Celebrity Interviews

As the follow-up to the action hit Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who once again plays the man behind the cowl and cape.

The Dark Knight takes Batman across the world in his quest to fight a growing criminal threat. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman has been making headway against local crime…until a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker (Heath Ledger) unleashes a fresh reign of chaos across Gotham City. To stop this devious new menace--Batman’s most personal and vicious enemy yet--he will have to use every high-tech weapon in his arsenal and confront everything he believes.

Maggie Gyllenhaal joins the cast in the role of Rachel Dawes, which was played originally by Katie Holmes. Returning from Batman Begins are Gary Oldman as Lieutenant Jim Gordon; Oscar winner Michael Caine as Alfred; and Oscar winner Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.

DCM was able to chat on the phone with Christopher Nolan as he was in the final stages of finishing the film and here’s what he had to say about The Dark Knight and other bat stuff:

DCM: How many IMAX sequences did you shoot and how many will be included in The Dark Knight?

Christopher Nolan: There will be five scenes in the finished film. The film is pretty much done except for some odds and ends. I love the IMAX cameras and even watching the dailies on large screen the quality is just incredible. Were it not so expensive, I would have loved to have shot the whole movie with the IMAX camera. I used the camera for more of the big action beats of the film, such as the opening bank robbery and introduction scene with the Joker.

DCM: How did you select the scenes to be shot in IMAX?

Nolan: I started with the biggest action beats, but then we actually started shooting some of the quieter moments as well. The interesting, quieter, montage moments. We thought we’d try that. It’s just the best, most extraordinary image there is in motion pictures, so it’s kind of addictive. You start wanting to use it more and more.

DCM: The Joker in this film, based upon the images released so far, seems to draw the most from the early Batman comics, where he was described as “a grim jester.” With all the many incarnations of the Joker throughout the years, why did you select that one as opposed to the Joker from “The Killing Joke,” which is one most of the fans always seem to talk about?

Nolan: We looked at all of them. We didn’t look at those first stories until after we’d come up with our story and my production designer came onboard. It’s a weird thing. Halfway through his job he said, “By the way, have you looked at his first and second appearance recently?” And I think maybe years ago I’d seen them. I think David Goyer (Batman Begins Screenwriter) had told me about them. We went back and looked at them and we saw that we wound up at a place that’s drawn very directly from that stuff, but we arrived at it in our own way by researching a lot of the more recent Joker stuff and how he’s been done through the decades, and thinking about what this icon is when viewed through the prism of Batman Begins. It is our take on the material and it had to fit into our universe that we set up or it wouldn’t work right. The tone we set for the first film was so powerful that we had to follow it. And what we arrived at is somebody who is quite a serious guy, really, considering his name’s the Joker and that turned out to be quite similar to his original conception.

DCM: Judging from all the stills we’ve seen thus far, he hardly ever smiles. Do you think others have misinterpreted the character and thought he was supposed to be funny when he may actually be meant to be more ironic?

Nolan: There are different types of being funny. The bank robbery sequence preview [which everyone saw if they went to I Am Legend in the IMAX theaters] has a very dark sense of humor to it, I think. Very sardonic sense of humor to what he’s doing and that’s the way in which he’s funny. And, yes, it’s very easy to confuse that with a lot of smiling and a lot of laughing but what he does in the film is very difficult to capture in stills to be perfectly frank. It’s one of the reasons we wanted to show bank robbery IMAX scene in the previews before I Am Legend as well, to get his introduction out there. It’s the total package. It’s the way he moves, the way he is, it’s the way he inhabits the character. I’m just so excited by it. I think people will be really blown away by it. Still photos just don’t capture anything as definitive as a performance.

DCM: How would you describe Joker’s walk? It’s not quite a limp. It’s the first thing I noticed about the character from the trailer. There’s something...off.

Nolan: There’s just a feel to it and you can’t put your finger on it, and that’s what I love about it. It’s very original and very unique. It’s a unique combination of elements. He would just blow me away every single day on set. It was an incredible thing to watch.

DCM: How did you ever think to cast Heath Ledger? For most fans, he was way off the beaten path from what they were thinking of what the Joker was going to be like..

. Nolan: I don’t exactly remember when it came to pass. I’d met with Heath several times on projects in the past and nothing had ever come of it. And I think he’d heard I was looking for someone to play the Joker before we had a script, and I’d heard that he was really actually into the idea. And we met and we both had exactly the same concept in our heads of who that guy would be in this film in the way that we’d interpreted it. It wasn’t specific to, “Oh, he’s going to look like this or talk like that” at all. It was about a psychological concept. His thought process. It was about a character concept. It was about the threat of anarchy. It was about anarchy being the most frightening thing there is. Chaos and anarchy in this day and age, and I think it is. It's certainly the thing I’m most afraid of.

DCM: And what about the decision to have the Joker wear make-up rather than be altered by chemicals. Was it just easier from a storytelling perspective to have him wear make-up than to explain how chemicals changed him?

Nolan: Well, we never wanted to do an origin story for the Joker in this film. The arc of the story is much more Harvey Dent’s; the Joker is presented as an absolute. He’s just there. It’s a very thrilling element in the film, and a very important element, but we wanted to deal with the rise of the Joker, not the origin of the Joker, if that makes sense.

DCM: In addition to Ledger, there are a lot of other actors in the cast, such as Eric Roberts and Anthony Michael Hall, whom people might not have thought to cast.

Nolan: Well, we have a terrific casting director, John Papsidera, who just comes up with great ideas. He introduced me to fantastic people. And then you think about an actor like Eric Roberts, who is just incredibly talented. So if you can convince someone like that to join your film, you’re filling out the world of the film with incredibly talented people who can support the main actors and that gives everything depth and breadth. A great actor like Eric or any of these guys can just take a scene and take a character and find something in him, in a moment and give you more depth in a moment than you’d otherwise have.

DCM: Was there any concern about including a new reporter character (played by Anthony Michael Hall) in the film since the 1989 Batman film had the reporter character of Alexander Knox in it?

Nolan: No, there’s plenty of other films, whether it’s Daredevil or something, where reporters come into it and there’s a reason for it. The reason being, particularly in the case of The Dark Knight, we’re attempting to tell a very large, city story or the story of a city. In the same way that, I don’t know, Michael Mann’s films, like Heat or something. That was sort of an inspiration. If you want to take on Gotham, you want to give Gotham a kind of weight and breadth and depth in there. So you wind up dealing with the political figures, the media figures. That’s part of the whole fabric of how a city is bound together by its’ media outlets.

DCM: So is that where you got the idea to cast William Fichtner as the bank manager in your robbery sequence? From Heat?

