Here are some photos of Lenny Kravitz nomadically wandering the streets of New York City on Friday. Please don’t ask me exactly how Lenny manages to look burning hot as he wears the largest scarf in the entire universe because there is simply no way that I can answer that question in good faith. Why question what IS? Oh, Lenny. He could look good while frolicking in a mountain of sewage.

Lenny is actually enjoying a bit of precious downtime after performing at the halftime show for the New York Jets on Thanksgiving. He’s actually a huge Joe Namath fan and gave an interview to NY Mag’s Vulture blog about his childhood memory of tossing the ball with Joe, who was his across-the-street neighbor. While I haven’t included those portions of the discussion (it’s sort of an “inside sports” thing), the full interview is available here. In the meantime, here are some excerpts about Lenny’s experience on the set of The Butler, which features co-stars Jane Fonda (who plays Nancy Reagan) and Oprah Winfrey. In an odd move, he reveals a massive crush on Jane! Also, Lenny has been tipped to play Marvin Gaye in an upcoming biopic:

On the Jets halftime show, which benefited Sandy victims: “It was not about me. I did lose all my musical equipment, all of my touring equipment in a facility in Hoboken, New Jersey — 20 years worth of things. But, you know, those are material things. That doesn’t match somebody losing their home and being in the cold and not being able to live. I feel for anybody that was affected by this storm. I’ve been traveling on the road — I’m coming to NYC tonight.”

On working with Oprah: “She can be so down to earth and regular, just blend in. We were all there to be actors, you know? Very low key about it. And very dedicated to giving the best performance and doing whatever that took.”

He loves Jane Fonda: “Ohhhh, I have a big crush on Jane Fonda. No, no, she’s still hot — very hot. And what an amazing actress. She’s very humble. It was an honor to be in her presence.”

On his type of woman: “I grew up around strong women, so I’m very attracted to that. My mother, my grandmother, my aunts — they were the people in the family that were so strong and supportive. I’m used to that kind of character.”

Has Hunger Games changed his fan base? “Um, well, I have eight-year-old kids coming up to me who know me as Cinna and have no idea that I make music.”

Are the rumors true about his Marvin Gaye role? “I have been working with Julien [Temple, director], and that’s all I can say right now. We’ll be shooting next year. There’ll be more to come, information-wise, very shortly.”

Will he change his singing voice for the role? “It’s hardcore, and I’m approaching with a lot of respect. I’m going to have to change everything. It’s going to take a lot. I wouldn’t say I’m scared, but it’s a great challenge.”

[From Vulture]

Certainly, the choice of Lenny to play Marvin Gaye won’t be nearly as controversial as Amy Adams playing Janis Joplin. Rather, Lenny seems like a natural choice for the role to play the crooner; even though he’ll undoubtedly have to adjust his singing voice, Lenny’s got the sex appeal to play Marvin in spades. This will be one to watch for sure.

Here’s a photo (from Lenny’s Twitter page) of the hot one with Jane Fonda on the set of The Butler. I’ve also included a few more photos from the set where Lenny’s wearing face prosthetics to make him look heavier.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Instagram

At first glance, I was all like “whatever” when I spotted the Enquirer’s headline about Nick Cannon being jealous of Mariah Carey getting all kinds of friendly with Lenny Kravitz. But it makes sense, really. Mariah and Lenny apparently go way back, and they’ve been in two movies together lately — 2009′s Precious and the upcoming The Butler — so they’re not exactly mere casual acquaintances in the biz. Certainly, Nick has been aware of their friendship, but he hasn’t let it get to him; that is, until now.

