Interview

PHOTO BY CRAIG BLANKENHORN

Thanks to tax breaks, Greenpoint, Brooklyn got a real treat this year: Rather than film the upcoming Boardwalk Empire in overpriced New Jersey, HBO leased a New York City plot and literally laid down the sand to reimagine the Garden State's most beloved landmark. 

After extensive research and three months of labor, the studio that brought us the definitive vision of modern day Jersey with The Sopranos has resurrected the circa 1920 heyday of the Atlantic City boardwalk, complete with taffy stands and incubator baby exhibitions. Series creator Terry Winter said that, while he hasn't had a chance to sit down with Nelson Johnson, author of Boardwalk Empire, he used the book and its environs as a jumping off point, though he did fictionalize the characters. Steve Buscemi stars as Nucky Thompson, a character based on the Nucky Johnson of the novel. Buscemi is joined by Michael Pitt, Michael Shannon, Kelly Macdonald, and enough extras to fill even the most spacious speakeasy. Who wouldn't want to play a part in Prohibition?

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In The Prisoner, AMC's newest series, a man wakes up in a world he doesn't recognize.  This theme of disorientation seems especially relevant to the life of one of the show's female leads, British actress Ruth Wilson. Recently, she learned not only that her deceased grandfather had been both a novelist and a spy, but that he had lived as a secret polygamist, acting as the patriarch of four separate families. I spoke with Wilson about her family, filming in Africa, and the "completely mad" series on which The Prisoner is based. (PHOTO: RUTH WILSON AND JIM CAVIEZEL IN THE PRISONER)


REBECCA SINN: So how did you begin acting?
 
RUTH WILSON: Actually, one of the stories that's come up recently about my family was that my granddad was a spy in the war. I never knew him–he died when my dad was eighteen. Not only that, but he wrote twenty spy novels as a novelist.
 
SINN: Did you know about his secret life before?
 
WILSON: No, and not only that, but he had four wives and never got divorced, so he was a polygamist.

SINN: When did you find all this out?
 
WILSON: Two years ago, maybe? So my dad has all these new brothers and sisters from different families. They had a big reunion–it was insane!  But it turns out that one of my new uncles is an actor and his son is a director.

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Le Fooding, the Parisian signature food, music, and art festival, landed in New York on Friday and Saturday evenings at PS1 in Queens to benefit Action Against Hunger. In anticipation, I stopped eating on Thursday to give my palate a big rest and, of course, prepare for the caloric deluge.

The line around PS1 wrapped around the block–there seemed to be significantly more than the predicted 1000 guests–but things moved quickly and before I knew it, I was inside, surrounded by cavernous, Where the Wild Things Are-type structures. However, there were no monsters in sight here–or kids for that matter. Instead, Paul Sevigny was perched at the top of the stairs spinning for les foodies.

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Thursday night saw the opening of Alteration, artist Greg Lauren's (nephew of Ralph) latest Soho pop-up exhibit and shop.  Lauren, whose work has been influenced by a childhood interest in superheroes, tapped into the family business this time around. With a clever mind and carefully selected material–not to mention the family touch–he taught himself to sew. The results–earth tone and metallic ties tailored blazers, workout-inspired pants–were on display alongside a makeshift mood board. Also on hand were cousin and candy bar queen Dylan, Gerard Butler, and Parker Posey (with her pup). Greg's work will continue to fill racks-and closets as these are for purchase-through October at 28 Wooster Street.

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