Jennifer Tilly Is an Overdressser Who Overtips – The Cut

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Inspired by our popular etiquette guide: New rules for behaving in polite society.

Inspired by our popular etiquette guide: New rules for behaving in polite society.
Earlier this year, Jennifer Tilly joined the 14th season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as a “friend of” the Housewives — a role that usually involves a lot of nodding along as the women recall their various fights over brunch. It’s a part she is well suited to play, with her extensive (and expensive) handbag collection and breathy accent — which sometimes channels Schitt’s Creek matriarch Moira Rose, even if Tilly had it first — providing some much-needed quirkiness among the deeper, darker conflicts (not to mention her friendship with Sutton Stracke, Beverly Hills’ fanciest Housewife).Watching the show, her co-stars were not always as interested in Tilly’s comic relief. “It’s hard to be funny on the show, because nobody laughs!” she says, recalling an old story that she told in the season’s penultimate episode, where she was performing nude on Broadway and her former boyfriend, watching in the audience, didn’t realize that she was about to emerge from a bathtub naked. “It was crickets!” she says with a laugh.Over many decades in Hollywood — during which she became a bona fide “scream queen” icon and, in 1995, an Academy Award nominee — Tilly has honed the art of living fabulously, helped, she says, by a divorce settlement from her first husband, The Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, which in 1991 awarded her a piece of the iconic show for life. As a Housewives superfan, Tilly has compared joining the franchise to “working with Martin Scorsese.”When we talk, she’s at home — well, one of them. First, there’s her “play house,” a Bel Air property right next door to her “real house,” used exclusively for parties and housing her vast doll collection. Then, there’s her pad in Malibu — a beach house she rarely visits because an unfriendly ghost lives there. And finally, she has a place in Vegas, where she visits regularly to play professional poker.During our 34-minute call, she dishes on the cast dynamics in season 14, and whether she regrets choosing to be a “friend” over a full-time role. Tilly also divulges exactly how many closets she has, plus her golden rules for overdressing, tipping, timekeeping, and traveling in style — oh, and how many thousands of dollars it’s acceptable to spend on an outfit for a doll.Jennifer, are you speaking to us from your “play house,” your “haunted house,” or somewhere else?This is actually my “real” house! When the pandemic started, I thought, Oh, I need an office. I have two houses right next to each other, so you’d think I’d get everything I wanted. I wanted a stripper pole, because I played a stripper in a movie once, and that’s really good upper-body exercise. But you literally need an entire room, because you need all the space around so you can swing, so I didn’t have a room for that. Then I needed a recording studio, because I record Family Guy in one of my closets, and it’s really hard to get in my closet all the time with all the recording equipment. So I thought a recording studio would be really nice — because you also have these ambitious ideas, like, One day I’ll make a podcast, and it’d be very good to have a recording studio. So there’s no room for a recording studio, either, but I actually have five closets, because I’m a hoarder. I never get rid of anything! How can I get rid of my Tom Ford Gucci? Even though that’s, like, three sizes ago.What is the biggest difference between your “play house” and your real house?My play house is spotless because nobody lives there. You don’t worry about the crew going in the bathroom and seeing ointments and pills. There’s no stacks of dodgy magazines or anything. My real house is just a lot of clutter. The play house is actually bigger than my real house, which I call my starter home. But, you know, we love it. We like to sit in our house, surrounded, like two little gerbils, in a small space surrounded by torn up newspaper. We love the clutter.You pride yourself on always being “egregiously overdressed.” What’s your No. 1 tip for overdressing?It can’t look like it’s a mistake. You have to come in and say, “Yes, I just felt like wearing this pearl headdress.” You can’t be ashamed of it. You have to sweep in like, “Hello, everybody. I’m here and I’m fabulous. Let the party begin!” But not everybody’s cut out for that. For example, my little sister, Meg, told me she was going to a party at Jane Fonda’s house — a barbecue. She said to Jane Fonda, “What should I wear?” And Jane goes, “It’s a barbecue, it’s casual.” So Meg showed up in overalls, and when Jane Fonda opened the door she was wearing an evening gown. How fabulous, to wear a ball gown to an afternoon barbecue. But it shows that one person’s idea of “casual” is not another person’s.Can overdressing or under-dressing be a power move, in different contexts?This is the great thing about America: Everybody can wear whatever they want. And a thing I’ve noticed is the more powerful you are, the more you dress down. If you were to go to the Ivy when you were an up-and-coming actress, that was a big deal. I would empty out my closet and be all dressed up, but Steven Spielberg will go to the Ivy in sneakers and a backward baseball cap. That’s power. The first time I went to the Ivy was with my sister and Quentin Tarantino, who was sort of infatuated with her, and I got really dressed up. Quentin Tarantino showed up looking like a homeless