Patrick Stoner: You've now been a star for decades. Does it seem as good now as it once did?
MacLaine: The longevity is a bit amazing. I never expected it to last this long. People look at my bio and gasp [laughs]. I enjoy that, but things have changed, for better AND worse.
Stoner: It must be hard to remember what it was like NOT to be a star.
MacLaine: No, not at all. I remember my first day in a makeup chair [in the early fifties]. They tried to make my mouth look like Joan Crawford, my hair look like Shirley Temple, and my eyelashes look like Hedy Lamarr. I dived off of that chair and wouldn't let them do it.
Stoner: So, you were a rebel even then.
MacLaine: You bet. Well, you see. . . people then were willing to do ANYTHING--and I mean ANYTHING--to be a star. They wanted to be a STAR that badly. I didn't--not THAT badly. So, I guess I'm lucky that I hit it big in spite of that.
Stoner: Stardom came quickly.
MacLaine: It did, yes. Then others try to be like YOU. Ironic, isn't it?
Stoner: Now, I happen to know something about you--by accident [I once was in a room with Shirley when she went into a hypoglycemic attack and needed some food and rest, but then went on with the interview a half hour later as if nothing had happened]. You sometimes don't feel well, but you always go on anyhow.
MacLaine: Well, I'm a gypsy [a dancer/chorus person]. I go on. I don't know how to do anything else. That has always helped me in my professional life--in my personal life as well, and I suppose in my spiritual life. If I feel the need, I'll just pull off the road and meditate until I feel better. I think you need that kind of thing, especially in this crazy world we live in these days. Food is important too. Fortunately, I don't LIKE fat. I like fruits, vegetables, good stuff. Sweets used to be my downfall, but I cut them out. That's probably also part of the longevity we were talking about. I mean, the brain is an organ, so what we are in later life is what we've put into ourselves earlier.