The Big Interview Catherine Millet A darker affair At it again: Millers new book Jealousy put the author more in touch with reality Before The Sexual Life... shed found a letter that revealed her husband had been gallivanting with other women The controversial French erotica author talks to Claire Allfree about the aftermath of betrayal FIVE QUESTIONS FOR... Actress Andrea Irvine, starring in Terminus Cheerios Childline Concert In Town Tonight Despite being almost crushed by JLS fans at a UK Christmas lights switch-on, Alexandra Burke (pictured) joins the lads for this charity gig that also includes Westlife, The Saturdays, Taoi Cruz and The Boulevard Tonight, The O2, North Wall Quay D1, 6.30pm, 45 (returns only). Tel: 0818 719 300. www.theo2.ie Twelve Days In May Frank Allens new play explores James Connollys final days as he lies seriously injured in Dublin Castle military hospital under threat of execution while his family keep a bedside vigil. Derek Reid and Mary Murray star Until Nov 28, Liberty Hall, Eden Quay D1, 8pm, 20. Tel: (01) 872 1122. www.twelvedaysinmay.com Amalgamation Forum Public forum on the merger of IMMA, the National Gallery and Corks Crawford Gallery vis--vis its impact on artists, galleries and visitors. Artist Hughie ODonoghue and poet Anthony Cronin will opine Today, IMMA, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Military Road D8, 9.30am to 4pm, free. Tel: (01) 612 9900. www.imma.ie metro Arts & Entertainment life Book Now Thirty Seconds To Mars Without Hollywood actor Jared Leto at its helm, youve got to wonder whether or not Thirty Seconds To Mars would have such a high profile, not least warrant the high admission price for this O2 gig. But well never know, for Leto aint going anywhere if anything, hes been scaling down his acting career to concentrate on rocking out. The bands healthy clutch of MTV and Kerrang! awards suggest theyre on the right-side-of- credible. For this show, theyll be showcasing songs from upcoming album This Is War featuring dial-a- divo Kanye West. Tickets on sale Friday Feb 26, The O2, North Wall Quay D1, 6.30pm, 39.20. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.thirtysecondstomars.com 12 metrolife Wednesday, November 18, 2009 oh la la! Catherine Millet is talking about sex again. If, at a sex party, someone puts your body like this or like that, and its humiliating, then I dont care, she says, her voice as sweet as a songbird. Its my body; not my mind. But during my crisis with Jacques, I did feel humiliation because I always thought I was queen of sex. Millet deserves her self-appointed sobriquet. Her best-selling 2001 memoir, The Sexual Life Of Catherine M, was an account of a lifetime devoted to orgiastic abandon; in car parks, in galleries, even in a dentists surgery. Relentless in its oddly mechanical depictions of bodies, encounters and sexual positions, it divided critics: men found it insufficiently erotic; women found it insufficiently emotional. Millet, 61, a highly respected Parisian art critic married for 17 years, dismisses the criticism. There was this misunderstanding that it was an erotic book that described happy sex, she says. But that was not my intention. Her new book, Jealousy, describes what happened when this strange, dissociated carnal dream came apart. Before The Sexual Life... came out, shed found a letter that revealed, while she had been openly pursuing numerous affairs, her husband Jacques had been privately gallivanting with other women. Morally, Millet didnt have a leg to stand on but that didnt prevent her descending into what she calls an illness and a crisis that lasted almost three years. In Jealousy she recounts her obsession with Jacquess own secret life as they tried to negotiate this explosive collision between libertarian ideology and intolerable possessiveness. I am not shy about sex but feelings are more difficult, says Millet. In Jealousy, I had to tell a few things I wasnt very proud of, such as looking through Jacquess desk. The Sexual Life... was a utopia; the dream that everyone was free in their sexual life. But jealousy put me more in the reality. I am older now, too. O T he Sexual Life... brazenly flouted the idea that women prefer emotional contact when it comes to sex and that those who flaunt their availability are whores. Yet while some feminists may have applauded Millets refusal to conform, it wasnt so simple. Millet invariably depicted herself as a relatively passive participant in orgies, while the unquestioning, absent tone with which she described being probed in ways that are too naughty to go into here struck some female critics as sad. Jealousy is darker. Millet discusses her mothers suicide and the earlier death of her brother, she admits to psychoanalysis and describes her retreat from pain into private fantasy. Plus she fears growing older in fact her first reaction to Jacquess betrayal was to briefly contemplate a facelift. She didnt but mortality clearly troubles her. My older friends are dead or very old, she says. You feel very strongly when you have made love with a body and now he is dead. She has been monogamous now with Jacques for several years, as has he with her. Does she miss her past life? Its OK, she says with a chuckle. For the moment. Did she ever wonder about being different from other women? Actually, I met very few women while I was swinging, she laughs. Now I have met many and they confide in me. And suddenly she sounds content. Jealousy is published by Serpents Press, priced 12 We have a pair of tickets to see THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS Feb 26 at The O2, 6.30pm For a chance to win, e-mail your answer to the question below to life@ metroireland.ie by noon today with Hot Tickets in the subject line. With your answer please include your name, address and a number where you can be contacted between 1pm and 3pm. Strictly one entry per person; entrants must be age 18+. Q. In which film did Jared Leto play Colin Farrells special friend? A. Alexander B. The Thin Red Line The winner of yesterdays tickets to see Steve Earle is: Henry Shannon The hoTTesT TickeTs in Town interested when I was at college, and a bit interested when I was at school, I just didnt really have the confidence. When I came out of college, I didnt have anything set up jobs-wise so I approached a few companies in Belfast and took it from there. I look back on it now 20 years ago, stepping into a world which I knew absolutely nothing about. You just have your own little voice inside you going, just give it a go!. Terminus is back at the Peacock having spread its wings in New York, Edinburgh and Melbourne. Did you ever imagine when you first read Mark ORowes script that it would be such a hit? One always lives in hope but you can never tell which way people are going to react until you get up there. From the very beginning we were all very excited and then the good responses started coming. Youre its only original cast member. How was it working with actors new to the role? Being monologues, the interaction between us is minimal so its more about the relationship with the audiences. Thats what makes it alive from night to night. But I had never done a monologue before. I had absolute white fear during the whole of the first Dublin run youre really on your own. But its been fascinating, and its a tribute to not only the writing but also the actors watching Kate Brennan and Karl Shiels come in and make their roles completely their own as Eileen Walsh and Aidan Kelly had done. You studied languages in Scotland. How did you get into acting? I was tentatively index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html