Playboy's 20Q: Ashley Judd

A Phi Beta Kappa French major from the University of Kentucky and one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood today, Ashley Judd has emerged with a wallop from the shadows of her country musk superstar mother (Naomi) and older sister (Wynonna). Judd's parents divorced when she was young, and she divided her time between them--attending a dozen schools in 13 years.

After college, Judd made her major film debut in the acclaimed Ruby in Paradise, which some critics maintain is her best work. She took supporting roles in Heat opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro; A Time to Kill, co-starring Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey; and Smoke, playing the daughter of Harvey Keitel. During the shooting of Smoke, Judd also starred on Broadway in William Inge's Picnic. She received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her portrayal of Norma Jean Baker in HBO's Norma Jean and Marilyn. But her breakthrough role was in the box office hit Kiss the Girls, co-starring Morgan Freeman. She also garnered good notices for her supporting role in last year's Simon Birch. Judd can be seen in two forthcoming films-- Eye of the Beholder and Double Jeopardy, which co-stars Tommy Lee Jones.

Robert Crane caught up with Judd on the set of Double Jeopardy in Vancouver. He reports: "Judd grabbed two director's chairs and positioned them right out in the middle of the set and crew. With our knees touching, the interview began. She is fearless, has a razor-sharp wit, is totally into her craft and is drop-dead gorgeous. At one point she had to change pants for a scene. She dropped trou right in front of everyone so we could continue the interview and not keep director Bruce Beresford waiting. Now, that's dedication."

1

Playboy: Describe the rides at your theme park Ashleywood.

Judd: I don't know how well attended my theme park would be, because you'd have to think a lot. There would probably be some kind of dictionary at every turnstile, and I would have mazes designed like 16th century Italian gardens. Some rides would definitely involve lipstick and beautiful dresses. Riding horses would figure somehow, and there'd be a whole Kentucky Wildcats neighborhood.

2

Playboy: You and William F. Buckley like to read dictionaries for fun. List three words you're dying to use in conversation. Extra points if you use them in the same sentence.

Judd: His lack of perspicacity was revealed by the calumny with which he spoke. Hence, a debacle ensued. Debacle is not so fantastically challenging a word but it is wonderful in the mouth.

3

Playboy: Dresses with slits: engineered for comfort or for showmanship?

Judd: Showmanship. Engineered via satellite while attending Kentucky basketball games. Last-minute dressing stages observed by a roomful of people, none of whom observed any danger whatsoever. And the overbearing motherly types too. Engineered with the hazard unobserved. I'm talking about my Richard Tyler Oscars gown, as I presume you were. But obviously the design answer to your question is both. Not that a kick pleat wouldn't accomplish the same thing.

4

Playboy: What gets lost in translation when you study French in Kentucky?

Judd: Actually, I gained so much in the translation. I came to comprehend English grammar by studying French. It enhanced my native tongue. I took four years in high school and four at university, with multiple courses in any given semester. Accrued a lot of time.

5

Playboy: L'Académie Française should lighten up, don't you think? What English words should be allowed in French?

Judd: Oh, I disagree. [Speaking French] I congratulate them for being one of the last bastions of hard-assedness. I love the Académie. They're righteous in a great historic way. I'm thinking about slang--OK, blow job in French is la pipe. Who wants to say la blow job when you can say la pipe? The French Academy has a great point.

6

Playboy: Were you ever benched at the University of Kentucky?

Judd: No, but my seatmate, who was as spastic a fan as I, was once given a technical. The other team took its two shots and everything. Did I mention my seatmate is my family's attorney?

7

Playboy: Matthew McConaughey, Michael Bolton and Lyle Lovett--we're not describing a straight line here. Account for quirks of the heart. What's it like riding on the back of Lyle's motorcycle?

Judd: First of all, this is as appropriate a time as ever to disband the rumor that Lyle and I dated. We absolutely never did. I've never been on the back of his motorcycle. He rides those motocross things. He's into BMX or something, I'm not sure.

8

Playboy: Is there any single insight that you've found always to be true?

Judd: Yeah. The book is always better than the movie.

9

Playboy: What haven't you done by 30 that you (continued on page 171) Ashley Judd (continued from page 119) thought you would have?

Judd: Absolutely nothing. I'm actually close to doing some things that I never thought I'd do. I don't own a Porsche yet, though.

10

Playboy: When you use a Stair Master at a gym, are there more people behind you or in front of you?

Judd: Usually in front, because that way they get the front and the reflection from the mirror behind me. Actually, they usually keep at least a 15-foot distance because I sweat so much they'd slip if they got too close. The Stair Master is an easy thing to have around on a set. It's not my end-all choice, but it's definitely a helpful apparatus.

11

Playboy: Describe and contrast: cracker, redneck, white trash.

Judd: That's an incomplete list--you didn't mention hillbilly. They're all very different. In the benign sense, a cracker would be someone who is a maverick and verbally wacky, perhaps says things that others would consider inappropriate. Maybe a little out of touch with reality. A redneck. I think, does not automatically denote a racist person. Being a redneck in the pure sense is about having a great love for the outdoors and living on lakes or rivers. White trash, to me, is a malevolent kind of ignorance, people who suffer from meanness, either innately or who have had meanness instilled in them. Hillbillies are something else. They're private and really living in an old-timey way.

12

Playboy: Give us your overview of Kentucky bourbon.

Judd: Blanton's, a small distillery in Frankfort. Beautiful handmade barrels, and every bottle has a parchment label indicating from which batch it's been poured. Very nice.

13

Playboy: What is so bad about underwear?

JUDD; It's uncomfortable.

14

Playboy: Aren't you putting underwear workers out of a job?

Judd: It's also affecting the need for laundry detergent. My mother instigated all of this. She's a hazard, in the best sense of the word. She happened to remark in public that I don't wear underwear, and it's followed me ever since. I'd like for it to go away.

15

Playboy: You have said, "Once you've kissed, you've kissed." Name the best onscreen kissers.

Judd: I liked that Liv Tyler and Joaquin Phoenix kiss in a movie that isn't otherwise notable. It was so lovely because they were so pure and young and they had fallen in love in real life. I knew that when I went to the theater, and I saw the sweetest undercurrent. Rhett and Scarlett--I mean, it doesn't get much better than that in terms of a cantankerous kiss. Oh, Maltese Falcon, when Humphrey Bogart grabs that woman. Wow! That was out of hand. His hand kind of scrunches her cheek. Was there a kiss between Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis in The Age of Innocence? That's a great relationship. I'm sure there's a great one in Porky's.

16

Playboy: Anybody you've worked with? JUDD: No, I don't really kiss. It would be too hot.

17

Playboy: Has Clinton exceeded all his genetic expectations?

Judd: We don't know that much about his dad, do we? He has exceeded my patience. So has that Mr. David Kendall, his attorney, who comes out of the grand jury hearing excoriating Starr for invasion of privacy. This is a guy who represents the National Enquirer and has for years. The height of hypocrisy.

18

Playboy: Clinton--an unconscionable sexual predator or just a good old boy?

Judd: Well, if you're dumb, are you unconscionable?

19

Playboy: Ever tried to educate any of your dates?

Judd: No. They all managed to hang themselves before I had a chance.

20

Playboy: In The Locusts your character is called a "come bucket." Have you been called worse?

Judd: Careless. A dictionary at every turnstile. And if you want to go on the high-thrill rides, it's a thesaurus. Welcome to Ashleywood, synonym game to the stars