The trouble all started when Mariah (who has so far shown herself to be quite opinionated on the topic of prospective fellow “American Idol” judges) decided to take to her Twitter account in an effort to convince “Idol” producers to consider Lenny Kravitz as a judge. She tweeted the above photo of herself with Lenny as well. Of course, I kind of doubt Lenny even has “Idol” on his radar at all because he’s always so busy with his international touring and, you know, being so damn fabulous on his own. Then again, I also assumed Lenny was too cool to hang with Gwyneth Paltrow (let alone allow her to call him “Leonard”), but I was wrong on that account. For whatever reason, Lenny is playing along with Mariah’s suggestion for now, and he answered her tweet favorably. Now Nick has reportedly grown quite irritated with all of this madness, and here’s the details from the Enquirer:

Mariah Carey and hubby Nick Cannon are back at each other’s throats — over her too-close-for-comfort relationship with rockin’ ladies’ man Lenny Kravitz! “America’s Got Talent” host Nick, 31, hit the roof when Mariah suggested Lenny, 48, join her as a judge on “American Idol,” sources say.

“Mariah and Lenny have been friends since they were young,” said a source. “They had a crush on each other, and all their friends knew it.” The two Grammy winners worked together on the 2009 movie Precious, and they were both in New Orleans recently filming the upcoming movie, The Butler.

And Nick blew up when Mariah, 43, posted a picture of herself with the “American Woman” singer on her Twitter page on Aug. 20 with a message urging “Idol” brass to hire him. “Mariah told Nick to relax because lenny probably wouldn’t even consider doing the show,” said the source.

“But Nick told her, ‘That’s not the point! I know how you feel about him!’ mariah assured Nick that she and Lenny are just good friends, but Nick’s not so sure.”

His suspicions first heated up in May when Kravitz posted a cozy picture of him with his arm around Mariah’s waist on his Facebook page. The two had bumped into each other in Morocco while Kravitz was on tour and Mariah was vacationing with the couple’s twins Moroccan and Monroe.

“Although Nick was upset at the time, he let it go,” said the insider. “But now that Mariah’s actively campaigning to get Lenny on ‘Idol,’ he’s convinced that she has more history with Lenny than she’s let on. And it’s eating away at him!”

As The Enquirer has reported, Nick’s already hunappy about Mariah taking the “idol” job because it competes directly with his show.

[From The Enquirer, print edition, September 20, 2012]

Meanwhile, there’s a story in this week’s Star about how Nick is pushing Mariah to have more kids, but since she’s just about to start “Idol,” Mariah told Nick that “her career is her baby now.” Uh-oh. There have already been murmurs about Nick not exactly being thrilled with Mariah’s new gig, but I hope they can weather the storm. They kind of have to, really. I don’t think either one of them could find partners to keep up with their respective idiosyncracies at this point. Mariah is definitely far too high maintenance for someone like Lenny.

Mostly, this post also provides me with a great excuse to post some recent photos of Lenny Kravitz. Here he is in NYC’s East Village on 8/23 and onstage in Switzerland on 7/20. Lenny just doesn’t age at all, and he’s looking mighty fine for 48 years.

Photos courtesy of Twitter and WENN

The last we heard from Elisabetta Canalis, she was a cautionary tale for all of the George Clooney’s dumped pieces. After allegedly bearding for Mehcad Brooks (if you believe he’s gay), Canalis found herself in a relationship with Jackass Steve-O. Steve-O allegedly dumped Elisabetta back in April because HE found HER partying to be excessive. Think about that for a minute… how much blow do you have to do for Steve-O to be like, “Whoa, this is too much”? Anyway, I was happy enough to never pay attention to Elisabetta’s dating life again, but she might have just scored another “big fish”. Probably not… but it’s still worth mentioning. The Mail reports that Elisabetta might be seeing Lenny Kravitz. Kravitz was just mentioned in conjunction with Vanessa Paradis last week too. Hmm.

Singer Lenny Kravitz has found a new girlfriend – Italian actress and model Elisabetta Canalis. A former girlfriend of George Clooney, Elisabetta, was watching in the wings as the 48-year-old rocker headlined the final day of the 123 Festival in Ibiza last week.

‘Lenny and Elisabetta arrived together and were seen looking cosy in the VIP area,’ says an insider at the Ocean Beach Club. ‘They seemed to be getting on really well and they doubled up with Naomi Campbell and boyfriend Vladimir Doronin.’

Let’s hope Vladimir isn’t the jealous type – Lenny and Naomi were rumoured to have had a fling in the Nineties.