Nolan: [Laughs] Yeah, I know! Exactly! It’s a bit of a nod to that. He’s just an incredible talent and I wanted somebody who’d jump off the screen in our first six minutes because he’s really the only actual face you see for most of it.

DCM: So Christian Bale’s casting in the next Terminator series has been confirmed. Does that mean he’s no longer involved with the Batman franchise and will be doing that instead? Did you only plan to make two Batman movies?

Nolan: [Laughs] No, it’s great. He’s an incredible actor and will bring something great to that production. They’re very lucky to have him, but he’s not afraid to take risks and take on all kinds of different projects. That’s one of the reasons why I like working with him. I would like to do one more Batman and I think Chris would too and then walk away. The Hollywood trilogy is what is looked upon as a perfect model. They could always make more, so who knows what my involvement would be that far in advance. Hollywood is a strange creature and you can never look too far ahead because things fall through all the time.

DCM: So it’s somewhat expected that the third film will focus more on Two-Face, though he’s set up and running in this movie. Will it be a solo story for him or will there be another, secondary villain included in the third movie?

Nolan: [Laughs] I don’t want to give away too much about this film, but the thing I will say, and I said it a lot about Batman Begins and it was genuinely the truth, is I don’t think in terms of sequels. I think in terms of making this film the best film it can be and the most complete film it can be. I think you can start to run into problems early on if the scope of what you want to do is really large. It would have been a problem for me at any rate. Filmmakers like George Lucas and Peter Jackson think on much bigger scales. I like to take them one at a time.

DCM: Why do think the original franchise stalled out so badly?

Nolan: Well, I think that when Tim Burton made his film in 1989, which was a brilliant film - visionary and extraordinarily idiosyncratic, it’s a very stylized movie - when you go down that road to get to four films, you’re bound to hit a dead end at a certain point. It’s just so extreme in its approach.

Eva Mendes was born in Houston, Texas on March 5, 1978. He parents are both Cubans, and contributed to an interesting childhood that saw Eva move to Miami and then Los Angeles, when she was still a young girl.

A fiercely independent actress who refuses to be pressed into a conventional mode or typecast, Eva Mendez was studying marketing in the late ‘90s when an agent stumbled across her photo while perusing Mendez’s neighbor’s portfolio. Eva Mendes kicked off her acting career in an Aerosmith music video. The 28-year-old resident of Los Angeles hadn’t considered acting as a career until two and a half years ago, and has never taken an acting class. As the classic Hollywood story goes, she was discovered because her neighbor, a photographer, had her photo in his portfolio and it caught the eye of an agent.

Dropping out of college soon after being randomly discovered by an agent, Mendez appeared in a few made-for-television productions and hammed it up with Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan in A Night at the Roxbury. She appeared in Exit Wounds, before being cast in a prominent role in Urban Legends: Final Cut.

It was soon after that Mendes had a career breakthrough co-starring with Denzel Washington in Training Day (and with Ethan Hawke). Since then, she's been a busy, sexy actress in a half-a-dozen movies, including 2 Fast 2 Furious (with Paul Walker), Once Upon a Time in Mexico (with Antonio Banderas and Johnny Depp) and Out of Time (also with Denzel Washington) and Stuck on You (with Matt Damon). She is now co-starring in Ghost Rider, which is the new superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character, Ghost Rider. The film is directed by Mark Steven Johnson and stars Nicolas Cage as the Ghost Rider.

Mendes is also writing a children’s book, “Crazy Leggs Beshee.” Inspired by her nieces and nephews, and she hopes to introduce vocabulary, art, history and values through a medium kids understand.

Delaware County Magazine spoke to Eva during the Ghost Rider movie press junket.

Delaware County Magazine: How did Ghost Rider come your way?

Eva Mendes: This was something that was great and I’ve been wanting to work with Nicolas [Cage] for a while now. I do that. I kind of like look around and think about who I want to work with next as far as my wish list of actors, and Nicolas has been on that for awhile. So when I heard that this project was with him, I met with Mark [Steven Johnson]. I had obviously known Mark’s work and then I was like, ‘Okay, this is me.’ Then Mark and I met and I just fell in love with him. We totally get each other’s sense of humor.

We met at this restaurant and we were very polite to each other like you should be when you first meet someone and we look at the menu, and the first thing on the menu said Peekytoe Crab, and just the fact that he got it when I went, ‘What the hell is Peekytoe Crab?’ He looked at me and we had a twenty-minute laugh fest and I was like, ‘I don't care what this movie turns out to be. I want to do it with you.’ So we kind of had that from the start, and we had this agreement. I said, ‘I’m dying to work with you now and Nic, but don’t make me just the chick in the movie. Give her some obstacle, some kind of struggle.’ I play a tough reporter as well, so I wasn’t just some little girl who screams and runs or something, but Mark is amazing as a director.

DCM: So she’s not just a damsel in distress?

Mendes: She kind of is, but there is something kind of sexy about it, but that’s not all she is. There is something kind of sweet and innocent that we wanted to keep about that, but she wasn’t a victim. It’s kind of hard to see that in terms of how are you not a victim if you’re a damsel in distress. So we kind of played with that a bit. You always feel like she’s going to be okay without him, but that’s the thing – she’s going to be just okay without him. She’s not going to be great, just okay. She’s going to be so much better with him. So it was a little heart-breaking little story.

DCM: You’ve gone to a couple of Comic-Con’s as well now to hype Ghost Rider?

Mendes: Yes, I have.

DCM: Have you discovered your inner geek?

Mendes: I discovered that in the seventh grade. Are you kidding me? Totally! I love it when people are that passionate about something. I love seeing the people who dress their kids up. I think that it’s really cool.

DCM: You also see the thirty-year-olds dressed up.

Mendes: I know, I know! But when they look like a whole little family unit walking around as aliens, I think it’s so cute. It’s kind of like Halloween for grown-ups and Halloween is my favorite holiday. I go nuts for Halloween. So it’s kind of a way for adults to express themselves like kids again.

DCM: So are we going to see you dress up at the next Comic-Con?

Mendes: You know what, that’d be interesting. I think I will. I was a taco for Halloween. Talk about not having qualms about anything. I wore a taco suit that had lettuce going out that way. My head came out of the shell.

DCM: That’s quite a visual I’m thinking of! [Laughter] Ghost Rider also seems to have a strong Beauty and the Beast theme through it. How is it different from other films that portray that theme?

Mendes: Yeah. It’s just better! [Laughing] That’s it. It’s just better. No. How is it different? I think that because visually it’s so strong and so captivating and it’s such a pleasure for your eyes, and then to have that and then have a real romantic story going on as well – I think that’s hard to find with most movies today. I think that’s one of the reasons that Spider-Man did so well. We saw these out of control visuals and we’d never seen some of them ever before, and in Ghost Rider, you haven’t seen some of the effects before, but there’s a really strong love story in it as well. Everything that Johnny Blaze [Ghost Rider] did was for my character, and this movie is very much like that.

