Alicia Silverstone on ‘Clueless,’ fashion and ‘A Merry Little Ex-Mas’

When I connect with Alicia Silverstone on Zoom, she’s in animal rescue mode. 

“Why is your collar so tight?” she says to the off-screen canine who’s materialized at her side in the sunny loft where she’s crashing for her New York stay. Her friend’s dog declines the assist: “He doesn’t want me to,” she says when she reaches down to loosen his collar. Ah well. The Los Angeles-based Silverstone is a longtime dog person; at one point, she tells me, she had 11 dogs. “It was insane, but it was awesome,” she says with a laugh. These days, she’s down to just one: Pinto Bean, a pit bull who occasionally stars in her Instagram posts. 

Silverstone, 49, has long been known for her animal rights activism, almost as much as she’s known for being the “Clueless” queen of the ’90s. Lately, though, she’s expanded her range across a variety of film and TV genres, coming into her own as a woman who can steal a whole movie with a small but key role (2023’s “Perpetrator”), pop up in the edgy world of director Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” October release “Bugonia”) or star in a thrilling murder-mystery, as with her current Acorn TV hit “Irish Blood.”

She’s bringing her signature Silverstone twinkle to the Christmas season now, too: “A Merry Little Ex-Mas,” out now, is a warm, witty addition to Netflix’s growing holiday movie collection. “When I read the script, it made me cry, which is always a good sign!” she shares. It’s hardly a tearjerker, though the movie definitely has its share of feels. Silverstone stars as a small-town mom and professional handywoman who’s given up her big-city dreams of green architecture to marry her sweetheart, from whom she is now — hat tip to Gwyneth — “consciously uncoupling.” She and her soon-to-be ex-husband (Oliver Hudson) both find other love interests for the holidays (a very funny Pierson Fode and Jameela Jamil, respectively) — they’re all thrown together and good-natured holiday chaos ensues.  

One of the most IRL-aligned details is how eco-conscious Silverstone’s character is. As she’s the executive producer on the project, was this her doing? “This [character] was already a hardcore environmentalist, so I didn’t have to ask for that,” the actor says, adding that she did help flesh out some character details (and, one suspects, the addition of vegan treacle tarts to the movie’s parade of seasonal delicacies). “I loved how it was so environmentally grounded, that this character’s trying so hard to be good in the world,” Silverstone says. “She’s sort of fighting this battle that nobody seems to be on board with her about.”

Silverstone is an expert in that area: She’s been a loud and proud advocate for going meatless — going vegan back in 1999 — and has periodically appeared in PETA ads over the years. 

“I remember being on Jay Leno and David Letterman when I was, like, 21, and both having bits about it. Leno was like, ‘Going vegan? Is that an alien?’ You know, it was this whole bit. It was funny, they’re comedians, but the word really was so foreign to people,” she says. “And I feel good that I had a part in bringing it to the mainstream. I’ve pushed this subject for so long, and I care so much about it.”

She’s also written two books, “The Kind Diet” and “The Kind Mama,” and publishes advice for building a more eco-friendly, sustainable lifestyle on her blog, “The Kind Life.” 

Her leap into activism came only a handful of years after her entry into showbiz. The Northern California native’s first role was in 1992 on “The Wonder Years,” in a one-episode role as Fred Savage’s object of affection. About a year later, she won the lead in the thriller “The Crush,” in which she played a 14-year-old girl who’s dangerously obsessed with an author (Cary Elwes), a “Lolita”-like premise that, one imagines, probably wouldn’t get greenlit today. The film led to a trio of starry appearances in Aerosmith videos (“Cryin’,” “Amazing,” “Crazy”), and then to the really big time: Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless,” that indelible 1995 riff on Jane Austen’s “Emma.” 

Among its many cultural contributions, the film’s fashion sense was a breath of fresh air in the grunge-soaked ’90s, with Silverstone’s character, Cher Horowitz, wearing designer, candy-colored and tailored outfits that were the polar opposite of the slouchy flannels and jeans that dominated the era. Since then, Silverstone has made splashes in real life in fashion; her striking red-floral Carolina Herrera gown (with pockets, no less) at the New York “Bugonia” premiere garnered plenty of notice. 

“My philosophy when I’m looking for clothes is to always start with used,” she says. “Because then we’re not making new things, right? And the second place I would go is eco, because there’s a ton of great eco brands. These sweatpants I have on are by Mate, this wonderful [sustainable] brand. The shoes I have on are vegan, made of environmentally sound materials. My underwear is all made of organic cotton by Pact.” When she can’t find used or eco-friendly items, she’ll go to her third tier, which is new vegan. “Eco is very hard with the red carpet!” she shares. “So, vegan is usually where I land with that.”

Our Alexa fashion editor, Anahita Moussavian, catered the wardrobe to the actor’s values. “The clothes were so beautiful, it was a dream!” Silverstone raves. “She had all the vegan shoes on one side and all the used shoes on the other. And all the vintage things! Everything was vegan. I was just blown away. I felt like we were doing something cool.”

Silverstone has made a life out of doing things her own way, from sticking to her guns on animal ethics to taking a more measured approach to the entertainment industry (as she told the Guardian, “I stopped loving acting for a very long time”). She rediscovered that spark in doing theater — taking a role in David Mamet’s “Boston Marriage,” which he also directed, in 2006 — and began to show up in atmospheric, ominous indies like 2019’s “The Lodge” and black comedies like 2012’s “Vamps,” where she reunited with Heckerling as director. And, of course, Lanthimos’ films: In “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” she plays the mother to Barry Keoghan’s vengeance-seeking outcast, and in “Bugonia,” she appears in black-and-white flashbacks as the addict mother of Jesse Plemons’ troubled character. Suffice to say, none of it bears much resemblance to the wide-eyed, girl-next-door image initially popularized by those Aerosmith videos.

But Silverstone’s son, Bear (with her ex, Christopher Jarecki) — who’s now 14 — recently joined his mom to hilariously reenact a beloved “Clueless” scene on Instagram; it ties in with the much-anticipated Peacock sequel series announced earlier this year, in which Silverstone will reportedly return as Cher. Beyond that, she tells me, “There’s not much to say. We’re in early development. We don’t even have a shoot date.” 

I ask what it’s like to look back on the “Clueless” era from this wildly different vantage point. The year 1995, after all, was peak season for the media taking nasty potshots at famous young women. How does she regard memories of being in the spotlight at 18 from where she is now? “I think it does feel different, for many reasons,” she says. “I mean, imagine being a little girl, and you’re still just trying to go through puberty or whatever, and you’re being stalked and harassed everywhere you go by the paparazzi.” 

These days, though, “there’s a punk-rock part to me that doesn’t even care. I don’t read most things. I try to just live my life. I’m busy being a mom.” She also feels the entertainment media environment has changed for the better. “People are more respectful now. And also, I have a sense of humor about it. When people ask me stupid things, I just think it’s sort of funny. Whereas when I was younger, it might have been harder to say no. Now, it’s just like, you move on. I feel very comfortable saying ‘no thanks.’”

---

Photographer: Caitlin Cronenberg; Editor: Serena French; Stylist: Anahita Moussavian; Photo Editor: Jessica Hober; Talent Booker: Patty Adams Martinez; Makeup: Brittany Leslie at The Wall Group using Rare Beauty; Hair: John D at Forward Artists; Nails: Stephanie Stone at Forward Artists using Essie; Fashion Assistants: Jena Beck, Gillian Hormel; Digital Tech: Clay Rasmussen; Lighting Tech: Zach Coco, Photo Assistant: Ben Thompson