Kim Novak: Don't Be Afraid of Detours

In this candid conversation with Julian Schlossberg, she recalls Alfred Hitchcock’s precise use of a metronome during the bell-tower sequence, while giving actors room to bring themselves to a role. She also shares why rehearsing Middle of the Night with writer Paddy Chayefsky made the film such a joy, how Kirk Douglas’s insistence on setting the rhythm threw her off, and why leaving Hollywood felt like being reborn. Along the way: the song she was too shy to pitch to the Beatles.