Rock legend dad inspires hard working star to Liv life to the full

She looks really delicate, almost fragile. Her hair is a beautiful dark brown and shorter than usual. And her soft voice inevitably evokes the beautiful elf she played in Lord of the Rings. But Liv Tyler, 30, is now a "grown woman with a lot of strength", she tells us. Indeed, she seemed strong, relaxed and also quite happy during the conversation. This is worth mentioning because the next day it was announced that she split from her husband of five years, musician Royston Langdon, 36. But the daughter of musician Steven Tyler is too professional to let her private live interfere with her work. And while she spoke of her latest movie The Incredible Hulk (with Edward Norton, which releases in the UAE next week) she had also one other topic she loved talking about – her son Milo.



—What can we expect from the movie?

—I haven't seen the movie yet. But I can assure you – I am in it (laughs). And I read the script and it's very good!

— Did you enjoy making it?

—In some ways movies all morph into one. The experience is pretty similar in a lot of ways but I feel really blessed because I've never had a bad experience making a movie. I really love it. This movie more than any other I've been part of was probably the hardest physical work I've ever done in my entire life; I was actually involved in every minute of it.

— Why was it so hard?

—Well, I come into the movie at a certain point and once I come in I'm sort of there! I had a lot to do with Edward and with everyone and it's a lot of explosions and stunts and action. I don't know exactly what will end up in the movie, but just physically I would be on my 14th hour on set. I'd be doing my close-up at four in the morning and I'd just have to be okay with that. I thought, thank god I'm 30! A little La Mer cream around my eyes does wonders, but it was still hard. I felt it was a very special time in my life that after I had a child I discovered more strength inside myself and could explore that.

— Your son Milo is three now. How do you balance work and motherhood?

—Milo's always come with me on every movie I've made. If we are working on a film we just have to be very flexible. I try to spend as much time with Milo as I can and I have the weekend with him. I also had the great luxury of taking two years off of work which was amazing for me.

— Are you used to being famous now?

—I think that I still get shocked by certain things that happen, where I go, 'Oh my God, whoa,' but I grew up around a lot of famous people, or people that were successful and creative, but who were just people to me. Yet, getting out of a car at a premiere with zillions of people screaming your name, that's one of those 'Oh my God' moments. Or having free things sent to your hotel all the time. That's actually quite dangerous because you get so used to it. Like, the week of the Oscars, I was sent two or three huge bags of free clothes everyday; and I got all of these Missoni things. I was so excited and I was sending stuff to my mum and girlfriends, but the day after the Oscars, nothing came again.

—What about when they ask for your autograph in the bathroom?

—You say, 'Thank you, but not right now.' You don't always feel your best.

— Are you shocked sometimes about the things you read about yourself?

— It doesn't matter. Journalism today has changed. Even the greatest publications are gossips. So unfortunately I don't have very much respect for it in some ways. Everything gets spun. You have to take it with a grain of salt.

— Has there been a time when it was so hard you wanted to quit?

—Wow. Great questions! I think that in any job, there's moments where you think, 'Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into!' But I love acting and I think that there's always obstacles. Everyday, going to work, you sort of feel so many different emotions, but the reward of that is feeling like, 'Oh wow, look what we created from just these words on paper.' We're lucky to get to do what we love and get paid for it.

— Ageing rockers – including Aerosmith – are so popular these days. Does it surprise you, for instance, that your father is still astonishing?

—I know he has got an enormous amount of energy. It's rubbed off on me. It's in the genes too, unfortunately, the workaholic gene. He has always been like that. I think it's really incredible. When I see him perform, I definitely am taken aback by it. I'm really impressed by it. Just to be able to sing that well, that intensely, for two and a half hours, every night for a year.

— How have you been able to get through the early rush of stardom and still be a regular person? This isn't allowed. You're supposed to be unhappy, tortured and mean!

—I think, look I was born into so much and I have just never felt all of that pressure of 'I want to be famous or be the best' I have never been like that in anything I have done. I mean I like to work hard and feel really good about it but I don't have to be ahead of anybody.

— Would you ever do a reality series with your Dad, like The Osbournes?

—Then I would have to move back in with my dad and that would be weird.