It seems like people are spending more time than ever thinking about how to live longer—do you think about it?
Staying alive and fit. There’s only so much you can do… I mean, you wish there was something new you could (try), but is there really anything? There’s really nothing… I mean, there’s a lot of upcoming things that you always read about, and then do they ever actually come out? Meanwhile, you’re in the gym, meanwhile, you’re in the dance studio.
I don’t like being hot for too long.
So is there nothing on which you can judge your longevity?
I think, unfortunately, after a certain age you can’t really have too much drink and drugs.
That is unfortunate.
unfortunately. Because it’s so much fun. However, if you want fitness and longevity, you cannot take a lot of drugs and drink alcohol all the time.
When did you stop all this?
I was about 40 years old.
Ok, that’s good to know. You may be fine by the age of 40.
I mean, you can still do it! But you can’t do it all the time as crazily as you could before. Because something will catch you. It may catch you anyway. There is no guarantee. You are just doing your best. And you could get some terrible disease, and you’re clean, and you’ve done everything, you’re in the gym, and you could get some terrible disease. But at least you’re doing your best.
Do you get hangovers?
Yes, the dreaded hangover. (laughing).
It gets worse, right?
Yes, it gets worse. It doesn’t get any better than this.
Yes, I am interested in it. I don’t want to give it to you, but, I know how I see it. There are lots of ways to do biopics. So most of the time when you make a biopic, you bookend a small part of someone’s life with something else. Take a Bob Dylan movie. You do that the moment Bob lost the power. You have to think what are you going to focus on? And where is your two-year interest? I mean, the Bob Dylan film was two years old, the (James Brown) film I made was a little longer than that.
Which part of the Stones’ history will you watch?
I don’t know which section, because it’s a long one.
Do you have an idea of someone you would like to play with you?
No.
What is the biggest misconception about you?
People have preconceptions about everyone. Even if you’re not very famous, people say, (whispering) “She’s a little bitch.” do you know what I mean? Everyone brings some kind of stuff. But I’m at a loss because a person can Google it for me and find out a lot, and I can Google them and find nothing.
In the old days, they might not know about you and would be surprised that you could even speak. Because in those days, pop stars were considered ridiculously stupid and (very) too badly educated to know about anything. And so they were really surprised when you put a three-letter word together.
A version of this story originally appeared British GQ.
