Dree Hemingway: ‘My most Sagittarius trait is my bluntness’

My personal style signifier is dressing a little masculine-feminine. I love a Levi’s 501. I’m very into the Adidas Japan sneakers or a good riding boot. And a cashmere sweater, usually in grey, navy or black; I have about 50. My dad [filmmaker Stephen Crisman] had an amazing collection of cashmere sweaters which is probably where my obsession originated. I still have a Scottish cashmere, old-man-brand one that he wore a lot, and I wear it on every single flight I take. So now it’s really deteriorating. It’s literally missing the tag at this point. But it feels like home to me.

The last thing I bought and loved was a jade bracelet from the Rose Bowl Flea Market in LA. I previously had one that my three-year-old daughter broke, which bummed me out. I don’t really have attachments to things, but it belonged to my late aunt Margaux [Hemingway, the model and actor], so it was really special. It’s also one of those things that kind of funks up an outfit. Like, it sets a suit off-kilter and makes it more fun.

A place that means a lot to me is Ketchum, Idaho. It’s my whole soul. I was born there and a lot of my family spent time there [including Ernest Hemingway, her great-grandfather], and it’s where I ground myself the most. It’s a beautiful mountain town, not chi-chi at all. I try to carve out some time there for a month at a time. We used to have a family house there but my father sold it before he passed away. Now we usually stay with his widow, who has a house on the river with tons of green around it and hiking trails. It’s heaven.

The best souvenir that I’ve brought home was a painting of Frida Kahlo from Mexico, where I went for my birthday a few years ago. I mean, it’s not a real Frida Kahlo, obviously. But I enjoy her. 

The work of art that changed everything for me was Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn, which I first saw when I was a child. I wanted to live in a fantasy world and being an actor seemed like the way forward. Also Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. It was the first take on Shakespeare I’d seen that was modern and sexy and yet still had Shakespeare’s words at its heart. Though it probably ruined my love life in my early 20s. I wanted Romeo and Juliet’s love. That’s where I set the bar.

The best book that I’ve read in the past year is The Girl by Samantha Geimer, who was at the centre of the Roman Polanski sexual abuse case in 1977. I’m about to start working on a movie based on it [playing Geimer’s mother, Susan]. It taught me what a strong woman Geimer is. She chose not to be a victim. I also recently reread The Man in the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal, a true story about this German man, Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who moved to America and rewrote his whole history. He developed a transatlantic accent and a glamorous, Cary Grant-like persona and charmed his way to the top of American society. 

My style icon is Katharine Hepburn. There’s a sexy masculinity about her. Also Lauren Hutton when she was young. And Gwyneth Paltrow in Great Expectations is very good. It’s a mix of naughty and nice, but done simply.

The best gifts that I’ve given recently were pyjamas from Schostal in Rome, to some of my family members. The materials are heavenly. Schostal has been around forever and is old-school. The shop is like a hole in the wall, with everything stacked in boxes. They have incredible shirts and scarves and socks too. You can buy them online but going to the store is the way to do it. 

And the best gift I’ve received is a Panthère de Cartier watch from my fiancé [producer Nick Delli Santi], for my birthday and “push present”. Originally he gave me a Saint Pedro Pascal candle as a joke. I love Pedro Pascal, but I was like… thanks so much, sir? The watch was something I had wanted for so long, and this one is vintage, which is even better. It’s a stainless-steel-and-gold mix. I wear it every day.

The last music I downloaded was the Hamnet soundtrack. It’s so beautiful and transporting. Film scores have always been my thing. For every film that gets inside my bones, I’ll try to find the score or the person who made it. I listen to a lot of Warren Ellis, and Tom Ford’s film scores by Abel Korzeniowski are incredible. I’m also really into the Love Story Spotify album [the Disney+ series about John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette] – and I’m not just saying that because I was in it. It’s a really good compilation of all that good-feels ’90s music – the Cocteau Twins and Seal. It just takes you back.

