But the guest of the La Dolce Italia festival in Melbourne has also reserved time for a charity cause close to her heart.
Her appearances include fundraisers for the Bully Zero Australia Foundation, which advocates a zero-tolerance reponse to bullying.
While Susan was never bullied as a child, she says she saw it in her children’s lives – both as victims and as defenders of victims.
At the Quaker school where one of her sons was bullied, she called the teachers out for failing to respond adequately.
“Just suspending the bullies isn’t going to do anything,” she tells Fairfax Media.
“I suggested that the bullies all write an essay from my kid’s point of view.
“What’s amazing is that bullying is an arbitrary exercise of power. It’s not actually that they have some kind of a vendetta with that particular child – it could change the next day to somebody else. But it’s the way that these kids figure out power, and it’s very interesting.”
The 69-year-old’s first visit to the Victorian capital also coincides with the 25th anniversary of her popular movie, Thelma and Louise.
She can’t think of a better event at which to celebrate the milestone of her biggest hit.
Her eldest daughter Eva’s father is Italian director Franco Amurri (Susan has admitted that Eva was conceived on Rome’s Spanish Steps) and the actress has Tuscan and Sicilian heritage on her mother’s side.
“I love everything about Italy,” she says. “I lived there for two years after Eva was born and I love the food and the people, they’re so welcoming.
“I’ve got to know different areas recently. I’ve thought of when I’m old, where would I go? Would I go to Italy? Is that a place I want to live?”
