![\"Liv](\"\/\/media.wonderlandmagazine.com\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Picture-2-e1363098991415.jpg\" "\\"Liv")
<\/a> <\/strong><\/center><\/p>\nTHE THING EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT LIV TYLER It is the coldest day of the New York City winter so far. Liv Tyler is late for lunch, and I\u2019m getting twitchy. Not because Liv Tyler is late. Not even because she is almost half an hour late. But because Sant Ambroeus \u2013 a West Village newcomer rammed with well-heeled thirty-somethings \u2013 is possibly the noisiest restaurant Liv Tyler could have chosen.<\/p>\n I have the second cheapest tape machine for sale on Tottenham Court Road: a machine guaranteed to pick up nothing but the Frank Sinatra medley thumping from eight wall-mounted speakers. Outside, the windchill factor dips to minus 18. I begin, quietly, to sweat.<\/p>\n THINGS YOU CAN READ ABOUT LIV TYLER ON THE INTERNET<\/strong> The table Tyler has selected is at the back of the restaurant, in a corner, three inches from a Spanish tour group loudly debating Sant Ambroeus\u2019 charms. I count eleven voluble older women in fur-trimmed puffer jackets and expensive blow-drys before I raise my own voice, try \u2018Testing, testing 1,2,3\u2019 \u2013 the tape-machine pretty much in my mouth \u2013 and record nothing but the Spanish for \u2018I\u2019ve heard they\u2019re famous for their cakes.\u2019 Shit.<\/p>\n THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT LIV TYLER<\/strong> A sudden flurry of snow in the street conveniently heralds Tyler\u2019s arrival. Black wool cape, black tights, black eyeliner and black pumps. Her hair, cut in a long bob with a fringe, is darker than I thought it would be. She\u2019s tall, but not big. She looks tired. And she is grinning sweetly.<\/p>\n \u201cHello! I am really<\/em> sorry I\u2019m so late.\u201d<\/p>\n Not at all, I say. Think nothing of it. It\u2019s fine. I\u2019m Louise, I offer.<\/p>\n \u201cOh,\u201d she smiles, \u201cI\u2019m Liv.\u201d We shake hands, embarrassed. Because of course she knows I know she knows I know her name and it\u2019s all a bit awkward for a moment. There is a pause.<\/p>\n WHY LIV TYLER WAS LATE<\/strong> I love your cape, I say.\u00a0She frowns: \u201cI\u2019d completely forgotten it was Sunday. It\u2019s far too loud in here, isn\u2019t it? What can we do?\u201d\u00a0I don\u2019t know, I reply. Um. Go somewhere else?<\/p>\n Tyler looks at me strangely, makes a decision. \u201cI\u2019ve got it! Why don\u2019t we get a take-out from here and sit round my kitchen table and I can make coffee?\u201d She orders scrambled eggs and a salad to split.<\/p>\n We briskly walk the single block to her house, both a little nervous. It is ridiculously cold. Tyler\u2019s cape is beautiful, but it doesn\u2019t look remotely warm enough. She talks to fill in the gaps.<\/p>\n No questions about her divorce, I\u2019ve been expressly told by her publicist. Yet by the time we arrive at her front door, Tyler has spoken of nothing but the fallout from the end of her five-year marriage: \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit sad\u2026 because this is the house I\u2019ve lived in forever with my husband, and this is the first time I\u2019ve been home in four months, and I just got in last night from L.A. and, well, a lot of stuff has gone. Roy moved a lot of stuff out.\u201d<\/p>\n Tyler\u2019s candour about her break-up and the obvious pain behind it are instantly disarming. It feels perverse not to tell her that you\u2019re sorry, that you understand. So I break the first rule of the celebrity interview, and confide back.<\/p>\n We arrive at her front door. Tyler touches my shoulder and smiles. A kind, generous smile that says she knows just how it feels and that it\u2019s all going to be alright: \u201cYou know, Louise, what\u2019s hard when you are going through the pain of a break-up is when everyone says, \u2018It\u2019ll get better one day\u2019 and you\u2019re like, \u2018Fuck off! You don\u2019t know how I feel.