THE SELF PORTRAIT

Bleeth Spirit

by Susan Mulcaby

Yasmine Bleeth on her childhood dreams

I always loved old Hollywood glamour. I remember when I was about 13 years old, watching Night of the Iguana and just loving Ava Gardner. The old Titanic with Barbara Stanwyck...Marilyn Monroe movies. And Breakfast at Tiffany's. I loved Audrey Hepburn, I remember thinking, "That's glamour, that's fashion, that's style.

Unfortunately when I was old enough to start emulating people, I was in my Madonna/Michael Jackson phase. That year, I was a fashion hybrid--you know, stockings with socks and shoes and belts and the one glove.

On her early career ambitions

I wanted to be a fashion designer. Now I think what I really would have wanted to be was more of a stylist. I used to travel to Paris because my mother was French and I had family there, and I always came home with my new Naf Naf outfit. I remember this one blue cotton skirt and top, and to make it my own, I put on 20 Madonna belts around my hips.

On her passions

I really love to cook. It brings me such pleasure. I don't know if this is the feeling that people who paint or sculpt get, but it's a very creative outlet for me. If I'm bored or miserable, I'II bake something. Richard [Grieco] has an incredible sweet tooth, I bake for him three times a week--brownies, cookies and maple walnut tarts. One day I hope I'II feel [passionate] about having a family. But we have no plans. Not yet.

On being raised in two religious traditions

My mother was Catholic, and my father's Jewish, so we always celebrated everything. To me, it was about the food and the celebration of it. [This year] I made Passover dinner on Friday night and Easter dinner on Sunday night. For Passover, I made matzo ball soup from scratch. And, well, I'm a bad, bad Jew, I made challah bread. I know you're not supposed to [since religious law prohibits eating leavened bread during the Passover holiday]. It's more the tradition for me than the religion. For Easter, I made ham--baked, with apricots.

On why she became the spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day

My mom died of breast cancer in 1992. She was initially misdiagnosed--by a doctor thinking that she was going through an early menopause-but he did tell her to come back in a month if the inflammation in her breast did not go away. And she didn't do it. She was 43 when she was diagnosed, and she died when she was 44. It was about six months. She had very rare inflammatory breast cancer. I never really discussed it with her, why she never went back when she realized [something was wrong, but it must have been fear and denial.

On who her heroes are

I always say my grandmother and my mother. I don't really look at entertainers as heroes or role models; it has to be somebody who's close to you or somebody you grew up with.

On working out

I just started working out again about a month ago. I hadn't worked out in a year. I don't enjoy exercise, though I do think it's important to be active and healthy. The big three-oh is coming up and I've got to start because gravity is not always going to be on my side. I've been running about four miles a week. And I just bought this weird machine from an infomercial on TV. My father ordered it for me. It's supposed to give you a fullbody workout, cardio and stretching, all in four minutes. I didn't believe it, but then I got on this thing and I couldn't even do it for two minutes at the lowest level.

On dieting

I just try to eat reasonably. Tonight I'II go out for sushi, which I enjoy. I don't deprive myself too much. Last night, I woke up and had this urge for chocolate. So I had some. I didn't go wild. I ate a quarter of a candy bar, but I felt better. I don't believe in strict diets or in quick weight loss. I just eat normally.

On what causes her stress

Incompetence. Other people's incompetence. When other people make mistakes and they shouldn't be making mistakes, [when] it's their job not to make mistakes, and I end up having to worry about it.

On dealing with stress

I don't take my work home with me. I'm very good at relaxing. I'm not one of those people who feel guilty about lying in bed. I'm very nice to myself. I like other people to be nice to me, too. I demand it from Richard. I'II say, "Hey, be nice to me, pay attention to me, pamper me."

On ideals of beauty

The other day, I saw a woman who must have been 70, and she looked so graceful and beautiful. To me, nothing looks worse than someone trying to hide how old she is. Maybe it's a European mentality. In Europe, women aren't women till they're 35, 40 at least.

On beauty treaments

I don't do them regularly. My mom used to teach me little things, like putting olive oil in your hair to moisturize it. And using oatmeal and salt to scrub your body. I remember her teaching me to put Vaseline on my eyebrows to keep them shiny.

On what's next in her Career

I want to have a long career. I've been acting since I was 12. But I'm not unrealistic. Probably 50 percent of where I've gotten has been because of the way I was born, the way I look. And eventually I'm going to change. So I can't rely on my looks only, or else how will I be able to work when I'm 50 or 60 or 70?

On how she chooses her roles

I always want to have an active role. I want to be a catalyst for something. I want my character to have a reason for being there, not just to be decoration. Not that she can't be a very overtly sexual person, that's fine. But is there a reason? What's the reason within the story?

On poeple expressing surprise at her intelligence

I've been guilty of the same thing [with other people]. I'll be watching a talk show at night and some famous supermodel is about to come on, and I'm like, "Oh, please, don't have her talk." But that's ridiculous. Anybody who has any success in whatever she does has to have some intelligence and some character. She's got to have motivation and drive.

On the role of fate

I'm not superstitious. I really believe our life is what we make it. If everything were planned, we wouldn't grow, we wouldn't change, we wouldn't learn about ourselves. I don't believe we're predestined to be anything. I think you can change your fate-if there is such a thing-[by] how you evolve. I believe you make your own luck.