DCM: Is there real danger for her, not just with the bad guys, but with Johnny Blaze himself?

Mendes: Absolutely, that’s the thing. It’s kind of like you sleep with the devil. You know the saying. I don’t want to have to say it. It’s just kind of like that, and I think that a lot of women, and men too, but I can’t speak for you guys – we all have problems in our relationships. There are obstacles and this is kind of a major obstacle. Usually you have to just overcome them. This one is like, ‘How do you overcome this?’ It’s a tough one.

DCM: Have you always been a fan of biker guys, and are you a biker chick?

Mendes: No. I'm not a biker chick, but I’d love to play one [Laughs]. I like an edge with my guys. So if it’s a bike, then great. I think it’d be fun to date one, but it wouldn’t be fun to settle down with one because then I would be a worried wreck every night with, ‘Call me as soon as you get there!’ It’s so dangerous. So the dating aspect of a biker guy is a fun idea.

DCM: Do you like the “bad boy” image? A lot of women seem to be attracted to it...

Mendes: No. I like good boys that are sometimes bad. I got that down. I know exactly what I like. I’ve always known. I really do at the end of the day like a sweet, good, strong man, but I do like a little edge.

DCM: What are your favorite comic books?

Mendes: Ghost Rider! You know what, I really don’t know. I would just say more comic book characters because I’m not that familiar with comic books. So I would say Ghost Rider, and I just love the idea of Spider-Man, which is funny because I'm totally scared of spiders, but I think that it’d be cool if one of them bit me and then no one could ever touch me again, and I could be like, ‘I rule the world!’ Is that weird? Am I weird? So, yeah, I just like the themes, I love good versus evil. I obviously love good prevailing over evil. So this is really exciting to me.

DCM: [Laughter] Did you go back and look at the Ghost Rider comics?

Mendes: I did actually. I looked back and Roxanne Simpson is obviously very different from me. I was like, ‘So…she’s blonde and Caucasian, blue-eyed, and not me.’ But I hope that the comic book fans don’t reject that. I hope that they accept me for another version of Roxanne. So what I did realize what I could do was that – I swear this is so silly of me, but hopefully it works – I realized she was very, very voluptuous in all the comic books. She had massive boobage and hips, and I was like, ‘Okay, why don’t I not watch what I eat as much and let the fun stuff grow.’ So I let the fun stuff grow because at least that way I could give them the voluptuous part. Hopefully they won’t be disappointed. [Laughing]

DCM: Well, comic artwork is sometimes over drawn since it is catered more to male readers than female ones. What about working with the FX, were there times when you working opposite nothing or a tennis ball on a stick?

Mendes: Totally. You know what...at first you just feel like an idiot to be honest. You feel like a moron because there is nothing there, and you’re like, ‘Okay, what do I do.’ That’s where acting class comes in and I study religiously with my coach and that’s where that comes into play. I have to go into myself even more so than before. Having Nicolas in front of me is fantastic, and I get to work off of so much, but when you’re there on your own you’re like, ‘Boy, I need to bring out some issues.’

You kind of bring out certain things that you’re really scared of and that you’re really dealing with. So you have to go really deep. It’s cool, but it’s difficult. I definitely like working with actors, but this is part of the job. What’s really exciting is when you see it all together and you go, ‘Oh, my God…that is so great! It’s so cool. It’s a burning beast in front of me and I’m getting taken away.’ So it all comes together in the end.

DCM: Going back to the voluptuous thing, was it fun to relax and not worry about the Hollywood shape?

Mendes: It was so awesome, dude. It’s not like I let myself go. It wasn’t like I was gaining weight for a role like I was stuffing my face or something. It was more just like, ‘Yeah. I’ll have that second serving. I’m tired. I’m not going to the gym today.’

DCM: Did you feel sexier?

Mendes: I actually did believe it or not because my bajungas were bigger. That’s the technical term, but yeah, it was really nice. It was like, ‘Wow, this is cool.’ It helped me to get into character. Let’s say that. The Cuban side of me came out. It’s the side of me that’s dying to come out, it’s like, ‘Let me out! Come on, please.’ I’m like, ‘No! You stay in there you Cuban lady.’

DCM: Aside from your physical transformation you play a reporter in the movie…Did you model your character on any real reporters?

Mendes: I wouldn’t call it a physical transformation. I love the way you put it though. I did a little bit of research, but you actually see me in two scenes being a field reporter. The first scene I have is when I first see Johnny Blaze for the first time in twelve years or something. So that was kind of like everything going out the window because I kept trying to hold it together and keep professional. But the man you love is right in front of you and you’re talking to him in an interview for the first time. So the years of any journalism and the experience in field reporting didn’t really pay off in that moment.

So you don’t really see that too much. The only thing that I was really worried about was my voice because I’m very up and down and up and down. I can sometimes get whinny, which I really hate. So I was careful when I did those couple of scenes to keep my voice very strong and not to go up and down. Honestly though there wasn’t that much focus on that. So we were more concentrating on playing the human part of her because the second time we see her in that situation she’s again – it’s after he stands her up. So it’s more emotional and I play more than just this woman who is totally in love and frustrated. She’s like, ‘Why has this happened to me again? Why can’t I be with the guy that I love?’

DCM: How is Mark [Steven Johnson] as an action director compared to [Robert] Rodriguez and [John] Singleton?

Mendes: Oh, my God, they’re all kind of similar especially in the sense that they’re all little boys, which is really cool to see. It’s fun to see these grown men become little boys and play around. But Mark, he and I are so similar. He would say something and I would just get it. He wouldn’t come up to me and I would get it. We were just so on the same wavelength.

DCM: Would you come back for a sequel? What do you hope happens with Ghost Rider? What are your aspirations for it?

Mendes: With these guys? Absolutely! I hope it’s a successful film. I think it’s really good and the special effects are incredible since they really took their time doing them to make sure they looked great. I think it will be great superhero film and be right up there with all the others that have been done.

Kate Bosworth was born in Los Angeles, California, but spent a large part of her childhood living all over the United States. Kate Bosworth loved riding horses, and by the age of 14 she was a champion equestrian. She also liked acting and singing which led her to participating in community theater and singing at local fairs.

Bosworth heard of a casting call for girls around her age that could ride horses so she attended an open audition in New York and used a family Christmas card photo as her headshot. The movie was a big Hollywood deal called The Horse Whisperer and it starred both director Robert Redford and Scarlett Johannson. Kate Bosworth scored the part of Judith, a young rider who gets killed in an awful riding accident. After that, Kate took a little time off from acting to be a regular teenager, but was back on the small screen in 2000 in the short-lived NBC series Young Americans.

