Sienna Miller’s Taking on the Pay Gap—With the Best Style in the Biz
Sienna Miller. Photo: Getty Images
Sienna Miller has food on the brain these days. The 33-year-old stunner plays Bradley Cooper’s sous chef and love interest in Burnt, which hits theaters on October 30. When she arrives for our interview, she explains her need for coffee thusly, “I just ate the most enormous plate of nachos, hence the coffee, because I am being taken down. I’m in a food coma.”
So yes, the impossibly beautiful actress with a killer bod and enviable style eats greasy cheesy chips. It sounds like the oldest Hollywood trope, but it’s true; the girl loves to eat—and cook. “My mother was a great cook and the kind of familial atmosphere of making something and gathering people around it brings me an enormous amount of joy,” she says. Cooking on screen, for the Michelin-starred chef Cooper plays, is an entirely different skill, one she trained for the way most actors embark upon a Marvel movie.
Her second role alongside Cooper would be enough to keep the press buzzing, but there’s also Miller’s impeccable style (she works with power stylist Kate Young) and the recent headlines about her stance against being paid less than her male co-stars. As if that’s not enough, she’s gearing up for her next role, in which she’ll be directed by Batman Ben Affleck.
Lucky for us, she had a second to chat first.
Yahoo Style: You were so convincing as a badass sous chef in Burnt. Did you know a lot about cooking coming into the role or did you have to do a lot of prep?
Sienna Miller: I’m a home cook so I’ve cooked my whole life and love it; it’s a really big part of my existence. Growing up, my mother was a great cook and the kind of familial atmosphere of making something and having people gather around it, brings me an enormous amount of joy. But I never attempted to cook professionally so I had to learn. I was trained by Marcus Wareing, who is a 2-star Michelin chef, and spent a lot of time watching services in those kind of Michelin kitchens to get a sense of the atmosphere and the energy and the way that people move. And we had to be really competent because the kitchen we were working in was a live kitchen. If you weren’t focused on what you were doing, you were going to get burned or hurt. So I trained pretty extensively.
What’s the one kitchen skill that you mastered from training with Marcus?
The knife skills are very complicated. But I can filet a turbot, which is a really difficult fish to filet. And I can cook fish now pretty well and I couldn’t before, but that’s not such an easy thing to cook!
Do you cook a lot for your family and friends now?
I cook all the time and I always did. I cook every Sunday, like a roast. That’s a very English thing. There’s this Filipino chicken thing I do called Chicken Adobo, which I love and my daughter really loves, so I cook that quite a lot for her. She calls it “Mama Chicken.”
Was it fun to reunite with Bradley Cooper for the film? You must have playing each other’s romantic interests down pat now.
Yeah exactly! And in very different scenarios. It didn’t feel like reuniting because we basically finished American Sniper and went straight onto this. And then we did press for American Sniper and then we’re here doing press for this, which I’m very happy about. But we’ve been working together consistently and we’re great friends who trust each other enormously. So it just doesn’t feel like work really. It’s one big long work relationship, which could be worse! He’s my work husband!
Are you a big foodie?
Yes! I’m a huge foodie. I love food. I really think, and this is the truth, that it’s the thing that brings me the most joy in life. I mean I love it. And like I said before, the idea of sitting together with friends around food is just the most comforting and fulfilling feeling.
Sienna Miller in Burnt. Photo: Focus Features
Your most recent roles cause a lot of buzz, but so does your style. You’re working with stylist Kate Young right?
I don’t work with her all the time. I was doing the press tour for American Sniper and when you have to pull like 80 looks, it’s just something I didn’t have the time to do myself. And she’s incredible, Kate. She’s got really great style and a really amazing aesthetic. So it seemed like the right person. If I need a stylist, she’s someone I would work with for sure. I definitely have my own aesthetic, so it’s not like I need somebody for every day but when you need to call stuff in, she’s such a powerful stylist that she gets the best stuff. And I really understand the value of having someone who can pull the stuff before anyone else.
Speaking of your own aesthetic, you went from the queen of boho to wearing Celine. What changed?
I don’t know that it was that dramatic a change of style. I cut my hair and I had a new hairdo and it looked like a whole new look. But as you get older, your style does evolve. I’ve never worked with a stylist who was like, “You should wear this,” and I’m like, “Oh I don’t want to” and they make you. I have a strong enough opinion and aesthetic myself. But I just think as you get older, you’re drawn to different things. I’m just drawn to different things. I suppose I do still love some bohemian clothes and I think it kind of suits me, but I am just more into tailoring lately. And for work obviously, it’s a little more sophisticated.
You recently pulled out of a play for being offered much less money than your male co-star. Female wage equality is such a hot topic right now. Any ideas on how to fix it?
It’s complicated and it’s sad that it had to come to this because with that particular project, it was something that I was really desperate to do. But I think it’s going to take sacrifices like that to have the conversation. I do feel like within our industry, we’re obviously paid a lot more than most people to do a job that we love to do. But because of the public nature of our work, we have a voice and we have an ability to talk about it on a global scale. And I’m really proud of the women in this industry who are standing up and saying that it’s not OK, because it’s just not.
Do you hope that other actresses follow in your footsteps and boycott roles that don’t involve equal compensation?
I think that’s what it’s going to take! I mean I honestly think that it’s going to take that. That’s the only way that we’re going to be able to manifest change, by knowing that you’re willing to let something go in order to feel dignified.
But that has to be hard because there are probably tons of actresses that are willing to take those roles, even if the pay isn’t comparable to that of their male co-stars, just so they can appear in certain projects.
Exactly! Exactly! There’s always someone. It’s such a competitive business that there are people that are willing to step in. It’s more about how dignified you want to feel in this situation and I’m lucky that I can afford to say no to that. I appreciate that not everybody has the ability to walk away from something. But at least, if a few of us start doing it, then maybe it will start a conversation that will eventually lead to legislation and none of us will have to do it anymore.
This past year has been amazing for you career wise.
It has been amazing and fully exciting to be working with these filmmakers who I think are some of the best in the world. I’m about to start Ben Affleck’s next film that he’s directing, Live By Night, which is a really great role. So I’m really excited.
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