Actor Ione Skye, known for her breakout role in the 1989 film “Say Anything,” is giving fans a look behind her glamorous but tumultuous Hollywood life in a new memoir titled “Say Everything.”
In her memoir, the 54-year-old actress reflects on a journey that began when she was just 15, starring alongside Keanu Reeves in “River’s Edge” before sharing the screen with River Phoenix, Matthew Perry and John Cusack in the films that would cement her status as a teen idol.
“When I look back on the pictures, I almost can’t take in how young I look,” Skye said.
The memoir also details her relationship with Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis, which began when she was 16 and he was 24.
“I liked the idea of this dangerous dark prince of a rock n’ roller,” she writes, though her perspective has shifted with time.
“It shocks me. And I also feel bad for myself,” Skye said. “I’m happy I knew Anthony Kiedis and [Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist] Flea, but I wish I’d met them ten years later and never dated them.”
Kiedis struggled with heroin addiction during their relationship. When asked why she stayed, Skye said: “I thought I had to save him.”
The actress later married Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys at age 21, a relationship that lasted seven years before ending due to affairs Skye had with women. The end of this relationship in particular, Skye said, is difficult to look back on – even more than 25 years later.
“I discovered writing this book, it was very clear that I’m not good with grief. I’m not good with loss at all,” she said. “I still find it painful. I can’t even listen to a Beastie Boys song. It feels like a death to me.”
She said she feels the pain comes from not only hurting a “sweet person” but also hurting herself.
Much of Skye’s memoir explores how her relationships were shaped by the absence of her father, Scottish singer Donovan Leitch, who left when she was born.
“Hearing his beautiful music was very painful sometimes because it’s hard to see someone do beautiful art and think, ‘Where is that for me?,” she said.
The book reveals a disturbing chapter when Leitch’s attorney sent a letter requesting a paternity test when Skye was already a successful actress.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Ultimately, Skye decided against taking the paternity test. Skye says she didn’t meet her father until just before her 18th birthday.
“It was strange. I was really self-conscious in thinking we’re touching right now for the first time and hugging,” she recalled. “The sad thing is I wanted more. Yeah, I just, and I still do. I wanted to just see him again.”
Skye would have another revelation when she was pregnant and splitting up with her fiancé, designer David Netto.
“I was in the shower, pregnant and sobbing because it was so stressful. And then I thought my mother probably was pregnant with me in a shower in 1969,” she said. “That’s a very direct repeat of a pattern.”
Now living in Australia with her husband, musician Ben Lee, and their family, Skye says they share the same unique experience of early fame.
“Our careers were really big when we were teenagers and we’ve both had to deal with the ups and downs of keeping our careers going,” she said.
Five years ago, Skye took her family to visit her father and stepmother in Ireland, a trip she describes as healing. She also found connection with her father through her role in the film “Zodiac,” which featured one of his songs.
Reflecting on completing her memoir, Skye called it “an act of self-forgiveness.”
“I felt very proud. I felt like I learned a lot about myself,” she said. “I felt like it’s a bit of whiplash for a long time, but I do settle in a nice place.”
