Natalie Imbruglia: Warped Bond Girl

Her hard-hitting song "Torn" was a big hit a couple of years ago, she used to star on Australian soaps and we see her occasionally on t.v. commercials. Where has gorgeous Aussie singer Natalie Imbruglia been? Recently, we found out when we talked with the busy singer/songwriter/actress. She took a year off. She's been in London writing her next album, she's been taking care of her sick boyfriend Daniel Johns of the group Silverchair, who has now recovered, and she's the femme star of the wacky Rowan Atkinson comedy Johnny English.

The most striking thing about the petite Natalie are those enormous blue eyes! Wow, I'd kill for those eyelashes too! The dark-haired singer/actress lets us know that she thinks she can be sexy but doesn't believe in flaunting it, she had a total blast shooting her James Bond satire film and balancing music and a hoped-for film career isn't easy for her.

TeenHollywood: How do you like being in L.A.?

Natalie: I love being in L.A. I have a house here.

TeenHollywood: Where would you like to live to make your life easier?

Natalie: I'd like to be here (L.A.) at some point. But, it's too hard for me at the moment with my music. I'm really happy in the U.K. Australia is really hard for us but we love it. That's where Daniel [Johns] and I are both more famous so it's not good on a practical level. We still like to be anonymous. In L.A. we feel more anonymous. Daniel just hates all that [the paparazzi]. I think, if I were going to have a family, that's where I'd do it. I love where I grew up and would want to give that to my kids.

TeenHollywood: This was your first big film. Were they any surprises?

Natalie: There were no major surprises. I'd been on film sets very young as an extra so I knew the differences in some ways to doing television just from observing. I was surprised at how much fun it was and how much I enjoyed it. I loved it and was really sad when we wrapped.

TeenHollywood: How will you balance film roles with your career in music?

Natalie: That's the hard part. I'm writing an album at the moment. I'm finding it difficult to make that time when auditions come up. There've been a couple I've been able to get to audition for but if I don't think I can commit to it and get the time in, obviously there are accents and things I'm tackling, then I just don't. Because I don't want to spread myself too thin. As soon as there's a gap where I can, I'll be out here and doing as many auditions as I can.

TeenHollywood: Are you looking at comedy mainly?

Natalie: The genre is wide open. I think it's more about the actual character. Is it a challenge for me, or something that maybe people wouldn't expect me to do? The director and the cast are the most important things.

TeenHollywood: Why, eight years after doing the soap, do you get the acting bug again now?

Natalie: It was actually more planned than that. I just haven't had the time with the whole music thing taking off. There were scripts being thrown at me when "Torn" was huge everywhere but I couldn't emotionally have handled the workload. I would have cracked. It was a case of not being in a rush and waiting for the right time but it's always been something I wanted to do.

TeenHollywood: Did you take a rest after your first album?

Natalie: Yeah. I think the success was a bit too much for me. I took a year off and was still scared to start the second album. Begrudgingly I started and it was a very, very hard record. I was doing anything Zen [to relax]. The second album, what can I say? Most of the pressure was put on myself by myself and I can't say why but I just isolated myself and made it really hard.

TeenHollywood: Is there more pressure now in music since the 2nd album wasn't a giant hit?

Natalie: Not really, no. I think there's just as much pressure when your album does well. This third album has been easier to make and more fun and has more focus. I'm less scared of being commercial. It's done a lot of good things for me. The acting thing was always going to be part of the plan so I don't think it's a result of how well the second album did.

TeenHollywood: What do you get from acting that you don't get from singing?

Natalie: That's hard to put into words. It's definitely something different. It's a different outlet. It's more focused and less pressured in a way. You're having to put yourself in someone else's skin. It's all-consuming, you're not carrying the whole thing. At least not yet.

TeenHollywood: How was working with Rowan Atkinson? He is silly on film but is he really serious?

Natalie: He can be but I got him goofing around. I just joked around to the point where he had to crack. With me he knew that I got this part two weeks before they started shooting. He knew I was nervous about it. He was very much 'are you okay to do this? Is there anything you want to go through?' They totally cradled me through the whole thing. I was so lucky. I know that doesn't always happen. Rowan is very intellectual and very serious but it never got too intense.