Kate soon decided she'd have better luck with the big screen and snagged a role in Remember the Titans and The Newcomers. Her breakthrough role came when she played the lead in the all-girl surf movie called Blue Crush. She went on to Win a Date with Tad Hamilton and Beyond the Sea with Kevin Spacey. In 2006, Kate is suiting up to play Lois Lane and join actor newcomer Brandon Routh in Superman Returns which is directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men 1 & 2).

Delaware County Magazine: How do you prepare to play Lois Lane when there are other incarnations of her? Did you read any of the comics or watch the older films or TV shows again?

Kate Bosworth: I hadn't seen the original Superman for a really long time, probably since I was a little girl. So I made the decision to not watch that film until after I was done, just because I know myself too well to know that I would've put a strange pressure on myself to—not imitate, but I would have had Margot Kidder's performance in the back of my mind the whole time. [Director] Bryan [Singer] and I discussed it, and we decided to have a new, fresh approach to it. I paged through some comics but took little from them.

DCM: Now that you're done shooting the film, have you sought the old films out to watch them again?

Bosworth: Yeah. I watched Superman: The Movie. We had about a week left to go and I watched it with Jimmy Marsden, who plays my fiance in the film—he's such a huge Superman fan. He made me promise that when I watched it, I'd watch it with him. He brought it in the last week and we watched it together and it was so great. Of course I sat there going, "Oh, God. I hope that I didn't screw this up." It's such an amazing film and it has so many fans. I think that we were all keeping our heads down and doing the best that we could without feeling the enormity of it all.

DCM: Now that you've seen the film, what's the biggest difference between your Lois Lane and Kidder's portrayal?

Bosworth: I suppose the main difference for me is that I have a child. In this film, I've already had a whole relationship with Superman, so that relationship is more complicated. I played her sort of—I'm not a mother, but I suppose that when someone becomes a mother, their attention is less on themselves and more on their child. They're less selfish and more aware of the other thing that you created. I played that a bit more grownup, a bit more aware of life and the joys and heartbreaks that it brings.

DCM: What is Lois' relationship like with Clark Kent when he returns to Earth?

Bosworth: I suppose that it's the same than it was in the original. It's like, "Oh, you're back. Hey, Clark. How are you doing?" I suppose that she has a soft spot in her heart, like you would for any sweet person that's been in your life for a while, but she's still not particularly aware of his existence.

DCM: But she feels differently about Superman's return after the five years he’s been gone?

Bosworth: She's heartbroken, hurt and angry. She has a lot of pain. Five years obviously numbs that pain a bit, and I suppose that she's probably tried to put him out of her mind because she's not really sure that he was ever going to come back. And I didn't really feel like Lois was the type of woman that would just sit around and wait; she's pretty ambitious and driven in life. I think that she would've given herself a bit of grieving and then moved on. So when he comes back after five years, all those feelings and emotions come to the surface again. And when she finds out that he's first come back, she hasn't seen him face to face. It's all over the news, and [Daily Planet Editor] Perry [White] wants her to get the interview with Superman, and she's very reluctant to do so because she doesn't want to face him and have those feelings, have him see her vulnerability. Then when she finally does see him, it's a bit of a face-off in a way for her. There are some really good scenes in it that I’m proud of.

DCM: What was it tike seeing [Superman actor] Brandon Routh in the costume for the first time?

Bosworth: That was fun. We did a fake newspaper cover for The Daily Planet, and it was Brandon in his costume and he was standing next to me. He was wearing this black cape over the suit because they hadn't released any pictures of him in the suit yet and they wanted to keep that pretty secret. It was this funny mix of Darth Vader and Superman. But when he took it off, it was pretty amazing, and I think that everyone on the set got chills.

DCM: Are you excited about getting your own action figure? You're even getting a Barbie doll?

Bosworth: I know. I got sent a Barbie doll several months ago. It was pretty weird. I have to say that I really don't think that they look anything like us. It's sort of hard to say that when it's you.

DCM: Is it weirder that little kids are going to play with you, or that 40-year-old fanboys are going to be decorating their desks with you?

Bosworth: Yeah, that's weird. That's the fun part and the very strange part I think for all of us. God! It's exciting and so much fun. It's part of this whole "Superman" process, and it's really just a ride that you try and hold onto.

DCM: This is your second film in a row now where you worked with Actor/Director Kevin Spacey [The other movie is the Bobby Darin Bio-Pic Beyond The Sea which Spacey also directed]. What makes Kevin unique as a actor and director compared to others you've worked with?

Bosworth: I think his passion is infectious from the get-go. But really just as a director I felt incredibly safe because I knew he knew everything about Bobby Darin. It's not like this is a director who thought it was a cool project about Bobby Darin. He loved the project and that was infectious to me. In terms of his directing, I've never worked with such an experienced, seasoned director before.

DCM: Can you draw parallels between Bobby Darin and Kevin Spacey?

Bosworth: One I'd say is their passion. That was the main thing. Kevin is such a huge fan of Bobby that I think they have the same love for the music in a certain way. They're both incredibly driven. It was exhausting for me to hear Kevin talk about his day, much less live it with him, but it was a great experience!

There are a few actresses that Hollywood relies on time and again to play the late-teens/early-20s ingénue in film after film. Claire Danes, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon, and Mena Suvari are all on that list. So is Jennifer Love Hewitt.

She began her career while still a teenager on television’s Kids Incorporated. Bit parts in such movies as Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit were all that Hewitt could manage to land until she returned to television in 1995 as Sarah Reeves Merrin on Party of Five, the role that made her famous.

As Hewitt’s fame rose with Party’s popularity, she once again tried her luck with feature films, scoring big with such movies as I Know What You Did Last Summer and the teen comedy Can’t Hardly Wait. Love also produced and starred in the ill-fated Time of Your Life, a Party of Five spin-off that didn't make it to its fifth episode. If that weren’t bad enough, critics harped on her for her audacity in attempting to fill the shoes of a legend in the ABC biopic The Audrey Hepburn Story.

Now Hewitt makes a return to the small screen in Ghost Whisperer where she plays Melinda Gordon who is a young newlywed with the unique ability to communicate with the earthbound spirits of people who have died - and who seek her help. Melinda uses her gift to relay significant messages and important information to the living, but sometimes the messages she receives are intense and confusing. As a result, she is often met with questions and skepticism by the survivors. But when Melinda is able to help both the lost souls who contact her and those who are still alive, she knows that her unique talent is an asset and not a liability. The stories are based in part on the work of medium James Van Praagh.

Even though her busy schedule had her working on the Ghost Whisperer promotional tour, she still took time out to talk about her life and her career.

DCM: How would you describe your new show, Ghost Whisperer?