\u2019 But the truth is that, it takes a long time, but you do kind of wake up one day and you just feel a little tiny bit better\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n LIV TYLER\u2019S HOUSE IN MANHATTAN<\/strong> Liv Tyler:<\/strong><\/em> [Hanging our coats] I won\u2019t take you upstairs to the sad parts. There are pictures off the walls, and furniture gone\u2026 It\u2019s freaky, it\u2019s really weird. Thank god the kitchen doesn\u2019t look too bad\u2026 I\u2019m crap at interviews. I get really nervous and stressed. And afterwards I always think, \u2018Oh my god what did I say, what did I do?\u2019 No one\u2019s ever been in my kitchen before. Not that it\u2019s that exciting\u2026 [Laughs] LB: Oh I don\u2019t know. Yours is the biggest fridge I\u2019ve ever seen. It\u2019s like a shed. <\/strong><\/em> LT: <\/strong><\/em>Isn\u2019t it ridiculous? Usually it\u2019s very full, but it\u2019s empty because we\u2019ve been gone.<\/p>\n LIV TYLER\u2019S FILMS<\/strong> LB: So. I watched your films back-to-back on the plane and in the hotel last night.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n LT:<\/strong><\/em> And you fell asleep! LB: No, I didn\u2019t. Well. Only in the big slug-out at the end of The Incredible Hulk! <\/strong><\/em> LT: <\/strong><\/em>[Laughing] I never watch my movies. I was actually just thinking that Milo might be ready to watch Lord of The Rings, because he\u2019s really into dragons and princesses. He always calls me his princess: he comes into my closet and there\u2019s this one dress, which is like a long kind of tie-dye dress to the floor, and he asks me to put it on every day. And I was just like, \u2018Wait! I am<\/em> a princess in that movie!\u2019 I can\u2019t find the coffee. Bobby must\u2019ve moved it. [She goes to stairwell and shouts] Where\u2019s the coffee? [An inaudible response from the first floor] Thank you!<\/p>\n LIV TYLER\u2019S KITCHEN<\/strong> There is a mark on the wall above the fireplace where a clock belonging to Langdon used to hang. On the floor is a child\u2019s red chair, a fire engine, a white-board. There are white metal bars on the window. On the table is a bowl with a single apple, a bottle of stain remover, a jar of Himalayan pink salt and an ashtray with an empty packet of Marlboro Lights.<\/em><\/p>\n LB: You smoke?<\/strong><\/em> LT:<\/strong><\/em> I do sometimes. And now that no-one\u2019s here I can smoke here! [She sits down, her knees under her chin] So\u2026 the trauma! I thought, \u2018I\u2019m going to be cool: I have a house full of clothes so I\u2019m just going to bring a carry-on bag with my essential toiletries, my computer, my books and my underwear.\u2019<\/p>\n And then I get here and I realise that just before I left I did a huge<\/em> closet clean-out. I gave away everything<\/em>. So I was like, \u2018Fuck.\u2019 And then<\/em> I remembered Stella \u2013 McCartney \u2013 had given me that cape for my birthday! I opened my coat closet and it was sitting there with a golden halo around it. So thanks for saying you love my cape.<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t been shopping for five months. I stopped reading all fashion and trash magazines. I don\u2019t want to be influenced any more by what\u2019s in and what\u2019s out and what makes somebody cool or not cool. In the middle of the night I\u2019d go and take a pee, and on the bathroom floor would be a magazine, and I found myself memorising banal headlines like 500 Best Black Tops. So I read only books \u2013 A Farewell To Arms, it\u2019s a heartbreaker, oh god \u2013 and decoration magazines.<\/p>\n LB: Where\u2019ve you been decorating?<\/strong><\/em> LT: <\/strong><\/em>I\u2019ve been doing a house in L.A. LB: But you\u2019re a New Yorker!<\/strong><\/em> LT:<\/strong> <\/em>I am a total, no-doubts-about-it, one hundred per cent New Yorker. It\u2019s been reallyhard. My boy says to me probably every two days, \u2018Mommy when are we going home?\u2019 Basically what happened is that ever since I had Milo, I was feeling a bit stressed being in this neighbourhood. It changed so much here; I felt like I was being watched all the time.<\/p>\n LB: And were you?<\/strong><\/em> LT: <\/strong><\/em>Well there are a lot of people and a lot of tourists. There\u2019s even like a Sex And The City tour where they walk past everyone\u2019s houses. And I just, for my boy, I wanted him to have the things that I had growing up in Maine; and Roy had, growing up in Leeds. I was confused about what to do. And then when Roy and I broke up, it was very hard to be in this house without him. So we decided to move to L.A. for a little. I kind of thought, \u2018Well I\u2019ve been an actress since I was sixteen and I\u2019ve never lived in L.A., so let me see what it\u2019s like.