Michelle Pfeiffer, after time out to be a mum, is relishing freedom to pick movie roles again
With her children grown up, Michelle Pfeiffer is enjoying the freedom to plunge back into big-screen roles, writes James Mottram
Right now, Michelle Pfeiffer is facing a problem all parents must endure: her children leaving home. She recently dropped her 19-year-old son, John Henry, off at university, for the first time. Daughter Claudia Rose, 20, also has flown the coop.
"I'm an empty nester now," Pfeiffer says. Is she expecting this to be difficult? "I think I'm going to get there. I'm going to arrive at that place, but I'm not there yet. Now I'm just like 'I can walk around naked!' That's kind of nice."
It's a thought that doubtless still excites a large portion of her male fan base, not least since the 55-year-old actress still looks in good enough shape to repeat that unforgettable scene in
It's not only prancing around the house nude that living without children is offering her. "For 20 years, when it comes to decision-making [about] what I'm going to do, I've had this element of stress," she says in her suite at London's Dorchester Hotel.
Among the questions she used to ask: "Where is it shooting? When is it shooting? How long is it shooting?" But now it's different. The California-based actress has just received a script that will shoot in New York.
"My first response was to get excited. For the first time in 20 years, I didn't have to think about that. I'm free!"
She's earned this. A decade ago, Pfeiffer took a four-year hiatus to focus on her children and husband, Ally McBeal creator David E. Kelley.