Sigourney Weaver

The star of next month’s A Monster Calls on in-flight oral hygiene and why her father always took a briefcase to the beach.

- David Walters

Funniest travel story: Well, my parents were great travelers. [Weaver’s father was president of NBC from 1949 to 1955.] Once they were sharing a private plane with Elizabeth Taylor and Mike Todd. Each couple had their own bunks with these little curtains. My parents overheard Elizabeth say to Mike, “Do you have the toothbrush?” And he said, “Yes, here it is.” My parents were horrified. They couldn’t imagine using the same toothbrush! You find out what people are really like when you travel with them. 

Your all-time favorite vacation: My family and I went to Cuba this past May on a trip organized by our local record store in Manhattan. We spent a week in Havana listening to a lot of different music—street musicians, classically trained pianists like Roberto Carcassés, rumba groups . . . and just roaming around the city. We left feeling that what Cubans have is incredibly unique: their emphasis on family, on community, their cohesiveness as Cubans. We’re trying to go back there over Christmas. We really miss it.