[From The Mail]

Good God, Lenny certainly gets around, doesn’t he? He was married Lisa Bonet, he dated Nicole Kidman and maybe Vanessa Paradis AND Naomi Campbell and now he might be boning Elisabetta Canalis? And those are just the girls we know about! Who’s Dated Who has a longer list too – a list that includes Michelle Rodriguez, Devon Aoki, Madonna, Marisa Tomei, Kylie Minogue and Adriana Lima. For the love of God!!! But you know what that tells me? Lenny has a thing for A-list and B-list talent – models and actresses almost exclusively. Why would he go with Elisabetta Canalis? She’s… uh… not of that caliber, you know?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

All we’ve been talking about for the past week is the Katie Holmes-Tom Cruise divorce. Okay, it’s not ALL we’ve been discussing, but other “important” gossip stories have definitely been pushed to the wayside. Are you wondering what’s going on with Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis? You’re in luck! The Enquirer has two interesting stories, both of them centering around how Vanessa Paradis is dealing. First up: Vanessa is “mending her broken heart” with Kravitz dong. God, I hope this is true:

In the wake of her split with Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis is mending her broken heart with help from her ex-beau Lenny Kravitz. Vanessa dated Kravitz back in the early 1990s, but they stayed in touch during her 14 years with Depp, sources say.

“Before Vanessa met Johnny, Lenny was the love of her life,” a family friend told The Enquirer. “Although their romance didn’t last long, they remained close friends over the years and she didn’t hesitate to call him.”

After Vanessa and Johnny split, Vanessa leaned on Kravitz, with sources claiming, “Vanessa has been calling Lenny over the past few months while she and Johnny have been on the rocks. She needed to talk to someone who would understand and not make any judgments. She knew Lenny would be there for her, and he told Vanessa to reach out to him whenever she felt low. Vanessa usually calls Lenny in tears, but by the time they hang up an hour or two later, she’s in much better spirits and even laughing.”

[From The Enquirer, print edition]

You know who else Lenny soothed right after a bad breakup? Nicole Kidman! Do you remember that? Lenny and Nicole dated in 2003 – it was a “summer romance” that extended through the better part of a year. Lenny sure goes in for the kill when a woman is good and vulnerable, huh?

Meanwhile, the other Depp-Paradis story is kind of blah – it’s all about Vanessa being “absolutely distraught” upon realizing how far Johnny’s affair with Amber Heard had gone. Vanessa knew something was up between Amber and Johnny during their promotion of The Rum Diary (when Johnny and Amber were photographed looking very friendly), but sources say “Vanessa can’t believe that Amber was most likely in the picture as far back as 2009” – which is when Johnny was filming The Rum Diary. Vanessa feels like “Johnny walked out on their family” and “she’ll never forgive him.” Oh, and Vanessa allegedly sent Amber a message through their respective management teams – Vanessa ordered Amber to stay away from children Lily-Rose and Jack. Vanessa “doesn’t want them anywhere near Amber… she’s told Johnny her wishes, but rumors are flying that Johnny’s so obsessed with Amber that she gets away with murder. He’s even fired two of his assistants in the past four months for not keeping up with her demands.”

Oh, and beyond that, some of you Johnny-Amber deniers had a field day with those photos last week of Amber having a photo-op with her (ex?) girlfriend Taysa van Ree. The Enquirer says that the photo-op wasn’t about romance – “Amber couldn’t wait to tell Tasya all about Johnny!”

Photos courtesy of WENN.

The Hunger Games is almost here! If you couldn’t tell, I’m a little bit excited for next Friday’s event and have already secured tickets just so I don’t have to wait in line with the unwashed masses. (That’s as close to Goop as I’ll ever get, people.) My 11-year-old daughter is also looking forward to the movie as well because it was part of my latest nefarious literacy deal with her — in order to read Twilight, she had to read The Hunger Games first. This was a necessary demand because I wanted her to reap the benefits of an authentic heroine instead of falling into the trap of adoring the whiny, codependent Bella Swan who lives for her men. In contrast, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) couldn’t give a damn if she ends up with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), Gale (Liam Hemsworth), or nobody in the long term. Nope, Katniss has goals, objectives, and ideals that have nothing to do with the approval of a man.

