What Would Diane Kruger Do?
Go stratospheric as a movie star, a style icon and half of Hollywood's coolest couple. And she's not done yet as Helen Whitaker finds out
Simon EmmettDiane Kruger throws a good party. I know. I’ve seen the pictures. She grows more and more animated as she talks through the snaps of the Americana-themed bash she held to celebrate getting her Green Card, and it quickly becomes apparent there is more to ‘Krugs’ than her style-icon image conveys. “I’m known to like a drink when I have a party,” she confides, scrolling past a shot of her in full stars and stripes regalia. “People are like, ‘Oh there goes Sue Ellen.’”
Not that the 36-year-old doesn’t exude the effortless Coachella cool that makes her a solid fixture on best-dressed lists. But when she arrives for breakfast at Cafe 101 in Hollywood, her Comme des Garcons top, Isabel Marant cowboy boots and baker-boy cap are nicely offset by hands covered in scratches from her new kitten.
Simon EmmettDiane first found fame as the staggeringly beautiful Helen in 2004’s Troy, and has since alternated between smaller European films (Joyeux Noel, Farewell, My Queen) and big-budget Hollywood blockbusters (Inglorious Bastards, National Treasure).
Today we’re here to talk about The Host, the film adaptation of the ‘other’ book by Stephanie ‘Twilight’ Meyer. As The Seeker, one of a parasitic alien species that has body-snatched the human race, Diane plays the baddie opposite heroine Melanie (Saoirse Ronan). Melanie is one of the last remaining humans to have an alien ‘soul’ injected into her body, and even after she is captured, her personality refuses to yield. When Melanie (and her new soul) disappears to join the human resistance, The Seeker becomes obsessed with recapturing her.
I ask if Diane can relate to the idea of conflicting personalities inside the same head. “I am a woman, we’re all crazy sometimes!” she cracks, chewing thoughtfully on some toast. “You know, I think there are different personalities to most people. Obviously, I can’t relate to another human being inside me, but I think most people struggle with the voice of reason within oneself, or wanting to be a different person.”
Simon EmmettBorn in Germany, Diane now splits her time between the US and France. She considers Paris home, but after living on and off in New York for 15 years as a model, she now has a base in LA. Assimilated enough to talk affectionately about the “possibilities” of American life, she remains sufficiently European to be bemused by the faintly ridiculous aspects of Hollywood. “I just did a movie with [Zero Dark Thirty actor] Jason Clarke in upstate New York. We were going for dinner, and he went, ‘You know what? I found this great organic juicing place, only ten miles from here.’ I turned round to him and said, ‘You know, you’re the reason people hate actors!” Not that I think it’s bad to be healthy, but it’s an obsession. The irony of driving in LA to go on a hike - it’s so silly.”
Watching her in action on the previous day’s cover shoot, it's obvious why Diane has become such a style icon. From picking through the rails of clothes to posing in front of the camera, she has an innate sense of what suits her. “I always like the same things. I feel like I don’t really evolve that much”, she shrugs. “I tend to like pure lines; I feel like I’m a young woman, so I like to look sexy for when I go out.” She laughs “Show some skin until it’s over.”
Simon EmmettCurrently, she says, Jason Wu’s collection, Bottega Veneta, and Chanel’s pastel A-line dresses are favourites, although she notes, “Often the A-line doesn’t translate on the red carpet, especially in America. They go, ‘but I can’t see her waist...’” Still, she’s categorically not interested in what the tabloid fashion Mafia thinks. “I know exactly when they’re going to like it and when they’re not,” she says. “They all wear the same dresses here. At the Oscars it’s like ‘Another strapless ball gown.’ If you to a red-carpet event and wear a designer that’s not well known, they immediately diss it.”
Fashion freedom isn’t the only difference between the US and Europe. Constant press attention has been a big adjustment, and she admits that being followed by up to 50 paparazzi has reduced her to tears. French privacy laws, she explains, make it an attractive option to raise children there.
Simon Emmett“You’ll be first to know,” she says drily, when asked if babies are on her to-do list, but it does lead us nicely to Diane’s boyfriend, gorgeous Fringe actor (and Dawson’s Creek alum) Joshua Jackson. As far as cool couples go they are right up there, but we can’t help noticing “Josh” has upped his style game since he started dating one of the world’s most fashionable women. Did she have any input?
“Not really. I think men in general want to look good for their women, because they benefit immensely from the attention”, she cracks. “I will say that a lot of men I’ve dated, and in particular Josh, are hoarders. They seem to not be able to throw anything away from the time they were 15 years old. That had to go.”
