As a native New Yorker, it may have taken 35 years for Sienna Miller to go back – although she was born four full years after the catchy Odyssey hit – the actress known mostly for her roles as troubled or emotionally drained characters says she definitely feels at home in the Big Apple.
As if testing the water a little, Miller spent a few years in the city as a teenager where she was studying, while also acting and spending time as a model for Coca-Cola, for Vogue and for that iconic 2003 Pirelli calendar shoot.
But it wasn’t until 2016 that she moved to New York full-time with her daughter Marlowe, six months after splitting with Marlowe’s father, Tom Sturridge.
Off-screen events have often patterned Miller’s film choices. It all started when she played the love interest of future James Bond Daniel Craig in Matthew Vaughn’s gangster-flick Layer Cake, alongside Jude Law – who she would later have an on-off romance with. Then, following the remake of Alfie, also with Law, she endured tabloid newspapers covertly take pictures of her naked while on set for movie Hippie Hippie Shake, which was later abandoned.
Within three months of her giving birth to Marlowe in 2012, she was back to work in Foxcatcher, alongside Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. The same year, Miller would star in Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper with Bradley Cooper.
The actress’s most recent film, American Woman, saw her star alongside Christina Hendricks, Aaron Paul and Amy Madigan as a 32-year-old woman whose teen daughter went missing saw her return to the realm of the leading lady. A career turning point, perhaps?
STRIPLV: Last year’s American Woman was your first leading role in a while, and a very intense one. You play a character whose teenage daughter disappears and leaves you to raise her child, your grandson. As a mother yourself, was that a difficult part to play emotionally? MILLER: I think that as a female actor, it is probably the hardest thing that you could imagine, as that is one of the hardest things for a person to go through. I think that if you have children, you do this thing where you imagine how devastating it would be if it happened to you, but you sort of go there in your mind as an actor. There was something very interesting about exploring that, but also about the resilience about the human spirit. This woman begins as one thing and ends as another and I think that you are left – in spite of the tragedy that she goes through, you are left with a real feeling of hope and courage, and it is a pretty powerful story. It was really when I read the script – and it often happens when I am clear that I want to do something – but I had a total vision of how to do it, and that happened with this film. The subject matter is obviously very dark – this is a woman who loses a child, and that was something which I was very daunted by. But as soon as I met the director, Jake Scott, and we started having creative conversations, then I really felt like I could do it with that group. STRIPLV: Are you very emotional?
MILLER: Yes. I am. I totally respond on a feel-think level. It’s all about instinct, and I think it’s good for me in my job. But it’s sometimes hard to navigate life because I’m so sensitive, and I read things on an emotional level. I think that’s what actors do, and that’s why they’re notoriously difficult or overly-emotional. STRIPLV: Ever since you did Foxcatcher, you’ve got to work on some quality movies. MILLER: I think I have a better sense of a decent script now, perhaps that’s what you learn growing up as an actor. Clearly, I’m doing something right if I’m getting to work with Clint Eastwood, James Gray, Bennett Miller, Ben Affleck. Something has happened, something has changed. I think much of it has to do with getting older. STRIPLV: Last year you also starred opposite Russell Crowe and Naomi Watts in The Loudest Voice, the TV mini-series about former Fox Chairman and CEO, Roger Ailes. How did that feel? MILLER: It was pretty liberating, actually. I am playing a real woman, Elizabeth Ailes, who was married to Roger, and she is a very religious Republican woman. It was a really interesting role to play, and I felt very much like I could completely go there in terms of the character because of it. But four hours of being in make-up and having prosthetics is a lot. (Laughs) STRIPLV: What made you make the move to New York? MILLER: I was born in New York, so I feel very at home living there now. Over time, my work has become increasingly based in the US, so it made much more sense to live there. Especially now that my daughter’s in school, it means that I don’t have to spend too much time away from her, except for filming. It is a welcome change and a nice, I still have so much love for London, and I feel extremely fortunate to be able to go back when I can - even if it’s for a small amount of time. STRIPLV: When you’re on the red carpet, you always look stunning a stylish. Now that your daughter is getting older, is she recognizing this more and more? MILLER: Well, she is very much into her own kind of thing. I loved it when she was still so little and I had the chance to choose what to dress her in, like a little orphan and all of that was very cute. But now, all she wants to wear is hi-tops and leggings and she will not let me get involved! I want her to wear some dresses. What also isn’t really fair is that she wants to dress me in belly shirts and I’m sorry, no, no, no. Those days are well and truly in the past. (Laughs) STRIPLV: Your resume gives fascinating reading. You’ve also said that you always like to select roles based on the fun that you think you will have. Have things always turned out that way? MILLER: On the whole, I am glad to say that things have turned out well for me. I’ve enjoyed making movies, and that’s really what it should always be about. You want to enjoy the things that you do, and you want to make sure that you are able to get the best out of yourself. If you’re having fun and enjoying yourself, that’s always going to make you get the best out of yourself. But I don’t want to make it sound like it’s all easy work and that I just turn up, read a few lines, film a few scenes and it’s all done. (Laughs) It’s not like that at all. Anyone who enjoys a job that they do – no matter what it is, most of the time – will often say that they don’t feel like it’s a job. STRIPLV: Yeah, that’s the thing, isn’t it. I enjoy my job, and I always say that it’s half the battle with any work, when you don’t see it as a job. MILLER: I agree, and I love my job and my career, and I really look forward to the scripts and roles that I choose to do, from those that I get sent. But even the scripts that I don’t choose, I find it incredibly fascinating going through that process and selecting the ones I feel match me best and are interesting to do. The other thing is that you’re not just going into these roles as an individual, but you’re about to immerse yourself in a new world with a group of brilliant people to try and make something wonderful. Sometimes you choose a project based on the director, the other actors who’ve also chosen to do the project or because something about it is just right. You may be working with people you know, people you’ve known well for a long time, people that you’ve never worked with but always wanted to or people you’ve never worked with and are intrigued to work with. STRIPLV: How do you make sure that you get the job done without just having fun? MILLER: (Laughs) You’re making me sound like I am a firecracker! I definitely like to have fun and enjoyment, of course. But once the serious work needs to be done, I know when to stop, when to focus and concentrate and when to make sure I don’t need 20 takes to complete a scene. (Laughs) When there are lots of takes, you have to bear in mind that it affects not only the director and the rest of the cast, but also the crew who are there doing their brilliant work, and who I respect 100%. Everyone has an important role to play on a film set, and I am always aware of that. I’m not the center of attention, and I don’t want to be unless it’s a solo scene or anything similar. STRIPLV: Talking about scenarios that set you up for life, you went to boarding school, didn’t you? MILLER: I did indeed, when I was eight, and I look back on that time of my life, growing up and surrounded by people who I hadn’t known before going there. I think that helped me prepare myself for life knowing that you’re doing activities with people you may not know and that there are many different types of people who deal with situations in different ways.