Chloë Sevigny

Birthday: 18 November 1974, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

Birth Name: Chloë Stevens Sevigny

Height: 173 cm

Known in the mid to late nineties for her status as a fashion impresario and "it girl," with over a dozen art house films to her credit, Chloe Sevigny also stands out as one of the most prominent queens of contemporary independent cinema. Originally hailing from Darien, Connecticut, Sevigny attributes weekend trips into nearby New York City in her teens as an important early saving grace from her super rich and stuffy hometown. It was on one such trip at the age of eighteen, that Sevigny was spotted on the street by a fashion editor for Sassy magazine. Impressed by her flair for street fashion, the editors of the progressive teen mag asked Sevigny to intern in their offices which led to a few modeling jobs with both Sassy and x-girl, the urban clothing line created by Sonic Youth front woman Kim Gordon. At this time Sevigny also spent a lot of her time watching the skateboarders who convened in New York's Tompkins square park. It was here that she met young aspiring director Harmony Korine, and a friendship ensued, resulting in her being cast as the lead in Korine and Larry Clark's collaboration Kids (1995). At around the same time Sevigny snagged the cover of Interview magazine, and even inspired writer Jay McInerney to write a piece about her for The New Yorker in which he hailed her the new "it girl." The late nineties saw Sevigny continuing her acting career with a string of independent films, among them Trees Lounge (1996), Palmetto (1998), and Whit Stillman's homage to early 80s yuppiedom The Last Days of Disco (1998). In 1997 Sevigny and Korine teamed up again to make Gummo (1997), in which Sevigny both starred and acted as chief costume designer. It was in 2000 however that Sevigny's career made a turn towards more mainstream recognition when her portrayal of Lana Tisdel in Boys Don't Cry (1999) garnered her an Oscar nod at the age of twenty-five. Known for signing on to projects based on her interest in a good script rather than a hefty price tag, one of Sevigny's most recent roles, making the climb from indie princess to A list actress, should see her surprising both audiences and Hollywood alike with roles in interesting and thoughtful projects. Show less «

I'm ambitious, but I'm not ambitious enough to move to Los Angeles.

It seemed like everyone had BMWs and Jeeps and nice cars and a lot of money, and I just thought it w...Show more »

It seemed like everyone had BMWs and Jeeps and nice cars and a lot of money, and I just thought it was really obnoxious. Maybe I wasn't fair. But I didn't want to get involved with all that. It was way more material. Everyone was like way overachievers into athletics and wanted to go to Ivy League schools. I didn't do any extracurricular activities in high school. I guess I skated a bit. My brother had been a skater. We had two ramps in our backyard. I'd sit by the ramps and watch his friends skate. That's when my infatuation with skaters began. I wasn't very good at ramps, so I used to skate freestyle. Show less «

It's not what you spend but how you wear it that counts. The key is often to dress up inexpensive ba...Show more »

It's not what you spend but how you wear it that counts. The key is often to dress up inexpensive basics with accessories. Something like a beautiful designer bag or belt can make everything else look richer and more luxurious. Show less «

You hear about these actresses who avoid going to fashion shows lest they not be taken seriously. I ...Show more »

You hear about these actresses who avoid going to fashion shows lest they not be taken seriously. I don't like going because it's such a circus. It's always anticlimactic. But I'm not ashamed to admit it: Fashion is superficial, but I love it. Show less «

I knew people would not understand it. It's a shame people write so many things when they haven't se...Show more »

I knew people would not understand it. It's a shame people write so many things when they haven't seen it. When you see the film, it makes more sense. It's an art film. It should be playing in museums. It's like an Andy Warhol movie. [on the oral sex scene in The Brown Bunny (2003)] Show less «

I had a great family life - I would never want it to look as if it reflected on them. I think I was ...Show more »

I had a great family life - I would never want it to look as if it reflected on them. I think I was very bored, and I did just love taking hallucinogens. But I often feel it's because I experimented when I was younger that I have no interest as an adult. I know a lot of adults who didn't, and it's much more dangerous when you start experimenting as an adult. [on drug experimentation as a teenager] Show less «