Jennifer Love Hewitt: The show is very scary and spooky at times, but it’s light fare, too. It has an X-Files feel to it but has a bit of Touched By An Angel as well which I like.

DCM: Were there any things in life that really scared you? Do you believe in ghosts?

Hewitt: I’m a very spiritual person, and I’m open to the idea of there being other things and other people that are “out there.” There are so many possibilites. I’ve never had any personal ghost experiences. [Laughter] Although I’m “scared of everything” in real life. It’s kinda weird but my friends know not to knock on my door after dark.

DCM: Is it more fun playing characters with an edge to them than someone who is sweet all the time?

Hewitt: Yeah, it’s really fun, it was definitely a departure from anything else I’ve done. I’m having a good time.

DCM: Do you get a lot of scripts that call for you to play characters a lot like the ones you played in the past? Or do you get a lot of scripts to play more edgy kinds of characters?

Hewitt: I got a lot of the same things, but not so much anymore, I think that the movie I did called Heartbreakers has helped a lot with the kind of scripts that I get.

DCM: Did the Audrey Hepburn project help?

Hewitt: It did a little bit, yeah. I’ve definitely gotten a lot more adult things since then. But I still always get the horror movie stuff and the teen comedies.

DCM: Is there still a soft spot in your heart for those kinds of films?

Hewitt: Oh, absolutely. Those are great movies to do. I just don’t want to get stuck in them so that I can’t get out. This is what I want to do for a long time, so I just kind of have to move forward so that people know that I’m not just that.

DCM: Did you see those movies, even though you don’t like scary ones?

Hewitt: The I Know What You Did Last Summer ones? I saw them, but I still screamed, like, really, really loud. People around me were so annoyed. [Laughter]

DCM: You didn’t do the Summer sequel either.

Hewitt: I didn’t want to do another one. Sequels are hard to match the energy of the original. The script would have to be good. Which is why I’m doing Garfield 2. It was funny to me and I liked it. I would love to do another action movie like The Tuxedo though.

DCM: So would you say that Heartbreakers is sort of a conscious decision to move away from the teen genre flicks?

Hewitt: Definitely. Yeah, like I said, this is something I would like to do for a while, and I would like to do My Best Friend’s Wedding kind of movies one day, and I think the only way to do that is to sort of move myself away from just teen movies.

DCM: How hard is it to bridge that gap? Because a lot of people get stuck in it.

Hewitt: It’s weird...I’m in a weird age in the entertainment industry. I can remember the last time that I felt this kind of weird place. It was when I was 13. Because, at 13, I could kind of look old enough to maybe play an 18-year-old, but they would hire the 18-year-olds to play the 13-year-old parts because they could work longer. And they would hire the 18-year-olds to play the 18-year-old parts, because they could still work longer. So you have a hard time finding your place. So I’m in that now. It’s like the audience has to decide if I’m going to be an older version of myself, or if they would rather just have me stay in teen movies.

DCM: What would you do if they prefer the latter?

Hewitt: I want to work, so I’ll do teen movies! There’s no question about that, I just hope they’ll laugh at them, too.

DCM: When you look at actresses that are going into their 40s and 50s, which career would you like to have one like?

Hewitt: Wow...umm...they’re not in their 40s, but I admire two people, Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts. I think that they have always made very, very smart choices. They’ve stuck to...they’ve grown and they’ve been creative in their choices and done different things. But they have never gone too far out from what audiences want to see them do.

DCM: If you ever came across a script that you liked that called for nudity, would you do it? Or would that be something you would draw the line at?

Hewitt: You know, I don't really want to see myself naked, so I’m not really going to push that on other people. I don't like to say “absolutely not,” because if a great part came along where I was playing someone who was ill and they needed a shot of a frail frame, or if there was a love scene that I thought was really tastefully done, like what was done with my scene in The Devil and Daniel Webster where you see my back, you see all of my back right to, you know, the crack or whatever. And that was fine. But I’m completely covered everywhere else. So, as far as that goes, like my back and my legs or stomach, I’ll show that. Also, there is so much of me that people get, that what I look like naked, I would like to keep for me, you know what I mean? Me, and maybe one other person and that’s about it. I would like that to be sacred.

DCM: How important is it for actors in your age group to have a sexy image? With all the men’s magazines, it seems like everybody has to have a sexy image to make it.

Hewitt: I think that in life, in general, people like attractive people. Do you know what I mean? People want eye candy and that’s kind of what you do. I think that it’s really cool that people can find you sexy or attractive but also see beyond that as well. I don’t think it makes you everything you are. I don’t think it’s the most important thing, but I think it’s part of it.

DCM: Is it frustrating to think that people are just going to see your movies or TV shows because they think you’re a pretty actress as opposed to thinking you’re a good actress?

Hewitt: Yeah, I think that would be kind of annoying. But with me, that’s not a problem. I’m glad to be able to keep working at what I love doing.

DCM: You like to poke fun at yourself.

Hewitt: Yeah, because there’s a lot to poke fun at. [Laughter]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. This fourth film in the Indiana Jones film series pits an older and wiser Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford)
against agents of the Soviet Union—led by Spalko (Cate Blanchett)—for the crystal skull. Indy is aided by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), the greaser Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) and fellow archaeologist Mac (Ray Winstone). John Hurt, Jim Broadbent, and Ian McDiarmid also play fellow academics.

The film was in development hell since the 1989 release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, because Spielberg and Ford initially disagreed over Lucas’ choice of the skull as the plot device. Screenwriters Jeb Stuart, Jeffrey Boam, M. Night Shyamalan, Frank Darabont and Jeff Nathanson wrote drafts, before David Koepp’s script satisfied all three men. Shooting finally commenced on June 18, 2007, and took place in New Mexico, New Haven, Connecticut, Hawaii, Fresno, California, and at soundstages in Los Angeles. In order to keep aesthetic continuity with the previous films, the crew relied on traditional stuntwork instead of computer-generated stunt doubles, and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski studied Douglas Slocombe’s style from the previous films.

Marketing will rely heavily on the public’s nostalgia for the series, with products (such as a toy action figure line) taking inspiration from all four films. Anticipation for the film has been heightened by secrecy, which resulted in a legal dispute over an extra violating his non-disclosure agreement, and another man was arrested for stealing a computer from Spielberg’s office that contained various documents related to the production.

Producer Frank Marshall had confirmed that the film is set in 1957, making it nineteen years since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, thus acknowledging the real-life passing of years between films. Indiana Jones is having a quiet life teaching before being thrust back into his old adventuring. He battles agents of the Soviet Union for the crystal skull. “The theory is they are shaped by higher powers or alien powers or came from another world, or an ancient Mayan civilization had the powers,” Marshall explained. Indy’s journey takes him across New Mexico, Connecticut, Mexico City, and the jungles of Peru, as well as the warehouse from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. There will be mild humor regarding Indiana’s age.