The beauty staple I’m never without is Parisian Musc by Matiere Premiere. It has fig in it, which my mother [the actor Mariel Hemingway] used to wear all the time when I was growing up, so there’s some nostalgia in it. It’s a little masculine, but it doesn’t feel like I’m being saturated. Matiere Premiere Parisian Musc, £250 for 100ml EDP

I used to collect spoons. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with them. So weird. Now I’d say I collect shoes. I have some great vintage Prada strappy heels that I love, and some good buttery slipper shoes from The Row. But the Phoebe Philo Club boot is one of my favourites. Shoes really make an outfit. If the shoe is off, you’re fucked.

The best way to spend $20 is on a nice glass of wine. Either a Vermentino or a Nebbiolo. With a snack. I like a chip or a green olive: no stuffing, no nothing. There’s a place in Rome – I can’t tell you where – that I really love; they bring you these delicious biscuits and little pizzas that are heaven. The Italians know how to make it an enjoyable experience.

I laugh at old Catherine Tate sketches. There’s one where she plays an interpreter that is really funny. I also love the one with the gooseberry and cinnamon yoghurt. They always make me cackle. Zach Galifianakis’s chat show Between Two Ferns also makes me die laughing. And I make myself laugh because I think I’m hilarious.

In my fridge you’ll always find Monty’s vegan butter and normal butter, berries and mustard. I’m a big mustard person. Also this really good seed bread from Erewhon that I live off. I always have pickled things: ginger, daikon, jalapeños… I do live in LA.

I’ve recently rediscovered puzzling. I did a lot of it during lockdown and I’ve recently brought out a few 1,000-piece puzzles again. There’s this brand called Piecework that makes beautiful designs. I’ll potter around the house and do a little puzzle, and I’ll kind of leave the planet. It’s good to not be on this thing [holds up phone]. I’ve also realised that I enjoy ironing and steaming. It’s very therapeutic. I’m not OCD but it definitely scratches that itch.

I have a real thing for jeans. As well as Levi’s 501s I also love Gerard Darel, which have that perfect ’70s silhouette. They’re very flattering. The French just know how to do cool, understated clothes.

On my Instagram “For You” page you’ll find videos of face massages and lymphatic draining. I’ve become obsessed. I do the techniques on myself all day. Does it work? Who knows! Mind over matter.

My wellbeing guru is Dr Ellie Byun, a Korean acupuncturist in LA. She’s a pure genius. She does hormone balancing and cupping therapy on my stomach, which is good for my adrenals. I worship her. My facialist is Joomee Song, whose whole thing is about balancing the muscles in your face so that it kind of revives itself. I love her.

The artist whose work I would collect if I could is Rothko. There’s something very powerful about his work. There’s a simplicity and a depth to it where you’re like, “Wow!” But it’s not simple. Like, you would look at it and think, “Maybe I could make that.” And then you’re like… I couldn’t make that if my life depended on it.

My favourite app is Chani for personalised horoscope readings. I’m very into astrology. Well, when I say I’m into astrology, I’m really into “me” astrology: I love an astrological reading about myself. There’s also this guy I follow on Instagram, Chris Corsini, who gives monthly readings for each sign. I don’t live and breathe it, but it’s informationally fun. I love to blame a full moon and retrograde on things. My most Sagittarius trait is my bluntness. We like to blurt things out without thinking and it’s not always watered down. Also my love of travel. I get crazy when I’m in one place for too long. 

In another life, I would have been a scientist. I like things that have an answer or solution. But I knew I wanted to be an actor from the age of about five or six.

My favourite game is Gin Rummy, a two-player card game. I also like crosswords, Scrabble and Sudoku. I’m a big gamer. There was a time when I was doing Sudoku so much that I’d sit down at dinner tables and try to put people in boxes according to their number. I was like, you’re a nine. It got too much. 

The best bit of advice I ever received was that saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It’s something my mother would always say to me. She would also say, “Pretty is as pretty does.” Aka: don’t be a bitch. She knew I was also going to be in the film industry and her whole thing was about treating every person like a person. Like, we all have feelings and you will never be better than anybody else.  

An indulgence that I would never forgo is weekly housekeeping. Coming home to a clean house without having to lift a finger is the most magical thing. I mean, it’s an indulgence for some. But it’s a necessity for me.