Fiona Apple

How are you? Your voice sounds a little ragged. I just woke up. I was out really, really late last night. I went to a reading--and then I went out and drank. I had a lot of red wine during the reading. That was fine. But then I had vodka, and that tipped the scales.

Tell me about someone gay or lesbian who influenced you. There isn't one particular person, but my dad [actor Brandon Maggart] starred on this TV show called Brothers, which was one of the first that had regular gay characters. I remember an episode where a character came out to his father, and the father didn't accept him. I was 8 years old at the time, and I went right home and prayed to God--and I don't come from a religious family--that I would have a gay child.

Your dad also stars in the infamous 1980 B movie Christmas Evil. Are you a fan? I've never watched the entire thing because it freaks me out so much. We used to have these great promo T-shirts from that movie. It was a drawing of my father, done up in the Santa garb...with a big shiny knife in his hand!

How did you react when the unfinished version of Extraordinary Machine wound up all over the Internet? It was strange, because I had just gotten a computer. I couldn't resist temptation, and I did a search on my own name, and [the leaked album] was the first thing I found. It was horrible. I just remember my stomach dropping out of my body. I felt like, You have no control over anything, ever.

Early on you enjoyed a highly publicized friendship with Marilyn Manson. Did you attend the nuptials of Manson and burlesque star Dita Von Teese? No, but I saw the pictures in Vanity Fair. I haven't heard from Manson in a while, but I would be delighted to. He's such a cool guy. And I met her recently, and she was very sweet and so beautiful.

Speaking of romantic partners: Your ex-boyfriend, illusionist David Blaine, regularly risks his life in public. How do you cope? I don't watch. I knew [the "Drowned Alive" stunt] was happening, but I wanted to wait until it was all over. It would stress me out too much. But I did look David up the morning after [he surfaced] to see how he was, and I'm glad he's OK. I love David, and he is still one of my favorite people.