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32 / INTERVIEW / KIRSTEN DUNST
convincing you of Justine’s emotional shift, from an ill-behaving and nearly catatonic bride (she systematically ruins her wedding before descending into a state in which she can’t eat or bathe) to a woman who finds a strange comfort in imminent doom, holding it together while everyone and everything around her falls apart. “We talked about it, Lars and I,” Dunst says of Justine’s curious arc. “We talked about how, sometimes, when people are depressed, the most horrendous things make them kind of step up to take care of everyone more than anyone else. There could be a lot of reasons for it, but it seems that, when you’re in a depressed state, having something really bad happen gives you a kind of life again.” She doesn’t speak much about it, but Dunst suffered from a depression of her own in 2008, shortly after the Spider-Man trilogy closed on a sour note and shortly before Hollywood saw the first year-long drought of Dunst releases since 1992. Reportedly claiming to have felt abysmal for roughly six months beforehand, Dunst checked herself into a Utah facility for treatment. Upon completion, she went on to star in All Good Things, a fact-based New York thriller that, prior to Melancholia, earned her “best ever” raves. Call it the Von Trier Syndrome—depression leading to creative awakening. Her experience certainly informed the way she approached Justine, and her full
Kirsten Dunst in a scene from Melancholia.
emergence from it, she says, made tackling the role possible. “I feel like, to play somebody like this, you have to be in a really good place,” she says, “because you can’t play depressed when you’re depressed—you can’t do anything. There are many who know what that feels like. I think most people have gone through their own version of depression. It’s a very normal thing.” “Normal,” however, isn’t the way anyone is going to describe the experience of Melancholia, an extravagantly visceral titan of a movie that, like most all of von Trier’s work, is unshakable to the extent that you might want to clear your post-screening schedule. Regardless of how one feels about the apocalypse (whether you’d greet it with an atheistic calm like Justine, or a terrifyingly frantic desperation like Claire), von Trier uses his singular intuition and formidable visual and aural skills to dig right under the skin, penetrating your surface as he presents the smashing of the Earth’s crust. Dunst proves instrumental in her director’s artistic goals, nailing that challenge of embodying an antiheroine whose inner life defies typical development. The true strangeness of it all is that, in discussing the role, Dunst never gets more than a touch serious, maintaining a steady levity that comes as a bit of a shock given the character and material in question. Something suggests that out of the actress’s emotional lows has emerged an invigorated, and yet, selectively objective, artist, one who knows when to keep seriousness at arm’s length and when to her hurl herself headlong into demanding, provocative work. Which, thankfully, seems to be a new habit. “Whatever this film would have been—a fun experience, a weird experience, whatever—I was ready to do it,” she says. “I’m up for an adventure.” 50
ICON
NOVEMBER 2011
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34 / INTERVIEW / ERIC RIPERT
a knack for being kind at being cruel. As far as entertainment value goes, Ripert’s episodes of Treme, filmed at his Le Bernadin, were still a matter of craft, despite his playing a character named “Eric Ripert.” The chef had great fun doing the HBO series. “It’s still acting, I think,” laughs the chef. “It’s not something I have ever done before and would doubtful do otherwise.” What Ripert does do and do well doubtless otherwise is run restaurants like 10 Arts and Le Bernadin, two hot spots that are in constant evolution. “We can never stay still,” says Ripert, reminding me how Le Bernadin was just completely redone at the end of August 2011 and re-opened with an entirely new décor as well as small new lounge. The Ritz Carlton’s 10 Arts in Philly may maintain its looks, but obviously will evolve now that Jennifer Carroll has left the etage. Ripert knew that at some point the highly acclaimed Carroll would want to spread her wings. He’s known for some time (“July maybe”) that the day was near. When it came he had his own matters to attend at Le Bernadin (an event for the Michelin Guide) and couldn’t make the October away event held in regard to the Celebrity Chef Tour for the James Beard House. “Still, I called her that day and told her how much I’d miss her. We have always had a very good relationship and I wish her nothing but the best. I am so very happy and proud that she is spreading her wings. I have watched her grow and supported every move she’s made, from the kitchen of Le Bernadin to when she joined us as we moved to Philadelphia through to the decision to be on Top Chef.“ Now that Jen Carroll has grown, Ripert’s support has not and will not waver. He even uses Carroll as a benchmark for what the next phase of 10 Arts will be. If she learned editing and refinement from Ripert, he followed Carroll’s lead in the exchange of energy and information when it came to Philly, its palate and the market in general. “She taught me a lot about what it means to be in Philadelphia, what the tastes and desires are.” Though chefs from Le Bernadin are currently complying with the Ripert and Carroll menu, and rumors of chefs from the BLT group have surfaced, nothing yet has become of Ripert’s search for the perfect 10 Arts replacement. Or at least he isn’t saying. “We are being very diligent and very careful in who we let take ownership of the kitchen. It was in such good hands and we have such high standards.” Having eaten there many times, I can concur. Therefore, getting the right executive chef is a must. Surprisingly, he looks back toward Carroll for inspiration. “We do want someone exactly like Jenny,” states Ripert. “Just as creative and just as energetic.” As for his life as a creative type, a media personality on television and the stage— apart from being a restaurateur and chef—Ripert says there is no different life, or different side or persona. It is the same job description. That’s what makes it so that he is a natural at what he does. “It’s the same person that you see on television that you see in the kitchen. The careers are complimentary—an extension really. To be a chef in 2011 you have to be media savvy. And if you do it well, I think you can truly inspire people. You can inspire your team, you can inspire your diners, you can inspire a whole legion of people. It’s a different world from thirty years ago. Being a personality is not separated from being a chef.” This has always been thus for Ripert since the start of his careers; it was based on sharing then as it is now. That level of enjoyment of his craft is what makes him so natural on the screen. The camera loves food’s silver fox. “That’s why it looks so easy or that I’m so good at it,” he laughs. “I’m honestly happy to share what I do in the kitchen on the screen. My experience and training and explaining it to an audience—I feel as if I am learning it all over again. It makes me better at what I am doing. Absolutely. It makes me more aware of the process, all my processes. The way we create and why we create.” With all of this ease and all of his creativity, one must admit there is a proliferation of culinary television unheard of previous to the current foodie revolution. Is there a saturation level to be reached and how far from boiling over is not for Ripert to say as he is not an expert at calculating audiences. Just pleasing them. “I do not know exactly how the success of these shows are measured and how that success is viewed, but I think that it will have reached a saturation point when people stop watching the shows,” laughs. Ripert. “There is a great demand right now for food television programming and people seem to be pretty happy about it. When fewer people start reaching for our channels, we will know. It’s no different than when diners stop coming to our restaurants. We will get the hint.”