Elle November 2004

Here's To Love In Down With Love

Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor camp it up like stars of a Doris Day/Rock Hudson matinee. Jan Masters catches up with the dazzling duo as they smooch across the dance floor as they smooch across the dance floor to discuss naked moments and secret loves. Sinatra is singing Fly Me to the Moon in that silky-smoky voice. The volume's way up. McGregor, sharp-suited and groomed to Cary Grant perfection, cradles Renee Zellweger, all prachily pretty and pale, in his arms. In the big-build-up-let's-go-for-it orchestral break, he twirls and unfurls her till they're only touching fingertips. Candy-pink Chanel chiffon flutters as he spins her back again. Frank croons to a crescendo.

They smooch check to cheek with slow, swaying, end-of-party easiness, then both look straight to camera. Her eyes do that glittery, can't-believe-how-wonderful-life-is Renee Zellweger thing. His do that can't-believe-what-a-naughty-boy-I-am Ewan McGregor thing. Script annotation must surely read, 'Dissolve'. Except....I'm not describing the final frames of their latest film, Down With Love, an affectionate Technicolor homage to the old-style Doris Day/Rock Hudson rom-coms such as Pillow Talk. In fact, it's a scene from the ELLE cover shoot in New York, and we've got Renee and Ewan together to see what makes each of them tick - and both of them click. 'Oh my Lord in heaven, we're having so much fun!' enthuses Renee in her lilting, liquid-velvet Southern Belle voice - the one that makes Ewan want to 'simply drift off'.

Then the CD, which is the soundtrack to the movie, reaches their duo, Here's To Love, a number that wraps the film as the credits roll. 'You've got the lips to wet my whistle, Cupid just launched a guided missle...' 'It was out idea to record it,' admits Ewan, 'even though the film's not a musical. Doris Day often used to record title songs. And as I'd been in Moulin Rouge and Renee had done Chicago, we thought the opportunity was irresistable. But we had to work quite hard to persuade the powers that be.' 'Yeah, we began to wonder if we were crap or something,' admits Renee. 'But oh my God, recording it was great.' 'They couldn't get us out of the studio.' 'We had a joyful time on set too, laughing constantly. We were like schoolkids.' Ewan first met Renee six years ago, just after she won audiences over in Jerry Maguire. He was already a star, after getting dangerously down and dirty in Shallow Grave and delivering heroin cheek in Trainspotting. 'We met at the rehearsals for the MTV Awards,' recalls Ewan. 'It was the year A Life Less Ordinary came out. I was there with Cameron Diaz to present a prize for the best screen kiss and I bumped into Renee backstage.

We were both skulking in the shadows.' 'Yeah, kind of mousin' in the corners.' 'Well, to be honest, I was hiding from Will Smith's bouncers. You see, I'd just been quoted as saying I wouldn't taint my soul with shite like Independence Day, and the director should be f**king ashamed of himself. And when I asked who I was going to be giving the prize to, they said, "Will Smith." (Renee collapses into giggles.) 'So all afternoon I was cacking it because he was surrounded by the biggest guys you've ever seen, and I imagined getting my head kicked in. But Will was very gracious. I had a big fucking gob on me then.' Big f**king gob or not, Renee still viewed him as 'the best actor of his generation', an assessment recently corroborated by a Channel 4 poll that put the 32 year old in the top 10 of the 100 greatest film stars of all time.(he came in at nine) 'I always said there was nothing that man couldn't do,' confirms Renee(now 34). And he proved her right, strutting his glam-rock stuff through Velvet Goldmine, coming over all shy and sensitive in Little Voice, getting out his light sabre(zzzt-zzzt)for Star Wars, his big guns in the all-action Black Hawk Down, and a certain part of his anatomy whereever and whenever artistic integrity demanded it.

'I don't know why people get so carried away if I'm naked,' he protests. 'People should get out more. Not worry if I get it out more.' Meanwhile, a rather more demure Renee just kept hoping she'd work with him one fine day. 'Every project that came up, I was like, "Ooh, now what about Ewan. Let's see what Ewan's doing..." Finally, we got it together.' And together they found temselves in an idealised New York City(you know the one - it's where you can always hail an immaculate yellow cab). Ewan is the man's man/ladies' man, Catcher Block, with his snazzy bachelor pad. Renee's character is writer Barbara Novak, who floats about on a negligee clouds in an apartment with glass walls and a panaromic view of the city. Yet it was all shot on four Hollywood sound stages and in the back lots of Universal. 'I found it alluring to make a movie that was a throwback to old-style film-making,' says Renee. 'I'd drive down the hill to work, slip into elegant Oleg Cassini and Balenciaga-inspired clothes (with maching bags, gloves and shoes) and spend the day surrouned by friends, thinking, "Oh boy, what a lucky job." Honestly, I feel gluttonous I've gotten so much.' Cue sigh. Fade to black.

