Spotlight
Selma Blair—not yet embarked, evidently, on her new, cupcake-centric diet—photographed at the El Mirage Dry Lake Bed, outside of Los Angeles. Photograph by Norman Jean Roy.
Letting Herself Go
Selma Blair lands a cupcake of a role.
by Jim Windolf October 2008
After a topsy-turvy decade in film that started with a lesbian kiss in the sharp teen comedy Cruel Intentions, Selma Blair had some big-time success this past summer with Hellboy II: The Golden Army, a critically praised blockbuster from director Guillermo del Toro. In it, she’s the chic, fire-starting babe who comes to Hellboy’s rescue, even as she carries his demon spawn. But now she’s abandoning her inner action star for a TV show—Kath & Kim, a non-laugh-track comedy that’s got a coveted spot on NBC’s Thursday-night lineup. “There’s something wonderful about being able to schedule a doctor’s appointment in my hometown,” Blair says of the saner existence of television work.
She plays Kim, a bratty, fashion-challenged young woman who moves in with Kath, her bratty, fashion-challenged mother (played by Saturday Night Live alum Molly Shannon). Based on an Australian hit, Kath & Kim sounds possibly good. But what if it’s huge, and Blair finds herself stuck in the role forever? “Um, I would be thrilled, I guess,” she says. “I’m just thinking, I’m always eating on this show. My character has let herself go, so that’s one aspect I might have to look into—because I don’t know how many cupcakes a girl can eat.”
Fashion designers love Selma, and she loves them back. She’s a vision on the red carpet, with her combination of spunk and glamour, and, in 2006, she made the International Best-Dressed List. “Now that I play Kim, that part of my life is over,” she says, “because I don’t fit into the best dresses anymore, which is just a sad fact.” She laughs. “I don’t think I’ll be making any of those lists now, because I’ll be wearing elastic waistbands. Yeah, it’s a whole new me.”
Jim Windolf is a Vanity Fair contributing editor.
