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Her father was the celebrated director John Huston so Anjelica Huston was bitten by the movie bug early on. She's appeared in a boggling variety of films from Prizzi's Honor, to The Grifters and The Addams Family. She's since defined an icy alter ego working with director Wes Anderon in %3Ca%20href="%3Ca%20href="/films/2002/02/05/the_royal_tenenbaums_2002_review.shtml">The Royal Tenenbaums and his latest project %3Ca%20href="%3Ca%20href="/films/2005/02/07/the_life_aquatic_2005_review.shtml">The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, in which she plays the hardnosed wife of Bill Murray's errant oceanographer.

How familiar were you with the films of Jacques Cousteau [which inspired this movie]?

I grew up on those kinds of documentaries and one particularly trenchant memory was the one about the baby walrus that cries. You know, I always wound up crying with those things. They were bittersweet and there's something about Wes' movie too that has the bittersweetness of those adventures.

Was it the thought of life on the ocean wave that appealed to you about this movie, as well as the chance to work with Wes Anderson again?

I do like the ocean wave actually. I'm born under the sign of Cancer - the sign of the crab - so I like coastal areas and sunny beaches and such - although not the wide-open and deep seas which quite often Bill Murray and Wes [Anderson, director] found themselves upon in mid January. But I love working with Wes because he's very intelligent and also I think his movies have a... He's an author and I really like his sensibility. His films are really smart and really beautiful. The whole package appeals to me.

It must also be flattering to know that he wrote the part of Eleanor specifically for you?

Yes, that is flattering. Particularly after the first time we worked together [on The Royal Tenenbaums], people were talking about Wes' next project, which was going to be about life on the open sea, which sounds delightful when you're in a small cramped house in Harlem. So I had a kind of hankering to be wanted for that movie, but you know, I didn't say anything. Then Bill Murray and I had a scene in the movie where we were trying to get into Gwyneth Paltrow's bathroom and we came up from the keyhole and Wes went, "Hmm. I have an idea..." And I thought, 'A-ha! That might be good.' Happily that turned into The Life Aquatic for me.

Bill Murray is something of enigma. Did you notice a method in his acting?

Yes, there is method in the man. Working with Bill is a bit like being on a high diving board and not knowing quite how deep the water is that you're jumping into. There are moments with Bill where your trailer door will fly open at 7 o'clock in the morning and he'll come in with an armload of narcissus and start your coffeemaker and you'll feel like he really, truly loves you. And then there'll be another day when he invites the entire cast and crew to dinner - but not you. And you'll wonder if this has anything to with, I don't know... halitosis! And so it's a little bit hard to negotiate that idea because I think most actors like to be liked. The thing about Bill, because his particular brand of intelligence requires some sort of comeback, sometimes I felt myself getting trepidatious around him - because he can run you down like a steamroller. On the days when I did come back at him, I felt he liked me better than the other days. That was also hard because those were generally the days when Eleanor and Steve [Bill's character] were getting on. So, I find him something of a man of mystery, but also extremely charming and really smart.

Apparently there were problems involved in shooting summer scenes in winter. How was that for you?

Well, everything was fine when we first began the movie and then it got progressively colder. Finally there was a scene where I had to wave to the guys on a zodiac as they leave the island and it was too cold to do, so I called the brilliant Milena Canonero [costume designer] and I said, "We can't do this in these summer clothes. It's ice cold! It's bitter!" And she said, "I don't know what we're going to do, because Wes wants this shot." And I said, "Well, get me a wetsuit." And she said, "I asked Wes and he does not want you to wear a wetsuit." I said, "I'm wearing a wetsuit. I don't care." That is the only reason that shot exists otherwise it was just, like, "No."

Is it true you're thinking of making a documentary about your father [director John Huston]?

Strangely enough they're starting a film festival in Puerto Vallarta, which was my father's last home. Anyway I went down there for this festival and it seemed that when he was living there and writing his autobiography, he spoke for about four years with a friend of his who's a poker player and a spook - a CIA guy called Bill Reed. So I received a telephone call from Bill to tell me that he wanted me to stop by his apartment - he had something to give me. Well, I stopped by and he gave me a box of tapes, 120 hours worth of dialogue tapes, about his personal life, his films, his children, the whole deal. I've yet to listen to these but I think it would probably be a really nice project to start on. It's Bill's wish that I go to work on a documentary, but I would really like to see some sort of examination of my father's work with narration by him about all the films. It may be painful, it may be cathartic - I'm not quite sure. I'm going to have to see where it goes.

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou is released in London's West End on Friday 18th February and in UK cinemas nationwide on Friday 25th February 2005.