Interview

DC: How about those supermarkets? A supermarket where you could drive a car down the aisles-that's heaven to me.

EM: You like that? I prefer a little bodega, actually.

DC: So you don't cook?

EM: No, I don't cook. I respect food too much.

DC: Well, how about fast food? Do you like fast food?

EM: I used to love fast food because I had no money, and I was a struggling actor. You know the story, when you're literally hustling. You're going from audition to audition, changing in the backseat, and all that fun stuff that's great to do at one time in your life. That's when the 49-cent taco, as disgusting as it is, really plays into your day. It really helps you out. There was a time in my life where it really helped me, and it fed me. It was my diet. But personally, now, I can't do fast food. Today, I eat sushi. Recently, in the past six to eight months, I've given up chicken. All I eat is fish and seafood, and I love it.

DC: So how does it feel being a huge sex symbol?

EM: It's flattering that people think I'm sexy, but it's not the end-all, be-all. The minute I put
my self-esteem on what they think I am, I'm screwed, because one day they're not going to think I'm sexy. You know what I mean? It's just going to be like that. That's just life-especially in this industry. If I based my self-esteem on their -perception of me, I'd be screwed, and it would lead to a very unhappy life. So, although I'm grateful, I take it with a grain of salt. Otherwise, it's just too complicated.

DC: Reading back on some of your past interviews, it seems like you have two sides. There is this tough chick who you wouldn't want to cross, and then there is this sweet-as-pie innocent.

EM: Tell me where the tough chick comes in, because I wish I were tough. Seriously, I hate confrontation. I am so not tough. I mean, I'm strong. I can take it if you dish it out. But I'm not tough. In Once Upon a Time in Mexico [2003], I played a cop. When my family saw me with a gun, they were laughing in the aisles! They were like, "What is she doing? Who gave her a gun? Do not give my little sister a gun." But I think I'm just drawn that way. I'm drawn to look tough. The arched eyebrows are just there-I don't do them like that. I have strong features, but I wish I could be tougher.

DC: Didn't you say in one early interview with GQ that you carry a blade?

EM: Can I say something? That was my controversial stage where I'd just started acting. I went through my little Angelina Jolie phase, like I was really tough. I had just come out in Training Day [2001], and I was nude in it, so I was getting a certain kind of attention. And I did carry a little blade . . . My God, with obviously no intention to ever use it. I had Mace as well. But the blade sounded cooler in the interview, so they wrote that. But the truth is, I was young and stupid. It was my little rebellious stage.

DC: Well, we all have them.

EM: That was it. That was my blade phase.

DC: So now, let's say, if you were going to confront somebody, what would you do?

EM: I would probably write you an e-mail, and then not send it, but just get my stuff out there. I'm really sensitive. I tend to cry, and it's like, "Let's leave the tears out of this." Then I'd talk to somebody. I talk about therapy a lot because I love therapy. It has just enriched my life. I come from a family and a heritage where you don't really go to therapy unless you're crazy. I want people to know that that's so not the case. It's enriching, and I've learned this new tool.

DC: What is it? Tell me.

EM: It's very simple. It's called "pause." I use it about four million times a day. Literally, when I feel those little emotions coming up, I just pause.

DC: I do that. And the other thing I do that's very helpful is, "Hmm, maybe they're right."

EM: I don't do that!