Oscar-winning actress Geena Davis met with Contributing Editor David Rensin wearing a yellow dress with a tiny print, her long, curly locks, seen in Beetlejuice, The Accidental Tourist and Earth Girls Are Easy, replaced with a new haircut in a singular shade of red. When lunch arrived--a turkey sandwich and potato chips--Gina set it on the carpet in front of the couch. From time to time, she cast an eye in its direction. "I bet you'll write, 'She kept staring at the turkey sandwich,'" she said.

Q 1

PLAYBOY: America got its first peek at you in Tootsie--in your underwear. Is that how you imagined your big break?

Geena Davis: When I went to the audition, they said, "It's a movie with Dustin Hoffman" and I said, "Right, fat chance." So I was just fooling around. I had no idea that it would pan out. It was one of those fabulous life experiences. [Pauses] It's not been the same since. I've had great parts, but that was the only time in my life that I'd wake up every morning and say "Oh, yeah, I get to go work on the movie!" It was absolutely like when you're in love and you're just floating and everything is wonderful and your whole life is perfect.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: After studying acting in college, you went to New York to make your fortune. What can a gal see in the big city?

Geena Davis: I'd always wanted to see a play on Broadway. I'd had some idea that it was going to be mind-blowing, that I would just go nuts and it would be the most fabulous thing ever. And I was so disappointed. I thought, It's boring and regular and I've already seen plays that were as good as this. Broadway itself seemed crummy and dirty. Of course, I'd never been to New York before. After I'd lived there awhile, I loved it and everything about it. [Pauses] There have been a few things that I'd fantasized would be so fabulous and so ga-lamourous that I'd be blown away. Las Vegas was another. I had some image from the movies that there would be people in evening gowns throwing dice and stuff, but it was more like a Greyhound bus station.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: Describe the magic of a Las Vegas wedding--yours, for instance, to actor Jeff Goldblum.

Geena Davis: It was Jeff's birthday a few days before and we wanted to go somewhere we'd never been and have this fabulously exciting time that would blow our minds. We got there and were instantly and unutterably depressed about how it looked: It wasn't even groups of people having fun and betting and screaming; it was single people not speaking to anybody, just grim and very depressing. Then we had this very depressing dinner and we couldn't think of what to do next. Should we see a show, or would that depress us, too? And then some friends we were with said, "Why don't you get married? Or at least we'll go see what the wedding place is like." Later, when they started leading us to the altar, I started crying [smiles]. But at the time, it seemed the thing to do to try to whip some excitement into this weekend. Then we became terrifically excited and ended the evening just screaming.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: Your home decor includes lifesized-cow and giant-chicken sculptures. Explain your barnyard obsession.

Geena Davis: I'm fascinated with large things and funny things, things that look like cartoons. I got the cow first. Jeff gave it to me for Christmas. One Christmas morning a couple of years ago, I was looking for my present. It wasn't under the tree. Jeff said it was being delivered. And I started thinking, Oh, boy, it's big, and I love large presents. Pretty soon, this big cow's head started coming through the door. I'd seen this fiberglass cow when I was driving about six months before and I'd said, "Guess what? There's this cow on the street and you can buy it." Jeff didn't seem that enthusiastic, but he remembered. Then another day, we were driving down Melrose in two cars, and in front of one store, I saw the big chicken. It's about eight and a half feet tall. I started honking at Jeff: "Hey hey hey! Pull over." I said, "That chicken--we gotta go buy it." I don't know what Jeff was thinking about, but I was very determined.

Q 5

PLAYBOY: Any other animals you want to add to the collection?

Geena Davis: I've seen horses, but I don't know; it's got to have a certain something that strikes me. A big duck or something would be good [smiles]. Actually, there's a dinosaur I've seen on the Columbia [Pictures] Ranch [used for location shooting]. It's about two stories high, a Tyrannosaurus, and it's all messed up. But I had an idea how to get it and told Jeff, "I bet if we told Columbia we'd fix it up if they'd lend it to us, and they could borrow it back any time they wanted, we'd get it. We could put it behind the guesthouse so it's rising over the top. It would really scare the shit out of people."