Wardrobe-space arguments aside, the couple have been going strong for six years, practically unheard of in Hollywood. Diane insists there’s no big secret. “I wish I knew. Please tell me,” she jokes. “We’ve certainly had our ups and downs. It’s not been easy, because he was in Vancouver [where Fringe is filmed] for five years, and now he’s finally coming home.”
Simon EmmettAnd after years of long distance, hunkering down at home together and ‘being boring’ holds way more allure than a snatched weekend in an exotic clime. “Things that for people are normal are actually the things that are exciting to us at this point,” she says. “What’s boring is travelling just to go to and see each other for two nights. They say it keeps the relationship spicy or whatever, and I’m sure it does to a certain extent, but it was getting old. I said to him the other day, ‘I am really looking forward to being bored of you.’”
Diane has been married once before - to the actor Guillaume Canet, between 2001 and 2006 - and has previously been vocal about now remaining happily unwed. She replies with a firm “yes” when asked if this is still the case. The closest she is going to get to a white meringue is via some guilty-pleasure TV. “Josh is going to kill me for this, but we sit on the couch with a glass of wine and watch Say Yes To The Dress and bawl our eyes out. It’s so pathetic. I don’t even like wedding!” she laughs.
Simon EmmettWith The Host having all the necessary elements to ‘go Twilight’ (every woman female lead? Check. Two hot guys jostling for her attention? Check), and Meyer working on the next book in the series, it could easily become a franchise, which would keep Diane busy for the next few years. Meanwhile, she’s just wrapped the US version of Scandi crime drama The Bridge. She plays a US cop with Asperger syndrome, a role with potential to be as meaty as Claire Danes’ in Homeland. Many actresses’ lament a lack of roles for women over 35, but it seems she has a lot on her plate. “This has been my busiest year yet,” she says, “but I don’t really look at it that way - I feel there’s a time for everything in life. I’m not married to my job and, with age, I realise there are many things I want to do in my personal life, so I can totally see myself not doing that forever. I love what I do and if it keeps coming great, but it’s not something that if it goes away I have nothing.”
Simon EmmettIf anything, her thirties have been a blessing. “When I turned 30, I realised how ignorant I really was. I always thought I had a very accomplished life. I lived on my own and I was financially independent since 15; I speak different languages, I’ve travelled the world. I thought ‘Oh I’m so smart.’ I realised through my personal travels how little I know about certain conflicts, because I was too vain or self-absorbed to ask the questions. That’s been the focus while I’m in my thirties - to become an accomplished woman rather than some actress.”
Simon EmmettDOG OR CAT PERSON?
Clearly a cat person. I have visions of me living with my best gay friends and five cats.
FILM AND TV SHOW?
Magnolia and Mad Men
WHAT’S IN YOUR HANDBAG?
My wallet, sunglasses and a hair band.
WHAT NEVER FAILS TO MAKE YOU LAUGH?
People falling over in America’s Funniest Home Videos.
FAVOURITE DRINK?
Vodka Martini with a twist
Simon EmmettKARAOKE SONG?
The Lady In Red. It’s very sad.
GEEKIEST HOBBY?
I collect cookbooks. I have hundreds of them, so I pick up one and go, ‘Oh let’s do the eight-hour lamb.’ I’ll do that on a Sunday and not leave the house.
THE LAST THING TO MAKE YOU CRY?
I just watched Lincoln there were some moments in that which were pretty powerful.
HOLIDAY DESTINATION?
Anywhere. I’m going to Chile this year to hike and live in these hopefully luxury tents. As much as I love being outdoors, there’s nothing enticing about sleeping in the cold.
SIGNATURE DISH?
I do a good lobster bisque for Christmas.
Simon EmmettWHAT DO YOU WISH YOU WERE BETTER AT?
Singing, writing in French and being more tolerant of people.
FAVOURITE BOOK
Perfume by Patrick Suskind. And I always recommend Under The Banner Of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. It’s so fricking interesting.
TEA OR COFFEE?
Coffee. Black.
MASTERMIND SUBJECT?
French movies from the ‘60s.
THREE DESSERT ISLAND FOODS?
Bounty bars (I’m obsessed), beef jerky, and soup.
Hair: Eric Gabriel at The Rex Agency
Make-up Pati Dubroff at The Wall Group
Nails: Lisa Postma at Tracey Mattingly
Prop Stylist: Charlotte Malmlof