I think it's just a lot more pressure to make the scenes work when you're doing a film, because when...Show more »

I think it's just a lot more pressure to make the scenes work when you're doing a film, because when you're doing a series you feel like, I have so many scenes, so many episodes, so if I don't get it exactly right this time, I have another scene later. You feel less pressure. Show less «

I was having a very difficult time in school. I was miserable. I was dissatisfied with the town we l...Show more »

I was having a very difficult time in school. I was miserable. I was dissatisfied with the town we lived in. Show less «

I've never felt like I had very much to say. Maybe that'll come later in life.

I am most proud of my integrity and least proud of my cynicism.

When I was younger, I was really anti-Hollywood. Now I'm more accepting of it because I'm less of a ...Show more »

When I was younger, I was really anti-Hollywood. Now I'm more accepting of it because I'm less of a snob. Show less «

As of late [2011], I am more of a homebody. I like having people over. You can smoke in the apartmen...Show more »

As of late [2011], I am more of a homebody. I like having people over. You can smoke in the apartment. I'm just not into going out so much. The crowd is getting younger and younger. Show less «

I had an agent once who said that in an audition you have to make the women want to be you and the m...Show more »

I had an agent once who said that in an audition you have to make the women want to be you and the men want to fuck you. I said, I'm sorry, I can't just go into a room and, like, try to achieve that. That's not my motivation in life. Show less «

I was very troubled, yes. Me and my brother both - we were troubled and troublemakers.

[on being cast in Kids (1995)] Harmony [Korine] just thought I was this sweet, cute girl and he like...Show more »

[on being cast in Kids (1995)] Harmony [Korine] just thought I was this sweet, cute girl and he liked my blonde hair. Show less «

I hate going to fashion shows. I find them boring.

[on her ambitions to act] I mean I'd gone to like summer theatre camp every year growing up and I ha...Show more »

[on her ambitions to act] I mean I'd gone to like summer theatre camp every year growing up and I had always aspired to be an actress. I was actually in some commercials when I was a kid. And then my mother pulled because she thought the world was a little too twisted and she wanted me to be a kid more. And so they hired a professional actress, Mia Kirshner and then two days before shooting they fired her and hired me, so that's someone else's misfortune. Show less «

I used to be more suspicious, paranoid. I worried that I wasn't smart enough or pretty enough or tal...Show more »

I used to be more suspicious, paranoid. I worried that I wasn't smart enough or pretty enough or talented enough. Everywhere I went, I'd wonder, what are people thinking about me? What are they saying? I couldn't go to a Friday night movie for fear people would heckle me! But after 30, you just stop worrying so much. You start caring about things that are more important. Show less «

In Hollywood, you can't say anything bad about anybody or everyone is going to attack you. It's like...Show more »

In Hollywood, you can't say anything bad about anybody or everyone is going to attack you. It's like you always have to put on a happy face, be the phony baloney, and I'm so not that. I never was that; I'll never be that. That is part of the business that I don't like. Show less «

[on Jennifer Lopez] I love her in the ghetto sense.

I don't want to be a movie star or be famous; I just want to do a few good movies and maybe move som...Show more »

I don't want to be a movie star or be famous; I just want to do a few good movies and maybe move some people. Show less «

I've always made films that are sort of avant-garde-y or whatever you call it.

I think it's sexy to be a little bit mysterious.

My first job was in sixth grade, sweeping the clay tennis courts at the yacht club near my house, wh...Show more »

My first job was in sixth grade, sweeping the clay tennis courts at the yacht club near my house, which I was not a member of. Always had to pay my own rent. But I don't really have any concept of how money works. I don't know how much things cost. Like a BMW. Or a quart of milk. It's embarrassing. Show less «

Chloë Sevigny

Chloë Sevigny's FILMOGRAPHY

Chloë Sevigny'S roles

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