Carmen Ejogo has an interesting profile in the new online edition of Violet Grey. Ejogo is a British actress with a lot of heat these days. She blew me away in Selma, where she played Coretta Scott King. Those vintage 1960s clothes on Carmen were the business!!! She looked so gorgeous. I mean, she’s a beautiful woman but some women just look so amazing in period/vintage clothes and she was one of them. Anyway, I don’t really know much about Carmen, so I enjoyed her interview in Violet Grey, which was conducted by none other than Oprah Winfrey. Oprah being Oprah, she made much of the interview about Oprah. But there are some interesting details about Carmen in there. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
Carmen’s experience on ‘Selma’: “I think it was a reaffirmation of the importance of artists getting the chance to tell their own stories, their own history. The pure love from everyone involved on the set and their commitment to telling the story in a way that felt authentic to their experience truly transfers onto the screen in a way that is absent in some of the other work that I have done.”
A different kind of Coretta Scott King: “What Ava wrote for Coretta was so different from what I was working with the first time around that I inevitably had to portray her differently. But I didn’t ever feel anxious. I was excited by the challenge of getting somewhat messier with this portrayal. And by messy I mean not being scared to explore Martin Luther King Jr.’s alleged infidelity or exploring the fact that Coretta, who was a brilliant and dynamic woman, was, at times, frustrated in her iconic role of the first lady of the movement, being stuck at home and not necessarily having a platform to express herself fully.”
Where she feels most alive: “When I’m swimming. It can be in a pool or, even better, a lake or the sea. But there is something about being underwater that gives you space to think and meditate. It makes me feel very connected to myself somehow. I also come alive when I’m painting. I like to work in oils and acrylics, and the full sensory engagement and self-expression is very stimulating to me.”
Baths or showers? “Baths. Absolutely. I’ve got the lavender essential oils and the whole routine down at this point….I’ve had as many as maybe three, maybe four baths in a day. Is that really excessive?”
Three or four baths a day? I feel the same way about that as I do about people who sleep 10-12 hours a day. How can you get anything else done? I mean, I used to love taking baths too, but my limit was always ONE a day. Nowadays, I’m more of a shower person anyway. Get in, get out and get on with your day. How does any modern woman – and Carmen is a mom too! – have time to take three or four baths a day?!
Photos courtesy of WENN, Violet Grey.
Agree…where does one find the time? I have lived in my current house for 4.5 years, we redid the bathroom before moving in, and I was just lamenting how I have not taken a bath once.
She is stunningly beautiful.
Stunningly beautiful and ridiculously talented. I thought she should have been nominated for an Oscar.
She’s so talented. Love her.
Well, that does seem like over-bathing, but I can kind of understand. Baths can be renewing and therapeutic–ask the Japanese !! I am guilty of loving baths, too, but I normally have to take two showers per day. It’s not that I feel dirty in any way, but after several hours, I get that that lived-in feeling and I just need a shower to freshen up. I always always have to shower just before getting into bed, which is my most loved thing. After the bedtime shower, I can sleep well and I just feel wonderful. Has anyone read about the showering habits of Frank Sinatra–seems like he took about 12 showers a day !! Now that seems super obsessive.
Apparently that’s not good for the skin. In fact I read an article this week that even once a day is a problem but I can’t not bathe or shower everyday. Doesn’t feel right.
Excessive bathing dries out the skin. Is she bathing to be clean or just soaking in oil. She is beautiful and I like the rest of what she says, but the four baths in a day is excessive. I stopped taking baths to be clean as I always feel like I am just sitting in dirty water. Showers work for me to get clean, but not four per day.
You are very right! Some people will tell you they have to bathe everyday because their hair is EXTRA dirty or oily (same for the skin) but in most cases the skin and scalp are actually responding to being stripped continually by producing more. A few years ago I was one of those people and I was starting to get a patchy dry rash here and there, I went to a dermatologist who was like, “STOP!” lol
It took some getting used to, but now I rinse daily with water and only soap every other day. And wash my hair only when needed. The crazy thing was that after the asjustment phase my skin and hair are so much healthier, and normal (where before I would have sworn I had “oily” type skin and hair!)
It also can lower your immunity because it can lower your skin ability too maintainer natural cycle. Disturbs that natural flora that, maintains your skin barrier & moisture levels. Plus baths can be dehydrating. Being too clean isn’t good for your health.
I love you for this! My fiance takes at least 3 showers a day for cleanliness. I can’t wait to tell him this.
Unless you were featured on the show Dirty Jobs, that sounds very excessive to me.
She is really pretty.
How effing wasteful of time and recources. I have a bathtub but not used it in over 10 years … and on top of that I just don’t like the thought of sitting in your own dirty water for that long, YIKES!
Agreed. Aren’t most states facing drought conditions this year too? What a waste.
Yep, I went straight to waste of water, too, but I live in the SW where we are in a drought (and it is a desert). It seems like she does live in England, but still, that water’s got to come from somewhere.
Too many baths with bubbles or oils cause urinary tract infections. I only take 1 bubble bath every other week because a UTI is not fun
Urinary tract infection is caused by e.coli, which you can get from taking baths. It has nothing to do with the bubble or oils.
Not always. When I was a child, bubble baths gave me UTI’s. It was not a coincidence.
She said she has ‘had as many as 3, maybe 4 ‘ a day. It isn’t a routine, probably more like one in the morning and one at night.
Yes,
You are right. She didn’t say that this was something that she does on the regular.