hobo, but nobody was like, “Look at those two cute girls, they are so fabulous”; they were like, “Oh my God! It’s Quentin Tarantino!”You’re a professional poker player. Are there any crossover skills with being on Housewives? Do you need a good poker face for those dinner scenes?In poker, you’re trained not to show what you’re feeling. Even if you’re bluffing all-in for $100,000, you just sit there. As a professional actress, you’re trained not to make a scene. If you don’t like anybody, it’s very unprofessional to get into a feud on the set. But on Housewives, you’re encouraged to make a scene. If there are no scenes, there’s no show! So that’s what took a little getting used to. In real life, if somebody’s really rude, you think to yourself, Oh, that was rude. I think I’ll avoid this person in the future. But on Housewives, when someone says something rude, you’re supposed to say out loud, “Wow, that was really rude!” It’s not about putting out the flame; it’s about throwing more logs on the flame.What is your favorite type of party guest?I like people who bring the party with them. People who come, even if they don’t know anybody, they sail in. They’ve got a little bottle of alcohol or flowers or whatever — even though you don’t need it, it’s like saying, “I’m so happy to be invited to your party.” They bring it, they dress up, and they start the dancing. I don’t like people who walk around and sneer at your crudités and are too cool for school. Although those kinds of people are good to have at your party, too, because people see them being rude and think, I’m at an A-list party!Fans are obsessed with your doll collection. How many are there? Are they expensive? My mom was a doll collector, and when my brother cleared out her house when she wanted to move into an assisted-living home, he said there were hundreds of dolls. They were stuffed in closets and everything. I inherited some of my mom’s Victorian dolls. And she gave me her pink cushion doll collection, which is from the 1920s. There’s probably over 1,000 of those, I don’t know what to do with them!I have a lot of Chucky dolls. I have the Tiffany doll that I smuggled out in a suitcase. Luckily, Romania doesn’t really have super-good X-ray vision, because they would have seen what looks like a small child in my suitcase! The Tiffany doll that I have, I have so much fun with her; she’s actually almost like a real person. I take her to parties with me and different places. She loves fashion and I got her this John Paul Gaultier outfit that cost $4,000. But if you know John Paul Gaultier, $4,000 for a couture outfit is really cheap. Then Dolce and Gabbana said that they would make an outfit for her, too. You’re never too old to play with dolls!“Kathy Hilton time” runs at least 30 minutes behind schedule. What about “Jennifer Tilly time”? Are you punctual?I feel like, in L.A., if you’re 15 minutes late, you don’t even need to apologize, because everybody is 15 minutes late. Sometimes, I’ll be 15 minutes late, and my friends show up half an hour later. If you show up less than 15 minutes late, you just have to say something breezy about traffic. But after that, it is kind of rude not to apologize. My sister, Meg, is usually 20 minutes early. So if you show up ten minutes late, she’s already been waiting for half an hour. Some of the Housewives, I’m not gonna say who, sometimes 40 minutes late, sometimes an hour … or an hour and a half.Oh, you have to say who …I can’t! Well. Okay. I don’t think Sutton would feel bad if I said that she’s late sometimes, because, you know, it takes a long time to get fabulous. But when she shows up, she makes up for it. She’s really delightful when she’s not getting in fights with people.Speaking of which, Sutton is quite polarizing — in the cast, and also for the fans. What was it like coming onto the show as a “friend” of someone like that?When they hired me, one of the producers said, “You know, we need Sutton to have more allies.” They wanted me to come in so that Sutton had more people whom she could engage with in a positive way. Sutton and I have known each other for over 15 years, and we’ve never, ever had a fight. They’ve been asking me to be on Housewives, or if I was interested, for several years. I would be like, “Oh, it seems so toxic,” so I wasn’t willing to dive in. But I’ve always been a Housewives superfan. Last summer, Chucky suddenly got canceled, so I was looking at the empty summer. So they brought me in — I kind of got to pick which I wanted, and picked “friend of” because I thought it would be less stressful. The only one-on-one scenes I had were with Sutton. And because I’m the friend of, she’s talking about things that happened to her and I’m being Oprah and nodding along and saying “Oh really?,” which is really not my job! Being an actress, I’m used to being the center of attention!You posted a picture from “the day that never aired,” when Camille and Dorit apparently got into it again. What happened?Oh my goodness, there was such a kerfuffle. Kathy Hilton has a party, like, every four days. So it was a Kathy party, and it was sort of like a Golden Globes gifting suite where there were all these booths and you could get massages — it was utterly fabulous. Camille obviously has beef with Dorit, so she lit into her and they were just screaming at each other. Kyle was there. Kathy, she’s smart, she always seems to wander away whenever there’s any kind of unpleasantness. Camille and Dorit were literally at each other’s throats — like really, really got into a huge fight. But I guess the producers figured it would be redundant, because it was sort of like the Cowboy Party