AE: It’s ironic how organized we are, yet how far ahead of us most of Europe and the UK is as far as civil partnerships and things like that.
BT: Yeah, I think it’s because of the – I agree with Graham in that respect, it’s because of the vastness of the country, so you have to reach to all the levels, you see what I mean? Because you’ve got extremely sophisticated pockets – I know my friends in Los Angeles, New York,but there are places where still the message hasn’t reached to. I think it goes with ignorance. I think because I traveled a lot when I did audition my last show, Dance Wars, and I went in parts of the country where I’ve never been before, and I did find that people were very nice and they were very open, even if in some respect they were very naïve, I think there is space there to open them up a little bit more, if you know what I mean.
AE: One of the things we talked about was if you were able to have a male/male couple perform.
BT: That would be fantastic, but I think that they should do – they should do a special. It would be great to do a special, because it would probably be unfair with the others. They’d probably be fantastic. They’d probably get so much attention, but it would be great to do like a special, boy/boy and girl/girl. Can you imagine? There is a fantastic film from Bernardo Bertolucci, The Conformist, where the two girls do a lesbian tango. Have you seen that?
AE: What’s the movie?
BT: It’s an old Italian movie. Bernardo Bertolucci, Il Conformista, The Conformist. And the two girls they do like a tango, a lesbian tango. It would be fantastic. I’d like to see it done in a movie, actually – Angelina Jolie and who should we get her with for a lesbian scene? I know – Angelina Jolie and Catherine Zeta Jones doing a lesbian tango – that would be so fabulous in a film. Oh, I love that woman!
Lesbian tango from The Conformist
AE: How did you come to speak so many languages?
BT: Because I started my career as a dancer and I was in Italy and I got a job. My first job was in a French company so I had to speak French because I was based in Paris for three years and I toured all over Europe. Then I went to London and I stayed in London and I joined another company there, a very wild company called Lindsay Kemp, who was a theatrical genius in the 70s,and then I had to learn English. Then I worked in Spain in the 80s and I learned a little Spanish.
I’ve always had great interest in other cultures. I’ve found that personally you have to make the effort because the only way to get to the essence of a culture is speaking their language. So I force myself to read the newspapers, to get to the source of what people are. I think it’s the only way to enrich yourself. And that helps me a lot as well, creatively. Knowledge is very important, I think.
AE: I’m very impressed. I’m also impressed you’ve been with your partner for 20 years.
BT: Well, unfortunately we stopped two years ago. It just happened. It was one of those things. We’re very good friends. I mean, it was nothing – it wasn’t a dramatic break down, but it was just a situational change and we had to kind of call it a day. It was a very mutual and very friendly decision. That was two years ago and then I’ve been so busy, I’ve had a very monastic life. (laughing)
AE: I’m sorry about that, I didn’t come across this fact in my research ...
BT: No, that ended two years ago. Because it’s one thing, when you become – I actually think it’s very fair – when you become well known, in the public eye, not everybody likes that. There’s a thing about the press, that sometimes they don’t really ... I don’t mind because it’s my job so I’m happy to do whatever is necessary, because it’s part of my job to promote my work. But I think there has to be a distinction between your work and your private life, and some people – and it’s got nothing to do with gay, straight, or whatever – people don’t like being in the public eye or having that light in their personal lives. And that was … I think it was a point of it that didn’t work.
AE: One of my questions was going to be, how does it feel like having a partner who’s so well known and it’s got to be difficult because part of your job is promoting the show. You’re not the first celebrity to tell me their partner doesn’t like being in the press.
BT: It’s very difficult because it’s your persona, your public persona, and of course I’d do anything to make the show work – it’s part of my job. There i sa point when you have to say, how far do you go? Because people that are close to you may or not choose to be part of it and you have to respect that. In the celebrity world, there are people that choose to work that angle to enhance their profile, which is absolutely fine if that’s what you choose to do. It’s very easy to do so because you have a publicist you tell where you are every night. We can all go to any party we want to and be on the front of the magazines every day. It’s a choice you have.
But I think you should still have that choice, if you know what I mean? If you want to go for it, good for you – you do a Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears – it’s fine. If that’s what you like – cool! Just do it. I don’t care, but if you choose not to, people should respect that choice. You see what I mean?