At the same time, I will concede that taking sides between Peeta and Gale is part of the fun here, and I am fully team Peeta. (My daughter calls him “Pita” and insists that Katniss’ name should’ve been “Hummus” instead. In her defense, we have been eating a lot of Greek food lately.) Luckily, there are some new clips that have surfaced, and the latest one features Peeta confessing his crush on Katniss right before (SPOILER ALERT) she whoops ass on him while thinking it’s all a publicity stunt:

Here’s the clip where Katniss meets Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) for the first time. From what I can tell, Lenny is playing this character in a slightly less flamboyant manner than anticipated:

And here’s a clip where Katniss is showing the gamemakers what she’s got, only they aren’t watching. I love the way she gets their attention:

So who else is excited out there? I am fangirling all over this movie not only because the books are great but also because this is such an intelligent alternative to the Twilight madness that has dominated for the past couple of years.

Photos courtesy of AllMoviePhoto

I’ll be completely honest — when I learned that Lenny Kravitz had accepted the role of Cinna (the highly effective and unabashedly flamboyant stylist) in The Hunger Games, I was overjoyed that the movie had gained a much needed dose of sex appeal. When Kravitz appeared in the film’s trailer, my hopes were boosted to overflowing capacity. Obviously, I’m very excited about the movie in general, but I’m particularly intrigued by the casting of both Kravitz and Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, and I hope it proves to be a very good show.

In the interest of promotion, Lenny sat down to chat with Interview magazine to discuss The Hunger Games. He’s amazingly perceptive about the subject matter, and it’s apparent that the man has done his homework in grand style. It’s a pretty lengthy piece, and I’ve left out the parts where Lenny discusses his mixed heritage (half African-American and half Russian Jew) because his words are mostly a reiteration of things he’s said before. However, here are some excerpts about his upcoming role as Cinna as well as some talk about his favorite place, Paris. Oh, and he takes his shirt off for the photoshoot! You’re welcome.

How he scored the Hunger Games role: “Gary [Ross] saw Precious and said that he liked the character of Nurse John, so he thought I’d be right for the role in Hunger Games since Cinna is somebody who is looking out for somebody and is a support figure, too. So he called me [and], “Hi, I’m making this movie called The Hunger Games. I think you’d be great. If you want it, you’ve got the part.” No audition. I was really flattered, but I had not read the book. So I downloaded it. I remember I started it late one night and I needed to go to bed–I was tired and had been recording all day and night–but I couldn’t stop reading because I was captured by the story. So I finished the book and called him back and said, “I’d love to do it.” You know, the film definitely represents these times–from government on down to reality television. It’s interesting that we’re living in these times. Really, when you go back to being in junior high school and reading George Orwell’s 1984, you’re, like, “Man, here were are . . .” Our characters have changed, our sensibilities. We’re definitely morphing into something different.”

On Hunger Games vs. reality “You know what’s funny? A lot of reality television started in Europe–things like Big Brother, where you had random people living in a house together and all this stuff started happening. And then you had all the gladiator stuff and the competitions. I remember saying, “One day we’re going to watch people fight to the death, like Roman times. Instead of being in a coliseum, we’re going to watch it on TV .” It sounds like a really far-fetched and politically incorrect statement at this point, but who knows how twisted we’re going to get? Because our appetite grows, our thirst for excitement . . . So who knows in the next 50 years where we’re gonna go? Hopefully we’ll go somewhere smarter and more beautiful and more peaceful, but that’s not where we’re headed at the moment. Things that would shock us years ago are like nothing now.”

