Sadie Frost, 59, on ageing, becoming a grandma and her changing friendship group
Actress-turned-director Sadie Frost has a lot to celebrate. She became a grandmother for the first time in December and she's now preparing for a milestone birthday this summer. The mum of four, who was once part of the famous Primrose Hill set, is also basking in the success of her second major documentary about a female powerhouse of British culture – Twiggy.
The film, which follows Sadie's first documentary, Quant , was three years in the making and has already received glowing reviews in the UK and Europe. It's now set for release in Japan and America. The critical acclaim is well deserved, we suggest, but Sadie admits her success wouldn't have felt quite the same a few years ago.
'I have the drive, and I'm lucky I have these opportunities, but there'd be no point me doing all this stuff if I was still in the same place I was in maybe 10 or 15 years ago, when I wasn't able to enjoy the things I was doing.
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'In my life right now, I have all the things I want – to be able to spend time with my children and my granddaughter and my friends. It's about balancing it all and appreciating every day.'
Chatting exclusively to OK ! from a hotel in Barcelona ahead of another screening of Twiggy , 59-year-old Sadie appears very different to the person who once had a reputation for hedonistic partying with the likes of Kate Moss, Meg Mathews and the Gallagher brothers in the 1990s.
The days of late-night partying (which she's previously said were never actually her 'thing' anyway) are gone. Nowadays, you're more likely to find her setting a sunrise alarm to go swimming, or teacher training at a Jivamukti Yoga retreat in India.
As she approaches her 60th birthday in June, Sadie says it's her love of health and wellness that allows her to enjoy the good things in life. And while she has 'a lot fewer friends than I once did', those friendships are more than enough to fulfil her.
'Before, I would operate in a group, a clan, a crew,' she muses. 'I still have some very healthy friendships, but I actually enjoy my own time, too. I love going for walks on my own, going for lunch, the cinema…
'I think we change our friends in different parts of our life, because maybe we change what we want to be doing in life, but I've still got a close network of girlfriends. I've got lots of new yogi friends, and then my best friends like Zoe Grace, Frances Ruffelle and Rosemary Ferguson, they're all people that I admire.'
Yoga instructor Sadie says she is finally free to enjoy the many things she's got going on – including her next documentary, which she teases is 'more male-orientated, more music-based'.
The yoga, diet and breathing techniques of the Jivamukti method are about a lot more than just lowering stress levels or keeping fit, she tells us – they have transformed her as a person.
'I've always struggled with certain breathing situations because I had asthma and that caused anxiety. So for me, yoga, meditation, diet and breathing have always been really important because if I'm out of balance or out of sync, not connected to myself and to my breath, I'm going to be a very unbalanced, unhappy person.
'So I'm not having asthma attacks or panic attacks, I'm not unhappy, I'm not suffering depression, because I've learned how I can have a relationship that is steady and joyful with whatever I'm doing.'
And when it comes to getting older? She's truly not fazed.
'Old age comes to everybody, doesn't it? When you're younger, you have a blasé attitude to youth and being the age you are. Then suddenly, there's this humility that is getting older and accepting that there's nothing you can do to stop it. We have to age, so we have to live in the day because it goes so fast. I can't believe how quickly the last 20, 30 years have gone.'
Sadie had first child during her marriage to Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp, which ended in 1995, and had three more children during her six-year marriage to actor Jude Law. Her role as a mum partly explains why the last 20-odd years have been a bit of a blur, and she admits it also plays a big role in her desire to embrace the next stage of her life.
'One minute we're teenagers running riot, then we're in our twenties and doing whatever we're doing there,' she laughs. 'Then you become a parent and you've got all this confusing, conflicting stuff because you don't know what you're doing. Then suddenly the kids are leaving home and you're like, 'Who the hell am I?'
'I've loved my life, but I've had four children and that's been full-on. Now I can go, 'Well, what do I want to do next? And how do I keep myself healthy and happy doing it?' You have to take care of yourself.'
Sadie became a grandmother for the first time in December, when her eldest son Finlay welcomed a baby girl, named Daya Wildrose Mallory Kemp, with his tattoo artist wife Charlotte Mallory. The transition from mum to granny was a button-pushing moment, Sadie admits, but we're not going to see a permed blue rinse any time soon – that's not Sadie.
'I think anybody that's become a grandma struggles to identify with the new name,' she says. 'It can be like, 'Oh no, I'm suddenly going to turn into the grandma in Little Red Riding Hood and overnight I'll have a perm and glasses' – not that there's anything wrong with that!"
'A lot of people don't call themselves granny or nanny, they have a pet name, and I chose Mimi. But weirdly, when I'm around my granddaughter, I say, 'Oh, Granny's here!' so that goes out the window. Maybe when she's older and we're in the park, it'll be nice if she calls me 'Mimi Sadie'. I think it's something that maybe feels weird at first but you're just so happy to be looking at this beautiful angel, you could be called anything.'
When the subject turns to her 60th birthday, there's no wild party in the pipeline. In fact, there's unlikely to be any party in the traditional sense, because Sadie confesses she struggles in big crowds.
'I don't like the idea of just getting everyone together for a big party. I like small little things, you know? Even the premiere for Twiggy was overwhelming.
'I know everyone says they have ADHD, but I do – and I've had it for a long time. I find big social situations not much fun. I get overwhelmed. So I'd rather do something smaller. I think on your 60th birthday you can celebrate any way you want to.'
Cheers to that!
Yoga instructor Sadie and Jivamukti yoga master Emma Henry will host The Art of Yoga and Mindfulness event at 7pm on Thursday 27 March, at Moco Museum London. Tickets at mocomuseum.com/locations/london
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