Ashley alight

SH: Because there aren't fourteen amazing men out there willing to have sustained relationships. Feel lucky if you find one - men by nature are not interested in sustained relationships.

AJ: But I think that if somebody gets who I am, something happens. And it may not necessarily be the true love that I thought it was. It is still, however, romantic love and it's a valid connection. It's just in a context.

SH: I sense maturity here.

AJ: Salma! I'm growing up!

SH: You are growing up, Ashley, I can see that. Because before, you thought you'd found true love.

AJ: I know.

SH: There was that romance and passion and the greatness of the moment.

AJ: You were there, too. You saw it. And you know what? You were awesome about it, because you never belittled it.

SH: No, because it's a great feeling to believe you're in love, and I've been there. But I hope you find someone.

AJ: Oh, yeah. But you know how I feel about life: I wouldn't be here if I weren't going to. I don't think that I was sent down here to get robbed.

SH: I think probably all your romances happen so you can understand the right person when he comes into your life.

AJ: Yep. And when that happens, it's a miracle.

SH: Ashley, I must say, you are one of the hardest-working actresses in the business; you do so many movies and take so many classes. For me you've been an inspiration on this matter. I've never seen anyone work so hard on herself spiritually, physically, intellectually, and emotionally. You have amazing discipline. You're overwhelmed with a thousand things, but you always manage to give yourself the time to do yoga, to read a book, to put a mask on.

AJ: To dig around that temple. Yes, it's something I have to do.

SH: Tell me, how come you have this discipline? Do you write things down all the time? Do you make lists?

AJ: Well, a bikini wax is definitely on that list. [laughs] But the rest of it . . . I guess it just has to do with knowing what I require to go into that easier, softer part of myself. It also comes from having spent so much time alone; though I can go a little too far in that direction. When I was working on Eye of the Beholder, I played a character who is so aloof that my whole lifestyle became very aloof. If someone knocked on my door, there was a part of me that went into a rage, because I wanted to be isolated and alone. I mutated into something that was a little to my detriment - not to mention unpleasant for other people, because I was a raging meanie! It's already so different here on the set of Double Jeopardy, where people come in and out of my trailer, and I'm hugging the set costumers and getting very excited at the prospect of having some new girlfriends.

SH: Did you enjoy working on Eye of the Beholder?

AJ: That movie was a very different kind of movie for me. There's a lyric in a song my sister sings that goes, "When you hit rock bottom / You've got two ways to go / Straight up, and sideways." I know when I'm working on a performance, I'll go sideways for a while before I go straight up. If I'm trying something in a take and it's not working for me, t will absolutely exhaust the idea in myself before a change will occur to me. And I almost need to do that. It's the way my neurons work. To answer your question, I was really unhappy in Montreal because the weather was so glum; it might as well have been the middle of December, whereas back home there were daffodils and jonquils and forsythia bushes. I missed the dogwood trees, I never saw a blooming Bradford pear. And that was upsetting.