Thursday, March 10, 2005

Sienna Miller Studies Kate Moss To Play Edie Sedgwick

It was 2:07 AM Sunday morning in June on one of the club-heavy blocks of 21st Street in Manhattan. The interior design was done in a cheap middle-eastern theme, the cut corners in money spent was hidden by the dim light. There were about sixty people dancing and drinking, lying on couches, passed out on cushy chairs, smoking tobacco and lots of other agricultural products, and eating the constant service of Ritz crackers with cream cheese and red caviar. The four bartenders were women, young, maybe not even of drinking age yet, and all dressed casually but smartly. Two blonds, one brunette and one red head.
"Did Kate Moss just walk in?" said the red head.
"Yeah. She's friends with Sienna Miller," said the blond.
The riot of noise, the bustle of bodies and the chemicals in the arteries were enough to keep Kate Moss from being noticed by all except the two alert bartenders.
Kate Moss was wearing her usual large sunglasses and was dressed as if she just spent a night under the Brooklyn Bridge with some winos. But then, this was one of the Kate Moss looks and so the bartenders did not take notice of the fact that Kate was strung out. She was on her ninety-second cigarette of the day and she walked briskly through the crowd and touched the shoulder of Sienna Miller as she passed. Sienna turned and saw Kate glance back at her as Kate walked into one of the bathrooms in the back of the club.
"I need to go to the bathroom," said Sienna Miller to Jude Law who was holding a bottle of champagne and had been talking to a friend that no one seemed to know the name of.
"Sure," said Jude Law.
Sienna Miller was wearing a black short skirt and white blouse with socks and hiking boots, which made Sienna's legs seem even longer than they were. It was a combined upscale-downscale look, as if she were getting out of a limo to walk a mountain trail.
Sienna walked straight into the bathroom after she asked one of the body guards to keep others out.
She found Kate Moss with her butt leaning on the black marble sink counter, her legs crossed, smoking and very fidgety.
"So glad you came," said Sienna.
"Look, I'm sorry, but I don't really have the stuff," said Kate.
Sienna noticed that Kate's hair was matted, greasy and disheveled. There was a small spot of blood on Kate's left arm. It was just the look Sienna had gone for when she played Edie Sedgwick in the feature film Factory Girl which was currently in post production.
"Do you have a cigarette. I need a cigarette," said Kate Moss.
"Kate, you're smoking a cigarette already," said Sienna.
"Oh. Yeah," said Kate. Kate then throws the cigarette down on the floor.
"I want another one. OK. Is that OK with you," said Kate.
Wow. This was exciting. Kate Moss’s nervous and brain-drowned behavior was always an inspiration for playing a drugged out, fucked up girl, which is what Edie Sedgwick was, bottom line. Yeah, Edie was rich, but money did not really make a difference when smack was flowing in the veins.
"Sure, you can have a cigarette," said Sienna. Sienna pulled out a pack of American Spirit cigarettes and was about to pull out one when Kate Moss grabbed the whole pack, pulled two out, lit both of them with a Bic lighter and handed one back to Sienna.
"Thanks," said Sienna as she took the cigarette and took a puff.
"I said I was sorry. OK?" said Kate.
"OK. OK. So you didn't bring the stuff," said Sienna.
"No. No. I did. I did bring it. I just--I just did it myself, OK. You got that. I did it myself," said Kate.
"All of it?" asked Sienna.
At that moment Kate Moss seemed to turn to rubber, her legs buckled and she fell to the floor, slowly, but she fell just the same, somewhat breaking her fall with the bony arms and splinter hands and wrists.
Sienna watched this as if a spectator. It was almost a beautiful thing to watch as Kate Moss collapsed like the Wicked Witch of the West. But then it struck Sienna Miller that Kate Moss was unconscious.

