Claudia Schiffer on "The Blackout"

by Henri Béhar

CLAUDIA SCHIFFER: I love movies, I've always been interested in them, but I wanted to wait for the right time to start acting. I read "Blackout" and thought it was the perfect script. I really loved it, and it gave me the chance to work with one of the greatest directors."

QUESTION: (on choosing to start out in an ensemble piece as opposed to a lead role)

CLAUDIA SCHIFFER: I wanted to start with a very small role, to get my feet wet. I'm sure I'm not as good or as experienced as other actresses, but everybody has to start somewhere. We were a real family on the set, seeing each other every day. I had so much freedom in terms of expressing myself. This was so much different than my other work. What is great with Abel is that he leaves his actors a lot of freedom. He'll discuss everything with you, even if it's four o'clock in the morning."

QUESTION: (on giving up modelling)

CLAUDIA SCHIFFER: This is not a change of career for me. Just an expansion of it. I have contracts and obligations and business partners who are counting on me. And I would only want to do another movie if it's as good as this one.

QUESTION: (on doing nude scenes)

CLAUDIA SCHIFFER: I've never done any nudity, but I would do basically anything if a role called for it. I would like to do a nude scene like that one in "The Piano." That was beautiful.

QUESTION: (on being offered the Brigitte Bardot role in a remake of Jean-Luc Godard's "Contempt.")

CLAUDIA SCHIFFER: Untrue. And if they had (offered it to me), I wouldn't have taken it. The role is too big. I only want to do small parts for now.

QUESTION: (on agreeing with supermodel Naomi Campbell that fashion magazines are kinder to blonde, blue-eyed models than to black models and, more generally, in exposing racism in the fashion industry)

CLAUDIA SCHIFFER: I haven't experienced this myself. I can only hear it from Naomi. But it is true that some magazines have a policy to show only a certain amount of black girls on their covers. Naomi is right. It's not fair, and I wish it would change.

QUESTION: (on the status of her relationship with magician David Copperfield)

CLAUDIA SCHIFFER (with the sunniest smile): Not really appropriate to discuss this sort of thing here, is it?