HOLLYWOOD, EIGHT MONTHS EARLIER

Scene: soiree at Catcher Block's 'apartment' at the Hollywood Center Studious (complete with live beatnick band and more waiters that you can shake a cocktail stick at). Filming has been full-on all day, and tonight there's a little after-work shindig going down. Thankful to be on the guest list, I nibble an olive and take my Manhattan over to, well, a vast, immaculately painted, twinkling backdrop of Manhattan. I stand on a make-believe balcony and make-believe I do this kind of thing all the time. There's Ewan, looking dangerously dashing - from his slicked-back hair to his snakeskin shoes. Then Renee makes a fashion-show entrance in a black and yellow full-length gown with fistail train, looking like a swishly little lace-clad mermaid(all the guys in the room take a one-way trip to Gooeyville) Since Ewan and Renee first met, she has proved herself to be Miss Versatility: mesmerically loopy as Nurse Betty, and positively perky as girl-on-the-run in gross-out comedy Me, Myself & Irene, which starred Jim Carrey, who she fell for in a major way after filming in 2000.

They dated for just under a year, although she denies rumours they were ever engaged. Then, of course, there have been two Oscar nods for her quintessential English, vino-quaffing Ms Jones and her Roxie music in Chicago (which won her a Golden Globe). 'Those last roles changed my life, yet I never plan ahead,' she tells me in a breathy, earnest whisper when I grab for a quick over-cocktails conversation. 'The universe makes suggestions, and I simply try to listen. Just do things I'm passionate about. Apart from that, I don't have any philosophies. I've given them up. After philosophy number 25, you say, hey wait, maybe that's enough with the philosophies, given that they've all been wrong. Now, I'm not looking to fill slots. And I don't have a list of requirement for happiness.' 'But you're a romantic, right?' 'Well, the press seems to think I have a big roster of celebrity boyfriends.' She's referring to Clooney, who appeared to be her on-off love interest for the past couple of years, although she always maintains he was 'just a great friend'. Ditto Matthew Perry. 'Little do they know I'm often just sitting on the couch with my dogs, watching TV. Having said that, I must confess I'm a hopeless, hopeless romantic sucker. I'm a bit like Bridget in that I'm a believer. I believe in love. I saw it in my parents [her Swiss father and Norwegian mother, who emigrated to Texas]. They are best friends, totally in love with each other and share everything. 'But my happiness isn't a contingent upon romance. It's about embracing what's good when it shows up. My girlfriend has a mantra - "Just eat your ice cream when it's on your plate". And I've certainly had plenty of dessert these past couple of yours.' then she's whisked away to ensure she spreads enchantment evenly around the room. Jeez, the girl is as sweet as cinnamon-sprinkled apple pire - the only actress I know who can gush for Texas without leaving you queasy.

Later, I ask Ewan how his dessert menu is looking. 'I've got to be honest, true happiness is not any of this,' he replies, nonchalantly sipping his cocktail. 'It's being at home with my wife, Eve, and my children Clara Mathilde [six] and Esther Rose [allmost two]. 'Just lately, I was watching the children playing - it was the first time we let Esther into the garden on her own to play with her big sister, and it was the happiest moment I've ever known. I'd never had that kind of emotional experience before. And now everything has become simple because of it. Don't get me wrong - it's not pipe and slippers ...although I have bought a garden shed - it's just that I've learnt what true happiness is,' he reflects. 'Plus, I also get to make movies every day, which is what I've always wanted to do, so that makes me pretty happy, too. But it only works because my wife travels the world with me, at the expense of her own career [she's a production designer]. She's beautiful, strong and straightforward, and an incredible mother. I remember being attracted to her when we were working on Kavanagh QC. She was dressing the set and was so in charge - I've always found that kind of sexy. Nobody was giving her any shit, and I think that's so cool in a woman.' Then he goes off to mingle and do a little retroactive grooving to the band.

LONDON AFTER A WEEK AFTER THE NEW YORK COVER SHOOT

I catch up with Ewan and Renee during their global crisscrossings to locations new. Renee is in the UK, preparing for her reprise in Bridget Jones: the Edge of Reason and Ewan is just about to head Down Under for Star Wars III. I've just seen Young Adam, Ewan's other big film this year, and I can't wait to award him a gold star. Very different from the color-saturated exuberance of Down With Love, it's dark, disturbingly erotic (especially the crazed, custard-throwing sex sesh) and claustrophobically intense. I love it. 'Fucking great. I liked it, too. Phenomenal script,' he agrees. Set on the canals of Glasgow, the screenplay was written and directed by David MacKenzie and based on the novel by Alexander Trocchi, a 50s anti-hero and unrepentant junkie. 'I knew I wanted to play the lead and Tilda Swinton, Emily Mortimer and Peter Mullan were all up for it, too. Yet we really had to struggle to get the funding. That experience changed me. I almost felt let down by the British film industry. 'In the past, I've been very vocal in my disdain for the studio system in Hollywood, but I've realised it's just part of the business. I no longer hold Hollywood solely responsible for cinema's problems. And I don't shout my mouth off so much - or at least when I do, it's about things that are important or that I know more about.' 'So you're not going to be rude about Star Wars III?' (He hasn't always taken the party line on this one.) 'Absolutely not.' Then with that faux-innocent smile, he adds, 'Let's just say, two down, one to go.' 'And then what? Perhaps a musical on Broadway?' 'People ask me if I'd do a stage musical of Moulin Rouge, but I wouldn't revisit anything. Still, the idea of singing on stage in a play? Well, I wouldn't rule it out.' 'You've certainly got the moves. Didn't you used to do Scottish country dancing?' 'Aye, the old skip-change.' 'To the Eurovision hit Making Your Mind Up, I understand.'

