Source: Reuters
By: Daniel Mclaughlin
(LONDON) — With a trainer toning her body and ex-husband Mick Jagger helping her learn her lines, Jerry Hall said Wednesday she would “let it all hang out” when she hits the West End stage in “The Graduate” this month.
Hall, 44, takes over from Hollywood actress Kathleen Turner on July 31 as Mrs. Robinson, the middle-aged temptress who bares all in her efforts to seduce the fresh-faced graduate.
The long-legged Texan model said a tough fitness regime and help from Rolling Stone Jagger would help her dazzle audiences at the Gielgud Theater on Shaftesbury Avenue.
“My trainer’s making sure the body will look great… I’m doing weights three or four times a week and yoga twice a week.
“I’m going to let it all hang out and really be in the moment.”
Hall said that with the help of Jagger, her partner for 22 years before they split in 1999, she had learned all her lines ahead of the first rehearsal next Tuesday.
“It’s another of Mick’s duties to help me with my lines” she said, adding that he fully approved of her stage appearance, including the now-famous nude scene.
“He’s a wonderful father and a great friend — we’re very supportive of each other,” she said, as a barrage of cameras flashed around her.
She said Jagger would probably do some babysitting while she was on stage, just as she did during two decades of his touring with the Stones.
Warrior Queen
Dressed in a full-length black dress and with rings sparkling on her fingers, Hall said she had few fears about stripping off on stage. She will follow Turner’s Mrs. Robinson and Nicole Kidman in last year’s theatrical cause celebre in London, “The Blue Room.”
“I’m bound to be a bit nervous… but it’s an integral part of the play,” she said.
“I’m just going to imagine I’m a warrior queen wearing a suit of armor.”
Hall said she could empathize with Mrs. Robinson, a character locked in a game of “sexual power and love,” which may be no surprise considering the saga of last year’s split with Jagger.
The pair met in 1977 and were married in a Hindu ceremony in Bali in 1990. Four children and 22 years later, Jagger tried to declare the marriage null and void because of incorrect documentation.
The catalyst for the split was Brazilain model Luciana Morad’s announcement that she had had Jagger’s child after a passionate love affair.
But Hall said she and Jagger were still very close friends despite the public nature of their break-up.
“It was just a question of putting aside our egos and doing what’s best for the children.”
She said she would draw on all her experience to get into the character of the predatory Mrs. Robinson, but admitted there was still some work to do.
“I’m having to do a lot of research,” she laughed.
“But it’s like a poker game, she’s laying all her cards on the table and she has to go all the way to get him.”
On the fringes of a media scrum clamoring for Hall’s attention, co-star Josh Cohen sat sipping a glass of water.
“It’s a classic role and a classic young man’s complex,” said the future graduate and object of Hall’s affections.
“And it’s certainly a bonus having Jerry in the part.”
