Paz de la Huerta urges me to abandon defining things in such limited terms. Whether it be the linear unfolding of time or the concept of a \u2018career\u2019, to her it is trivial to try and create boundaries for such things. Paz, herself, is evidence that the grandeur of life cannot be contained. Although the public might try to put her in the box of an actress, a model, or even a socialite, that has not deterred her from pursuing her creativity in many other ways or living a life in search of self fulfillment. Everything in her life is about fluidity. She doesn\u2019t have the patience or desire to reel off calculated answers to interview questions, but instead, she goes at her own pace. She tells the story as it comes.<\/p>\n
Although Paz doesn\u2019t want to spend too much time on the subject, she is not without a past. Her father is the Spanish XVII Duke of Mandas and Villanueva and her mother a global advocate for women\u2019s rights. They lived in the trendy art-fueled neighborhoods of TriBeCa and Soho, just as they were coming up. \u201c[My neighborhood] was filled with incredible artists that I\u2019m blessed to have known since I was little, whom I consider many of them to be my angels and cicerones.\u201d Some of the close relationships she cites are with Francesco Clemente, Nan Goldin, and David Armstrong, among other artists and poets. New York and the creative community it fostered just next door fed her spirit and helped to shape her creatively, but much of her childhood was spent outside of its confines. As a child her summers were spent on a ranch in Spain with her family and her mother often brought her along to work trips in underdeveloped countries, particularly in Asia and Africa. She stops to reiterate that although such an upbringing provided her with invaluable tools for the future, she doesn\u2019t want to talk to divulge her entire past. We keep moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never really been just a model,\u201d she claims. Throughout the interview she takes ownership of dozens of different skills; model, actress, director, singer, painter, and she\u2019s currently taking classes to add flamenco dancer to her modest repertoire. She has been a creative person from birth and doesn\u2019t give herself creative boundaries. She explored anything and everything. One of her earliest public experiences in this world of art and expression was modeling for Zac Posen\u2019s debut show. The two became close in high school and although a thrilling opportunity for Paz at the time, it was hardly a seamless experience. \u201cI hated the way they did my hair. My breast popped out without me knowing and everyone started clapping and cheering, and I was feeling really high on myself, like \u2018Damn I\u2019m great at this,\u2019 then I got backstage and everyone [told me what happened]!\u201d This, however, was just the start.<\/p>\n
I just want to feel safe, be around a loving crew, be inspired by the story I\u2019m telling and hope that through my being I can evoke compassion and healing and make one more person in the world feel less alone.\u00a0\u2014 Paz De La Huerta<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Hollywood embraced her just the same as the fashion world. From a young age she earned roles in major films including\u00a0The Cider House Rules<\/em>,\u00a0A Walk To Remember<\/em>,\u00a0Choke<\/em>, and even the HBO series\u00a0Boardwalk Empire,\u00a0<\/em>but she doesn\u2019t want to harp on those experiences. She doesn\u2019t wish to talk about what the time on set was like or why she chose the roles. Instead, she prefers discussing the present, the future. Currently, she has three films in post-production \u2014\u00a0Concrete Underground<\/em>,\u00a0Death in the Desert<\/em>, and\u00a0Amy in a Cage\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 all expected to be released in 2016. As for future roles, she is outspoken about what she will and will not accept as a seasoned actress. \u201c[On set] I just want to feel safe, be around a loving crew, be inspired by the story I\u2019m telling and hope that through my being I can evoke compassion and healing and make one more person in the world feel less alone.\u201d Drawn intimately to female characters that are misunderstood, I imagine to a degree she searches for a glimpse of herself in her chosen roles. \u201cI always dedicate a role to someone. They\u2019re all homages.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giving back to women is a major part of her creative process. Other than providing inspiration and a sense of security through her art, she also wants to protect young women who are getting their start in creative industries. As a woman in the male-dominated film industry, Paz has experienced a great deal of injustice and hopes young girls can take something from her learnings. \u201cThere were two projects that I was mistreated [by male directors]. I was lied to, deceived, and because I was the only woman and came on not just as an actress, but as an executive producer, I was mistreated.\u201d She goes on to encourage other women trying to get their start in a creative field to \u201cpay attention to the signs. You can\u2019t fight darkness with darkness. Listen to your body, to your heart, and if it doesn\u2019t feel right or safe, it ain\u2019t worth it. Take care of you first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although generally quiet about her upcoming work, Paz is exuberant when talking about the art exhibition she is working on. \u201cI don\u2019t wish to talk about things until they\u2019re finished, but let\u2019s just say I came out of the womb painting.\u201d She currently spends most of her time in Sevilla, Spain, where she can focus on her many crafts. Typically \u2014 she reminds me \u2014 she doesn\u2019t identify as strictly one type of artist, but she will take on one label in particular: \u201cAs my friend Billy Corgan refers to me, and as Zac [Posen] and many others have referred to me, I am more of a muse.\u201d And that she is.<\/p>\n
I ask her about what her career has in store for the future, and she responds thoughtfully, \u201cYou keep using the word \u2018career\u2019, which by definition an individual\u2019s journey through learning and work. I feel it\u2019s a word that has come to mean something else in this current society, like a \u2018goal\u2019. But my journey is now, it\u2019s happening now. It \u00a0keeps unveiling itself to me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paz de la Huerta urges me to abandon defining things in such limited terms. Whether it be the linear unfolding of time or the concept of a \u2018career\u2019, to her it is trivial to try and create boundaries for such things. Paz, herself, is evidence that the grandeur of life cannot be contained. Although the public might try to put […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25,322],"tags":[376],"class_list":["post-5085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","category-magazine","tag-paz-de-la-huerta"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/paz-de-la-huerta.jpg?fit=534%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paoQFa-1k1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5085"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5097,"href":"https:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085\/revisions\/5097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notofu.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}