Sienna Miller kneeled down with an American Spirit cigarette in her mouth and pulled the lit cigarette out of Kate Moss's open mouth. Kate Moss was lying on the tiled floor of the club's bathroom, her legs out straight, on her back with her head turned to the side. Moss's eyelids were partially open. Sienna thought that Kate must sleep with her eyes like that. Sienna touched the dried bloody spot on Kate Moss's left arm. It was over a major vein in an area with suspicious scars. The small shoulder bag that Kate Moss had brought in with her was lying to Kate Moss's right side. It was brown leather, with a fat zipper that ran along the top. The zipper was open. Sienna cupped her right thumb under the zipper and peaked into the bag. There were lose cigarettes in the bag as well as a plastic bag of white powder.
So, Kate Moss did not do it all. She had some left. Kate just did not know how to control her drug use. Sienna learned about uncontrollable drug use when she played Edie Sedgwick in the film role of a lifetime. The film, Factory Girl, was in post production, and it was a wild shoot. To play Edie Sedgwick, Sienna Miller decided to do a little research. But it was difficult to dig into Edie Sedgwick's character because everything there was to know about her was all covered, under the flowing liquid of drugs and booze and the dark haze of tobacco smoke. So, Sienna thought, the best way to be Edie Sedgwick was to do as Edie Sedgwick did. And it was Kate Moss that obliged. Good old Kate Moss. She helped Sienna get into acting mode with a good supply of all the drugs that Edie had done. And Sienna Miller took a cue from Nicholas Cage when he played that drunk character in Leaving Las Vegas. Nicholas actually got drunk while playing the part, and won an Academy Award for it (getting an Oscar for drinking heavily !). So Sienna would do drugs when she played Edie Sedgwick. No one knew. Or at least Sienna believed she successfully hid her drug use during filming; running to her trailer, or actually at times stumbling to her trailer, was an indication to everyone that she was 'in character,' not that she was hiding anything. And Sienna thought that she would try it once more tonight for old times sake by inviting Kate Moss to Jude Law's little Manhattan party. Kate was in town and the girls spoke on their cell phones about shooting up in the bathroom. Guess they weren't going to shoot up together with Kate Moss lying on the tiled bathroom floor unconscious.
Suddenly it occurred to Sienna that she should check Kate's pulse. Sienna never did this before, checking a pulse, that is. Sienna's pulse though was racing as she grabbed Kate's limp wrist and searched for activity. Damn. This is not good. This would not be good for the career, to be caught with a dead Kate Moss in a Manhattan club bathroom with a bag of heroin. Sienna smacked Kate in the face. Bingo. Kate Moss stirred. She opened her eyes and saw Sienna with the plastic bag of heroin in her hand. She popped up. And grabbed the plastic bag out of Sienna's hand. Kate stood, supporting herself by holding the black marble sink counter. Sienna stood.
"You were going to steal this," said Kate Moss as she held up the bag of heroin.
"No. No," said Sienna.
"Yes. Yes," said Kate.
"You OK?" asked Sienna.
"I need a cigarette," said Kate.
"Sure. Sure," said Sienna. The pack of American Spirit cigarettes was on the floor next to Kate's leather bag and the Bic lighter. Sienna picked up the pack, the lighter and the bag and handed all to Kate. Kate Moss took out a cigarette, lit it, sucked a third of the cigarette down and let out a large plume of smoke.
"I feel better," said Kate Moss.
Sienna imagined that Kate Moss at this moment in the bathroom is how Edie Sedgwick must have appeared during her final days before dying in her sleep. Edie and Kate, both of their bodies exhausted from abuse, but their beauty and appeal kept them disconnected from how they were racing for the grave. Sienna Miller, though, was going to be smarter than that. She might use drugs and smoke like a chimney, but she would not let herself drift into oblivion like Edie Sedgwick had done and like Kate Moss appeared to be doing.
"You look better," said Sienna.
"Thanks," said Kate Moss. "Thanks."
Kate took another deep drag on her cigarette. Sienna took the pack of American Spirits out of Kate's hand and placed a cigarette in her mouth. Kate flicked the Bic and lit Sienna's cigarette. Sienna also took a deep drag. Sienna and Kate each let out plumes of smoke into the bathroom. Sienna looked into the mirror and was relieved to see that she looked great. Poor Kate Moss. “Kate Moss” would never happen to Sienna Miller.