Does he prefer America or Paris? “[laughs] I have to say Paris, bro. I fell in love with Paris the first time I went. It was 1989, and I had just signed with Virgin Records. They were quite honest with me, which is why I signed with them. They said, “Look, we don’t know if this music is going to sell. We don’t know how to market it.” Because, obviously, I didn’t fit in a box, and a lot of people expected me to be doing what most African-American musicians were doing at the time . . . Anyway, they didn’t know what to do with me. So what’d they do? They sent me to Europe. I went to France, England, Germany, Holland . . . That’s where the whole thing started for me. The gig that really broke me was this festival called [Rencontres] Trans Musicales, which is in Rennes, France. That gig changed my life, and I started spending a lot of time over there, which is sort of how I ended up falling in love with Paris.”

On Europe vs. America: Well, since I’ve been on the scene–for 23 years–I think kids in Europe have developed a deeper knowledge of music and of black music in particular. You go to Europe, and these kids know about all this obscure funk and soul that kids over here wouldn’t know. I think it’s getting better in the States, though, with the age of the Internet. I mean, my daughter, Zoe and her crew–those kids know everything. But that has taken time to happen over here. It’s definitely been more of a European thing. Or, if you go to Japan, they’re still buying vinyl, and they want the education. They know who’s playing on what tracks from the ’60s and the ’70s–who the guitar player is, who the drummer is, who the producer was, what studio it was recorded in. That’s how you and I grew up listening to music. We bought albums. We read the liner notes. It was important to know the whole history behind it.”

On daughter Zoe’s career: “It’s beautiful. She was in the latest X-Men movie last summer. She also did this really beautiful independent film, Yelling to the Sky, which went to the festivals. She’s in this band called Elevator Fight, and they’re making some really cool music. I went to a gig of hers in Brooklyn not that long ago. She just watched everything as a child. She was around a lot of great, creative people, being with me and her mother [Kravitz's ex-wife, actress Lisa Bonet]. She just finished making her album. It’s just wonderful to see her doing her thing.”

[From Interview]

See how he discusses the difference between European and American culture in a very specific manner (that is, in relation to musical tastes) and doesn’t come off sounding like a total douche? Gwyneth Paltrow could take a lesson or two from Lenny. Speaking of Goop, I still can’t believe that Lenny hangs with her and even allows her to call him “Leonard.” I have to admit dying a little bit inside about that revelation, but I’m willing to forgive Lenny for that. Only because of his otherwise awesome personality and sparkling good looks.

Photos courtesy of Interview magazine

One of the overriding complaints thus far about The Hunger Games promotion is that the actors, as featured within promotional stills, don’t really appear to be starving, near-death subjects of Panem. They look too clean. Too airbrushed. Too healthy. Too Hollywood. Further worries arose with a series of lackluster character posters and a Vanity Fair spread that looked like pages ripped from a J.Crew catalog. Although Jennifer Lawrence, who portrays Katniss, attempted to distance this adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ acclaimed trilogy from Twilight Saga, the comparisons were inevitable. Not to mention those people (who may not have even read the books) who insist upon comparing Hunger Games to Battle Royale without a trace of irony. Bitches, please.

Fans of the books should now prepare to have all hope restored, for Lionsgate has released the first full trailer for The Hunger Games. The trailer does an excellent job of both satisfying fans of the source material as well as offering an altogether thrilling presentation of the story’s framework for those who haven’t read the novels. It also only details the first half of the story so as not to spoil too much of the action. Check it out, and then we’ll discuss:

CB and I both agree that this trailer looks fantastic. The voiceover by Donald Sutherland (as President Snow) gave me chills, and the grittiness of District 12 stands out in stark comparison to the clinical feel of District 1. The three leads (Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth) all fit the bill here, and the love triangle is significantly downplayed as well, which is the exact opposite of what I feared would happen. The supporting players all get their moments as well, with Woody Harrelson and Lenny Kravitz at their mentoring best, and little Rue (Amandla Stenberg) peeking around a corner to break our hearts. While I’m not entirely satisfied with Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket (I thought she’d be a bit more vivacious), that’s not a huge complaint. Overall, this trailer is solid and should do a bang-up job at driving holiday-based interest for The Hunger Games before its March 23 release.

