We asked actress Lucy DeVito — who is starring alongside her dad, Danny DeVito, in the Broadway comedy I Need That (Danny is playing a hoarder) — about the platform heels, litter box, and rice cooker she can’t live without.
Growing up in Los Angeles, I always wore Gazelles. I wore them with everything — shorts, skirts, jeans, tights! There was a shoe store on Melrose. It was a tiny, tiny shop with wall-to-wall sneakers. All brands, all colors — chaos! I would go with girlfriends. They usually didn’t have the small size I needed in the colorway I wanted, but I’d end up with a random really cool color. All of this is to say that Gazelles have been my ride or die for a long time. But these Gazelles have platform soles. I was doing an indie film — A Sudden Case of Christmas — and the costumers put me in them for a lot of the scenes. They were black with blue stripes and I liked them so much that they very kindly gave them to me after the shooting was done. I’ve got a pair of them in black-with-white stripes right now.
Okay, so, clearly I love a little height! I have these in silver metallic in the somewhat less tall heel — they’re not super-insanely tall, but they still get you up there. I bought them to do some press about a year ago for Little Demon, and I haven’t stopped wearing them when I need to get glammed up. I’m going to a New Year’s wedding this year, and I’ll probably wear these. Even though they’re platform, they’re easy to walk in. The heel is a tad chunky, the incline is comfortable, and the straps don’t rub or slip around or off. You can walk or dance in them for a while — my feet aren’t crying afterward. They’ve never given me blisters. On top of that, they’re pretty affordable. Thinking about it, I’ve been traveling with both the Gazelle sneakers and these platform sandals: kinda two speeds, for whatever you’re doing.
My mom, Rhea Perlman, introduced me to the brand. She loves a throw, like swung over the couch. I got this comforter in the ginger color for my dressing room for the play. I wanted to make the room really cozy. I’ll nap there on the cot on a two-show day. The blanket is organic cotton, baby soft, mid-weight, earth-toned — check, check, check, check. I should say that Coyuchi makes really good loungewear too. During the pandemic, my mom and I spent a lot of time together. She ordered some of their pants for her and for me, and we lived in those pants.
You’ve got to love these trusty drugstore staples. I go in and out of having a good skin-care routine, but I always have this CeraVe lotion. I was first introduced to it through a friend whose dad was a doctor of skin stuff. They always had a bottle of it in the bathroom. When I noticed it in adulthood, later, I tried it and have been a devoted fan ever since — for 20 years. I put this lotion everywhere, even on my face, often multiple times a day — after the shower, before bed. It’s light but feels hydrating, is substantial enough for wintertime, and doesn’t really have a scent to speak of. It’s sold in a range of sizes, so a small bottle lives in my bag.
I’ve had this particular eyelash curler for 15 years. I’ve always had one by this brand. I had it in high school, which is when I was introduced to it (maybe again through my mom or maybe via girlfriends). When you curl, the mechanism is firm but it never pinches or sticks. It’s never broken off my eyelashes, either. Sometimes eyelash curlers can be scary, and, you know, not all eyelash curlers are equal — even if they look like the exact same thing. I’ve noted this on sets when makeup artist uses different ones. I think this one is the best of ’em.
There is a tube of this arnica gel in my bag and beside my bed. I carry stress in my shoulders and hips. I had spinal surgery as a teen for sclerosis — so there are rods in my back, which can ache in the wintertime — or sometimes I’m just sore from a workout. The Arnicare Gel is great for all that. It’s also effective on bruises or cuts. It subsides the black and blueness and the redness. The gel absorbs when you massage it in and it is scentless. It performs invisibly! For me, that’s so important. (I don’t like Tiger Balm because of the smell and the cold sensation that it gives you.) Like CeraVe lotion, you can pick it up at the drugstore or supermarket. You don’t have to search for or special order it. It’s always there.
My friend Nancy has this rice cooker. We were talking one day about what we eat for dinner and got to the subject of rice. I told her that I needed to find a rice cooker because making it on the stovetop is kind of a gamble — it’s not consistent — and she said that she had a Zojirushi. I actually remembered the name from a roundup that the Strategist had run of best rice cookers. So, I bought it about two years ago.
A rice cooker changes the game: No boiling over onto the stovetop, it’ll keep the rice warm, and the rice is always perfectly cooked. It’s foolproof, and I use it practically daily. I like rice with some sort of protein and sautéed or roasted veggies for dinner; add some pickled cucumber salad or arugula or something with a sauce of tahini or soy or rice vinegar — there’s an easy-peasy, healthy weeknight diner. And in the morning, the leftover rice is nice for a Japanese-inspired breakfast. Sometimes I steam vegetables in the rice cooker, and that works well. I recently gifted it to another friend. They love it, too. Did I mention that this rice cooker pipes jingles when the rice is ready?
I love cats and have had cats all my life, but the worst part about them is their litter box. I now have three cats — all rescues, all pandemic kittens that have grown up. I had two cats, and then my partner had one. And when he moved in he brought this robotic litter box that I was quite skeptical about. (I’m not really into that technology.) My cats were skeptical, too: At first, they were like, What the hell is this? My partner was like, Just wait and see. He was right. I’m sold. My cats are sold. It kind of looks like a spaceship. You have to have a spot for it. It’s weird-looking and pricey, but the Litter-Robot really traps the scent. It’s on a sensor: It knows when the cat has done its business and it sifts through the litter. The turds get raked into a bag-lined drawer — so the turds aren’t just littering there.
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