(Photo: Jake Chessum)

What kind of acting do you do?
I have a friend who wrote this play. His name is Michael Domitrovich. He wrote a play called Artfuckers. I play this downtown child of this famous artist, sort of like a Schnabel daughter, but not really. It’s about the idea of the entitled children of famous parents.

Is that what your childhood was like?
Not at all. I grew up middle class, nothing like that. But if your father is Julian Schnabel, you know, you’re living in a shadow, trying to break free. I know a lot of people of that sort. Most of them are on some kind of medication.

How old are you?
I am ageless. I have been in New York for fourteen years. I moved to New York City as a classical ballet dancer. I studied at the School of American Ballet. That was my entry.

Do you still dance?
It was my first love, my first lover, even. But with any of the classical arts, it’s all or nothing.

Tell me about your style.
Oh, man. Border jumping, maybe? Boundary swapping?

Do you have style icons?
Oh, yeah. I have a real big Annie Hall fascination. Katharine Hepburn, of course, and, oh, Greta Garbo. I’m shooting a film right now with Paul Morrissey, who did all the Warhol films. There was a woman called Viva in his early work, and she was pretty phenomenal. And then, of course, Kathleen Turner. I was very inspired by Romancing the Stone.

How?
She was living in New York, she was a writer. She lived by herself, and she had a cat. In the beginning of the film, she’s typing a romance novel and crying her eyes out with her cat. It was the most idyllic thing. I was 10 years old and I thought, That’s all I want. To be alone in New York, crying with a cat.

And did it come true for you?
On numerous occasions, yes.

Related:

• Archive: “Look Book”
• Articles by Amy Larocca
• Table of Contents: Jan 7, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!