Movie stills courtesy of AllMoviePhoto

While I have read both the entire Twilight Saga and the Hunger Games trilogy and can attest to the inherent differences between the two, it’s also easy to concede to the similarities between target audiences when it comes to the movie adaptations for both franchises. While Hunger Games (based upon Suzanne Collins’ best-selling trilogy) is obviously based upon more complex and universal themes than those of Stephenie Meyer’s weepy Twilight vampire-werewolf romances, both of them appeal to a tween-age audience. Of course, Collins has widely stated that she got the idea for her books not from (as many have speculated) Battle Royale but from watching the footage of both the Iraq war and reality television. In the spirit of defending Collins’ works against Twilight-geared accusations, Jennifer Lawrence has been interviewed by Vanity Fair:

On How She Got Involved With The Hunger Games: “I had read the books before I even knew I would be auditioning for the movie, and was a huge fan of the material. Actually, my mom read them first and thought it was an incredible role and story. She did the same thing with Winter’s Bone, so she must be a clairvoyant, or just has really great taste. Katniss is an incredible character: she’s a hunter but not a killer, a 16-year-old who’s being forced into the arena. These kids are killing one another only because if they don’t they’ll die. It’s needless, pointless, unjustified violence. It’s heartbreaking. When I auditioned, I told [director] Gary [Ross], ‘I understand if you don’t hire me, but please remember that after Katniss shoots a bow and kills someone, her face cannot be badass.’ So there’s nothing cool about her. It’s not like she looks around the arena and goes, Yeah, I got this. I think she looks around helplessly, and thinks, I made a promise to my sister that I would survive; now I have to kill in order to do so.”

On Comparisons With Twilight: “I try not to think too much about it. Hunger Games is not Twilight, and while I hear the comparisons, it’s really premature to say that it will be the same phenomenon. I’m so proud of the work we did on the film-Gary and the entire cast and crew were amazing, and I can’t wait for it to be brought to life because I think it’s an important story. If it does become a crazy phenomenon, I’ll soak up my freedom now!”

[From Vanity Fair]

Naturally, I very much appreciate that Lawrence has read the subject matter at hand but would also be much more likely to understand her argument if, say, this interview hadn’t appeared on VF.com, which also (not coincidentally) features eight pages of very similarly-structured archives of Twilight-related promotional material. In addition, there’s also the matter of the above Hunger Games photoshoot, which appears to feature the cast members in advertisements for Abercrombie & Fitch clothing instead of a movie based upon a post-apocalyptic literary trilogy.

Further, I have to relent and accept arguments that Lionsgate’s marketing thus far of Hunger Games has been both airbrushed to the max and far too mass-marketed to be authentically believable in terms of the books themselves. AFter all, this film is supposed to portray characters that are both starving and in fear for their very lives. So why do the film stills look so bloody clean?

In addition to the above-described promotional materials, Lionsgate has also just released eight character posters — among them is the Lenny Kravitz as Cinna poster for which I’ve been anxiously awaiting. However, I must admit that the end results are … sadly lacking. Presenting Katniss, Cinna, Effie, Peeta, Haymitch, Gale, Cato, and Rue:

Photos courtesy of Vanity Fair and Lionsgate

A few years ago, in the early days of Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP newsletter (what halcyon days those were), Dame Goop deigned to name-drop, as she often does. Except that the name she dropped made everybody do a big “WTF?” Goop made reference to Billy Joel’s then-wife, Katie Lee Joel, and mentioned Billy in passing, writing, “The summer before last, a mutual friend brought the lovely Katie Lee Joel and her husband William over for dinner. Much to my delight, she brought a fresh batch of these cookies with her. I adore the contrast of the dark chocolate and the cherries — heaven.” William Joel. Because Dame Goop thinks it’s gauche and peasanty to refer to someone as their nickname or stage name or the name they prefer to be called. At the time, Billy Joel’s rep basically said that no one ever calls him William and that Goop is an idiot (I’m paraphrasing).

Anyway, yesterday Lenny Kravtiz tweeted this photo (below) with the message, “The only person in the world that calls me Leonard.” You guessed it.

