Life is much different now than it used to be, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. As the face of Boss Alive, Emma Roberts is coloring certainty to the otherwise existential.
Just like most, Emma Roberts isn’t much of an early morning person, she admits, but these days, the actress and avid reader finds herself getting a head start sooner because of her son, Rhodes. This is good news for us, because by the time the 9:00 AM light of Los Angeles trickles in, a lot of ground was covered, including the beginning of this conversation, and surprisingly, a lot of talk on Christmas.
“I’m not an early morning person, but waking up with him early, it always feels like Christmas, even if I’m really tired,” she says, her voice sparkling and sincere. “Well, I definitely have to be alive much earlier in the morning now that I’m a mom. But no, it’s been amazing. It’s completely obviously changed my life and has just given me so much joy. Especially, it happened during a year where it was just such a crazy year for everybody in the world and I felt so grateful that I had something else to focus on, which was my son.”
While there was a considerable distance between us, including the infamous third world internet connection that is beyond exasperation at this point, Emma Roberts is bright and warm, much like the sunshine coloring the lines of La La Land. In so little words, Emma Roberts is every bit the ebullient embodiment and emotional expression of being alive.
Existential, Why Not?
As broad of a stroke as it is, after all, one can argue that each breath drawn already means alive, Emma Roberts is putting context to the otherwise existential. Whether it’s a good book, a core memory made permanent in a scent, or traveling, she is finding ways to be present, living life to the fullest in each moment. “Especially coming out of this pandemic, any time I get a chance to travel or see somewhere new and try new things, that makes me feel alive,” she says, particularly underscoring the need to treasure every bit of life at every given point. “And I’m so much more grateful for the travels I get to have now that we don’t get to travel as much.”
But more than anything, there is a sense of clarity calcifying in the consciousness that in all her pursuits, she just wants to be herself. So, when Hugo Boss connected with her to be the face of the fragrance, Alive, it was more than a dream come true, because other than it being a fashion brand she loves, it was made specific that in this undertaking, there was to be no pretense—she was simply going to have fun.
“That felt really good,” she shares, “to know that I could just be myself and really have fun with the shoot and not feel pressured or be made to look like somebody else.”
Of Feminine Freedom
With an ease in the self, Emma Roberts comes alive in the campaign images and videos for Boss Alive, which at one point has her singing along to the decidedly liberating anthem, What’s Up by the Four Non-Blondes. Characteristic to the soundtrack, there is a sense of empowerment that courses through the chemistry of the pink-tinted fragrance, Alive. With its sensual swirl of apple and blackcurrant, vanilla, plum, cinnamon, Indian jasmine sambac, Chinese cedarwood, and sandalwood, there is delicious and delicate balance that is vibrant and reassuring, as if it is comfort in a bottle.
“One of the things I loved about the campaign was it was very natural. It wasn’t retouched,” she recounts of the female- coming together with Laura Harrier Bruna Marquezine, and Chloe Bennet, as well as of photographer Collier Schorr, perfumer Annick Ménardo, designer Amelie Riech, and director Rebecca Zlotowski. “It was really showing all of us women as who we are on the outside, but also on the inside. I feel like all of our personalities really came out in the photos and I just loved seeing them all next to each other.” This was, to say the least, a persistence of feminine freedom.
“It was really special, too, when my little sister was traveling and there was, I guess, a big BOSS Alive ad in one of the airports and she sent it to me,” Emma Roberts wistfully recalls. “She was so excited and was like, ‘You look so amazing. You look like you.’ And that made me feel really good.”
Feel Alive
If anything, Emma Roberts is committed. Whether it to be through a scent, the joys of life, or her son, she is guided by a sense of permanence that dog-ears the pages of her days. “Well, that’s the thing that I love about fragrance is it really brings back memories. And if I smell a perfume that I used to wear in high school, I’m immediately transported back to high school. And for me, Alive, now that I’ve been wearing it for a few years now, it’s just my scent. And I just love committing to a scent,” she says. “I don’t change my scent often. I really stick to one for years, so it just becomes part of my daily routine where even if I’m not putting on makeup or doing my hair, I never go a day without doing a spritz of perfume.”
And just like the familiar comforts of the morning, whether it be another day in Hollywood or the everyday Christmas with her son, there will always be that gentle, graceful reminder of what makes Emma Roberts feel, well, alive.
CONTINUE READING: REVISIT AN ACHING FIRST LOVE IN CALL ME BY YOUR NAME WITH THIS PEACHY SCENT
