I wrote about A Story Lately Told, the first half of Anjelica Huston's memoir, in a blog post last year when it was published and mentioned how I was anticipating the second volume, Watch Me. It does not disappoint. While much of the first part of the book deals with Huston's tempestuous (and much-documented) relationship with Jack Nicholson, the last third or so deals with her marriage to the sculptor Bob Graham, who it is obvious was her true love. While Huston's tone has been described by others as chilly in parts, warmth pervades anything to do with her romance with Graham. While Huston will definitely eat lunch in Hollywood again, one still gets a feeling for her eventful life, with cameos by Hunter S. Thompson, Raul Julia, Bill Murray, Ted Turner and Michael Jackson, among others.
While Huston's filmography is extensive, here are some of the highlights from Watch Me.
After some prodding and schmoozing by Nicholson, Huston managed to land the role of Maerose in Prizzi's Honor, in which Nicholson starred. It ended up winning her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Angelica's father, John Huston, directed her in an adaptation of James Joyce's The Dead. It was one of his last projects, and it was filmed in the Hustons' beloved Ireland.
Anjelica Huston enjoyed working with director Barry Sonnenfeld and the cast of Addams Family and Addams Family Values, but her stories of hair, makeup and costumes for these two films show that even for Hollywood royalty, acting is about more than reading lines, and glamour is hard work.
Huston also has some fun tales from her work on Buffalo Girls, in which she starred as Calamity Jane. As it mostly involves a historically correct (read, elaborate) costume and firearms, one has to wonder how the real Calamity Jane ever survived a trip to the outhouse.
Huston and Wes Anderson love working together, where he tends to cast her as a very maternal figure. The Royal Tenenbaums was their first outing, where Huston was impressed by the care with which even the small props were selected. Her section on The Darjeeling Limited is good for East-meets-West culture shock stories, and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou contains more hair and makeup follies, including having to film around a scratched cornea.
What are your favorite Anjelica Huston movies? Ever been part of a movie set? What are your stories?
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