Alicia Silverstone on ‘Clueless’ at 30, New Roles, Motherhood and Why She Almost Quit ‘Irish Blood’ (EXCLUSIVE)
The beloved ‘90s teen says, ‘As if!’ to mediocre projects now that she’s a mom
As Clueless turns 30, Alicia Silverstone, 48, is preparing to hit the red carpet with her Bugonia costars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons for Thursday’s Venice Film Fest premiere—but first, the 90s icon sits down with Woman’s World! Silverstone dishes on working on Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest film, as well as her quirky Acorn TV murder mystery Irish Blood, sexy summer sizzler Pretty Thing and upcoming Christmas rom-com A Merry Little Ex-Mas with Oliver Hudson, Pierson Fode and Melissa Joan Hart.
Cher would be “totally bugin” trying to keep track of all Silverstone has happening!
The mom, activist and writer who became a household name as a teen reveals what it takes to get her to say “yes” to roles these days and why she kept trying to quit Irish Blood.
Alicia Silverstone talks bringing ‘Irish Blood’ to life
When we meet Alicia Silverstone at the Television Academy’s inaugural Televerse Festival at L.A. Live, we want all the Clueless dish—but there’s so much new ground to cover!
First and foremost, Silverstone is on hand to talk to fans about her series for Acorn TV—the streamer that will also be bringing Brooke Shields into its fold of gorgeous, international dramas and mysteries.
“When Irish Blood came to me, it was just an idea,” Silverstone tells Woman’s World before her panel. “It was two paragraphs on a piece of paper, which involved Ireland, a briefcase, and a woman who lost her dad and goes to look for him. Those were the bones, and that sounded like a playground for a lot of rich, complicated things to work with.
“Because I produced it, I was able to be involved with all the key creative hires and everything from working on every script very extensively to editing,” she continues. “I was able to really make it grounded, complicated and interesting for me, so I had things to chew on.”
‘Irish Blood’: an ‘emotional’ and ‘quirky’ crime drama
With a new episode of this binge-worthy series released today, Silverstone plays dysfunctional L.A. lawyer Fiona, who has never gotten over her father abandoning her when she was 10 years old.
“Thirty years later, she gets this mysterious communication from him, so she runs to Ireland,” she sets up while onstage with director/executive producer Molly McGlynn, and AMC Networks’ Courtney Thomasma. “What I really love is that while the show is a fun mystery and there’s this crime element, it’s quirky and then there’s this rich, emotional drama. She’s trying to find her dad, but she starts to find herself and she starts to soften a little bit. There’s so much trauma and so many walls built up.”
Even as Fiona refuses to back down from the dark mystery that unfolds, she’s also a fish out of water who meets a family she’s never known, a deliciously cooky partner in crime-solving, and yes, even an unexpected romance.
“He’s this big man, and he is so in love with her from the second he sees her,” Silverstone teases of Leonardo Taiwo’s Musa. “Not that she knows that! The abandonment issues that this woman has… She still can’t let go of it, but he’s so present with her. He’s so just sturdy and solid.”
Why she almost didn’t make ‘Irish Blood’
With new episodes dropping Mondays, Silverstone worked crazy hours in another country to bring this drama to life—and that’s one reason she almost didn’t do it.
“I kept trying to sort of get out of it, because, like I said, it was just an idea,” she explains. “I did want to sink my teeth into it, but I can’t leave my son for three months! That’s not happening. And I can’t have him visit me and be working, that’s not happening either. There were boundaries—like the scripts have to be amazing or it’s not happening, or I need a week off every three or four weeks to go be with my son for a week.
“I kept assuming that the things I needed, they would say, ‘Hell no, forget it,’” she says. “And they kept saying, ‘Yes.’ They were so kind and generous.”
While Silverstone has continued to work since the ‘90s, this vegan who supports animal rights and environmental causes via her non-profit, Silverstone Foundation, is quite picky about her roles.