\u2019 [Liv goes to the phone and orders full fat milk, a New York Times and two packets of Marlboro Lights]<\/p>\n LB: So when do you think you\u2019ll want to get back to work?<\/strong><\/em> LT: <\/strong><\/em>When it was all happening, I went through six months where I didn\u2019t read a single script. I just wasn\u2019t ready to work in any way. I feel like now it\u2019s the New Year I\u2019m ready.<\/p>\n LIV TYLER\u2019S NEW HOUSE IN L.A.<\/strong> LT: <\/strong><\/em>I miss the seasons. I got back last night and it was snowing which was incredible. [She goes to the front door to get the delivery, shouting back] I grew up in New York and Maine so I love the cold. I\u2019m a complete Eskimo. [She comes in with a brown paper bag and unpacks it] Ciggies. One for you, one for me… It\u2019s strange. I have more privacy in L.A. because you can run around in your yard. But the paparazzi are very weird, because they actually stalk you. Like they have someone wait in the car all the time, so whenever<\/em> you leave \u2013 LB: What?<\/strong><\/em> LT: <\/strong><\/em>Yeah. I\u2019m really boring: I take my son to school; I go to the grocery store. So I don\u2019t play their game. But it\u2019s confusing because they kind of trick you. Some days they\u2019re really obvious, and then some days you\u2019re driving and you look back for them, and they\u2019re not there, and you\u2019ll feel like a weird narcissist. And then you\u2019ll think: \u2018Oh, I\u2019m free.\u2019 So you\u2019ll have two weeks where you can be in your sweats with no makeup on. And then, suddenly, you realise they have<\/em> been there all the time, just hiding out.<\/p>\n LIV TYLER\u2019S ADVICE FOR MENDING A BROKEN HEART<\/strong> “When Roy and I broke up, Bobby literally moved in with me and helped me get through everything. And my other best friend, Victoria, she\u2019s with me in L.A. right now. The hardest part is when they leave\u2026 It also brings up a lot of issues: you might feel like a failure, or like there is something wrong with you. I see a lot of people run away from it, or they act like they don\u2019t care. But if you don\u2019t let yourself mourn, it\u2019s going to come back and bite you on the ass. You can\u2019t run away from yourself: you kind of have to just deal with it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n LT:<\/strong><\/em> Oh! You have to listen to Gram Parsons, he\u2019s my favourite. LB: Ah. ‘We\u2019ll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning<\/a>‘.<\/strong><\/em>
\n<\/strong>She is Steven-Tyler-from-Aerosmith\u2019s daughter.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nShe is 31. She is Cancerian. She married Royston Langdon, a musician from Leeds, in 2003. He used to front Spacehog<\/a>. They separated in May 2008, are now divorced. They have a four-year-old son called Milo. She did a striptease for Alicia Silverstone in Aerosmith\u2019s Crazy video<\/a> when she was still a schoolgirl. Her mother is Bebe Buell, rock chick, ex-Playboy Playmate and supergroupie (as well as Tyler and rocker Todd Rundgren \u2013 the man Liv thought was her dad til she was eleven \u2013 Buell\u2019s conquests include David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Jimmy Page, Mick Jagger and Elvis Costello. Not a bad haul).<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Liv](\"\/\/media.wonderlandmagazine.com\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Picture-7-e1363099289965.jpg\" "\\"Liv")
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\nShe laughs all the time. She likes Marks & Spencer\u2019s carrots. She hates public speaking of any kind, once blacking out at a press conference from nerves. She turns into a wanton nymph in front of a still camera. Her voice is childlike, soft, like Marilyn Monroe\u2019s. She says the word \u2018normal\u2019 eight times, with reference to herself, during our two-hour conversation. She uses English words like bloody and brilliant and spazzed and wanker. She fancies Johnny Depp.