Harrison Ford, of course, returns to play Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr. To prepare for the role, the 64-year-old Ford spent three hours a day at a gym, and relied on a high-protein diet of fish and vegetables. Ford kept fit during the series’ hiatus anyway, as he was always hoping for another film. Spielberg said Ford was not too old to play Indiana: “When a guy gets to be that age and he still packs the same punch, and he still runs just as fast and climbs just as high, he’s gonna be breathing a little heavier at the end of the set piece. And I felt, ‘Let’s have some fun with that. Let’s not hide that.’” Frank Marshall added, “You’re seeing him in a different decade, so there’s all kinds of new, interesting things that he has to deal with. Indy seems to be a little smarter as an older man and wiser”, and that “Indy is a fallible character. He makes mistakes and gets hurt. He has a few more aches and pains now. That’s the other thing people like: He’s a real character, not a character with superpowers.” Both Spielberg and Marshall recalled the line in Raiders, “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.”

Ford performed many of his own stunts during the shoot and Spielberg stated he couldn’t tell the difference between Ford during the shoots for Last Crusade and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

During the late 1970s, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg made a deal with Paramount Pictures for five Indiana Jones films. Following the theatrical release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989, Lucas let the series end as he felt he couldn’t think of a good plot device to drive the next installment.

However, he declared that if he ever found a new plot device that all three men liked, he would consider a fourth film.

The film’s long gestation coincided with Harrison Ford growing older, and this meant the filmmakers had to give a new approach and setting. Instead of tributing Republic Pictures’ 1930s serials, the film needed to be more like a 1950s B-movie. Lucas’ favorite film of that era was Forbidden Planet. In 1992, Jeb Stuart was writing the screenplay, and Last Crusade writer Jeffrey Boam was set to pen another draft three years later. However, Spielberg and Ford were not interested in the unsubtle depiction of alien invaders, and development halted when Lucas made the Star Wars prequels. “No way am I being in a Steve Spielberg movie like that,” Ford told Lucas.

Lucas became fascinated with the crystal skulls while producing The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and he attempted to feature it in an episode of the show’s canceled third season. He found them as fascinating as the Ark of the Covenant. Author Max McCoy later incorporated the crystal skull mythology into his four Indiana Jones novels, and the Tokyo Disney theme park attraction Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull opened in 2001.

By 2000, Spielberg’s personal interest was ignited as his son asked when the next Indiana Jones film would be released. M. Night Shyamalan was hired as Boam’s replacement for an intended 2002 shoot, but he was overwhelmed writing a sequel to a film series he loved and claimed it was difficult to get Ford, Spielberg, and Lucas to focus. Shyamalan did not produce an actual script. Afterwards, Stephen Gaghan and Tom Stoppard were approached to write a new screenplay. With a title planned, Frank Darabont, who wrote several The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episodes, was hired in May 2002 to write.

Darabont’s screenplay was set in the 1950s, with surviving Nazis pursuing Jones. Darabont came up with reintroducing Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), but he did not include Indy’s son, as rumored. In December 2002, Spielberg said he planned to shoot two films before filming Indiana Jones 4 in 2004 for a 2005 release. In February 2004, Lucas rejected the draft for reasons unknown, although Spielberg loved the script. But he and Lucas acknowledged the 1950s setting could not ignore the Cold War, and the Russians were more plausible villains. Spielberg felt he could not satirize the Nazis after directing Schindler’s List, while Ford felt “We plum wore the Nazis out.”

Jeff Nathanson was hired in October 2004 to write a new draft,which was set around 1949. Completed a year later, the script was handed over to David Koepp. As 2006 began, Harrison Ford declared if the film was not made by 2008, then the filmmakers should drop the idea altogether. Spielberg confirmed Indiana Jones 4 as his next film, calling it “the sweet dessert I give those who had to chow down on the bitter herbs that I’ve used in Munich.” Koepp looked at all previous scripts, and kept what he felt were good ideas. He tried not to make his work a “fan script”, in that he hoped to avoid any trivial references to the previous films. He also aimed to make it less dark than Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom yet less comic than Last Crusade, aiming for the balance from the first film. Frank Marshall disagreed, feeling the film’s banter made it tonally closer to Last Crusade.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be released on May 22, 2008!

Jon Favreau became interested in acting in high school. Weighing in then at a whopping 280 lbs, it’s no surprise that his heroes were John Belushi and John Candy
Heading out to Chicago’s Second City in hopes of becoming the next fat funny guy, he ended up washing dishes. Eventually he landed a minor role in the football comedy Rudy as Sean Astin’s chubby friend. With the money he made from that part, Favreau relocated to Los Angeles and got small parts in some movies.

Trying out for the part of “Fat Butt” in The Shawshank Redemption, he realized it was time to lose some weight and shed 80 pounds within a year. It was also during this period that Favreau wrote the screenplay for a film called Swingers.

Drawing on his own life, he wrote a story about a lovesick comedian’s pals helping him find female companionship after being dumped. Everything from experiences kicking around town with his pals trying to meet “beautiful babies” at Hollywood’s cocktail-nation swing clubs, epic video-hockey struggles to late-night diner excursions was all semi-biographical. When the script got circulated around Hollywood, several studios responded. But even though the studios wanted to cast name stars, Favreau held out, especially since he’d promised his friends they could be in it.

Instead of the $20-million budget that had been suggested, Swingers was shot for $250,000 with every word exactly as Favreau had written them and with every actor he’d written them for. Directed by Doug Liman and starring Favreau and Vince Vaughn, the movie was a festival and indie cult hit.

His career continued to get hotter, with roles in films such as Daredevil (2003), Something’s Gotta Give (2003) and The Break Up (2006). Meanwhile, his directing career is also hot, with his second feature, Elf (2003), starring Will Ferrell, grossing almost $200 million. Zathura (2005) didn’t do quite as well, but his latest, Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the comic book hero, is a highly anticipated film by fans of the comics.

Delaware County Magazine: You’re one of the rare Hollywood people who actually talk to the fans on Internet forums like MySpace about the projects you’re involved with. How come?

Jon Favreau: I do. The fans are important to listen to since a film like Iron Man is a movie that they want to see done right and it’s a character that they care about. At one point I was giving out too much information I think. People were figuring out the whole movie. You gotta be careful. It’s like when you take the stand. You gotta plead the fifth at this point. There are too many movies out there now that don’t have to prove anything. The Dark Knight, after the last film, and from what I’ve seen from this, they have nothing to prove. People will come see that movie. Indiana Jones, you show the shadow of him putting his hat on and I’m going. And they work it right. You are definitely putting it out there when you’re putting this much stuff out there, but that’s what’s given us...nobody knew what Iron Man was when I came on board. And now everybody knows who he is thanks to comic con, and the footage we brought. If people think when I come onstage that they’re gonna see more than they expect, as long as the studios are cool with it, I like to do that.

