"The Dukes of Hazzard" Interviews: Jessica Simpson
By Scott Huver, Hollywood.com Staff
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Monday, August 08, 2005
Life After Hazzard County
Nearly eight months after my trip to Baton Rouge, and following many drive-by encounters with Jessica and her husband in Los Angeles, I'm once again sitting across the table from the newly-minted actress, her brilliant white smile offset by the sleek floral patterned Dolce & Gabbana sheath she wears, this time in a Manhattan hotel suite.
Much has happened since I was last granted a sit-down with Jessica: she wrapped Dukes; she frequently jumped on various stages around the country with co-star Willie Nelson; she and her husband visited and entertained U.S. troops in Iraq; and she showed off Daisy Duke's teeny pink bikini in her "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" music video sudsing up the General Lee, Paris Hilton-style.
And perhaps most troubling, she's been dogged by a seemingly endless series of magazine headlines, articles and gossip items, some suggesting that her marriage to Lachey has hit hard times, others insinuating an affair with her co-star Johnny Knoxville. Despite the increasingly intense buzz of the media around her every public and private movement, Jessica seems entirely unfazed. Indeed, she takes every question she's asked seriously and with good humor, and appears surprisingly tolerant of the rumors that continue swirling. And once again, though she carries herself with the poise and confidence of a star, her genuine quality remains undiluted: she's still the pop star--and now actress--next door.
You looked like you had fun playing up the sex appeal of this character. Is there a line you won't cross?
Simpson: "Oh, there's a lot of lines I won't cross. I did have fun playing up the sex appeal of Daisy Duke, because she's a woman, she's a smart woman and she definitely knows how to use her body! She was the brains behind getting everybody out of trouble all the time. She would always undo everything that was all wound up."
How long did it take you to get into a comfort zone with Daisy's sex appeal, to go from 'Ohmigod, I'm hanging out of these shorts!' to confidently washing the General Lee in a pink bikini for your "These Boots Are Made for Walking' video?
Simpson: "I look at the General Lee and the bikini and everything as that was Daisy. That was definitely me playing the role. Me as Jessica Simpson, I could never do that. I can't walk on the beach in a bikini. I lay down. I'm really shy! But I wanted to carry that into the music video."
It also really showed how much work you put into getting into amazing shape. Do you feel like a fitness role model now?
Simpson: "Yeah, definitely, because I'm au natural. I've gained a lot of confidence in being Daisy Duke because I worked out so hard and I did it all on my own, so it gave me so much more confidence. So it just gives you so much confidence to say 'Look what I did.'"
Were you surprised at the harsh criticism you've received from some conservative quarters after the video?
Simpson: "All that stuff that's come up, it's some Christian group. I just don't think that's really very Christian-like. It's very judgmental."
You've talked about why you wanted this part so badly. Now that you've played it, why are you happy you got it?
Simpson: "It was the perfect time for me to do a movie and I thought playing up the whole Southern sexy thing would be great. And to kind of show strength, because a lot of people haven't really seen that from me. They see my ditzy side and my fun and dorky side and my obsession with clothes and all those things that are a part of me, but they haven't seen a lot of strength as a woman, and I thought that Daisy Duke would be a great way to show it."
What's the biggest misconception about the South that you'd like to correct for people?
Simpson: "The biggest misconception about the South? Everybody thinks in the South, everybody's riding horses and wearing cowboy hats, y'know? [Giggles] I wanted to do Dukes of Hazzard because what I loved so much about the South is how tight the family bonds are. The families always have each other's back and I also love--especially about Dukes of Hazzard--I love that everybody is so friendly, everybody knows each other, everybody roots each other on. But then you have the Boss Hoggs. That's very much like the South. It's the story of the South. It's the good cops and the bad--maybe it's because I grew up watching too many reruns of Dukes. I also grew in small towns like McGregor, Texas, where my grandparents had a ranch and the whole thing."
After growing up in a strictly religious upbringing, you've said that being on the set was actually quite liberating. What was the most profound part of the experience for you?
Simpson: "It was really just the fact that I wasn't with my family every day. My dad's my manager, and my mom would always dress me. It's a family business. But they didn't come on set but twice. And so I had three months. I was living with all my girlfriends and we just had fun. It was like Sex and the City. Without the sex. My husband was there for a month and a half. But it was like girls' night out all the time. It was so fun, so fun."
We've watched you grow up and mature on camera. Are you comfortable with people knowing as much about you as they do? Tell us where you are in your life right now.
Simpson: "Me being open about my marriage and as an individual and letting people in on my privacy. That's what made me succeed. That's what put me here right now. I absolutely do not regret that, but I do think that it's time to make some things more private and sacred. You always feel, right now, that people are out to get something out of you, but I can't look at life that way. The decisions that I make in my career from here on out are decisions that have been brewing for a very long time, but being open with my privacy is what made it all happen."
What's your relationship like with the press? On the one hand, you need the press for your career. On the other hand, it can be so invasive and so intrusive. How do you deal with it?
Simpson: "I just do what I do, I go where people tell me to go and I just speak my heart and speak my mind, and I don't even really think about it. I try not to. A lot of people are out to get you and bring you down. But I think that through it all, you preserve through stuff like that. You really can't complain about it. I can't complain about people wanting to write about me. I can complain about the actual articles, but the fact that I'm in the magazine or the paparazzi, it's just a part of it."
Why do you think the tabloids have gone after you with all the rumors and innuendo about your marriage and your co-stars?
Simpson: "I honestly don't know why. I am just lucky like that, I guess. But my husband was on set for a month and a half. It would have been impossible. But you've got to take all that in stride and it started getting Dukes of Hazzard some promo a long time ago. I think that just as long as we end up walking down the street and hold our heads up. I always wear my wedding ring now! [laughs] I can't sit here and complain about it. I don't have a bad life. I really don't. So don't have a pity party. Nick brings stability into my life. He's the part of my day that I look forward to."
What pitfalls do you want to avoid in your burgeoning movie career?
Simpson: "A bad script! [Laughs] And that's another thing, that there's a lot of movie projects that I'm looking at, but there's this one movie called Major Movie Star that is with [Dukes producer] Billy Gerber, producer, and it's a Goldie Hawn/Private Benjamin kind of role. My mentors are Goldie Hawn, Dolly Parton. Dolly Parton is my absolute favorite because she's an amazing woman, she's an amazing blonde, great Southern lady, amazing songwriter, singer, all of it. She has her own theme park! She has a legacy, and I hope to be doing the same thing as her. I would love to do something like 9 to 5. I love 9 to 5. You can't really get better."
What is your priority right now? Your movie career or your singing career?
Simpson: "It's all a priority. I'm trying to balance everything. I have a workout video that's about to come out. I have a clothing line called [sounds like] Trendy, shoe line that's about to come out. I'm a little busy. But I try to make everything a priority. I put my hands in everything, and I make sure nothing comes out that I don't approve or am [sic] creatively involved in."
And you recently hit the quarter-century mark. How's life at 25?
Simpson: "I love being 25. I feel so different. The moment that the clock struck midnight, I don't know what happened to me, but I--maybe it's just because life's so good right now and everything feels good with Dukes of Hazzard, everything just feels so good and I just really love life."
The Dukes of Hazzard opened in theaters Aug. 5.