“If it’s not incredible things, you sort of don’t want to go there, because I want to take care of my boy,” she says. “I have had these incredible moments [as an actress], and then being a mom and being so interested in activism, the books—The Kind Diet, The Kind Mama—all these things that I’m focused on and try to do good. It takes a lot for me to want to go work.”
Silverstone reflects on ‘working with such cool artists’
The upshot of prioritizing is that when this one-time Aerosmith babe and and Batgirl looks at her career, she likes what she sees.
“I’m really feel so lucky that I get to work with cool artists,” Silverstone says. “I’ve had some incredible theater experiences, whether it was Daniel Sullivan, Donald Margulies, and Laura Linney on Broadway—that was an amazing moment (from 2009-2010), Time Stands Still!—or David Mamet with Mary Steenburgen when I got to play a Scottish maid who was being abused through the [entirety of Boston Marriage in 2006]. It was brilliant!”
Silverstone dishes on dark summer thriller, ‘Pretty Thing’
More recently, Silverstone was lured to the big screen for the dark thriller Pretty Thing with Justin Kelly, who’d directed her in 2016’s King Cobra.
“I was really happy to reunite with him and I’m so proud of Pretty Thing,” she says of this summer’s release. “I couldn’t NOT do that! He’s an artful director, so I really love that one. And Karl Glusman’s in it, and he’s so good.
“It’s an erotic thriller, and it’s also kind of funny, because his relationship with his mom makes me laugh out loud,” she teases of the film in which she plays an executive who has a torrid affair with a younger man who becomes obsessed. “I hope people will see that.”
Pretty Thing is no longer in theaters, but available to rent via streamers.
Silverstone teases Christmas rom-com with Oliver Hudson and Pierson Fodé
While her summer film was super sexy and Irish Blood gets intense, the actress shows yet another side in her upcoming holiday movie, A Merry Little Ex-Mas.
“I’ve done romantic comedies, but probably no one saw them,” Silverstone cracks. “But this one will be on Netflix, so I hope you’ll see it. It’s just charming and lovely. And again, I produced that one, and we’ve got great people in it. Oliver Hudson plays my husband, who I’m divorcing, and Pierson Fodé plays my boyfriend.”
Expected to land November 12, the comedy about a separated couple that tries to celebrate one last Christmas together with their kids also stars Melissa Joan Hart—who produced it alongside her mother Paula Hart and Silverstone—and Jameela Jamil.
Silverstone on ‘Bugonia’ premiere in Venice Film Festival–’I’m so honored!’
And then there’s Bugonia. Silverstone is over the moon about this week’s premiere—and not just because it’s in Italy!
“I’m going to Venice Film Festival for Bugonia, which is Yorgos Lanthimos, who I’ve also worked with before,” Silverstone says. “When Yorgos Lanthimos calls, I’m not ever saying no, ever, ever, ever! I’m so honored to be in his movies. I love him. He’s brilliant. I’m such a deep, deep fan of his work. I love Dogtooth, Kinds of Kindness, The Favorite, Poor Things.”
Based on a Korean science fiction black comedy, Bugonia is about two conspiracy theorists who kidnap a high-powered CEO because they’re convinced she’s an alien intent on destroying the planet. While it premieres Thursday in Venice, it doesn’t hit theaters in the U.S. until October 31, 2025
“Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, and all the actors are so good in this,” she teases. “It’s just really, really good and I’m just so happy to be a part of it.”
Silverstone on ‘Clueless’ 30th Anniversary–‘I’m happy it makes so many people happy’
Even as she walks the Venice Film Fest carpet for this week’s Bugonia premiere, promotes Acorn TV’s Irish Blood, and plays Mom to her son, Silverstone has also carved out some time for a mini tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of Clueless and Cher.
“We could never have known what a cultural phenomenon Clueless would be, and it’s wonderful,” Silverstone tells Woman’s World. “Everybody loves it, and I’m happy it makes so many people happy. It’s lovely.”
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