Jewel Purpose

Elle, January 99, By Danny Scott

Former homeless waif, folk singer-turned-actress Jewel is now on a roll

D: You grew up in a log cabin in the frozen wastes of Alaska. You used to milk the cow before breakfast and had no running water. Was that as, er, idyllic as it sounds?

J: People tend to think of it as some kind of hippy existence. It wasn't. It was just the way things were. My grandfather was one of the last true pioneers. He settled in Alaska before it was even a state.

D: Weren't you brought up as a Mormon?

J: To be honest, the only time it came up was when my parents got divorced.

D: You've often said that the divorce was the reason you started writing songs.

J: Yeah, music became my best friend.

D: Is music still how you deal with pain?

J: My words don't always come from bad things. Life is very comfortable at the moment. I have a nice house. I don't have to worry about buying groceries...But there are so many other things to write about.

D: Like what?

J: How life seduces me. About how I've gone from being homeless to being a millionaire in just a couple of years.

D: Do you feel guilty about that?

J: All I am is a body and soul. Just like the other guys I used to know when I was homeless. But now I'm here and they're still homeless. It doesn't seem fair.

D: You've just finished your first major acting role opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Ang Lee's new film, Ride With The Devil. What was that like?

J: Really enjoyable. I was ready for a new challenge. It was a pretty difficult first role, too. I play an 18-year-old mother in the American Civil War. It's all about raw, tense emotion - tears, heartbreak, redemption...

D: Sounds like a barrel of laughs. Did you enjoy pretending to be someone else?

J: I didn't really see acting like that. I saw it as me being me, but being a very specific bit of me. I was narrowing the focus on my life.

D: You are a pretty major celebrity in the States now.

J: Yeah, I'm getting used to it. I do get hassled in the street sometimes and I have had a couple of stalkers. It was weird. I felt like I'd been betrayed by God. I was thinking, 'I'm a nice kid. Why is this happening to me?'

D: Okay, Jewel, thanks for your time.

J: Is that it?

D: Yeah.

J: Jeez, I thought this was going to be about make-up and nail varnish.

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