to take out of England, and came to America
on my own.
Through a lot of effort and disappointments I finally landed my first role. l
was ecstatic but they were not able to get my work permit in time and my role
was given to another actress. I was beyond devastated and had decided to return
to England and quit, when I fortunately met another producer from Universal who
offered me a part in something called McCloud. He offered me the role
of an Israeli tank commander. I didn't fit the part but I was determined and
I won the role. l had a fortunate break, I was (dining in the Universal commissary
and saw the producer and casting director of the movie I had been unable to make,
due to my work permit problems. They found another part for me and it turned
out to be 10 times better than the first role they had offered me in Captains
and the Kings. It was a small role but I was nominated for an Emmy. After
that I worked constantly.
Bond
Girl Breakthrough
T.G.: . Landing the lead
role of Solitaire in
the James Bond movie
Live and Let Die was
a breakthrough role for
you. You achieved a great
amount of national attention
with this role.
J.S.: It is a great story. I
was 20 years old at the time and I was doing a series in
England. A producer from the Bond film called my agent and
requested a meeting. My agent told the producer that I was
not available. A week later another producer, Cubby Broccoli,
phoned and said that he wanted to meet me. My agent said
I should go ahead and meet with him for perhaps a future
movie. But I met Harry Salzman, another producer
of the film, first. I decided to put my hair in a fur hat,
hiding it from view. I thought this way they would see me
without hair first and then, when I took the hat off, they
would see me with my long hair hanging down. I walked in
and was told to take my hat off and I was offered the job
on the spot. After that, Harry Salzman and Cubby
Broccoli fought in front of me over who had cliscovered
me first. When I did the Bond film I was a very serious actress.
I had done a lot of Shakespeare. I was not a big Bond fan
and it hadn't occurred to me that it was a sexist type of
thing. Roger Moore referred to me as " Baby Bernhardt" because
I took the role seriously. It was a lot of fun and Roger
was lovely. I filmed in New Orleans, Jamaica and England.
T.G.: Did you have any special mentors?
J.S.: Richard Attenborough was
a wonderful mentor to me. I was dating and then married to
Richard Attenborough's son Michael while filming the Bond
movie. Richard called me before the film came out and kind
of pulled the floor out from under me. He had heard that
they were going to revoice my part in the film because I
sounded rather squeaky in one scene. I Sounded squeaky because
I had a fever of 103 and I had continued to work, despite
being quite ill. Richard told them that Il was a very fine
actress and that I could revoice myself. He got me the opportunity.
I was devastated but I went in and revoiced myself, and that
is my voice in the film. Richard told me that I had a very
fine instrument in my voice, but told me to work on it. I
left films and went into the theatre to work on my voice.
Thanks to Richard Attenborough, I really studied voice and
I studied accents. It is actually very funny to me today
because I am known in America for doing every accent. I play
in different languages. For example, I play in French in
France. I can pick up any accent in any language. I have
even acted in Cantonese, Yiddish and Hebrew. I have an ear
for accents and I would never have known this if l hadn't
been terrified by the prospect of someone revoicing me. So,
Richard Attenborough was a big mentor for me.
Getting personal
T.G.: You are often quoted as saying your most important
job is mother. Your kids always come first. How do you manage
all of this?
J.S.: Absolutely. Well, I have
great kids. I turn down lots of work because of my children.
I am very picky and always look to see if the job I am offered
will work for the whole family. If it doesn't work, I don't
do it. I have taken my kids all over the world with me and
they have turned out to be very worldly kids. They are very
self-assured, very bright and smart kids, and they are very
unspoiled. They have seen me work very hard and now they
work very hard. I think the greatest compliment I have ever
received is not about my acting, it's been about my kids.
People come up to me and tell me that my kids are intelligent,
unspoiled and wonderful. That is the highest compliment that
I can receive.
T.G.: You gave birth to twins while in your 40s. That must
have been quite a challenge.
J.S.: . I wrote a book about
it, its called Two At a Time: Having Twins (The
Journey Through Pregnancy and Birth). It was very difficult
and traumatic and ultimately the best thing that I ever did
in my life. It was frightening. I Could have lost my life
having them but thank goodness I didn't.
T.G.: Have you ever found life more difficult for you because
you are a woman?
J.S.: I have never thought of
life in that respect. I have never, ever felt that there
was need for women's liberation for me. I just felt that
women are women and they do the best they can and they have
a lot of power in a different kind of way. I have never really
felt that I had to fight for what I had to offer. I have
raised strong women who don't feel that they have to fight
men in the world. They just feel that they should be the
best women they can be. I think when it comes down to it,
balance is the biggest part of what we do. Women are expected
to be professional and be strong and at the same time they
need to massage the male ego. It's like child-rearing, you
are expected to do most of it by yourself. If you can find
a good husband, like I did, who will do things with you,
what could be better? Rather than expecting a man to behave
like a woman or a woman to behave like a man, I just recommend
that we put all of our resources together and see who does
what the best. If you come in as a team then you can make
it work. I have never felt that I had to compete with a man
in any area in my life.
 T.G.: You find the time to be incredibly charitable, lending
your name and your efforts to various organizations.
J.S.: I have been working with
the American Red Cross and I really like the Volunteer aspect
of that. There are a great many charities that are quite
worthwhile. worthy I went to Africa for the Measles Initiative.
We made a film about it, Disease of the Wind I felt that
as a filmmaker I would like to show what was going on. I
really wanted to show people the impact that giving has.
I just finished a documentary that is going to come out soon
entitled Running Dry, about the world's water crises and
I donated my time for that. I am the international ambassador
for Childhelp USA and I work with international organizations
all over the world to prevent child abuse. I have my own
charity in Los Angeles called City Hearts, which
is an arts program for inner-city kids. I have been working
with the Pistachio Commission to bring women's attention
to women's heart health. So much is done for breast cancer
that people don't realize that nine times as many women will
die from heart disease as breast cancer.
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