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For Immediate Release on Entertainment Drive
Released by Beck/Smith
Eric Roberts' Hard Movie Road
Hollywood -- March 4, 1996 -- Eric Roberts does a powerful
turn
as a terminal AIDS patient who brings his loved ones
together for
one last bash -- before he kills himself -- in MGM's
forthcoming
"It's My Party." He says he almost didn't get the part.
"They
offered it to this other, fine young actor first," admits
Eric,
"but he turned it down because of the subject matter.
[Producer]
Joel Thurm said, 'I know a guy who could do it and isn't
afraid of
any subject matter.'" Meaning, of course, Eric. Director
Randal
Kleiser wasn't convinced. According to Roberts, "He said, I
don't know about Eric. He's kind of a hardass, tough guy.'
So
we met and talked, and then, that's when my wife stepped in.
She
said, 'Show him the Greg Kinnear interview you did last week'
--
when I was very tired and joked around a lot and, well, was
really more like myself than I usually am in those
situations.
And that's what convinced Randal I could do it." Roberts
said he
had "no opinion" of the casting choice of Gregory Harrison
to
play the key role of Roberts' lover. "I only knew Greg from
'Trapper John,' but I trusted Randal to know he'd work. You
know
how this movie originated, don't you? Greg basically plays
Randal Kleiser." Roberts basically plays the late
decorator
Harry Stein, Kleiser's lover, who took matters into his own
hands
when AIDS began affecting his brain -- after throwing a last
party that became the talk of the town. Roberts says he and
the
rest of the cast -- which also includes Margaret Cho,
Bronson
Pinchot, Lee Grant, and Olivia Newton-John -- "used to watch
Randal at work, wondering how he could get through this
emotionally. What a job he did, eh? He kept the film from
getting too sentimental." "It's My Party" did not allow the
actors to dodge physical displays of affection, including
full-out kissing. How'd Eric feel about that? "Here's how I'll
answer that question," he says. "I've played people who've
blown
other people apart with shotguns, and nobody's said
anything.
Nobody's asked, 'Wasn't that hard for you?' Yet kissing
another
man, well -- ironic, isn't it? It wasn't hard, but it was
kind
of funny. Greg and I never rehearsed the scene, of course.
We
were just gonna go for it. So when the scene came up, we,
like,
go to kiss and each of us jockeyed for the dominant mouth
position." Cut!
John Landis and Harold Ramis Defend 'Animal House'
Hollywood -- March 5, 1996 -- "Politically Incorrect" host Bill
Maher moderated the "Animal House" reunion tribute and Q&A
at
HBO's 2nd Annual Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen last weekend.
Maher laughingly accused the filmmakers and writers of being
responsible for "the devolution of America" with the now-classic
1978 comedy about a college frat house gone wild. The film's
director, John Landis, however, insists his film isn't
responsible for the subsequent comedies that pushed the
envelope
further and further with vulgar, profane antics and
scatological
humor. "'Animal House' has nothing in common with those
pictures
other than that they're comedies," insists Landis. "It touched a
nerve that really had to do with fraternities and sororities.
I've had so many thousands of people of all colors, sizes, and
economical levels come to me and say, 'You know, that was me'
or 'I knew that guy.'...The movie tapped into that universal feeling
about the age group 18 to 23. I'm proud of this movie. It had a
remarkable cast and the truth is it had a very smart script
and no one ever gave it credit for that." Director Harold Ramis,
who co-wrote "Animal House," also disagrees with Maher's
accusation. "We were reflecting the devolution of America but we didn't
create it," says Ramis. "What people missed is that 'Animal
House' was about something that we really went through in college.
The proof of it was that guys in their 70s who went to school in
the 20s were saying, 'That's just how it was...the same attitude.'
'Animal House' has more to do with being a liberated
adolescent -- you're 17, 18, you get sprung from home, go away to college
and go nuts...everybody does it. It has nothing to do with
society, it's just about growth and development. We were tapping into
something real and all these other movies mistook the style
of the movie for the content of the movie, so they just thought,
'If we're disgusting about anything it's going to be funny or
good.'"