DCM: How much pre-production did you have to do on Iron Man’s design?

Favreau: That was fun. A lot of that was Stan Winston, a lot of that’s our artists who are working on it. When the DVD comes out, I wanna put out a ‘making of’ with all the artwork, so you can see the progression of it. I just wanna make sure people like the movie first, because I hate when all the material comes out and nobody cares about the movie. I’m hoping people love it!

DCM: How did you go about preparing for the action sequences?

Favreau: There were two things that I drew on: one was the incredible collaborative resources I had around me, between Kevin Feige and the people at marvel and Avi Arad, the producer, in the pre-production process, and then the incredibly talented storyboard artists/previs people, and then the people at ILM... it’s a very big collaboration. And there you must rely on those people. Even filmmakers who are action directors, even a guy like Michael Bay, or Sam Raimi, they rely heavily on their team as well. They have a vision for things, but there will be hundreds of people to help see that vision through. So I was very open to collaborating on that. Because so much of it, I’m just seeing those sequences now, after two years. So I have a lot of respect for those action directors now. The other thing I drew from was what I don’t like to see, which is action that undermines the story of the film. Undermines the reality. Marvel films always had a tongue-in-cheek, irreverent quality, but never when it came to the action. It was always very serious about the stakes on winning and losing. So, you can joke around with Stark talking and things happening in a humorous way to him, but when that suits working, the stakes of that conflict better not be made light of.

DCM: So as it should be, it’s always story first and the action second...

Favreau: The action’s always a set piece. It has to propel the story. If it was a musical, the songs would have to progress the story. If it was a boxing movie, each match would have to represent something. Because there was so much CGI, I didn’t want to just have virtual cameras flying around. So we found a great practical air-to-air film like Top Gun, and said, “This was all real. This is before CGI. How did they film it? What did they have to do?” So if you look at all the flying stuff, we sometimes break the rules. We shot real planes. We didn’t just take a camera and do this. We flew planes and followed the planes with other planes. It might not be as dynamic as other movies where it’s CGI everywhere, but I think it adds to the overall storyline. We tried to keep it real and practical. DCM: What version of the comic does the movie stem from the most? Favreau: Ours is more classic. I really liked Adi Granov's version of the origin story done recently, and we borrowed from that a lot. He was very consistent, but expanded upon the original origin, and made it feel more plausible to today’s world. I liked that a lot. There are other things that the books don’t discuss, which is how the hell do you build an iron suit? We really went out of our way to try to make it plausible. It's still a comic book movie. There are certain leaps you have to make that are nothing but silly. But don’t be insulting to the fans. So the tone is more the classic look and feel. DCM: What appeals to you about Iron Man as a comic character? Favreau: I like that he’s not a teenager. It’s better with him being a 40-something. Robert [Downey, Jr.] really lobbied hard for the role, and there were enough people who really shared that vision that helped fight for it to get over the misgivings that are understandable in casting a guy who is not a young, new fresh face, but instead has a body of work that I thought really added to the role a complexity and credibility. A weight lifted off my shoulders as soon as we got the green light to cast the guy. I knew that he would be fun and interesting to watch. And it wasn’t like you were waiting through Tony Stark to get to Iron Man.

William Shatner has cultivated a career that has spanned 50 years as a professional actor, director, producer, screenwriter and author. He is one of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, and has also established himself as a major Hollywood philanthropist.

Most recently he has been lauded by television critics and viewers alike for his recurring role as eccentric law firm partner Denny Crane on Boston Legal, the David E. Kelley-created legal drama. A part that he’s now won two Emmy’s in a row for.

As most people know, in 1966, Shatner originated his most famous role of Captain James T. Kirk in the television series Star Trek, which rocketed into fame only after the show was cancelled and re-launched in syndication. The series spawned a feature film franchise, and Shatner reprised the role of Captain Kirk in seven of the Star Trek movies. He has since appeared in other movies and TV shows. About the only thing he lacks is spare time. He can be deadly serious one moment, and laugh at himself, or just about anything, the next. He’s William Shatner who is known to millions of people as Captain James T. Kirk.

Actually, it’s the other way around. Captain Kirk is William Shatner. So is Boston Legal’s Denny Crane. They are both memorable parts and share the same degree of intensity and purpose, qualities that have pushed Shatner to the forefront of his profession, and kept him in demand even to this day.

D&E: You’ve said there was a lot of your personality in Captain Kirk. How much of you is in Denny Crane?

William Shatner: Well, same thing [laughing]. That’s the difference the years make [laughing]. An actor really invests every part he plays with part of himself. It’s the old adage that you can’t think of anything you haven’t imagined. That’s why human beings are so limited in their view of the universe. We only have our senses to acquaint us with the possibilities. So, how to play a character? We are limited by what’s inside us. On series television people come and go: usually a new writer and director every week. The only people who don’t come and go are the producer, the cinematographer, and the actor. So on Star Trek with Gene riding herd on the way that we might have acted, and the cinematographer on the way we might have looked, the actor's responsibility was in the area of making the character as real as possible, asking for changes when things didn’t work. I think there’s a great deal of my own personality in the character, if only because day after day, week after week, year after year, the fatigue factor is such that you can only try to be as honest about yourself as possible. Fatigue wipes away any subterfuge that you might be able to use as an actor in character roles, or trying to delineate something that might not be entirely you. By the second week you’re so tired, that it can only be you in the role.

D&E: What was it like winning the Emmy for the second time in a row?

Shatner: It’s a great deal to be nominated. I mean, to be nominated is really everything. Except the tension of wondering whether you’re going to be nominated is replaced with the anxiety of “Will I win, could I win, is it possible?” These great people that are in opposition, will they? They’re so much better. A lot of anxiety is there.

D&E: “Denny Crane.” Did I do that ok? “Denny Crane?”

Shatner: Stole my line, did you?

D&E: When you think about it, It’s appropriate for the character, who’s a very complex man to have to say his own name a lot.

Shatner: It’s very complex. He’s this loveable buffoon who at times almost seems unbelievable, but you make him believable and really bring a lot of heart to this kind of nutsy guy. It has to be a character you love playing. Because how nutty and how out of it is he? Because you can't play that all the time and make it work. And the writing is so well done that it doesn’t get overdone on trying to take it over the top. So it is a complex character. I’m having wonderful fun trying to solve and play the different levels. And the writers are having equally as much fun. So we’re all working together in a kind of artistic enterprise.

D&E: “Enterprise.” Inserted a pun there, didn’t you? And what’s the vibe on the set like each day?

