Ashley Judd is a busy woman these days. She’s got a new film opening today — “Twisted” with Samuel L. Jackson and Andy Garcia — just completed production in England on the Cole Porter biopic “De- Lovely,” is appearing on Broadway as Maggie in Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and (most importantly, she says) is gearing up for another NCAA basketball title run by her beloved Kentucky Wildcats. After March Madness, she’ll be touring the CART circuit with her husband, Scottish racecar driver Dario Franchitti, and yet, with all this going on, Judd still finds time to stop and smell the roses … literally.
QUESTION: You just wrapped shooting in London on “De-Lovely.” How did it turn out?
ASHLEY JUDD: The movie’s wonderful and London is the greenest city on earth. It has the most parks. The rose gardens were in bloom while we were there, and I got to see them right before they bloomed, the peak bloom, and then the repeat bloomers. Other than sharing the hair and makeup trailer with Kevin Kline, checking out the roses every week and charting their progress is how I’ll always remember “De-Lovely.”
Q: Rumor has it you had a bit of a mishap while on a hike during “Twisted” production. What happened?
AJ: I fell in a lake (laughs). I went down to the water’s edge and it was really slippery and craggy, and I slipped and fell in. I had on my heavy-duty hiking boots, and they got caught in some stuff, and I started to panic a little. So I had to take my shoes off and throw them ashore … it was funny, and I got a good story out of it.
Q: Your run on Broadway is ending soon. What’s next for you?
AJ: I’m going to go home and watch the daffodils grow.
Q: Seriously? AJ: Yep. I planted some Blue Bells and Lily of the Valley that I can’t wait to see. And, you know, we’re a two-career household, and it’s Dario’s (racing) season. So I’m really excited about going racing, since he didn’t race much last year because of an injury.
Q: Has your husband gotten you behind the wheel of a racecar yet?
AJ: I’m going to do a two-seater with Mario Andretti. (Dario) said Mario is the only person he’ll let me ride with.
Q: You’re an avid sports fan. What’s it like to watch your husband race?
AJ: When I first started going to races after we met, I was extremely nervous to be down in the pit area. It’s like being backstage at a concert and hoping you don’t trip over something or break an amp or accidentally speak into a live microphone and make an ass out of yourself. So I was real hesitant to get too excited. And then (a picture appeared in a magazine) where I’m stretched out on the pit wall during morning practice reading The New York Times the day of a race. I thought maybe I was a little too relaxed (laughs).
Q: Tell us how you do what you do. AJ: The definition of acting is always the same: Live truthfully under imaginary circumstances. My objectives are always the same, and those are to be honest and in the moment, to work off the other person, and to be emotionally full and vibrant. That, for me, is always the same.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 27, 2004. Read the original PDF.