Introduction

Topics covered include: rolling your Rs, the incomparable satisfaction of cursing in Italian, eggplant parmigiana, puppet theater, loving a strong director, going towards the vision, the freedom of abstraction, meeting David Lynch for the first time at dinner with Helen Mirren, Isabella’s master’s degree in animal behavior and conservation, taming Abel Ferrara, working with Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet (and Willem almost getting cast as Frank Booth), stumpy-tooth dentures, uniform dressing, and the true meaning of elegance.