In the crosshairs this month... Jenny Slathe

You talkin' to me? Film quotes pose as questions. Film stars try to cope.

You talkin’ to me?

I am, from Massachusetts on the East Coast. I live here about eight months out of the year, in a small seaside town. I prefer it to Los Angeles at this moment. And it’s very, very rainy and cold and it’s nice to be inside looking out.

Do you have an off switch?

[Laughs] No, I don’t. I don’t think I have a total off switch. You know when computers go to sleep but they’re still on? It’s sort of like that. Even in my dreams I’m still working through stuff. But I at least know how to modulate and not constantly perform for people to get their approval. That’s something I’ve learned in my maturity, I guess. My burgeoning maturity! In my early twenties, when I wanted to become a performer, I felt this desperation to always show people that I could perform. Always proving it. And while that can be fun, it can also be very selfish, and exhausting. There’s a lot of stuff that only time will temper. It’s like how something is made not sharp any more, like sea glass, y’know? How it becomes finally touchable. When I was younger, I was more of a broken shard, if you will.

Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight?