Isabella Rossellini on Making ‘Death Becomes Her’

On using a body double, her critique of Madonna’s Sex book, and why she’s glad she missed out on a role in a certain “exploitative” film.
Photo: Universal Pictures

Isabella Rossellini appears in approximately 15 minutes of Death Becomes Her, and she nearly steals the movie. Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn are every bit as delicious, playing longtime Beverly Hills rivals who fork over hefty sums for a potion that promises everlasting youthfulness, but it’s Rossellini’s performance that comes as a surprise. When the film opened in 1992, she was known for being an A-list model and a highbrow actress, having most famously lent her gravitas to Blue Velvet, David Lynch’s provocative masterpiece about the shadowy underside of suburbia. Then along came Death. Robert Zemeckis’s movie — a decent-size hit whose pioneering CGI won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects — coats its satire about Hollywood narcissism in zany charm. Rossellini’s humor bursts through the screen, casting her in a kitschy new light. As Lisle von Rhuman, the wealthy peddler of said potion, she is decadent, sensual, and knowingly ridiculous. Who better to spoof the aristocratic quest for unremitting beauty than the spokeswoman for Lancôme?

Rossellini hasn’t been given enough opportunities to capture that same comedic thunder, though she does leave a major impression as a talking grandmother shell named Connie in this year’s charming Marcel the Shell With Shoes On. Offscreen, the Italian-born multi-hyphenate maintains a 28-acre farm on Long Island. That’s part of what inspired her ongoing one-woman show about animal behavior, and it’s where she was located when she called up Vulture to discuss Death Becomes Her 30 years after its release.

Thirty years ago, you had Death Becomes Her and Madonna’s Sex book come out back to back. Do you look at that period fondly?
Yes, I do. I forgot that they were the same year. One was so linked to my life as a model because the Madonna book was done by Steven Meisel, who’s a great fashion photographer with whom I worked a lot. For me, Madonna and Steven Meisel were my life as a model, and Death Becomes Her was cinema. I wanted that role very much. Robert Zemeckis, who’s such a lovely director and wonderful person, told me I was one of the first people to test, so he needed to test more people because the studio wanted that. I kept on saying, “But I work for Lancôme! I sell anti-aging cream! I’m the perfect one!” He called me a month later and said, “You know what? The role is yours.” I was so delighted.

So you saw the role as ironic?
Sure. Absolutely. I thought it was ironic and funny.

Were you auditioning a lot at that point in your career?
Yes. I don’t know what happened, but they don’t audition me anymore. I don’t know if it’s my age and everybody’s younger and so they’re a little bit afraid of me, or if they don’t do it as much.

Don’t you think it’s because people are more familiar with you now?
Maybe, but I remember for The Bridges of Madison County, which Meryl Streep then did with Clint Eastwood, I found myself sitting in a greenroom with a lot of French actresses. Even Catherine Deneuve was there. We were looking at each other and laughing: “Are we here to audition?!” The story was that the main woman was a foreigner. It was so strange, but we were all respecting whatever America wants to do. But it’s not that they’re testing your talent. They test other things. There’s chemistry between actors, many things. You feel so judged, and the way I was able to overcome it is by thinking I am also auditioning them. I sit down and I immediately know if this is a group of people I’d like to work with, because you have to spend three months away from home. That gave me a sense of control. I did say to my agent, “I will audition, but it’s also a way to meet the people in case something happens and I want to withdraw.” That gave me a lot of physiological strength to do the testing.

I’ve never heard an actor frame it quite that way, and it makes total sense. Often when actors talk about the audition process, they feel a little powerless. And it sounds like you found a way to reclaim some of that.
Yes. One director said he wouldn’t test me because he wanted to have total control. He said, “If you come and test, it’s up to me to say yes or no. We don’t want to waste any time if you come, we like you, and you turn us down.”

By the time you’re auditioning with Zemeckis, had Meryl, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis already been cast?
I don’t know. They don’t tell you this information. But already it was good enough to know it was Robert Zemeckis, one of the greatest directors we’ve ever had. He’s so original. It was interesting to…