She only has one life to Live. That's why Liv Tyler lives it with such gusto. This is sometimes to the dismay of her famous father, rocker Steve Tyler. '"It has gotten to the point where I have to say, 'Honey, do you think you'll be able to make it home for Christmas? Can we check your schedule?'"
In a simple black dress with her hair hanging straight, Tyler laughs at her father's words. ''I love him so much,'' she says. ''It's not every girl who can trade makeup secrets with her father.''
So far, so good. With only a hint of blush and mascara, Tyler prowls through the hallways of Beverly Hills swanky Four Seasons Hotel. Heads whip around, especially the male variety. She just blushes, lets her hair fall in her face and wants to hide out. Good luck.
In the new film One Night At McCool's (2001) Tyler goes all out in low cut clothes and stiletto heels. She turns femme fatale with Michael Douglas, Matt Dillon, John Goodman and Paul Reiser each obsessed with her.
But on a spring morning, the only thing Tyler seems obsessed with is getting in a nap. She yawns loudly and mentions that taking a break might be next on her agenda. But with an upcoming wedding to plan and this fall's film Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001) to promote, it's unlikely that she will get to Liv a simple life anytime soon.
Tell us a bit about McCool's.
''It's a hilarious script where all these guys are after me. The best part of it was working with these wonderful actors like Michael Douglas who plays a hitman who happens to like bingo. It's hard to make Michael look weird, but I remember coming into my trailer one day and he was wearing this horrible toupee and these bad fake teeth. I was almost frightened, but it was so much fun.''
This film has all the men after you. We won't reveal what happens, but can we ask: Do you like to do movie love scenes?
'I don't mind a little naughtiness.'
Ben Affleck was funny when asked about you although you might want to kill him when I read you his quote. He said your kissing scenes in Armageddon (1998) was like and we quote ''making out with my litter sister.''
(laughs) ''We didn't kiss that much! Everybody keeps asking me about these love scenes and I'm like, 'What hot scenes.' Okay, we did kiss, hug and eat animal crackers.''
Did you feel like he was your little brother?
''It was really a nice treat to have Ben play that part because I did know him before this movie. He did treat me like a little sister. He was like, 'Cover yourself up girl.' It was really fun. He's my friend. It was nice because we know each others families and boyfriends and girlfriends which made it all cool. The bad part is we were supposed to do these kissing scenes and we would just start giggling like crazy.''
Is it better to star in big blockbusters like an Armageddon (1998) or Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001) or the small films such as Stealing Beauty (1996) or One Night At McCool's (2001)
''The bigger films are scary. I think at first I had this idea in my head that I didn't really really want to do big blockbusters. But the scripts kept getting more and more interesting. I think once I pushed aside my preconceived ideas and I looked at the big films a llittle more closely, I wanted to do them. I just don't want to do anything that's just about the special effects.''
What was it like to deal with the fact that Steve Tyler is your biological father and rock musician/producer Todd Rundgren is your adoptive father, but you thought he was your biological father. It sounds confusing explaining it in print.
"Because of who my two fathers are, everyone assumes I grew up in some crazy rock n' roll world. That couldn't be further from the truth. I grew up with my mother (Bebe Buell) in Portland, Maine. I never got my lineage sorted out until I was 10 and I didn't move to New York until I was 11."
Is it strange having two fathers?
"Some people don't even have one father. I have two wonderful, talented, caring fathers."
Tell us a little bit about your past.
"I grew up in Maine. I was not a little rich girl. My mom and I lived in an apartment. All the other kids at school lived in these big beautiful houses."
Were you the so-called cool girl in high school?
"I was gangly, I had this horrible perm and I wore braces. I had the worst case of Attention Deficit on the face of the earth. I was loud and obnoxious. It's no wonder the other kids didn't want me around."
But you had a pretty groovy home life.
"I had grown up with all these eccentric, wild people walking through our apartment. There were rock stars, drag queens, models, bikers and freaks. By comparison, the kids at school seemed like people from another planet. I definitely sensed I was different from everyone else around me."
How did you get your start in acting?
" It was in high school that a friend of my mother's took pictures of Tyler and sent them to an ad agency. I started doing print modeling, but it was a job I hated. I had to wear all these clothes that made me look goofy and I had to stand in these horrible poses for what seemed like hours. I didn't learn to control my energy until I began acting. It was only then that I found some place to funnel my enthusiasm."
When you had your first real acting job in Stealing Beauty (1996) were you terrified?
" I had no idea what acting was all about. I was terrified because I thought you had to study for years to be able to act and here I was with no experience and no training walking into a major role. ''
Did it ever get to be too much?
"After inventing The Abbotts (1997), I took seven months off. I felt I need some life experiences. I travelled some and just looked inside myself. Now I can hardly wait to be back on a movie set. It's really frustrating not working."
