Britt Ekland: Glamorous Grandmother

AM:  Britt, why don’t you tell me a little about this reality show you just filmed?

BE:  I am filming a Swedish reality program called ‘Swedish Hollywood Wives.’  It will be shown in Sweden and run for ten weeks.  

AM: Have you done a show like this before?

BE:  This is my first time doing something like this.  It’s very exciting because it gives me an opportunity to stay here in Los Angeles where my children are.  I like to live and work here rather than go back and forth to Europe every five minutes!   

AM:  That’s exactly what you’ve been doing the past few years isn’t it?

BE:  Oh yes, I’ve been doing it for ten years.  

AM:  Is this a specific show you’ve been doing?

BE:  I have my one woman show that I do but I change it every year.  I’ve had many different stage projects.

AM:  Did you think you would be working this long when you first started?

BE:  No, I didn’t think I would live past forty.  When I was young, forty was really old.  My Mom, who was beautiful, very natural with no make-up, didn’t smoke or drink, was devoted to her children, but at forty she had her little coat and hat with gloves and a purse.  That was proper for a forty year old then.  Of course today it’s different.  I had my last child when I was forty-six.  It’s been in the last couple of years that I realized how much I love my career.  I will keep moving until I fall.  

AM:  What a career you’ve had with over thirty films.

BE:  I’ve never counted them, but that sounds about right.

AM:  How much priority did you give your career? 

BE:   I’ve been a wife twice and in between I’ve had long term relationships and I have three children, but I really gave my career priority.  My children know this and I always encouraged them to go and do what they want.  I told them to learn about life and travel.  Don’t get married right away and settle down with a child, like I did at twenty-one.  I told them to go out and experience life, so that’s what they’ve done.  My son, Nic just turned forty and he married five years ago after a long engagement and I’m now a Grandma since August.  

AM:  Are you thrilled and excited to be a Grandma?

BE:  I’m very excited.  This is my first grandchild.  

AM:  Are you going to babysit?

BE:  Yes!  My daughter-in-law works at a high powered, stressful job so I will be there carrying the baby around.  

AM:  I recently watched you on Piers Morgan.  It was a great show about you.  Did you enjoy filming it?

BE:  I like Piers Morgan very much.  He went around all over LA and talked to all my friends and they said nice things about me.  

AM:  I love the two songs you recorded in the late Seventies.  What was that like?

BE:  Well I’ve always said I don’t sing very well.  (laughing)  

AM:  I love them!

BE:  A lot of people love them.  I don’t understand why.

AM:  It’s because they are sexy and fun.  How did you get talked into recording them?

BE:  Sharon Osbourne was my manager at the time and her father Don Arden had a record company called Jet and they managed me and they wanted me to record a record.  

AM:  Do you think it was because of your association with Rod Stewart and the fact that you had been on the cover of Rolling Stone? 

BE:  I have no idea.  I’d been asked to record before that in the Sixties.  They ask everyone to sing today, whether they can sing or not.  We now have the ability to help people sound good.  When I recorded my songs it wasn’t as advanced as it is today.  I’m sure I would have sounded much better if I had done them today.  

AM:  Just for the record, you sound wonderful in those recordings.

BE:  Thank you, my sons love them.  I just laugh about them now.  That’s not my career.

AM:  Everyone knows you are magnificent as a Bond girl and that you loved making it.  Are there any films you didn’t make that you would have liked to?

BE:  There are plenty of films I was offered but for one reason or another I had to turn them down.  In the Sixties Dean Martin had a series of films that were a James Bond spoof called ‘Matt Helm.’  I was offered the starring role in that film but I was married to Peter Sellers at the time.  He turned it down and said it wasn’t good enough for me.  He didn’t even tell me I was offered the part because we had the same agents.  It was out of my hands.  I would have loved to do the film.  I loved Dean Martin.  I did his show about six years later.  

AM:  What about television today, would you be interested in doing another show that wasn’t a reality show?

BE:  The thing is I’m an actress of a certain age and I come with a lot of baggage.

AM:  Do you mean because people know so much about your private life?

BE:  That’s right.  It would have to be something that fit me.  I can’t take a role as a High Court Judge.  I could probably play a terrible bitch who is very glamorous.  I’d love to do something but it would have to fit me.  

AM:  How do you keep your sanity and peace of mind?

BE:  Focus, discipline, exercise and eat right.