Home away from home: inside the dressing room—and travel habits—of Hollywood's fearless fireball

It's 9:00 RM. at Silvercup Studios in Astoria, Queens. A hair stylist and makeup artist are desperately trying to work around one another, a unit publicist is making hand signals and shooting looks, and music is blaring. Through it all, actress Brittany Murphy sits perched on a chair, singing at the top of her lungs, as if those around her are just a bunch of pals hanging out in her room. She stops for a moment and asks, "What's that they say? 'If you lived here you'd be home by now."' Interesting question. Murphy moved from her native New Jersey 11 years ago to set up residence in Los Angeles, but she spends the bulk of her time on movie sets like this one. For her, home away from home is more of a reality than home sweet home, so her mission is to bring that lived-in feel on the road with her, wherever she may be.

"This is the party room," Murphy explains, pointing to the hair and makeup room here on the set of Molly Gunn, the film she's currently shooting at Silvercup. "The parking lot's my outside escape, my office is the bathroom, the set is my workplace and my dressing room is my area of recluse." One woman's area of recluse is another's cluttered, poorly painted and drably carpeted windowless room--but spruced up with a few essentials Murphy's brought with her from L.A., it's comfortable home away from home. One of the most important things to bring on set, the actress explains, is music, in this case a thick binder of CDs: "It's the necessity wherever I go." Reminders of friends and family are also a must. "I added the Polaroids," she explains, gesturing toward two walls covered with pictures. Murphy's also quick to point out that recently added items--like "the little stuffed pig that Dakota [Fanning, her co-star in Molly Gunn] gave me"--have become new favorites. Being in New York also facilitates another comfo rting perk--trips to her aunt and uncle's house in New Jersey, and frequent visits from that icon of homeyness: Mom.

Even with family so close and a cozy residence set up in the studio, there are occasional pangs of yearning for home. "I miss the people in L.A.," sighs Murphy. "But there's also this view from the top of Topanga Canyon where you can see the whole city skyline, Catalina Island and snowcapped mountains. It's so cool." For now, though, her vista of the Triborough Bridge will have to do. The music picks up, and suddenly any pining for L.A. is forgotten in favor of another sing-along. In front of the makeup mirror in the party room, surrounded by a mess of hair-dryer cords and mascara containers, Brittany Murphy is home, for now.

GRAINNE BELLUOMO: This is hard-hitting journalism, so ready yourself. It's a step up from Dateline.

BRITTANY MURPHY: So be careful! [laughs]

GB: You're originally a Jersey girl. Does being near where you grew up make it easier to feel at home?

BM: I love being near New Jersey. My aunt and uncle live there, and they have the same furniture and pictures on the wails as they did when I was growing up. They still have the same Bagel Sundays. My momma, my cousin and I go there almost every weekend when we're in New York.

GB: So is family the most important thing for you when you're trying to establish a cozy atmosphere?

BM: Oh, definitely. For me, home is where my mom is.

GB: Do you bring her on location with you wherever you go?

BM: I don't want to torture the poor woman! [both laugh] She's overwhelmingly supportive. I'm really blessed. My mother always comes to visit, and whenever I work in New York she travels with me. As soon as my feet hit this granite, I feel at home. I love being able to order Chinese food at three in the morning.

GB: It's amazing what you can get in New York at three in morning.

BM: [laughs] I've always loved living here. I was here on September ii and I became a New Yorker that day. I will be a New Yorker for the rest of my life, and I am honored to be one.

GB: Do you have an apartment here while you're shooting?

BM: I do. In Chelsea. Actually, it's on the first block I ever lived on in Manhattan, when I did a Broadway show a few years ago [A View From The Bridge from 1997-1998]. Chelsea feels warm to me. There are a lot of families. It's very homey.

GB: I read that you're a big karaoke junkie. Where do you go in New York to get your Sing-along fix?

BM: Gosh. I haven't had time to go to karaoke in so long. I really miss it. There's an authentic place in the East Village. It's the one where you get a private room--

GB:--Village Karaoke?

BM: Yes! I've been there a few times.

GB: I'm a wanna-be karaoke singer. I'm really bad. I can't sing.

BM: You don't need to sing to do karaoke.

GB: While doing my Brittany Murphy research I also read that you're an insomniac.

BM: I'm not a great sleeper, but when I've been working a lot of hours, I don't have a problem sleeping at all. [both laugh]

GB: While you've been spending time here in the glamorous movie-star environment of Astoria, Queens, have you found any new hot spots?