Sienna’s tabloid life
Showbiz Desk

LOS ANGELES—Most Americans may not know Sienna Miller by name or even by her movie roles. Her two biggest parts to date were in “Alfie” and “Layer Cake,” neither of which did blockbuster business in theatres (although “Cake” has been huge on DVD). Instead, she’s better known as that beautiful woman Jude Law cheated on. The duo is a blip on the radar here in the States, but in her native England, Miller and Law’s relationship is on the level of TomKat and Brangelina. Miller was hoping to spend most of her time during the “Casanova” press day discussing the movie, but her current tabloid life is hard to avoid discussing.
“I appreciate that, to a certain degree, if you’re in a high-profile relationship or you are an actress you can’t complain about it too much, and I don’t want to sound like I’m whining,” Miller says. “But they will provoke you ... to try and get a photo of you crying ... [and] I’ve found myself in situations where I’m running down the street at midnight on my own with 10 full-grown men chasing me in the dark. And if you take away the cameras, what have you got? I’m a 23-year-old girl being chased by 10 full-grown men. I feel very threatened by that.”
Anyone would, and with a few words Miller has articulated the problem with tabloid journalism more succinctly than any of her American counterparts. Surprisingly though, the actress feels that the British tabloids have been “supportive” overall but that the paparazzi (which the tabloids employ) fuel the frenzy. And in an instant, Miller’s has completely contradicted her eloquent observation on celebrity life.
“I never did this to be a celebrity or to be famous,” she says. “That may sound like something you’d have to say, but I genuinely mean it. If I wanted to be some huge famous person, I could go and do something else.” It’s hard to imagine a profession that equates success with notoriety more than acting (perhaps politics and sports), but Miller’s message that she’s just a down-to-earth actress trying to do good work is hereby noted.
As the object of Casanova’s affection, she is one of the more notable women Heath Ledger has gotten to kiss on screen this year. Miller calls Ledger a “fantastic leading man.” “I think a lot of actors would have walked in playing the greatest lover of all time and puff their chests out and pout and felt very self-important,” she says. “Heath being the way that he is, and the actor that he is, allowed it very much to be an ensemble piece. It was my first big role, and he was kind of fantastic to me”.