Alicia Silverstone Talks ‘Irish Blood' Series And ‘Clueless' At 30

Forbes

a day ago

When it comes to Millennials and the Generation X population, Alicia Silverstone remains forever cemented in their hearts and minds for her iconic acting career - especially for playing Cher Horowitz in the 1995 comedy classic Clueless, a popular Beverly Hills high school student navigating around peer pressures, unfair stereotypes and personal ambitions.
These days, Silverstone, 48, is taking on a brand new role in a lighthearted yet gripping drama series, Irish Blood, which is now streaming on Acorn TV. She plays Fiona, a successful lawyer who receives a note from her estranged father, which sets her on a journey to Ireland to uncover the truth about her longtime absent parent and to deal with the unresolved anger that his abandonment has had on her life.
Sitting down with Silverstone for a conversation over Zoom, I first wondered what it was about her Irish Blood lead character that initially intrigued her to want to make this the next project in her career.
'I think that I was attracted to the possibilities,' Silverstone said. 'When it came to me, it was just an idea, and I was attracted to the idea - this Irish land and the potential. Ultimately, what I think I love about the show and what I had hoped for was you've got the mystery, which is super fun, and the crime elements - but it's quirky. There's a quirky nature to the whole thing, and on top of it, I think it's an emotionally rich drama, and that's what I, as an actor, want - is to be able to sink my teeth into something. So, when they asked me to come onboard, I was able to be the producer, so that I could have the opportunity to make all these key creative hires and decisions. My focus was to make it as layered and nuanced and grounded as possible, so that I would have a lot to do - so it would be fun for me to act. I want to do things that are challenging and interesting.'
Being also an executive producer on Irish Blood at this stage of her seasoned career in and around the entertainment industry, I was curious if Silverstone has noticed that her creative interests in stories and characters have evolved at all over the years.
Silverstone said, 'I think I was lucky to do really complicated, layered things when I was young. I mean, The Crush is my first film and that's complicated, and there's lots to do there - and honestly, many of the roles I feel that I got to do - Clueless was a complicated pick. I got to work with James Gandolfini and Alain Corneau when I was little, and Kenneth Branagh on Shakespeare with Love's Labour's Lost. So, I think I've had a lot of juicy opportunities, but then I think those juicy opportunities got a little bit more light for a while, and then I went to theatre for that. I would go get all my workouts in the theatre with Laura Linney and with David Mamet, and that was incredible. And so, getting to do now, I think, when I'm looking at something, all I want is to be able to - if I can sink my teeth into it, I'm happy. I just want to be gnawing on that nylon bone and I think that it comes in different forms.'
She added: 'If it's with [filmmaker] Yorgos Lanthimos, I don't care what it is - I'm obsessed with him. He's a brilliant genius, so you just want to do whatever he wants to do. But sometimes, when it's something like this [with Irish Blood] that you get to kind of create it for yourself, or create it with people, and AMC has been so kind to me and so generous. I have a great relationship with their head of development, Rob Fox. We work great together - and so, I feel very lucky.'
With this year marking the 30th anniversary of Clueless, what is it in Silverstone's opinion that has made people, generation after generation, continue to resonate these three decades later with her beloved movie?
'Well, I don't think that any one of us could have ever imagined or known what a cultural phenomenon this would be. I mean, there is no way to know that. And certainly not all the executives that passed on it for a year, saying that no film should be made with a young girl in it as the lead - and they all had to eat that! So, I think none of us could have imagined what it would do, but I think when I look at it, what is it that makes it? My guess would be as good as yours, but my guess is Amy Heckerling wrote a brilliant script. Jane Austen ain't too shabby herself - the book Emma - and then Amy put her brilliant twist on it. She understands - I think she has her finger on the pulse of what is culturally happening in any given moment in such an incredible way. She worked with Mona May - and Mona May is the costume designer, and together, they just did this beautiful - I mean, the costumes are so incredible. They are a character in it and I think that it's lightning in a bottle. For some reason, all the magic came together at the same time.'
Silverstone added: 'I think that it's incredibly satirical, but it's also very, very warm, and I think that it's happy. I know that's what Amy wanted. She wanted this happy feeling that she didn't have in her. She talks about it. She's like - I was so miserable. I just wanted a happy place. I don't know if she says she's so miserable, but she's like - it's the opposite of her. She was interested in a character that was just happy all the time.'
With plenty of chatter going around of a Clueless sequel series being in development at Peacock with Silverstone involved, I wondered what she might be able to share at this point in the process.
'I can't share much,' Silverstone said, 'I can tell you that I'm excited about the possibility of it. We've been working on it and talking about it for a few years now, and we are at the stage - we're baby stages. It's just nothing is there yet. I mean, we know what we're doing, but we're not - we haven't shot anything yet. I certainly have to mum's the word there, but I'm hopeful that we'll get it right.'
Circling back to her Irish Blood six-part murder mystery, with Silverstone being a mom in real life to her son, Bear - I was curious if she noticed that her real world experiences as a parent benefited her father-daughter and mother-daughter dynamic on-screen within this series.
'Well, I think all of your life experience, if you bring it to your work, helps with everything. I mean, that's what makes it interesting, right? When you have experience to bring to your work - so, for sure. I mean, that stands true for all of it. I will say Bear loves the show very much. He's 14 and I let him watch when we would get to what's called pre-lock. I would do like five rounds of edits before we would get to pre-lock, and when you get to pre-lock, I would let him watch it with me. He was like - Mom, this is so good! And he wanted to see the next one and the next one and the next one. So, it was really cool.'
While I concluded my conversation with Silverstone, I wondered what she is most excited for audiences to see come of her portrayal as protagonist Fiona in Irish Blood, as they witness how this story unfolds.
Silverstone said, 'Audiences will be really happy with the storytelling, and I think they will enjoy how fast it moves. You know, it really – it does move very fast and I think it's a fun ride. I think they're going to feel all the things. They're going to laugh, they're going to feel emotional about things, and I think they're going to be really drawn in and enjoy this ride.'