wowOwow - The Women on the Web

03/17/2008 1:56 pm

Culture

Anjelica Huston Remembers Ireland

For Saint Patrick’s Day, JOAN Juliet Buck interviews her childhood friend ANJELICA Huston about her Irish roots, branches and leaves.

JOAN: Let’s talk about Ireland.

ANJELICA: Remember that Irish is a slow language; all vocal exchange is introduced by at least 7 minute’s opening dialogue about the weather. No conversation is complete without this introduction. It’s like looking at a horse’s teeth. From this initial exchange one can deduce age, demeanor and provenance.

JOAN: So how is the weather by the beach in Venice, California?

ANJELICA: It’s as cold as a witch’s tit, the wind is whipping up the palm trees, the seagulls are slapping against my windows, there are whitecaps way out to sea. Lots of teenagers on roof tops, on cell-phones, with their hair flying.

JOAN: In New York it’s sunny but still cold. And rainy when it’s not sunny. Not a soft day, a hard March day.

ANJELICA: Today is flinty.

JOAN: Really? And why would that be?

ANJELICA: No smog at all!

JOAN: Can we start now? Have we done the weather?

ANJELICA: Sure.

JOAN: Have you seen "Riverdance"?

ANJELICA: No.

JOAN: Can you do a jig?

ANJELICA: It is important to dare to take chances, while dancing, and Irish Jigging is as good a challenge as any…

JOAN: Do you cook Irish food?

ANJELICA: Yes, I make Soda Bread! I make Irish Stew!

JOAN: Do you think St. Patrick really banished all the snakes from Ireland?

ANJELICA: Absolutely! If not, then why are there no snakes in Ireland?

JOAN: What’s a shamrock? A four-leaf clover?

ANJELICA: The four-leafed clover symbolize the four counties: Ulste, Munster, Leinster and Connacht. Also, very good luck, should you happen to find one, but not to be confused with the three-leafed shamrock, which is an early Christian symbol of the Holy Trinity.

JOAN: What Irish qualities do you wish you had?

ANJELICA: Extraordinary resilience when it comes to suffering. Musicianship. Patience.

JOAN: What Irish qualities are you glad to have?

ANJELICA: I’m up for a good time. I make friends easily. I like to dance. I feel good around the color green.

JOAN: Are your eyes smiling?

ANJELICA: They did until you asked that question.

JOAN: So just how Irish are you? You grew up there, starred as Gretta in your father’s "The Dead" from the James Joyce story, directed the Irish movie “Agnes Browne” … what did Ireland give you?

ANJELICA: Without my Irish childhood I would—not know the names of the plants and flowers in my mother’s garden, would not know how to ride a horse, walk in the rain, sing plaintive songs about the country I miss and love the most. I would not know you. I would not understand the vagaries and the delights of nature, the clouds racing overhead, the smell of turf and sheep’s wool, the cold, the black bogs, growing up with dogs, The Sisters Of Mercy, fairies and the best Christmases in the world.

JOAN: Were you raised Catholic?

ANJELICA: No, but one cannot grow up in the West of Ireland without absorbing a good deal of the Catholic faith. I went to The Sisters of Mercy in Loughrea. The Nuns were kind, but firm. I understand that they had agreed in some way not to indoctrinate me, my parents being against organized religion, but, still, I managed to get the ash stick across the knuckles on several occasions for not knowing my Catechism. I longed to take the veil, and loved to decorate the convent chapel for Mass. I also loved to buy black babies. This simply required two shillings and sixpence in an envelope addressed to the Congo, and you could save a baby’s life, and christen it. I loved the feeling this gave me, and stole a pound from my father’s wallet so that I could buy eight babies at a time.