Q&A with actress Rene Russo

Rene Russo, 64, made her film debut in 1989 in Major League. She is also known for her roles in One Good Cop (1991), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), Outbreak, Get Shorty (both 1995), The Intern (2015) and Nightcrawler (2014), for which she won several awards.

What was your childhood or earliest ambition?

I didn’t have ambitions. I was too busy just trying to survive, along with my sister and my mom — money was tight, my mom worked two jobs.

Private school or state school? University or straight into work?

Burroughs High School in Burbank. High school was not fun. I was not popular, I was a geek. The bullying was distracting. I dropped out, maybe the end of the 10th grade. I went to work at a factory inspecting eyeglasses on an assembly line. Then I got scouted for modelling and went to New York — a scary place compared to where I grew up.

Who was or still is your mentor?

John Crosby, my manager. We met at a Rolling Stones concert when I was 17. He was driving down the street with his wife. He stopped the car, handed me his card, said, “Do you act, do you model? Please have your mother call me.” I had zero self-esteem, I was afraid of a lot, I made every excuse not to do things. He guided me professionally and personally. He’s been wonderful.

How physically fit are you?

At 64, nearly 65, you have to keep moving. I don’t love exercising, but I do weights and I walk a lot.

Ambition or talent: which matters more to success?

You need both.

How politically committed are you?

If you are American, you have to stay awake. Every day is a civics lesson. I’m more engaged than I’ve ever been.

What would you like to own that you don’t currently possess?

The ability to step out of the past and into the present. And I’m working very, very hard on that. To be able to take ownership of my own separate self. That and a work by the amazing gunpowder artist Cai Guo-Qiang. He is unbelievable.

What’s your biggest extravagance?

Wasting time.

In what place are you happiest?

Watching a really lame reality show and eating salsa with my husband. Then going outside with a blanket and looking at the moon.

What ambitions do you still have?

To speak Spanish. Learning to swim has been on my list for about 50 years. And to get more politically involved.

What drives you on?

Curiosity. I really do want to see how it all ends.

What is the greatest achievement of your life so far?

Rose, my daughter. I could give her things that were missing in my childhood in terms of self-esteem, self-image. I know I made a lot of mistakes, but I was aware of all of her gifts and I made sure she was aware of them too.

What do you find most irritating in other people?

Judgmental people. And it’s not lost on me that I’m judging them right now. And I wouldn’t want to be judged for any of my crap. A friend gave me a card: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” I’ve had that on my board for 20 years. I try to live by it.

If your 20-year-old self could see you now, what would she think?

She’d be happy to see her future with good friends and two of the most graceful, funny, kind people she would ever know: her future husband and daughter. She would also be surprised to see that she was still struggling with doubt and fear.

Which object that you’ve lost do you wish you still had?

I am sure there are things, maybe a picture in a lost wallet that I can’t get back, but nothing stands out.

What is the greatest challenge of our time?

Climate change. We have future generations to care for and we’re not doing a very good job. It scares me.

Do you believe in an afterlife?

I don’t know. There’s a hell of a lot going on that we don’t understand.

If you had to rate your satisfaction with your life so far, out of 10, what would you score?

It’s a mixed bag, day by day, hour by hour, even moment by moment. I can’t rate it overall except to say I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be — and I wouldn’t change anything.

Rene Russo stars in ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’, out now on Netflix; netflix.com/velvetbuzzsaw

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