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Walking towards the Mustard Seed Café, a hipster coffee joint near her house in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, Rachel Bilson is miles away - not just in distance, but in spirit - from the typical young Hollywood hangouts. But somehow, the paparazzi have found her.
As she climbs out of her Lexus SUV in grey skinny jeans and oversized Proenza Schouler sunglasses, carrying a Chloe bag, three men follow her to the door of the restaurant, snapping away. They wait for her to exit too. The next day, the photos of the 27-year-old former OC star will appear all over the internet with “a mystery man” (AKA this writer). Not, as the bloggers breathlessly caption the pictures, Hayden Christensen, her real-life paramour, who doesn’t even live in LA. But more on him later.
“I hate the attention,” Rachel sighs, once safely ensconced at an indoor table, as she orders a hungry man’s breakfast of pancakes, eggs and coffee. “Which is sort of funny, since I’m an actress.”
A tiny fireball of energy with a sweet, soft prettiness, perfect skin and cute button nose, Rachel hasn’t actually been doing much acting lately. The OC, in which she starred for four series as the adorably sarcastic Summer Roberts, ended its run in April 2007. Since then, like her co-stars Mischa Barton and former on/off-screen beau Adam Brody, she has tried to make the transition to the big screen. As any member of the cast of Friends will tell you, it’s not the easiest move.
Still, she’s made a solid start, starring opposite Scrubs star Zach Braff in the melancholy indie hit The Last Kiss and as the girlfriend-in-jeopardy to Hayden’s teleporting man of mystery in Doug Liman’s hit sci-fi thriller Jumper. Next up is a short film she made with Hayden and Andy Garcia, which will be part of an all-star homage to Manhattan entitled New York, I Love You, set for release next year, in which she gets to wear a blonde wig. “I was blonde when I was 18 or 19 and it was high-maintenance,” she says. “It was fun to try, but I’m a brunette.”
And we wouldn’t have it any other way. Indeed, Rachel - all five feet two inches 0f her - has become an object of obsession, not just for the paparazzi who catalogue her every outfit, but for fashion hounds on both sides of the Atlantic. The frenzy has emerged less from the California-born actress’s roles and more from her brand of carefree, bohemian chic - which, even when she’s just walking down the street, is all hits, no misses. “Accessible, with a little twist,” is how she describes her aesthetic, one that goes back to her high-school days, when her aunt introduced her to Barneys New York and she scoured vintage stores and Urban Outfitters.
Another reason Rachel’s style is so winning is her recognition that a hefty price tag doesn’t necessarily translate into something chic. “I don’t usually wear expensive things,” she says, citing Lanvin shoes as a “serious splurge” but a necessary one, mostly because they come in a size that fits her - she wears two-and-a-half. “It’s crazy. You’re like, $1,400 [£750] for shoes? I wait for the sale.
“Honestly,” she continues, with a smirk, accenting her dimples, “I really like to be comfortable. But I’m not prejudiced against any clothes.” In fact, she admits to holding on to every pair of shoes she has owned since the age of 13. “I think, ‘Maybe one day I’ll need these jellies and these wooden platform oxfords’.”
Rachel enjoys clothing so much that she has the confidence to take fashion risks. “I don’t know when they’re wrong and I’d rather it be that way,” she insists. Still, she collaborate regularly with her friend and stylist Nicole Chavez, who worked in the wardrobe department on The OC. “Obviously, I can dress myself and buy clothes, but it’s really nice to have someone great who can help you. We inspire each other. Most importantly, it’s fun getting together and playing.”
She admires both Ashley Olsen and Victoria Beckham’s style. “I respect anyone who really does her own thing,” she says of Victoria. “It takes a lot of energy and skill to pull that off. And I love that she doesn’t give a *******.”
Though it makes her “nervous” to know that millions of women look to her for fashion advice, she clearly relishes the opportunity to play the role of designer. She recalls asking her agent: “I can’t draw [clothes] and I can’t make them, but I have them all going on in my head. What do I have to do?” Two weeks later, DKNY Jeans unexpectedly came calling: “I had these ideas, brought in pictures and my own clothes and it just went from there”. The result is Edie Rose, an affordable sportswear line (unfortunately, only available in the US), named after Edie Sedgwick and Rachel’s maternal grandmother, Edith, as well as a friend’s grandmother, Rose. The boyish waistcoat she’s wearing today is part of the collection.
“Getting dressed is a creative expression,” she says. “Acting and fashion are my two passions, and to be able to live out both of them is pretty incredible.” That said, she’s clearly in awe of the pros. Meeting Karl Lagerfeld after a Paris show was “so surreal, like meeting the Pope or the president or a cartoon. He’s fantastic.”
Her next design project is a more personal one: together with a friend, designer Brian Reyes, she’s working on the bridesmaid dresses for the wedding of her best friend, a social worker, to The OC and now Gossip Girl creator Josh Schwartz. (Rachel, naturally, set them up.) As maid of honour, Rachel is in “wedding central”, planning the gowns, the hen party and, of course, her speech. “You don’t understand. I’m freaking out. [The groom] is a writer! I have to be funny!”
Reyes has also promise to design Rachel’s wedding dress, “whenever that happens. I don’t need to get married right now. I’m more ready for a baby than marriage. Not really tomorrow, but definitely in the next couple of years, which is the pretty near future. You have to have the guy, you know.” Well, does she have the guy? “I’m happy where I am,” she demurs. As for children, her stepsisters, who are one and six, give her a lot of practice. “It’s nice to give them back, though,” she laughs.
The daughter of a writer/director father and a mother who is a counsellor and spiritual advisor, Rachel grew up in the San Fernando Valley. She acted in plays in high school - classmates included American Idol’s Katharine McPhee and actress Kirsten Dunst - and dropped out of college in San Diego after a year to pursue acting full time. After a few commercials and bit parts on TV, she landed the role of Summer Roberts in The OC, which was originally meant to be a minor part. “I wasn’t supposed to be anything, really,” she says. “They just decided I was funny.”
Rachel used to say she’d never date an actor, but both Adam, her ex, and Hayden were co-stars. “You can’t help it, they’re who you surround yourself with,” she shrugs. Then she jokes, “It doesn’t work in every case, because then you’d be dating every single person you work with and, well, there’s just not enough time”. Hayden is a “guys guy. Tractors and such”. (Adam was “A good shopping buddy. He had a good eye and got me a few vintage dresses”.)
Hayden, 27, lives mostly on a farm on the east coast, even further away from the hustle and bustle. “You’d never expect an LA girl to be down home in the country, but I am,” Rachel admits. “It’s a nice change.” Especially for her mutt Thurman Merman, named after a character in the bawdy Billy Bob Thornton comedy Bad Santa.
How does an LA girl entertain herself on a farm? “I am learning to play chess. A certain someone” - meaning Hayden - “happens to be very good and I don’t think I will ever accomplish beating that person. But that is the goal.”
As she heads back out to face the flashbulbs, it’s clear that, with or without that certain someone, Rachel makes playing chess and nearly everything she touches seem as cool and effortless as a plain old white T-shirt and a pair of skinny grey jeans.
| That's the Rachel interview from InStyle UK.
Also
Rachel Bilson is Waiting For Forever | Rachel Bilson : Just Jared |
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