Q 13

PLAYBOY: Why do women keep diaries and leave them lying around?

Dana Delany: A therapist might say women want their journals to be read by the men in their lives so that their inner thoughts will be understood. And maybe because women are such a mystery, men think they're going to find the key to women through their journals. Or maybe a man's curiosity revolves around: "How does she write about me?" "How big am I in her life?" I wouldn't mind somebody reading my journals after I'm dead. I've kept them since I was in first grade. I go back now and read them on afternoons when I'm avoiding something, and there are the same themes over and over again. Mostly they're painful to read. I wonder, God, don't you think better of yourself? I had such low self-esteem as a teenager, writing "I have to lose ten pounds." It's all the societal stuff that's put on you, that you're not good enough. Mine sound like True Confessions. Now, because I'm happy, I don't write that much.

Q 14

PLAYBOY: Whose diary have you read?

Dana Delany: When I was about 12, I found my father's journal. It's my biggest treasure because it captures the life of a 16-year-old in Brooklyn in the Thirties: going to the triple feature--he used to rate the movies--how the girls wouldn't talk to him. "I went to Mass today and said three Hail Marys"--that kind of thing. He also wrote about how a guy on his track team died in front of him on the field. It was his first experience with death.

Keeping a journal myself, I realize that the things you write down aren't necessarily the things you believe. For me it's a way of getting shit out, it's gone, then I don't feel that way anymore. It's sort of an exorcism.

Q 15

PLAYBOY: Describe the pleasure and pain of a tequila high.

Dana Delany: It's a great drunk because it's a happy drunk. The worst part is the hangover--but I've been very good lately. I'm trying! My worst hangover was when I combined tequila and champagne. I woke up in a strange man's office--with only a sweater on. That was bad. [Laughs] The worst. [Pauses] Everything turned out fine. Oh no, I should never have told you that.

Q 16

PLAYBOY: Your great-grandfather invented a toilet flush valve. Is there a certain way to tell someone the source of your family's fortune that minimizes the snickering?

Dana Delany: I like the snickering. I've never been embarrassed about my father's business. We had great bathroom humor in my family. Whenever I use a public bathroom and see my name on the flusher, I get a rush. My father's dead, so it's like Its a Wonderful Life--whenever you hear a bell ring, an angel gets its wings. Whenever I flush a toilet, I figure my father is watching me.

Q 17

PLAYBOY: What one thing about men would be wonderful to know?

Dana Delany: What most women want to know: Why can't men be monogamous? I don't hold it against men, though. The older I get, the more I'd rather hang out with women. Women today, especially in their 30s and older, are curious about so many things. They investigate and want to learn and aren't afraid of new things. Men are a little more fearful of change. I'm not trying to put down men; I just find that women's minds are more elastic. I used to be stimulated by sex. Now I'm stimulated by ideas. Or some good ideas about sex. [Laughs] But you know what? It used to be that women got together and talked about men. We don't anymore. In fact, we can have entire conversations without talking about men. I guess that will send the guys diving for the diaries.

Q 18

PLAYBOY: You were quoted as suggesting that actors Liam Neeson, James Woods and Willem Dafoe are among the best-endowed males in Hollywood. How do you know?

Dana Delany: After I said that, everyone thought I'd had sex with all those men. I haven't--or else I wouldn't have talked about it. I've seen Willem because I had a bird's-eye view in Light Sleeper. Liam is legendary. And Jimmy Woods is so proud that he'd be happy to share the fact with you. Jimmy was very flattered. He said he's gotten a lot more dates since that article came out. I read that Liam had mentioned it. I suppose that meant he was flattered. But who wouldn't be?

Q 19

PLAYBOY: Could you repeat the line you said to Willem Dafoe about his erection so that we can put it on our answering machine?

Dana Delany: [Smiles] "Quite an erection you have there." And then I say, "I'm dripping." That was my favorite line. Susan Sarandon was also in the film, though I didn't get to work with her because of scheduling problems. But there was one day of crossover when I had come in for a photo shoot. I walked into the trailer and Susan said, "Oh, here she is, Little Miss 'I'm dripping.'"

Q 20

PLAYBOY: Writers frequently describe you as "freshly scrubbed." Who would you like to bathe?

Dana Delany: Bono. He's greasy. And I'd like to meet him.