What's your overall plan?
" I don't really have a strategy to my life and career. Hopefully, I can continue to do anything I want. I just want to do things that I'm passionate about in this life."
You really seem to put yourself into the skin of your characters. Is that true?
" Not really. I think if you did that you would be so distracted by your own emotions that you wouldn't be in the emotions of your character. I mean, when you're doing a scene you sit down and think about what your character would feel. For instance if I play a daughter and then if I started thinking about my own Daddy, I would space out and start laughing."
Your real Dad did some of the music for Armageddon (1998) Is that the first thing you worked on together?
"I did a video for him a long time ago. It was funny. He called me a month ago and said, 'I'm in the studio recording music for your movie. I said, 'What?' I think it's kind of a nice thing that I worked for him and now he's doing something for my film."
You also looked a little flushed introducing your father, rocker Steve Tyler of Aerosmith fame, at the Oscars. Were you nervous?
" Nervous? I was terrified. I was scared to death for two solid months, waking up with anxiety attacks. So when I finally got to do it, it was like, 'Well, this isn't so bad. The producer Gil what's his name (Cates) was so sweet, telling me how nervous everyone else was."
What is it like to have such a cool father?
"It's great. In fact, we talk a lot on the phone. We share makeup tips because he has a lot of good stuff. To be honest, I was never used to seeing either of my fathers an awful lot (her stepfather is musician Todd Rundgren). But my Dad Steve Tyler was over the night before the Oscars with the kids. We just sat around and talked, watched TV and gossiped. We just vegged. And, of course, we cruised all the Oscar parties on the big night."
Is the lead singer of Aerosmith a party animal?
" My Dad and I went to the Vanity Fair party for like 20 seconds, and then we were like, 'Let's go home.'"
How has your life changed since you became famous?
"It's been a long time since I've had a film out. cookie's Fortune (1999) was a long time ago. I took some time off and then went back to work full steam. But it's one thing being on a movie set. It's been a long time since I've been exposed to fame. I've just been working really hard. It's still weird seeing myself on the cover of a magazine. It doesn't feel like I'm looking at myself. As for fans that's been pretty cool. People are really nice to me."
What Is The Worst Part Of Fame?
"No offence, but when I'm doing press, it can leave you pretty high strung. I remember when I first started and I was on the cover of all these magazines. I would pass the newsstands and want to hide. It was just so strange."
Is it strange to be so young and so famous?
"It's weird when you go to dinner at McDonalds and people are looking at you all the time."
Wait? You eat at Mickey D's? Think of the calories!
"I do eat at McDonalds. I love it because that's what people my age do. And most of all I want to be young and vulnerable and be normal and not worry about things all the time. "
Is something wrong? You can tell us.
"Well, you get spoiled in this business. People take care of you and everyone is nice to you all the time. It's important to surround yourself with beautiful friends and family who will say, 'You are a dork today.'"
Let's test this normal life theory. Do you buy your own groceries?
"I love to get blisters on my hands carrying my groceries home."
How do you deal with the paparazzi?
"I think the paparazzi is fine. Being in New York City, I know most of them. I'm like, 'Hey, how are you doing.' All they want is your picture for the paper. It just takes a second. I've had kids who have become a problem. One will walk in front of you and stall you so another one can talk to you. It's really dangerous and definitely not cool. "
Do you ever get really angry about it?
"People will say, 'Hey, Liv.' I don't dwell on if I'm going to be noticed. I'm a New Yorker. I've lived there my whole life. I go to the grocery store. I do my thing. I do notice more now than ever that people look at me. I've had a couple of guys follow me but they were harmless."
Do you ever wish you weren't so famous?
"There were times when I wanted to be young, vulnerable and carefree, but people wouldn't let me. They expected me to always be an adult. I also hate having to be conscious that I'm always potentially on view. That's another reason I live in New York. I can actually do my own shopping and take the subway without being bothered by anyone. I just can't do that in LA or in many places in Europe."
A lot of people say you've grown up before our eyes. Do you feel like a grown up these days?
"When I was packing and unpacking some of my stuff, I ran across an old diary. In the diary almost every day I was falling in or out of love, but that was never the real thing. Since I was a teenager, I'd have these little flirtations. They were really obsessions. I feel grown up now about those matters."
Any movie star crushes?
"When I made my first movie (Silent Fall (1994)), I had a massive infatuation with Richard Dreyfuss for about 10 hours. Now I know what love really is." "I feel so much more comfortable in my skin. I honestly feel like I've become a woman."
We know that you are mostly keeping mum about the relationship since so much was made out of your past with Joaquin Phoenix. Can you tell us something about Liv in love?
"All I can say is the most important part of being in a relationships that you love the person for who they are. And that's all I want to say about love today."