part two. It was really fun and interesting for me to sit there and watch. My mouth was open. Housewives have been let go because they just don’t bring enough drama — and well, Camille and Dorit are grand masters of drama.In that picture, I was posing with Camille because we all went in the same van. That was before the storm. The fans were interested in the behind-the-scenes story, but I mostly posted it because I looked cute.Would you rather: fly coach on a long haul flight, or walk the red carpet in an H&M dress?Fly coach. The unpleasantness lasts, like, five hours, but the H&M picture will live forever. I’m not a skinny mini! I need expensive construction.How many jewelry bags do you usually take on vacation?I usually take two of them because I can fit a lot of stuff in. I like to travel with all of my jewelry. I think when you’re on vacation, it’s really good to make a clanking noise when you walk from your bracelets.You own a piece of The Simpsons. If you could spend a day in the life of a Simpsons character, who would it be? I think it has to be Lisa, because she’s the most logical, and she’s like a “thinking” character. She gets along with everybody.I thought you were going to say Marge, because of her hair …But Marge is married to Homer. Sleeping next to that every night?How screen-addicted are you? Which app do you spend the most time on?I’m so screen-addicted. Sometimes it’ll say, “You spent six hours on your phone.” I’d say the app I spend the most time on is Instagram, because I try to post every day. You have to find the right filters. Now you can stack up to 20 pictures. I guess Instagram doesn’t want me to have any life at all!How much does Jennifer Tilly tip at a restaurant?I tip 25 to 30 percent. During and after the pandemic, I started tipping more. I started tipping everyone who showed up in my house, because I was trapped in the house and I was like, “We need to tip the Amazon driver!” They were all really surprised, the mailman, or anybody who brought us anything, even though they were keeping the world running while we hid inside. So I’m a really good tipper, because I used to be a waitress. Once in a while, I have tipped $100 on, like, a cup of coffee, and it just really makes you really happy.On the show, we’ve seen Garcelle becoming frustrated that Sutton seems to seek Kyle’s approval. Why do you think she does that?I’ve always noticed that, especially this season. Kyle is very kind. There’s times when she has not been kind, but overall she’s kind and charismatic, with a very maternal side. And we all love Reba, but you all saw how Sutton’s mom is a little withholding. When Kyle is taking care of you, I think that that’s what Sutton is attracted to. In St. Lucia, Sutton was so struck when Kyle “stood up” for her at that dinner. She was glowing. “Kyle stood up for me, Kyle stood up for me,” she kept repeating. And I’m like, “Yeah, I stood up for you! Garcelle stood up for you!”Being a “friend” is quite a difficult role. What did you learn from it? Do you have any advice for future “friend ofs”?Coming in as a friend, I didn’t realize how little screen time you actually get. It’s very easy as a friend of to vanish without a trace, because when you’re interacting with these girls, it’s in a party situation or a trip situation. They all have their alliances and their friendships all in place. They’re filming every day but they only call you up every week or so to film, so you’re sort of circling around trying to get in. This would be my advice: Don’t be afraid, just wade in and make yourself heard. Normally, if you’re new to a group of people, you would sit back a little bit, to wait to see where you fit in. I was doing that, but then it’s very easy for the entire season to go by.Would you be a full-time Housewife if they asked you to be?I was thinking that that might be the way to go. In computer games, my boyfriend tells me there’s something called an NPC, which is a “non-playing character.” You’re sort of an NPC as a friend of. Full time would be the way to go if you want to make any kind of impact at all. And I really want to get to know the other girls better.What’s more dangerous, the Housewives franchise, or the Chucky franchise?Definitely the Housewives franchise — because No. 1, Chucky is my boyfriend, so I feel very fond and affectionate to him. Chucky never does anything unexpected, because he’s controlled by a bunch of puppeteers. And there’s a script! On Housewives, when somebody tries to throw a jab, you’re like, “Woah, where did that come from?” These girls are activated. But I think that’s what makes Housewives fascinating. It’s why I’m a superfan.Sometimes it seemed like you didn’t love being in the middle of so much conflict. Did you enjoy your time on RHOBH?Overall, I enjoyed the experience. I got to go places I would never go, and it’s just fun. I have a whole new fan base — the people who watch Housewives. It was stressful, because I was worried I would accidentally say something stupid, or mean. When you go on a talk show, you can really monitor what you say. But on Housewives, you’re drinking, you’re filming for 17 hours, people are stressed out. It’s really hard to maintain your cool. At my caviar party, I thought I was enjoying Dorit and Sutton screaming at each other, but then it cut to me and it looked really sad. Maybe I was sad underneath? But then I thought, Oh, well at least they won’t cut my caviar party! So I wasn’t sad anymore.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commissionHave an account?

Source: http://www.thecut.com/article/jennifer-tilly-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills-interview.html