How the ‘Cream’ Rose

Singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins is talking about women’s roles in movies over late-night coffee in Santa Monica.

“What’s going on in ‘A Thousand Acres’ and ‘Paradise Road’ is women are taking charge in ways that are not usually allowed on film. There is one scene [in “Acres”] where Michelle [Pfeiffer] goes, ‘Daddy, you lost!’ ” Hawkins delivers the line in her best Pfeiffer imitation before continuing on in her normally husky voice. “And you feel all of the angst and anger [of] her whole life went into that moment.”

It is not odd that movies are on Hawkins’ mind. The singer is the subject of director Gigi Gaston’s unreleased documentary “The Cream Will Rise.” And it is not unusual that strong women would be her focal point. Since her fast rise to stardom in 1992 with the risque “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” from the album “Tongues and Tails,” Hawkins portrayed herself as an unapologetically strong woman long before the Lilith Fair tour made she-power cool. “I identify my sexuality with my soul, not with someone else’s gender,” explains Hawkins, who calls herself “omnisexual.”

Tonight, the native New Yorker appears to have adapted quite well to Los Angeles. She rode her bike to this interview. Wearing faded gray corduroy pants and a sweatshirt, she talks about why she gave the reins to first-timer Gaston. “I was really curious as to why Gigi wanted to do it. I didn’t know what I was to the outside world. I have a strong sense of myself but I had no idea how I projected out into the world. I had never seen myself perform.”

The idea sprang full-blown into Gaston’s mind after watching one of Hawkins’ rehearsals. The two had met a few nights earlier by chance while having dinner with mutual friends in February 1996. They clicked and Hawkins invited Gaston to a rehearsal, insisting that she say for a couple of hours. As Gaston recalls, “I came and stayed eight. I was just so fascinated by her that I offered to do a documentary on her, and she said, ‘yah, yeah, so many people say that,’ and I said, ‘I want to,’ and she said, ‘Go ahead.’ ”

But at that time, Gaston didn’t know any potential crew members, own a camera or have any directing experience. She was a former Olympic equestrian who had started writing film scripts. “I called my assistant’s friend who had painted my kitchen. She had mentioned that she had worked on movies,” Gaston says with a laugh. That woman was Anne Attalla, who served as line producer. With a couple of years of commercial and film work to her credit, Attalla would prove invaluable.

“Any job that I could take here in L.A. made me psyched,” says Attalla.

Even with assistance, Gaston began rethinking her initial proposition. She had recently sold a screenplay to Drew Barrymore [“Like a Lady”] and wondered if she should stick exclusively to writing. “I had never directed and I thought, ‘What am I doing?”’ Excuses to drop out of the project raced through her head while driving to pick up Hawkins for lunch. “Then Sophie gets in my car and says, ‘God, you know the line about L.A. is everyone says, “We’ll have lunch,” but never calls you. But you are really amazing; you say that you’re going to do this documentary and you are really doing it.’

“Then she said, ‘So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?’ and I said, ‘Never mind.’ ”

Gaston admits that originally the project was to be a documentary exploring Hawkins’ music as the singer embarked on her 30-city “Moxy Tour” in April 1996. But a visit to Hawkins’ mother in New York unleashed childhood memories--some good and some bad. “After hearing Sophie’s songs, I asked her was she sure that she had a good family upbringing,” recalls Gaston. “And to my recollection she said, ‘Yeah, it was totally normal.’ ”

“I didn’t say that it was normal,” Hawkins says matter-of-factly.

“But she didn’t give any indication as to what I was to find. I knew that Sophie had demons but I didn’t know exactly what they were.”

Those demons from Hawkins’ childhood contributed to her leaving home at 14 and moving in with a 40-year old man, Gordy Ryan, who taught African drumming techniques. The relationship deepened her knowledge of music and herself. “When I got involved with him, my whole world changed,” explains Hawkins.

Fear of fame is one of the many things addressed in “The Cream Will Rise,” along with what Hawkins believes was a childhood episode of sexual abuse, alcoholism in her family and her own anorexia. Hawkins’ music--new songs along with cuts from her first and second albums--are woven among interviews and concert footage.

There is a mix of unconditional love and hurt when Hawkins talks about her parents, especially her mother. “When you look at my mother, and this is what I think is interesting about the documentary, Mummy is so complex in her emotions.”

Hawkins’ mother comes across as a proud parent who at times battles with the past. There are touching moments when she shares her daughter’s realization of abuse, only to recant. “Those are some of the hard parts because her mom goes back and forth on some things,” admits Gaston. (Her mother has not seen the entire film.)

Born in New York City, Hawkins was the second child of three who developed an interest in music as a teenager. Her father was an antitrust lawyer and her mother a writer. Nicky, her brother, was also interviewed about their upbringing; some family members were not willing to be a part of the project so their names were bleeped out of the finished film. But that was just one of the problems that threatened the project. After six months of shooting, Federal Express lost their footage for a couple of months. “It went to 10 different states before we got it [back],” says Gaston.

Working with a small crew also had its challenges. “We had a huge crew of six that would go down to one,” says Gaston.

Hawkins even filmed some of the footage. The obstacles worked to their advantage because Gaston was able to get intimate footage. “They [the camera crew] would not go in tight enough on Sophie when she was performing. And I asked Anne [Attalla], ‘What are they scared of? Her sexuality?’

“In the beginning when she is playing the guitar with her tongue--I got that shot.”

“Then Gigi would show up with a little beat box to record the music,” an amused Hawkins says, smiling. “I was tearing my hair out. The sound is important because the point of a documentary is to make me look like a rock star.”

Judging from the Los Angeles Outfest and Aspen film festivals, audiences see the film as more than a “truth or dare” flick. “What I hope people get out of this film is that even if you had a really rotten childhood you can still achieve your goals,” says Gaston. “Everyone was coming up to her at Outfest telling her that she is bigger than life.”

Big enough, they hope, for a theatrical release. “My attitude is to release it when my album [“Timbre”] comes out. But Gigi would like to do it now,” says Hawkins. “See, I’m a Scorpio and I like to sit back and wait for my moment.”