Rocket Science: Prue Linehan
On murals, Miami, upcycling, Winona Ryder, and hard Rs.
What’s a creative project you could see yourself getting into?
Probably something related to upcycling textiles, particularly around clothes for kids. I’ve dabbled a bit turning old shirts and cool pieces of material into baby rompers and things that kids could run around in that wouldn’t need to be brand new.
When my sister had my niece, Lotte, she was the first niece or nephew on my side of the family and I made her some cool outfits. You wouldn’t believe the amount of new stuff that they got for this child before she even arrived! Then, when she was here, the outfits they didn’t even get to before she’d grown out of their size was just crazy.
I often get clothes from thrift stores and vintage stores and Etsy. It feels like I’m leaving less of a footprint. Lotte and her parents live back in Melbourne, so it’s also a way to connect from the other side of the world.
What’s your favorite Colossal billboard?
I love this spot in Williamsburg, on the corner of North 12th and Berry. I just think it’s a killer location, right off McCarren Park. We had Kendall Jenner come by that wall for a campaign we did: a paint-by-numbers artwork done by the artist Alice Mizrachi.
We have this incredible artwork up there at the moment for an overseas fashion retailer. Their artwork is insane. The wall is actually in the artwork and then again in the artwork. It’s one of the most beautiful murals we’ve done this year.
What’s the best hotel or Airbnb you’ve stayed at recently?
Ooh. It’d have to be in Miami. We stayed at a place called the COMO Metropolitan in Miami Beach, and it was an art deco dream. Everything was curved edges and extra layers and white leather and dramatic lighting. I loved it.
Miami for me is the most insane location I’ve ever seen. I assumed it would be a couple of touristy streets with interesting architecture, but the entire place is like this huge art deco city and it’s so sunny. It is just the most American place and I’m obsessed with it. I could not imagine it existing anywhere else in the world.
Could you live in Miami?
Oh my God, I would love to live in Miami part-time. I feel like that could be my alter ego. I’m dressed in all-black in New York, but in Miami I could go fluorescent. Different name, bleach blonde hair. Sun and water every day. I’d get a little dog. If I wanna drive up to my house in a speedboat, I’ll do that as well.
What’s your favorite wall decoration in your home?
I have this little toy plane which I love. It’s from Prue-ve Your Love, a Valentine’s Day Kickstarter project organized by my then-boyfriend, now-husband Alex. The idea was to crowdfund an airplane to fly over Melbourne carrying a banner that said, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Prue. Love Me.”
All the boyfriends of people named Prue could donate and claim that they had done this for their girlfriend. Small hitch: not very many people are named Prue. If I was a Kate or a Jessica or something, it may have been a little bit easier.
You could donate and get “Prue Lover” merch and that sort of stuff. That plane was a gift for the highest Kickstarter donation, and I had a vested interest, so I backed it. The plane is flying across a corner of our apartment, but I brought it with us all the way from Melbourne and it will probably always be hanging up somewhere no matter where we live.
What’s a film or actor you feel should get more recognition?
Ok, I recently watched Heathers for the first time. It had an average rating, like three out of five or something. This feels like a classic that everyone knows, so why this bum rating? I thought maybe nobody went for it 30 years ago and it became a cult classic.
The film was hugely influential, which I’m learning after the fact. I’ve watched Mean Girls so many times and never realized that actually I was watching Heathers. The same goes for Jawbreaker and almost every teen movie that’s come out since. They all owe something to Heathers. That’s been happening in my life a lot recently, where I’ll admire something and then discover it’s inspired by something incredibly famous.
Seeing Winona Rider, I was like, “Fuck. She’s cool.” She’s having this nice comeback, she’s so lovable and vulnerable in Stranger Things. Perfect casting. I think her performance in Heathers created an archetype that affected movies in ways we haven’t quite realized until now.
What’s your best music discovery of 2019?
I actually rediscovered The xx. It was their ten-year anniversary a few weeks ago, and I got an email from them. Turns out I’m signed up to their fan base newsletter and I had no idea!
They’re a UK group led by a famous DJ named Jamie xx. Back on my old job in Melbourne, we did a big campaign for them and got tickets to go see them. They were really great. They also had these very distinct, very British videos.
Biggest adjustment living in America.
It’s strange, but I think language is probably the biggest thing. I lived in the UK for a couple of years and had no problem, but I didn’t fully understand the nuances of U.S. English in comparison. I find myself in situations quite often where no one has any idea what I’m talking about.
It’s the little things, like the way we say the time. I’m much more prone to saying “half past four” instead of 4:30. Or I’ll say “fortnight” and people think I’m talking about the game, “That was a fortnight ago.”
Celsius there versus Fahrenheit here, so I’m always doing the math. There are little bites of language which carry so much weight back home that mean absolutely nothing to anyone here. Also, Australians don’t use the “R” very hard, so I have to roll my Rs for anyone to really understand. But I’m like, “This is survival. Rs are survival in America.”
