Issue Date: October 17, 2004
What's it all about, Jane?
Krakowski's racy turn in "Alfie" suits this star whose specialty is sexy-funny.
By Kevin Maynard
"Alfie" explores fear of commitment, something the actress has grappled with herself.
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With the right outfit and decent lighting, any second-rate starlet can do sexy. But sexy and funny? That combo can't be faked, and Jane Krakowski has it down like Goldie Hawn in her heyday.
It was the doe-eyed Krakowski, 36, who hilariously donned a "face bra" as oversexed, hot-to-trot secretary Elaine Vassal on Fox's hit "Ally McBeal." Then, last year, she descended from a Broadway ceiling wearing nothing but a bedsheet to tempt bad boy Antonio Banderas in the rollicking musical "Nine" (she won a Tony for the role). Now she steams it up as a frustrated housewife in Alfie, a remake of the classic 1966 movie, opening nationwide Nov. 5 [date changed after our print edition went to press].
This time around, a very suave Jude Law takes over for Michael Caine as the titular English ladykiller. His revolving bevy of beauties includes Marisa Tomei and Susan Sarandon. But Krakowski holds her own: In a racy but awkward seduction scene, her clothes, including black leather knee-high boots, stay on.
"At one point we discussed me being more undressed, but I thought, no. ... It's sexier this way," she says, all messy blond hair and blue eyes in a black halter top and white eyelet skirt, sipping an "Arnold Palmer" (half-iced tea, half-lemonade) at a West Hollywood cafe. "Of course, it was my first day of filming. I said, 'Hi, I'm Jane.' He said, 'Hi, I'm Jude.' And then we got in the back of a limousine."
Krakowski's not about to reveal any juicy details about the film or her co-star today. Instead, she talks about her own understanding of male demons. "Alfie" and "Nine" both look at men who struggle with what she calls that "awful" word: commitment. Comfortable in a long-distance relationship with British lyricist Charles Hart for seven years, Krakowski admits she has grappled with the topic herself.
"The long-distance thing suits me," she says emphatically, citing her love for day-to-day independence. "I've gotten to travel a lot more, and I know a lot of people in England. We're not getting married [soon]. It just works for us."
Good pal and former "Ally" co-star Lucy Liu finds her friend's overt sexiness uniquely charming. "I think she's like Mae West," Liu says. "She's so coquettish that it's not threatening. It's funny and inviting to men and women."
Growing up in Parsippany, N.J., Krakowski began ballet lessons at 3 and followed that with singing and acting. Not shy about sexing it up for a role, her first chance was as naughty Cousin Vicki in 1983's "National Lampoon's Vacation," and, at 17, as a babysitter in "Fatal Attraction." "A scene with Michael Douglas got cut out because he flirted with me," Krakowski says. "It made him look like he was looking for trouble."
Broadway beckoned during high school, and Krakowski won a role in Starlight Express and then "Grand Hotel," for which she won her first Tony nomination. But her train really came in with David E. Kelley's outlandish "Ally," which lasted from 1997 to 2002 and led the way for out-there shows like "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Scrubs." And a full career for Miss Jane.
"'Ally' became this model for post-feminism," says Krakowski, who stars next in a TV version of A "Christmas Carol." Personally, she learned from the cads. "A woman's body is so luscious," she says. "We don't have to be in competition with each other."
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How Krakowski Makes A Difference
Two years ago, Jane Krakowski thought little about her morning cup of joe. That all changed when, on a trip to Guatemala with the trade watchdog group Oxfam America, she got a whiff of the Central American coffee crisis. The region produces 12% of the world's java, but since 1999, lower-quality beans have undercut prices, eliminating up to 600,000 jobs. Thanks to Oxfam, also supported by Chris Martin of the band Coldplay, Procter & Gamble now sells fair-trade coffee under the Millstone label.
"My parents can find coffee with the fair-trade symbol at their supermarket," says Krakowski, who continues to support the group. "That is a very good thing." More info: oxfamamerica.org.
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Jane's favorite ...
Jane: Jane Austen
Food: Greek yogurt with honey
Ex-"Ally McBeal" co-star: Lucy Liu
Obsession: Text messaging
Gadget: Her iPod. "I'm obsessed with anything Mac right now. I have everything I can own. I was on a PC before and was so bitter about switching, but a friend convinced me, and now I'm a gadget geek."
CD: Amy Winehouse. "She's British. It's a cross between jazz and hip-hop. I know every word to every song."
Singer: "I love Joss Stone and Rufus Wainwright. I'm going through a big Joni Mitchell phase; her stuff has so much relevance. I love Jay-Z. I love the illicit lyrics."
Actress: "In the last year, Naomi Watts. Samantha Morton is amazing. Reese Witherspoon, in Election."
Onscreen kiss: Jude Law. "He's a beautiful man, just gorgeous."
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