TeenHollywood: You've taken on a lot, being caregiver for your boyfriend. (Daniel from the group Silverchair who has a severe arthritis condition). How has it been balancing all that?

Natalie: It's been interesting. I think it's a real test for a relationship to go through something like that. When I was shooting the film he was in the hospital in Australia. I was able to move my rehearsals so I could go home. I flew home for a week to see how he was doing. It was really hard. I don't ever want to go through that again.

TeenHollywood: Did you think nothing bad would ever happen to you two?

Natalie: I think it's really hard for someone his age to have gone through what he's gone through. He's such a beautiful soul. He's had a lot of illness. Reactive Arthritis was the last one. He was using a walking stick, and wheelchair, just out of it for a year just when he was about to release a record.

TeenHollywood: So you are stronger now and want to get married?

Natalie: We were always going to get married I think. I think what [the illness] did was strengthen our love. Because if you can get through those kinds of things...it didn't freak me out at all. I think my priorities are changing. My label is in the U.K. and his is in Australia so, as much as we want to be in the same place there are things that we just can't change apart from blowing a whole side of my career. So, it's trying to be smart, spend time together. The moment we can do that we'll do it. He's going to spend a lot of time in London this year writing his album so that takes a bit of the pressure off.

TeenHollywood: Are you concerned that some fans who haven't seen your Australian soaps, might just think you're a singer trying to be an actress?

Natalie: I don't dwell on things like that. I just have to prove myself. Rather than worry about that I just focus and make sure the next one I choose isn't a similar kind of role. I chose something safe [this time]. I'm aware of that. I didn't want to carry too much. Next time I have to choose something that is a step on from that.

TeenHollywood: We heard gossip that a man tried to kidnap you by shoving you in a car? What's up with that?

Natalie: [smiling] Hummm, yeah, that's living in London for ya. Basically, I was coming out of a club and there were like 50 paparazzi there. I'd been at a charity event which they didn't mention. And he was just somebody at the club and he thought, if I pick her up that's going to be a story. So, he picked me up and pretended to put me in a car which wasn't his car. My lawyer was with me and he missed the whole thing! He was two steps ahead of me and I got in the car later and said, 'this guy just tried to put me in the boot (trunk) of a car'. And he's like 'don't be ridiculous'. And I said 'I'm serious. Wait. It's going to be in the paper'. I called my mom and said 'brace yourself'. And on the seven o'clock news in Australia 'Attempted Kidnapping of Natalie Imbruglia". The thing was, I had friends from high school calling me crying. I was smiling while he was picking me up. Afterwards I freaked out. I thought 'those things don't happen to me'. But it made me think how dangerous it could be for someone who gets all that attention. I don't have obsessive, weird fans. But it could be easy. What if that was real?

TeenHollywood: Are you confident with the way you look?

Natalie: No. I'm not going to lie about it. That doesn't mean I don't think I'm sexy because sometimes I do feel sexy but that doesn't mean I need less clothing, showing my stomach. It's an essence. You can be sexy in men's pajamas. You can show that side of yourself. It's the objectifying thing that freaks me out. I don't think you have to play that game. I was in a magazine once when I didn't have a manager and I went down there and they only had bikinis. I was too scared to say 'no'. I thought they would write horrible things about me. I did the shoot and I was shaking. Those pictures were everywhere. I hated it. I've never done it since.

TeenHollywood: What's your reaction when you hear music critics saying 'she might be a one hit wonder'.

Natalie: I haven't read that. It doesn't bother me. If you have a hit as big as "Torn" they are going to say that. I'm not going to let that make me judge myself. Let them say it. I don't mind.

TeenHollywood: So want is the new album like?

Natalie: It's less introspective. It's more edgy but more commercial.

TeenHollywood: More rumors. Have you had any run-ins with Kelly Osbourne lately?

Natalie: (laughs). No. Actually, she was sitting behind me at a restaurant recently and I didn't turn around. I'm a pacifist. I don't want to get in a fistycuffs with anybody. I think I got off lighter than Christina [Aguilera] with her.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.