I find myself thinking this a lot about other people… who the f has the time for all this? I have a friend who is a SAHM with kids in school… and she’s always saying how she just binge watched this show or the other. And here I am, feeling grateful for a quick shower, trying to balance everything in my life, not to mention my DVR filled with shows I only half watch because as soon as I sit down I’m asleep.
I’m not trying to be judgy at all – I seriously want to know how people do it. Please! Give me some tips!
I binge “watch” shows while cooking or folding laundry or cleaning. lol Soni really don’t watch watch them, but the cool thing is I get to watch some of my favorites and I’m like “oh, I didn’t realize that!”
If I sit to watch shows I fall straight to sleep as well!!!
Yeah, that’s what my mom does. She most always has the tv onto some show, but she’s always doing paperwork, paying bills (online), and she’ll turn it up LOUD if she’s cleaning somewhere else.
exactly what I do – folding laundry and doing dishes. Then I don’t feel guilty and things are a little neater…does take me longer, but I’m ok with that
I know people (not me) who binge watch while exercising on their treadmills. A bit of multi-tasking, I guess.
I only manage to watch shows about halfway and then pause it until I can watch the rest later. I consider “binge watching” to be viewing several seasons of a show in a row but that’s usually over weeks. I’m finally on the last season of the L Word on Hulu Plus. I know a lot of people will sit down and watch all of it in a matter of a day. I not only don’t have the time for that (and I’m still looking for work right now but still very busy) but I can’t physically sit and watch TV for a great length of time. I’m too hyper. My husband gets annoyed with me because when I do watch a show with him I will pause it several times throughout and get up to do other things then come back and watch a bit more. He can just sit and watch the whole thing. Me, I’m like… “Yes I love this show, Squirrel!”
What about the environmental impact? Wow. That’s the height of self-absorption.
I’m going to tar all my countrymen with the same brush – please feel free to correct me, but us Brits have baths all the time. It’s not really an environmental thing. it’s a cultural thing. Showers are a very American invention and not nearly as satisfying as a good long bath. You’ll find that every house is built with a good bath tub, but not a very good shower.
Some sports like rugby have a group bonding ritual whereby after the game all the guys soak in a communal tub together.
No one considers it an environmental problem or even a form of self absorption as you put it. It’s what we do. shrugs.
BTW: I’ve yet to find a decent tub in America. Even at a 5star hotel. Again, not judging since you guys have amazing showers. shrugs.
And we really don’t understand hot tubs, so can someone please explain that one….. 🙂
I’m Canadian and I like taking baths. They are lovely. But I also feel responsibility to not be wasteful or water. I have many British friends, and none of them take 3 baths a day. Or even 2.
I agree! My first thought wasn’t about time but what a waste of a huge amount of water!
I did this in college. It was kind of like an anxiety thing. When I was stressed about studying or a boy I’d hop in the bath. I’d probably take three a day. Now it’s only once a day at night to wash my face before bed. My sister and I are both compulsive bath takers. I think it runs in the fam.
I was going to say the same thing. Well, not baths, but showers. I know my anxiety is up to eleven when I start taking multiple showers a day. It’s terrible for the skin, and mother earth, but I can’t help it. It’s a coping mechanism.
She sounds like she’s very water oriented. I wonder if she’s a Pisces? In our former rental home we had an amazing bath tub that I loved so much and I would look forward to my evening bath all day. But yah, at that time I was working a 10 hour shift and I’m a Mom so I could only afford to spend maybe 20 minutes soaking. My son is older now so I can easily say to him give Mom 20 minutes and go do something, but that’s not so easy with little ones. I took 5 minute showers for many years so soaking in a tub is such a luxury. But four baths a day? That’s just a bit excessive. Maybe she has a nanny?
very good looking woman but shower 3-4 times a day? Unless she is very oily person, her skin must feel like sand paper! Moisturize.
Well, I do occasionally take that many, even more, but only when I’m having a fibromyalgia flare-up. Soaking in hot water is the only thing that helps with the pain. And if I’m taking that many, it’s not during the day. It’s in the middle of the night. I’ll soak for a while until the pain calms down and I can sleep for a couple of hours, and then I wake up and start the process again.
It’s good to see Carmen getting some love. She’s been around for ages and pops up in random things.
I don’t have the patience for a daily bath, showers are so much more efficient, but a good swim and or a L-o-n-g bath that turns one into a prune every so often is heavenly.
Yes she’s been around for ages from movies like What’s the worse that could happen with Martin Lawrence and Metro with Eddie Murphy. She is also married to actor Jeffrey Wright.
I keep forgetting about Jeffery Wright. I love him in everything he pops up in. More roles need to go his way.
Wasteful, and bad for your skin. 🙁 Our community has about 9 months of water left, so I wouldn’t even consider something like that. 🙁
I can relate to this–especially about how much better my body feels in water. When I’m trying to figure something out and and am really stuck, I’ll take a shower and surprisingly often a solution will come to mind. My children are the same way– we stayed with friends with a pool recently and they only dried off to eat and sleep. I haven’t taken that many baths–but I can understand the desire!
When I was in the prime of my hot flashes, I took 4-5 quick cold showers a day. Other than that, a daily shower and a bath at night once or twice a week is routine. Who has time or patience for four baths a day?
I LOVE A BATH esp vanilla infused.
Also, I believe it to be very therapeutic esp for the 45+ crowd who may begin to experience joint (connective tissue pain esp adhesive capsulitis) and muscle aches.
Three per day is a bit excessive but to each their own.
Her statement was that she’s had three to four baths a day, that does not mean she has that amount every day.
I hate taking baths , it’s like soaking in your own body waste. Showers are my thing but even showers can waste water depending on the length.