Sienna Miller churns out a pop-art performance as an icon of the '60s in 'Factory Girl'
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If anybody was born to play Andy Warhol acolyte and "superstar" Edie
Sedgwick, it's Sienna Miller. And what she wasn't born with, she
picked up while filming "Factory Girl," George Hickenlooper's new
movie about Sedgwick, opening Friday. Included among the natural or
acquired talents: sullen-eyed beauty, vodka swilling, and general all-
around misbehaving.
At least that's what the tabloids have said. Miller disputes all of
this, saying in a veddy British accent, "These reports that I became
obsessed [with Sedgwick] and then couldn't get out of character,
they're just good stories. It's not true at all. I enjoyed playing
her, and I found her very intriguing. I think you have to if you're
going to spend a year with someone."
For a period in the mid-1960s, Sedgwick, who came from a wealthy New
England family with roots stretching back to the American Revolution,
was Andy Warhol's muse. A frequent visitor to the Pop artist's famed
Factory studio in New York, Sedgwick appeared on his arm and in his
flaky short movies and experimental films. She had a major influence
on the fashion of the times and was the life of the parties. After
breaking with Warhol (played in "Factory Girl" by Guy Pearce), she
spent time with Bob Dylan (supposedly inspiring tracks on his classic
1966 album "Blonde on Blonde"). Then the drugs that were so much a
part of the Warhol scene took their toll on the Chelsea Hotel denizen.
Sedgwick died of an overdose in 1971 at age 28.
Miller is at first reluctant to discuss what she found appealing about
Sedgwick. The model-turned-actress has been a regular fixture in the
press ever since she was engaged to, and then broke up with, actor
Jude Law. The English Oscar nominee was with Miller when stories hit
the celeb magazines about a relationship he'd had with his children's
nanny. (Miller and Law remained together, under the intense scrutiny
of paparazzi.)
"It's kind of dangerous ground," Miller says, warily. "Every time I
say there's some connection between me and [Sedgwick], it gets
misconstrued. ... But if I'd been in similar situations as her, my
reactions would have been the same. I [share] a certain free-
spiritedness. And the nonconforming."
Miller, 25, was born in New York City but raised in England. She began
her career as model, much as Sedgwick did. And like Sedgwick, she
developed a style that became all the rage, in this case boho-chic.
She even looks a bit like Sedgwick. But there the resemblance ends,
despite the fact she has been in the company of alcohol and men.
(Besides Law, there's been word of links with the new James Bond,
Daniel Craig, and actor Hayden Christensen, who plays a Dylan-esque
character in "Factory Girl".)
"You can't really believe any of it," says Miller, who previously
appeared in "Layer Cake" (which starred Craig), "Alfie" (where she met
Law), "Casanova" and the Fox TV series "Keen Eddie."
"The irony is that it's very far from what I'm like. I'm 25 years old,
and I don't know many 25-year-olds who don't go out now and then. I
don't go out that often at all, actually, but if I do, it's documented
as if it's something I'm doing all the time.
"There's been a lot of scandal in my life, and I think that's why
people want to see you as a certain thing. They don't want to hear
that I didn't miss a day's work. Never been demanding on a set. If you
talked to anyone I've worked with, they'd probably back me up. My work
is really my most important thing."
Hickenlooper says Miller's the most talented actress he has ever
worked with. Referring to the notoriety she has attracted off-screen,
he says, "She's got a huge uphill battle because she came in [to
acting] through the back door. She has to keep proving herself."
In fact, Miller nearly didn't get the role in "Factory Girl."
Hickenlooper cast her immediately after he was dazzled by her audition
- and by the woman herself: "The oxygen left the room," he says. "I
mean that in a good way." But when financing didn't come through - a
common problem with smaller-profile indies - Miller dropped the
project to fulfill a London stage commitment, playing Celia in "As You
Like It" in the West End. Katie Holmes and Brittany Murphy were
reportedly considered to replace her. However, when the play was over,
Hickenlooper went back to Miller.
The film, however, which was scheduled to have some scenes shot in New
Orleans, was further delayed by Hurricane Katrina and then by
lawsuits, including one by Dylan, which have since been dropped. In
the meantime, Miller made four more films, including an adaptation of
Michael Chabon's novel "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" and the recent
Sundance-screened comedy-drama "Interview," directed by Steve Buscemi.
Now that "Factory Girl" is completed and her first full-bodied
starring role is on view, Miller hopes the less-flattering aspects of
fame will recede. Sedgwick, the '60s doomed femme fatale, may have
flamed out, but Miller is not about to. She's way too self-assured and
ambitious for that.
"I find it difficult to be anything other than myself," says Miller.
"But it's all good. I feel like I'm doing the right thing in my work,
and everything will hopefully go away with the more work I do."
* * *
L.A. DAILY NEWS/By Joel Stratte-McClure
Sienna Miller, dressed in a peach-colored silk dress, was shivering
uncontrollably at the outdoor La Dolce Vita party that launched the
Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Thursday night. Her
chills weren't due only to excitement surrounding the premiere of
"Factory Girl," the cold evening or party dÈcor that included fanciful
costumes and characters from Fellini's "8 1/2."
"It's very emotional screening the movie here, where Edie Sedgwick was
born and died, because many locals feel it's their story," Miller said
about her portrayal of the Andy Warhol muse who overdosed in 1971 at
age 28. "Edie had charisma in bagfuls, and I worked hard to capture
it."
The late icon's older brother Jonathan Sedgwick found it jolting to
relive experiences from the 1960s when his sister was known as the "It
Girl" and, as Warhol put it, "famous for 15 minutes."
"I met my sister again when I saw Sienna on screen," said Sedgwick,
who takes issue with "absurd accusations of family abuse" in the film.
"She captured Edie's voice, her mannerisms, her purity and her ability
to manipulate everyone."
Co-star Guy Pearce, director George Hickenlooper, festival executive
director Roger Durling and Edie's widower Michael Post discussed the
relevance of the film.
" 'Factory Girl' should be required viewing for Paris Hilton and
anyone else enjoying 15 minutes of fleeting fame today," said Durling,
who's attracted more than 30 Oscar nominees to the festival.
Miller planned to retreat to her snug cottage at the San Ysidro Ranch
in the hills while most others - including Helen Mirren, Will Smith
and Tom Cruise - stayed at the Four Seasons Biltmore on the coast.
"Edie always tried to do things a bit differently," Miller said as she
wrapped a borrowed bone-print scarf around her bare shoulders.