Steve Martin Recalls Career Beginnings
Hollywood -- March 6, 1996 -- Steve Martin shared a bit
about
his early professional life at the AFI tribute to his career
last
weekend at HBO's 2nd Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in
Aspen.
The comic-cum-actor-cum-screenwriter-cum-playwright says he
started out as a magician. But "I couldn't see where that
magician thing was going to go. I mean, these days all a
magician gets is $45 million and a chance to marry Claudia
Schiffer." He began writing for "The Smothers Brothers"
variety
show in the 60s. Though he won an Emmy for his work on that
show,
he says, "I didn't get a real thrill out of writing
material for
other people to do, so I went back out on the road again as
a
comic." His peculiar brand of comedy brought him to the
attention
of Johnny Carson and he became a frequent guest on "The
Tonight
Show" in the 70s, before shooting to the top through his
hosting
stints on "Saturday Night Live." His first movie, "The Jerk,"
was
a box-office hit, but Martin says he decided not to play it
safe
by doing "The Jerk II." And that's how he ended up in the
box-office debacle "Pennies from Heaven," a dark musical about
the
Depression which was more of a dramatic turn for the funny
man.
He says that move "was under the philosophy 'Never give them
what
they want.' I felt that 'Pennies from Heaven' was a beautiful
movie and I really wanted to do it, though I knew as a
career
move it was a disaster." Martin says he had never danced
before
"Pennies from Heaven," in which he tap danced and waltzed a
la
Fred Astaire. Now he says, "I apologize for my $15 million
tap
dancing lesson." Martin says his heart now is in
playwriting.
Though he wrote the screenplays for the films "Dead Men
Don't
Wear Plaid" and "Roxanne," he says, "I always thought movies
were
the reverse of what I do best. When I did standup I'd listen
to
the audience and make changes. In Hollywood they spend $25
million to make a movie, then they show it to see if it's any
good. I thought, 'Gee, how clever it would be if you could
write
the thing, then show it and change it and make it better.'
And
I'm also kind of good on my feet. I like working with the
actors
and saying, 'Let's try this' or 'Let's try that' and in a play
you
can do that." His legit works -- "Picasso at the Lapin
Agile" and
"Wasp and Other Plays," a collection of one-acts -- have
received
nothing but critical acclaim. But he admits to still being
insecure about his work. "I came to writing sort of through
the
back door, so I never feel bona fide -- although I am proud
of my
plays. I feel that I said exactly what I wanted to say with
them."
Midler "First Wives" Scores with Trump
Hollywood -- March 7, 1996 -- Best Score Oscar nominee Marc
Shaiman ("The American President") is now in the thick of
musicalizing the Bette Midler-Diane Keaton-Goldie Hawn
feature,
"The First Wives Club." He reports they just finished
shooting a
bit with Ivana Trump -- one of many cameos in the picture.
The
scene has the ladies at a gala for the women's organization
they
form. "Ivana, who is the last guest to leave the party,
comes by
and says, 'Don't get even -- get everything!' Everyone was
talking about her going through her bit like a real
pro....You'd
never know she wasn't a professional actress," says Shaiman.
The
composer, who first worked with Bette back in her Harlettes
days,
feels so close to this movie, he facetiously calls himself
"the
fourth First Wife." He says, "It has yet to be
determined
whether Bette will sing for the soundtrack. Paramount
Pictures
would certainly like that very much, but no deal has been
worked
out." Midler sings just a little bit on camera. "I have to
sometimes remind Bette that her character is only a casual
singer. She wants everything to sound immaculately
perfect,"
Shaiman says. The composer also scored the forthcoming
Whoopi
Goldberg-Gerard Depardieu fantasy film "Bogus." His other
credits include "Sister Act," "City Slickers," "A Few Good
Men,"
"Misery," and "The Addams Family." He was Oscar-nominated
for
Best Original Song -- "A Wink and a Smile," from "Sleepless
in
Seattle" -- two years ago. "At the time, my parents said,
'Can we
come?' And I said no....This year, I'm scrounging
everywhere,
begging every Academy member I know, 'Please, find me two
more
seats for my parents.' Who knows, maybe I'll end up sending
them
and watching the show from home."
No Report for Friday, March 8th
Copyright (c) 1996 Beck/Smith Ent.
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