Chlöe Sevigny, who is currently promoting her small role in the upcoming Barry Munday, recently sat down with the AV Club to talk about, among other things, two elements of her own notoriety that precede the whole “actress” thing:
AVC: [Y]ou’re in a unique situation. For one thing, there aren’t many other actresses who are victims of the whole “hipster backlash” that’s suddenly so prevalent.
CS: I feel like I’m old enough that I’m not a hipster. I was pre-hipster. I was an alternative kid. I was a skater kid. I went to hardcore shows. My older brother was a hardcore kid. I was pre-hipster. It was when they were more specifically defined youth cultures. And now, for some reason, I don’t know. I think that, just because of the time that I came to or something, maybe having to do with X-Girl and that was the beginning — the Beastie Boys apparently are the godfathers of hipster-ism, or whatever you want to say. I don’t know the terminology, because I don’t adhere to it. [Laughs.] I don’t even know. Why am I thought of as so hipster?
AVC: As you’ve said, you’ve been a part of many different trendy cultures. You’ve been at this unique nexus of cool, and maybe people see that as trend-hopping. But it’s never about being fair when you’re called a hipster. There’s usually no rhyme or reason to it. You just know a lot of “cool” people, ergo you’re a hipster.
CS: I mean, I was just living in New York City, and these were the people that surrounded it, and the interests that I’ve had. So what, there are no other actresses that are hipsters?
AVC: Surely there are, but you’ve been called the “Matron Saint of Hipsters.” If you Google “Chloe Sevigny” and “hipster,” you get something like 25,000 hits.
CS: Whoa! So, yeah. So people don’t like me because I’m a hipster. But I’m on a TV show on HBO. How hip is that? [Laughs.] I feel like it’s really commercial. Or actually, it’s not really commercial. I mean, the “hip” movies I was making in the ’90s or whatever — just because the ’90s were hipper — I don’t know, I feel like that hasn’t carried over so much. I don’t know. What was the question?
AVC: Do you feel like it’s a stigma you’ll always carry — not unlike The Brown Bunny, which obviously you’re sick of talking about too, but it’s something that will probably stay with you forever.
CS: Brown Bunny was my way of self-sabotaging my career. I know everyone wants to be really famous or do really commercial work, so I… I feel like maybe I’m a masochist.
Oh, Chl¨e. You’re not a masochist, but you’ve got really bad taste in men. Then again, I could see why anyone who gives Vincent Gallo a blowjob (let alone on camera for the world to see) would look for something (anything) to explain away the shame.
