In 1994 Chloe Sevigny was dubbed the ‘coolest girl in the world’ by the New York Times and more than 20 years later, her ‘cool girl’ status has spearheaded her into the spotlight, allowing her to become a Golden Globe winning actress and now a producer for her latest film, Lizzie.
The film follows Lizzie Borden and features the 43-year-old actress as the title character, the woman who is best known for being the main suspect in the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Lizzie was tried and acquitted of the crime and the murders happened more than a century ago but in an interview with Town and Country, Chloe said she believes the story is still very much alive because of how the myth is still very much present.
New release: Chloe Sevigny, 43, graced the cover of Town and Country for it’s August Issue where she talked about her upcoming film, Lizzie
True events: The film follows, Lizzie Borden and features Chloe as the title character leading up to the days before she murdered of her father and stepmother in 1892
She said: ‘It’s the way the myth has been perpetuated that she was this loner, and people identify with her in a way.
‘And the crime was so violent. Also, anything unsolved is always interesting. There are so many theories about what really could have happened.’
Chloe was working on Big Love during the early stages of getting the film made and asked her roommate and screenwriter, Bryce Kass to write it for her. The two poured themselves into her story and even stayed at the Lizzie Borden bed and breakfast museum where they did a séance and had some ‘experiences’ as Chloe called them.
‘I don’t normally get visited by ghosts, because I have my Catholic force field up all the time, but there was obviously a presence there,’ she said.
‘The first time, when I went with that boyfriend from Massachusetts, he woke up in the middle of the night feeling a pressure on his chest and hearing noises. Then I felt something similar in my apartment right before we started shooting.’
Despite being a practicing Catholic, Chloe has had similar experiences in the past after she saw The Exorcist when she was ten years old and her priest told her that if ‘you ever play Ouija, or practice witchcraft, you’re inviting the devil into your soul,’ she told Vulture in a 2015 interview.
‘So I never did for most of my adult life. I had an experience when I was in eighth or ninth grade, and I looked at a book about witchcraft and had a strange experience with a cat who was sleeping in the bedroom at that time. The cat became active, and frightened me. So I put that book down and never read about witchcraft again.’
Chloe initially heard about the story of Lizzie, ironically one Halloween many years ago when she out with a girlfriend, the painter Lily Ludlow, and she was in Victorian garb with a picture of an axe sewn onto the back of her jacket.
When she told Chloe she was Lizzie Borden, she immediately started to research her and discovered there was a bed and breakfast in what used to be her house in Massachusetts.
Paranormal: To prepare, Chloe visited Lizzie’s former home in Massachusetts where she said she had ‘experiences’ with a ‘presence’
Unusual: Chloe said that she doesn’t usually get visited by ghosts because of her Catholic force field but she couldn’t deny the spirit she felt
And because her then boyfriend was from nearby in Massachusetts, she told him the next time they went up to visit they would have to stay there.
‘So we stayed at the bed-and-breakfast, and when you do that they give you this whole tour and tell you these stories to spook you, saying that 75 percent of guests leave in the middle of the night and things like that,’ she said. ‘And while I was there I thought, this story is captivating.’
But even though the story itself was riveting for Chloe, she took some artistic liberty when making the film and created a love story between Lizzie and the family’s maid, played by Kristen Stewart.
‘We liked the idea of the relationship between these two women, but it wasn’t just that we wanted to make it a love story,’ she said. ‘When you’re in the Borden house it becomes clear that there’s no way these two weren’t in cahoots.’
Of course, Chloe knows that there may be some fallout with the direction of the film because ‘enthusiasts all have their opinions’ but she wants people to know that it is a fictionalized, imagined version of what happened.
But despite the ridicule that may come from the release of the film, Chloe said she feels lucky to have worked an amazing cast of women (Fiona Shaw, Kim Dickens, Kristen Stewart) and to be able to create it even though ‘it’s so hard producing a movie’ especially because she still feels she has a lot to learn about the industry.
That may seem hard to believe for the actress who has played an array of characters such as a polygamous wife on Big Love, a jockey in Lean on Pete, a Jane Austen character and even Abigail Williams, an accuser in the Salem witch trials.
Creepy: The Lizzie Borden bed and breakfast museum (pictured) where Chloe performed a séance
On set: Chloe shared a photo of herself to Instagram wearing her costume for the film Lizzie
Talent: Chloe was the producer or the film, which will hit US theaters on September 14
‘I’m a workaholic, so I’m always doing a lot,’ Chloe said. ‘My time isn’t precious in that way; I’m happy to give it over. For Lizzie, it was the character and the writer and the story we wanted to tell together. I also thought it could be successful, and I’ve never had a real starring role in a movie, so I decided to create one for myself.’
And even though she may never have had a starring role, there’s no doubt she’s always had a reputation for work that’s kind of offbeat and ‘controversial’.
‘People should consider the variety of characters I’ve played, the different roles, and for lack of a better word – the craft,’ she said. ‘I don’t think people recognize me as being a good actress. Some of them think I’m just into fashion.’
And while the title of style icon is not lost to her (she has released several clothing lines designed by herself, both solo and in collaboration), she said that there’s more to her than just one thing.
‘There’s so much wrapped up in other people’s ideas of who I am or what I do that it’s never just that one thing,’ she said. ‘That’s hard for me, because it might get in the way of what I really want to do, which is act or direct and become a filmmaker.’
‘It’s also why I finally joined Instagram: There were all these fake accounts on there, and I felt that if someone’s going to portray me, it might as well be me.’
Lizzie, which was directed by Craig William Macneill, appeared at the Sundance Film Festival in January but will be released in US theaters on September 14.