Is the point that Gwyneth simply is too elegant and classy to exist in our modern world, what with the abundance of tacky “nicknames”? Probably. I think there’s another point, though: that Gwyneth is super-cool. She’s so cool that she hangs out with Leonard Kravitz and William Joel and Beyonce Knowles and Christopher Martin. She’s so super-cool that not only does she hang out with all of these super-cool people (who all think she is amazing, did she mention that?), she also tries to teach these super-cool people some old-fashioned class, like calling people by their proper, Christian names.

Also: I wonder if she refers to her exes as William Bradley Pitt and Benjamin Geza Affleck? Does she always call her husband Chris, or Christopher?

Photos courtesy of Lenny’s Twitter and Fame.

The August issue of Details magazine features an interview with Lenny Kravitz. Unfortunately, it’s not a feature piece, so there’s no photoshoot to go along with his words; but we’ll take what we can get from the always delicious Mr. Kravitz, who is promoting his upcoming album, Black and White America, which arrives in U.S. stores on August 30. In addition to shilling for the new record, Lenny also discusses his upcoming role as Cinna in The Hunger Games, which instantly gained some sex appeal merely by way of casting the man. Oh, and he’s also got some choice words to say about Zoe stealing his fashion! Here are the highlights:

On His Mixed Race: My mother never really brought up race because our house was full of color. But she did have an intelligent way of putting it. I was 5 years old and she said, “You are just as much white as you are black, just as much Russian Jew as you are African-American. But society is only going to view you as black.” If you have a drop of black blood, they put the black stamp on you. If I have to fill out a form that asks what race I am, I check both boxes.

On Looking Back At His Past Fashion: I look back at some of those pictures and I’m like, “Wow, that was really crazy.” I would try anything: furs, boas, platform boots. It’s funny how you never think you’re going to change. I met Mick Jagger at the beginning of my career and asked him, “Where’s that outfit with the omega on it? Where’s that cape?” He said, “I don’t know. I think my daughter has it in her closet.” I was so bummed. But now my daughter, Zoe, has a lot of my stuff. She took all my boas from the Mama Said era. They were in storage, and I yelled at her, “Don’t steal my boas!” She laughed and said, “Those words would not come out of most fathers’ mouths.”

On His Relationship With Zoe: I’m old-school about the father-daughter thing, but she’s also my best friend. She grew up with me. I didn’t hide a lot. She learned by listening and observing what I was doing.

On Whether He Dreads Walking Her Down The Aisle I’m not. I look forward to it. But I’m hoping she doesn’t ask me that, like, tomorrow.

On Whether He Read Hunger Games Before Being Cast: I honestly hadn’t heard of them before the director called me. I hope the fans don’t hate me for that. He had seen my work in Precious and called and offered me the part of Cinna, who is the stylist for the main character, Katniss. He saw how I played a caregiver in Precious and figured I might be good for Cinna. I didn’t have to audition, so I’m lucky.

[From Details]

See, Kaiser was completely correct when she pegged Zoe’s style as very early ’90s because those boas that Lenny mentions are all from Mama Said, which came out in 1991. So she’s basically inspired by her father’s style of that era. Likewise, Zoe’s mother, Lisa Bonet also reached the height of her fame in the early ’90s as well, and I imagine that a lot of Zoe’s closet is also filled with stuff that she’s snagged from her mom (worn at that point in time) too. Does that make sense? Zoe wants to be cool, and her parents were coolest back in the early ’90s; hence her “vintage” emulation. Anyway, it sounds as if Lenny’s hoping that Zoe and Michael Fassbender don’t head down the aisle at any time in the near future, so that’s a good sign for all of us. Especially Kaiser.

As a side note, I recently devoured the Hunger Games trilogy after learning that Lenny was cast as Cinna, and I think he’ll be perfect in the role even though his Cinna will obviously be older than the literary counterpart. In fact, I can just hear Lenny, dressed flamboyently, uttering the words, “Katniss, the girl who was on fire!” He’s gonna be effortlessly convincing, and the rest of the casting (Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson) sounds rather promising as well.

Lenny Kravitz in NYC on 6/24/11 courtesy of Fame