WE LOVE LISA

We couldn’t fit Rosaleen McMeel’s entire interview with the lovely Lisa Cannon into the mag, so we’ve added some more exclusive extracts here just for you to enjoy.

On being maternal…

“I’ve a dog called Lulu who’s a Maltese and is semi-human. I treat her like a baby. But I like to think I’m maternal. I’m an only child but I have friends with kids and I’m considered ‘glam aunty Lisa’ and I’m godmother to loads of children. I was also a nanny in Paris for a number of months when I was younger and I’ve done tonnes of babysitting… so I’m not allergic or anything.”

On having it all…

“I don’t think anyone can have it all. You can work, you can have children, you can put all the hard work in, but I don’t think you can have everything. Even now I don’t have it all and I strive to have a harmonious work-life balance. I think you’re a fool to think you can. What does it mean anyway? You live your life, whether you have kids or not, a husband or not, and you just get on with it and you make the best of it as you can. I strive for contentment and to have people in my life who I cherish and cherish me. I think wanting it all is a selfish way to look at life. Why would you want that?”

On the quickest way to her heart…

“Probably a glass of Champagne, a good laugh, lots of candles and really good banter.”

On what she’s learned about love…

“Don’t go out with an actor. I’ve made some bad actor-choice decisions in the past. I can’t name names, but I have. They were quite full of their own self-importance and you don’t really get a look in with that. I once got invited to a chipper on Valentine’s Day and we had a nightlight stuck between us. Weirdly that didn’t work out. So, my love lesson is if someone invites you to a chipper, politely decline or better still sprint the other way.”

On her tips for breaking into the business…

“I’d say don’t take ‘no’ for an answer and do work for free, put the hours in and build up your CV. If you’ve got a better CV than Joe Bloggs beside you, you’re going to get the job. Go up to Ardmore and get tea and coffee for film directors even though you probably hate getting out of your bed at 4am, but it’s worth it to get a credit on your CV.”

On where she’d like to be in 10 years...

“I’d like to be content. I think the most important thing in life isn’t really to be happy, but to be content. You’re never really 100% happy all of the time. Content is better. I’d like to do more documentaries. I have great ideas, but I’d love to do something collaborative and maybe work with some of the dynamic people we have in TV3 to do something like that. But I don’t know how I’m going to squeeze a documentary in among all the red carpets.”

On her celebrity crushes...

“Al Pacino is definitely one. But I have really weird taste in men: Joaquin Phoenix, I just think he’s so weird and odd… So I probably need to stay away. He’s textbook crazy, I’d say. That’s probably why I like him. And I do like Johnny Depp, but he’s married to a beautiful French woman, isn’t he? So if we move away from actors, lets move into the other list of no-nos; musicians. I do like Steven Tyler who looks like an old shoe, but he’s so lovely and I do like Mick Jagger, the old wrinnkly rockers seem to do it for me.”