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\n\u201cBobby, my best friend who\u2019s living in my house, said \u2018If you are still sleeping late, do you want me to wake you up?\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Bobby \u2013 Milo wakes up at five-thirty. I\u2019m going to be wide awake at five!\u2019 Then I woke up at ten. And I kept dozing and I came down to have a cup of coffee with him and I looked at the clock and it was a quarter to twelve. And I ran upstairs and I was like \u2018Wait! What am I going to wea-a-a-r?\u2019 And I couldn\u2019t find any stockings \u2013 all my Wolfords were in L.A. or had runs, and then I found a bag of some new ones and I was very excited.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nIs a three-storey brownstone. She uses the basement door, which opens onto a sitting room. There is a single chair and a coatstand with \u201cmatching Alpaca wool hats for me and Milo\u201d. A black-and-white photo of David Bowie sits on the sideboard. A white upholstered armchair faces the door. The stairs going up to the rest of the house are to the left. To the right, there\u2019s an archway through to a little room with green wooden cupboards and a butler sink. Beyond that is the kitchen.<\/em><\/p>\n
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\nTyler was sweet in an angora jumper in cult hit Empire Records but got her real break losing her virginity in Bernardo Bertolucci\u2019s Stealing Beauty. Since then she has been in love with Ralph Fiennes in Onegin, Joaquin Pheonix in Inventing The Abbotts (he was her real-life beau for three years), Ben Affleck in Armageddon, Aragorn in Lord of the Rings, Ben Affleck again in Jersey Girl, Casey Affleck in Lonesome Jim and, most recently, Edward Norton\u2019s Incredible Hulk. Last autumn, she was terrorized by mask-wearing ne\u2019er-do-wells in The Strangers.<\/em><\/p>\n
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\nThe room is dominated by a pine table and big black shiny units. There are three tiny stickers on the fridge. Two of them say Milo, in a child\u2019s handwriting. On the worktop is a mock-fifties diner-style CD player, a small watercooler, two blue storage jars, one saying coffee, and a bottle of lemon juice.<\/em><\/p>\n
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\nIs Spanish-style, 1920s. Terracotta tiles. Lots of grass and a single lime tree. Her dog Neal loves it. When she moved in there was nothing in the house: \u201cNot a telephone, not a fork.\u201d All the towels and glasses are from Calvin Klein: \u201cI had this amazing gift certificate for going to an event for them, and I was like \u2018Yes! I finally used one of those things. Swag is great!\u2019\u201d Tyler sleeps in pajamas with Milo\u2019s blanket.<\/em><\/p>\n
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\n\u201cThere\u2019s nothing worse than heartache, being lovesick. It\u2019s like there\u2019s a physical sickness. You go through a couple of weeks where you think, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m okay, I feel better,\u2019 and then suddenly, out of nowhere, it hits you again\u2026 You also realise who your friends are.<\/em><\/p>\n
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