Sharon Tate: “I only got called for gore movies... until Tarantino rescued me.”

Sharon Tate's mansion at 10050 Cielo Drive, north of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, is a "French country-style" house, according to architectural magazines. To reach it, you have to cross a vast garden of pine and cherry trees, flanked by ravines and with a turquoise pool shimmering to the left of the path. The actress—who received an honorary Oscar for her lifetime achievement this year—comes out onto the porch to greet us, surrounded by Chihuahuas: "Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson just passed away. What a great couple they make, haven't you found them?" she comments, wearing a short, flared Armani dress, at her improbable 82 years of age. “Isn't Gabriel Lerman here today?” he asks. “What a shame. We're very good friends. He interviewed me in the late 1980s, when I first arrived in Hollywood, and I only need to look into his eyes after a premiere to know if I've done a good job or not.” Suddenly, an engine is heard, and we see a Chevrolet 2500 Silverado Fleetside pickup truck leaving the garage.

“My kids were happy hippies with fun clothes, fringed pants, and loafers.”

Isn't Quentin Tarantino driving?

Do you really need to tell this? Please be discreet. A lot of outrageous things have been written, and Quentin and I are just friends. Our relationship is professional, and we're exploring potential projects. Please, I could almost be his mother...

His career owes a lot to...

Quentin rescued me in the '90s, when I'd been stuck in gore films for a few years. Hollywood only offered me splatter films with lots of blood and guts. To make good films, I had to go to Europe. Maybe I haven't been able to navigate this industry well; I struggled with it when I was young because I was very shy. Sam Peckinpah even rejected me for that reason. My first major role was in Devil's Eye, a horror film where I was lucky enough to have excellent actors like David Niven and Deborah Kerr alongside me.

And, shortly after, she worked with her future husband, Roman Polanski.

He hired me for The Vampire Diaries. I was a perfectionist; for one of the sequences, we shot 70 takes! Then I made a terrible film, Don't Make Waves, with Tony Curtis and Claudia Cardinale, who advertised on the streets with huge posters of me in a bikini. It was the beginning of the end. I posed for Playboy, they called me 'the new Marilyn Monroe,' and I had a string of dumb blonde roles... All the Hollywood studios were run by older men, all looking for what they wanted, what I call the pre-Weinsteins. That kind of fame messed with me. I became obsessed with not changing. I didn't want to become a sophisticated diva; I wanted to be a hippie. I got fed up and ran off to Italy, where I'd lived for three years because my father was a colonel and we moved cities constantly. In fact, my first swimsuit cover was in a military newspaper, Stars and Stripes. The thing is, I spoke the language well, and at a party, I was introduced to Fellini. He rescued me first, with those unforgettable roles in Amarcord or And the Ship Sails On... but it seems that no one in the US saw those films, they kept offering me things like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer... until Quentin came along and made me the lead in Pulp Fiction 2.

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Her ex-husband, Polanski, has faced rape charges...

Don't ask me about that. He's the father of my two children. What can I say? We separated, and we've always kept in touch. I was surprised because, after the divorce, he's always been good to me. But, as an abused woman, I'm not going to trivialize or question the victims' testimonies. I think he's managed to resolve those issues through legal means, but ask the lawyers and prosecutors.

Battered woman?

Not because of him! Because of my previous boyfriend, the French actor Philippe Forquet, who once sent me to the hospital. No, please, Roman. He adored me. We got married in 1968 in London—see that photo? The thing is, he didn't believe in fidelity. Our marriage agreement consisted of him lying to me and me trying to believe him. We moved to Los Angeles, and our environment was that of Hollywood stars: Warren Beatty, Jacqueline Bisset, Joan Collins, Mia Farrow, Jane Fonda, Steve McQueen, Peter Sellers... they all came and went as they pleased, a bit like now, when the doors are always open. They were good times, although a bit chaotic. Bruce Lee gave me martial arts classes, which were very useful.

What was the children's upbringing like with Roman, in that, let's say, dissipated environment?

Very good. We didn't plan anything special, but we were open-minded. I mean, I read in a book that if you don't allow a child to break the china in the house, you'll stop their mental development. And that they go through unpleasant stages where they swear. My kids did all that and more, and it's okay. I remember telling Roman, "I'm never going to dress them in boring clothes. I want them to be really happy hippie kids with fun clothes, like fringed pants and loafers!" Those were my principles. Now they wear suits and ties!... but it's their life.

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Is it true that you will be participating in Woody Allen's next film?

Yes. He was the one who, after seeing Pulp Fiction 2, said to me, “Sharon, don’t you think they won’t consider you seriously until you’ve built a career as a comedy actress?” At first, I was unsure if he was criticizing me, but fortunately, it was a job offer.

There's a date that could have changed your life. How do you remember that August 9, 1969?

Like something horrible. Thank God, I decided to go to a party that night at the last minute, but I can't stop thinking about my friends murdered by those crazy people from the Manson Family. It's incredible that books and movies still exist that glorify that gang of lunatics. The US is the only country in the world where serial killers are heroes like soccer players.

At 82, what do you expect?

I want to live. I'm open to everything.