May 2015 - Marie Claire Belgium

Simon Baker - Gentleman without a cause

by Franciska Bosmans

Transcript of  Interview excerpts. Background information from the article (some of which is inaccurate) is excluded but can be seen here: http://thebakerboy.ucoz.com/forum/2-191-21047-16-1432238003

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For our generation the gentleman comes from Down Under, since Simon Baker became the face of the Gentleman Only perfumes in 2012.

“But that doesn’t mean I consider myself a gentleman. I do strive to behave like that. The term itself has a very old fashioned connotation and it is too bad that it is male, because I don’t think it is gender specific. For me it is just about civilized behavior. The nature of a gentleman isn’t expressed in certain actions, it is more about general values: that you are aware of other people and take them into account and that you go through life well-mannered. That is at least how I was raised.”

The actor may then not call himself a gentleman, actions speak louder than words: Baker, for the occasion in a nice fitting suit, is courteous during the interview, thanks the waiter explicitly for his glass of water and bends over immediately to pick up the paper that fell out of my notebook.
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During our interview, he confesses that, although he is the ambassador for Givenchy, he doesn’t always wear a scent himself.

“I know men who have shelves full of perfumes, but I am not like that. I still want to smell like a man. Nothing is more terrible than to smell someone even before you see him. You know this situation: you are in a hotel elevator and already smell the man before he gets in. And then the smell becomes almost unbearable. He gets out, but you have still eight floors to go and he keeps hanging in your nose. Did that guy maybe wash himself in a bath of Kouros? Those kind of experiences deterred me from wearing perfume myself for a while. But a whiff does make sure that I feel good and relaxed. It gives me a sense of familiarity.”

"Luxury doesn’t always imply a five star hotel or a magnificent suit. My family, that is worth gold”

Perfume may then not always be necessary for Baker, ordinary smells play a big role in his life.

“Our olfactory memory is very sensitive. Scents can immediately bring you back to a certain place and time in your life, just like a verse of a song that you haven’t heard in years. Like that sunblock with zinc is the scent of my youth. I grew up at the beach. The ebb tide smells different to me than the flood tide, and I can recognize the smell of an oncoming storm, because you can smell if fish start to swim away. But my youth also smelled of petroleum. As a kid I mowed lawns to earn a bit of money and the lawnmower had to be filled with petroleum. My grandfather smelled like whisky and cigarettes, my mother like menthol cigarettes. Even though she hasn’t smoked in forty years, each time I smell a menthol cigarette, I think about her. My step father was a butcher, so I smell raw meat often, which wasn’t exactly the most pleasant smell. I worked a lot of pubs before too and believe me: spilled beer on a rug has a very strong smell when you come in in the morning to clean.”
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“After the last shots of The Mentalist I hopped on the plane to Australia. I am going to film the novel Breath by Tim Winton: I will direct and take on one of the roles. Very ambitious, I know. (laughs) I started very courageously, we should start filming by the end of this year. It is a personal odyssey because the book is so close to my heart. It is a very personal, intimate and simple story about identity. A fifteen year old boy tries to find out who he is, what his relationship is with his parents and friends and how he fits into the big world. All things we struggle with in our life. The story also shows many similarities to how I grew up. I know and understand all the characters. I just know that for me this is the perfect movie to shoot.”
 
In his private life, everything has run smoothly for years. “My life has always been pretty good. I am an optimist: I always try to see the positive in things.” So for Baker no divorce battle, no midlife crisis (he is 45) and no drugs stories or other gossip. The only pictures the paparazzi can take, are cheerful holiday pictures during family vacations.

Baker has been very happy for the last 24 years with actress Rebecca Rigg, who he met during a blind date in Sydney (by the way she smells, for those who are interested, “very good, of coconut. "My wife has been using a kind of Tahitian coconut oil on her body for years. And she has also another perfume, a very subtle rose smell”).

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All the success, money and fame will never make Baker forget that he comes from “a very simple working class family”. “I have been together with my wife for so long that I sometimes poke her and say: ‘Look at where we are and what we are doing now.’ We appreciate and enjoy all of this. Luxury doesn’t always imply a five star hotel or a magnificent suit, the small things matter to me. Watching a movie in the living room with my family, having a cosy meal together, talking and laughing, or even having a discussion with each other. Simply enjoying each other’s company. Those small things matter to me. You know, everything is so transitory. We are here and suddenly we are not here anymore. Everything can end so fast. So you must enjoy the small things and put everything into perspective. But because of our egos we as humans feel much bigger and better than everything around us. Showing appreciation is key for me. I am constantly aware of how lucky I am. I am now starting to sound a bit like Aldous Huxley, or as if I am a bit drunk, but I love to talk about the bigger things in life. To then switch again to smaller things.”

Such as a last smell anecdote. “One of my previous girlfriends, who was a bit older than me by the way, always wore patchouli oil. One day I was going to meet a friend of mine, but he was hours late. When he finally came, he smelled like patchouli and I knew what was going on. Oh well, it does make a good story now. That’s life.”

http://sarapettarini.tumblr.com/post/119542113044/marie-claire-belgium-june-2015-already

http://mentalistgerman.tumblr.com/post/119524663370/maria-claire-belgium-interview-with-simon