'I was naive... that led me into all sorts of situations that backfired': Sienna Miller on how she is grateful for a second shot in Hollywood
Sienna Miller says she was unprepared for the attention she received after winning overnight fame as Daniel Craig’s love interest in Layer Cake.
The actress survived on a steady diet of low budget independent films before scoring her first prominent role in the British gangster movie in 2004.
But while it proved to be a springboard to international fame, she tells the March issue of the UK edition of Esquire that she wasn’t ready for the intense glare of the media spotlight.
She said: ‘I was really naive, I think. I was a young 21. Not green as grass – I was by no means an innocent – but I had faith in the goodness of everyone.
'I was very open. And that led me into all sorts of situations that backfired.’
Opening up: Sienna Miller has been talking to the March issue of Esquire magazine
Early success led to opportunities in Hollywood, where her willowy good looks helped win her a role as former fashion model Edie Sedgwick in 2006 biopic Factory Girl.
Prominence in the US would later play a useful part in Sienna’s life when her ‘bad behaviour’ almost derailed her career.
She said: ‘It had become difficult for me to get the work I wanted, if I’m really honest. It was a weird situation to be in because there was a lot of goodwill for me in Hollywood.
‘I think I’d been lucky in that I’d always been naughty in that town and people had always liked me for it. (But) I sabotaged things. I burnt a lot of bridges. I never read a review or paid any mind to what anyone said.
Instant fame: Sienna enjoyed overnight success, but admits her 'wild ways' almost derailed her career
‘And that translated to how I behaved outside work. On set, I was first to arrive, last to leave, best friends with the crew, totally professional, no d***ing around.
'But when I wasn’t at work, I wasn’t behaving the way you should. I’m very lucky to have a second chance in that town.’
Sienna would later take a self-imposed three-year hiatus from the film industry – during which her tumultuous relationship with Jude Law came to an end – and she admits the lengthy break was a therapeutic measure.
Instant fame: Sienna says she was unprepared for the media spotlight after appearing alongside Daniel Craig in 2004 gangster film Layer Cake
Check out the full Sienna Miller interview in the Esquire March issue - on sale Thursday 30 January
‘I felt like I had no control over any aspect of my life, professionally or personally. So I deliberately disappeared,’ she said.
‘I was sick of myself, to be honest, or sick of that perception of me. It all felt so f***ing dirty.’
Sienna’s personal life has been forced into the public arena at the Leveson Inquiry, where phone hacking trials have heard claims of an intimate message left by the actress on Layer Cake co-star Craig's phone - and a sarcastic voicemail to the James Bond star from Jude Law.
‘It’s so personal, it’s such a raw nerve, it had such a massive effect on me, on my life and career, that I don’t know what would come out of it except I will kind of vent, in a fury,’ she said.
‘Believe me, there is a torrent of abuse I would love to hurl at half of their faces. But there are more eloquent people. I don’t trust myself. I’m too volatile.’
The actress returned to film in 2012, bolstered by her current relationship with actor Tom Sturridge, who she started dating shortly after her split with Law, and the birth of their first child, daughter Marlowe.
‘I feel really settled,’ she said. ‘I have a wonderful life. I’m up every morning with a little baby.
‘That gives you incredible perspective. It’s such a gift. And it’s grounding in a way you can’t describe. And going back to work is really exciting and fun.’
Of soulmate Tom, she said: ‘He’s the antithesis of me, really. And that’s a first for me, to be in a relationship with someone who’s in a lot of respects very different.
‘He’s the perfect balance to my lunacy, which makes him sound really boring but he’s not, at all. It’s good, it works.’
Read the full interview and for exclusive photos go to www.esquire.co.uk
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