The Exitmusic frontwoman and star of the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire kicks back with a round of "Would You Rather..." while working on her band’s latest album, From Silence.
This feature appears in Complex's December 2011/January 2011 issue.
I’d rather be a hopeless romantic than a realist. Reality is hard. If you’re a romantic, you just have built-in optimism. That’s a huge tool. Is there something specifically I’d like to escape? No, but it’s an emotional superpower to be a romantic.
I’d rather be a one-hit wonder than win a Razzie. As long as it’s still on your terms and it was your hit and not just some factory hit. I’d rather have one thing that people agree said something about humanity.
I’d rather live in the present than in any other time period. I’m sure they would all be bad whenever you were there. I don’t have that, “Oh the twenties! Paris!” thing; I’m OK with right now. I have no choice.
I’d rather play an intimate venue than a sold-out stadium. There’s nothing like a show where you can actually see the audience and it doesn’t need theatrical fireworks to keep people interested. At a small show, they don’t even have to move and you’re already captivated by them.
I’d rather play Angela Darmody on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire than a boardwalk guidette on Jersey Shore. I don’t tan, so I can’t do that. Absolutely, I’d play a lesbian painter in the twenties before a tan drunk in the aughts. Not to judge them, or Jersey Shore—I have not seen that show and I’m sure they’re all lovely children.
I’d rather live in Brooklyn than Manhattan. I grew up in midtown Manhattan and it was too much for me. Brooklyn’s a little calmer. There’s a park right in my neighborhood, and you go there during the week and it’s yours—there’s nobody there. You need something like that when you’re running around Manhattan all day long. You need to just step back into the earth.
ADDITIONAL CREDITS
(HAIR) Whitesnake/Conrad. (MAKEUP) Lisa Aharon/Stila. (CLOTHING) IMAGES ONE-THREE: Corset by Agent Provocateur / Shorts by Very / Earrings by Laruicci. IMAGES FOUR & FIVE: Dress by VERY / Necklace by Mango/ Bracelets by Jessica Winzelberg.
