Zoë Kravitz Covers Channing Tatum, Taylor Swift And “Nepo Babies” In This Month’s GQ
I don’t want anybody to get too excited: The prediction I’m about to make may be premature, as it is based solely on the pretentious Art fumes wafting off of Zoë Kravitz’ recent interview with GQ in which she touches on falling in love with Channing Tatum, the star of her upcoming feminist directorial debut, over their shared passion for Art, not long after the dissolution of her marriage Karl Glusman, and disputes the idea that “nepo babies” are any different from regular babies that go into the same business as their parents. I mean, I obviously hope and pray that we have another Don’t Worry Darling situation on our hands with Pussy Island, but I’m not quite ready to start taking bets. I know the odds are grim, so for now, I’m just floating the idea in case I get the chance to scream, “I TOLD YOU SO!” when, a year from now, we’re all losing our collective shit when Geena Davis shows up late to the Venice Film Festival swirling an Aperol Spritz.
For this interview, GQ not only spoke with Zoë at her favorite Upper East Side museum, the Neue Galerie dedicated to Austro-Germanic expressionism, they also spoke to her London bestie Taylor Swift (Zoë has co-writing and background vocal credits on Midnights), her LA bestie Alia Shawcat (who also stars in Pussy Island) and her father Lenny Kravitz.
Since she was a teenager, Kravitz has harbored a “deep insecurity” about being in the entertainment industry. That because she has famous parents she’s less deserving of her success. She brings up the term “nepo babies,” and the idea that the children of celebrities are advantaged in ways that other people aren’t. “It’s completely normal for people to be in the family business,” Kravitz says. “It’s literally where last names came from. You were a blacksmith if your family was, like, the Black family.” (Or Smith.) She’s proud of her family, citing her grandmother Roxie Roker’s pioneering role on The Jeffersons — and that her parents, in carving out careers in music and acting, were able to make names for themselves too.
Hugh? By Zoë’s logic, her last name would be Hollywood-Brown. Zoë went on to discuss how she and Channing bonded over their shared love for Nicole Kidman’s brand of MAGIC.
Kravitz met Tatum when she cast him in Pussy Island. They naturally hit it off. “He’s just a wonderful human. He makes me laugh and we both really love art and talking about art and the exploration of why we do what we do. We love to watch a film and break it down and talk about it and challenge each other,” she says.
So what do the Kravitz-Tatum Inside the Actors Studio sessions look like? The first movie they watched together was the freaky romantic crime drama True Romance. They’re also big fans of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, another director-actor couple who also worked closely together. (She’d be the Cassavetes in this scenario).
Tatum proved to be a continually calming presence for Kravitz during her most stressful moments on the job. “Whether it was making me tea or pouring me a drink or going to whip someone into shape or whatever—he really was my protector and it was really wonderful and sweet,” she says. “I think if you can do something like that together, it’s a good test. And we came out even stronger.”
Zoë says that over the past couple of years, she’s experimented with domesticity, first in her 18-month marriage to Karl, who perhaps was more inclined to let Zoë pour her own beverages, and later with Taylor, who would “make me home-cooked meals and dinner on my birthday” when they podded together in London during the pandemic while she was filming The Batman.
Turning 30 also inspired her to lean hard into domesticity after her wild 20s. “There’s something romantic and exciting about being like, Oh, I’m an adult. I stay home and cook now. I bake bread,” she says. “Then I think you do that for a couple years and you realize there’s still a lot of life to be had.” There are still adventures, and relationships, and new things to create, and you can’t do that if you’re pretending that you’re getting your AARP card at 35. “I’m done romanticizing the ‘old is domestic’ thing. It’s cute for a minute and then it’s not.”
So I guess this means we shouldn’t hold our breath for Zoë and Chan to start pumping out little Mister and Misses Artistes anytime soon. At least not until after we see if Pussy Island sinks or swims. Here’s some shots of the “weird little freak” (Alia’s term of endearment) for GQ.
Pic: GQ via Instagram