For a second he looks amazed that this nugget of information has gone public. 'Yes I did...to impress a girl called Carol, who I was desperate in love with.' 'Trouble is now, when I hear the name Ewan McGregor, I can't dismiss the image of a kilt flapping up and down to the strains of Making Your Mind Up.' 'Oh, I wish you would. Please try.' 'I also can't forget what Danny Boyle [director of Trainspotting] said. That there's something very naughty about Ewan McGregor.' 'Well my publicist does say that I'm the naughtiest person she's met, and that's because dirty, rude things always make me laugh. And silly games. Like she and I do this thing where before I go on a chat show like Jay Leno, she gives me a stupid phrase that I have to slip in, no matter what.' 'So what was the last one?' 'Colostomy. No, wait, that was the one before. It was Colossal Squid.' 'How the hell did you get that in?' 'I said, "The dialogue for Down With Love was written in such a specific way that unless you really hit it right, you could have been left with a colossal squid of a movie.'" And as we both have a wee chuckle, I volunteer the next chat-show silly phrase.

'How about shimmering in cleavage enhancer?' 'You're on. Next interview I'll get it in, and when I do, I'm going to turn and wink to camera... and you'll know it's just for ELLE.' Oh Danny, how right you were. Later that day, I'm telling Renee what a laugh I had with Ewan. 'That's why I love that guy,' she giggles, 'You see what I mean, right? He's hilarious. That's why working with him is so easy - we had a mutual work ethic that included having fun.' Renee is now taking 19 to the dozen because she's running from meeting to meeting. 'Oh , dear God, I'm a whirling dervish!' she cries, 'This year has definitely been the year of no-sitting.' And no wonder. She's just shot Cold Mountain(out on 25 December), Anthony Minghella's civil war drama, based on Charlie Frazier's starkly drawn novel. She stars with Nicole Kidman and Jude Law and worked (and lugge dlogs and mended fences) for weeks in a blowy, snowy Transylvania. 'We certainly didn't need our Manalos and Jimmy Choos,' she laughs. And now she's all signed up for Bridget Jones: the Edge of Reason(her pay cheque is rumoured to top 14 million pounds). Which means bring on the banquet... 'I hate the way the press is only interested in the weight issure,' she says, with that quizzical, squinting frown. 'It superficialises the experience, which is so disappointing because I'm doing it because I want to *be* the girl. I need to have an authentic experience and all that entails. It's a journey and it's not one that lasts an hour and a half of screen time. It lasts nearly a year, and I don't want a phoney year.

Because acting is a job and, sometimes, it's a job that requires a little more attention. Like a little Italian attention, a little French attention, a little pancake and pasta attention. 'In fact, playing Bridget again is going to be one of my hardest challenges in a long time because, creatively, I don't like to repeat myself. But now Bridget has a different story to tell, the character has become new to me. 'In her own way, Bridget's trying her best to define herself for herself and not conform to other people's definitions. It's upsetting that these days, so many people feel pressured to be something they're not, especially when you have so many periodicals making fun of people based on their appearance - their hair or their shoes. What does that say to kids? That it's OK to do that? How sad!' I dare to wonder if anything has changed on the romantic front. I'd heard she's dating limelight-shunning rocker Jack White from The White Stripes, who composed some of the music for Cold Mountain( and got Kate Moss to pole dance in his Sofia Coppola-directed video for I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself) Renee remains cutely tight-lipped (but nods with a radiant yup-it's-true _expression). But she is willing to elaborate on what she looks for in a man. Prepare for a soliloquy delivered in an I-mean-this-so-much hushed whisper. 'I'm inspired by a good heart. A pure heart. I like someone who is sound enough in their belief system that they don't need to lie or conjure up a person they thing you might need them to be. I'm inspired by someone wh ohas something to give. Someone who has passion. And I'm attracted to kindness. I love a guy who laughs. Who is able to care about other people's situations and not just take at the expense of others. 'I don't care about hair or faces. I don't care about clumsiness or snotty noses or bad clothes. I don't care if a guy stumbles or falls or says something dumb. What I care about is that he acknowledges that, as you go through life, you leave a trail behind you, and you have to be cognisant of what the trail looks like, and do your best to make sure it's not destructive. This is what's attractive to me.'

And with that, she bids me in farewell and dashes to her next appointment. Good Lord in heaven, this girl sure knows how to make an entrance...and one helluva exit. And as she disappears, dervish-like, I think of Down With Love and can't get that show-stopping, end-of-movie number out of my head. Their song. That big-badn, big-finish, belt-it-out sound when they dance in th emovie like they danced in our shoot - shimmying, swirling and swaying - Ewan, like a latter-day matinee idol with attitude, whisking a floaty, flirty Renee round the flor - and doing Sinatra real proud.