Shatner: The vibe? The vibe is like in the key of C. It’s incredible. James Spader is great to work off of. We make a good team and I think they like to write to that dynamic for the show.

D&E: You seem to have a healthy ego. How important is that in your industry?

Shatner: You know, to step in front of one person and tell them a joke and hope they’re going to laugh requires a certain amount of ego. But imagine stepping in front of thousands of people to tell them a joke and not know whether it’s going to bomb or not, it requires quite a bit of ego. Also bravery...courage, in case it bombs and you’ve got to get out of town fast, or at least get off the stage.

D&E: You’ve been a part of Hollywood for so long, is it tough to work with all those egos in Hollywood?

Shatner: When you talk about egos, that doesn't mean the overbearing ego that dominates. That is one kind of ego. The kind of ego we’re talking about is the kind that says, “I can make you laugh whether you want to or not. Just give me a little time.” The person who wants to dominate by behaving badly or ignorantly, I don't deal with that. For an actor who says, “I'm not coming out of my dressing room or showing up on time for work,” there are one of two things you can do. Accept it, because they are important enough that the ego we are talking about matters. Or you say to them, “Work or you’re fired.” If you have the ability to do that, you deal with that kind of ego with strength.

D&E: Do you think your career has taken off again because you seem to be taking yourself less seriously than in the earlier years?

Shatner: [Laughing] I wish it were as easy as that! Don’t take yourself seriously and you will be successful! I don’t know whether I took myself very seriously to begin with. I was probably just more frightened. I needed to do something to support my family. No, I don’t think having a sense of humor about myself is the reason I am more popular than I have been. It’s true, there are a couple of items like my CD “Has Been” and Boston Legal which have gotten great reviews and are popular, but I’ve always been at work doing something. So, I don’t see it as taking off, I just see it as “Hey, Pittsburgh is interested in talking to me.”

D&E: When did you get your first personal taste of really being a media celebrity? Was it at a Star Trek convention in the early 1970s after Star Trek became popular with the reruns on TV?

Shatner: Yes, probably, and the conventions that I went to in the early years were filled with passionate fans who would assume the persona of their various heroes. Mostly they were just people having fun. There is a fringe element out there that thinks that I am the captain of a spaceship, and they’re difficult to deal with sometimes, and they make their presence felt far in excess of their numbers, but I take that with a grain of salt knowing that the vast majority of the fans are just having a good time. But that fringe element does make you think twice about the power of celebrity.

D&E: And while your privacy has been so greatly reduced, you have to recall that this is basically the result of your practicing your craft so well.

Shatner: Oh, yeah, well that’s what I keep trying to do, and I have to be reminded that it’s a trade-off, the recognition factor and the virtues of being recognized.

D&E: Do you prefer to take the parts of heroes or villains, and do you feel that you’ve been typecast as a result of Star Trek?

Shatner: Well, I don’t know...I don’t think in terms of heavies and heros. A “heavy” is a hero, and a hero should be a ‘heavy.” I mean there should be a mix. To make a fully-fledged character isn’t to be one-sided. The worst heavy should be shown with as valid a life as possible. Heroes are generally the leading men, and generally a story is written around the leading man or the leading woman. So, for me to be typecast into playing the main part in a story isn’t bad typecasting. But there weren’t any other “spaceship” castings. I don’t know how to answer that typecasting question, because I never heard people say, “Don’t hire him,” I only heard the people say, “Would you like to do this?” So I guess the typecasting thing has been inferred before, but I don't know how.

D&E: The Price-Line commercials have made you seem more accessible, but what enticed you to do them?

Shatner: Originally, this small company came to me and said they wanted to do some radio commercials. I thought, well, radio commercials aren’t likely to be heard very much and they are paying me an adequate sum of money. Then, one day they said, “We want to do television, but we don’t have any money.” I said, “Well, ok...I'll take stock.” They turned out to be very successful. The reason why I did it? I don't know. It was an interesting company and they sounded sincere about what they were doing.

D&E: When did you first get interested in the equestrian life?

Shatner: Near where I lived as a boy there was a rental stable. I used to go out there and muck out stalls to be able to rent a horse and ride. Maybe that’s where I fell in love with horses and didn’t know until much later in life. I have won world championships.

D&E: Which is more satisfying, when your horses win or you get an award like the Emmy?

Shatner: I’ve got to tell you, to win a world championship in a highly competitive field, marked with young, athletic people who live on horses, and to be able to win, more than once, is as satisfying as winning the Emmy. It's equally competitive.

D&E: Do you have any regrets concerning any decisions you made earlier in your career?

Shatner: No, I don’t regret anything at this point. That may change on the next phone call, but at the moment I don’t regret anything.

D&E: To what do you attribute your boundless energy and your continued ability to retain your youth?

Shatner: I don’t know. I think perhaps it’s genetic. I was built for the long run, not for the short dash, I guess. [laughter]

Boston Legal airs Tuesday night at 10pm on ABC!

Born in Sydney of English parentage, and the fifth of six children, Hugh Jackman has a Communications degree with a journalism major from the University of Technology Sydney. After graduating, he pursued drama at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (Which he graduating in 1994), immediately after which he was offered a starring role in the ABC TV prison drama Corelli, opposite his future wife Deborra-Lee Furness.

Several tv guest roles followed, as an actor and variety entertainer. An accomplished singer, Hugh has starred as Gaston in the Australian production of Beauty and the Beast. He appeared as Joe Gillis in the Australian production of Sunset Boulevard. In 1998, he was cast as Curly in the Royal National Theatre’s production of Trevor Nunn's Oklahoma.

Hugh has made two feature films, the second of which, Erskineville Kings, garnered him an Australian Film Institute nomination for Best Actor in 1999. In his spare time, Hugh plays piano, golf and guitar and likes to windsurf.

The actor’s winning streak continued when he was hired to replace Dougray Scott as Wolverine in Bryan Singer’s high-profile adaptation of the comic book series, X-Men. The film, whose cast also included Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, James Marsden, and Halle Berry, opened to strong reviews and box-office to become one of the biggest hits of the summer. Jackman’s rising international popularity was reflected by his casting in Tony Goldwyn’s Someone Like You, a romantic comedy also starring Ashley Judd and Greg Kinnear. Jackman was hard to ignore in 2001, appearing just a few short months later with John Travolta in Swordfish.

2003 saw the return of the X-Men and, with them, Jackman’s Wolverine in X2: X-Men United, a film that not only repeated the first film’s financial success, but was considered by many to be the rare sequel that outdoes its predecessor. Sticking with the action genre, Jackman was next seen in the title role of the 2004 big-budget action film Van Helsing. Currently, he has finished filming X3: The Last Stand which comes out late spring and is prepping to do the spin-off X-Men film, Wolverine.

Delaware County Magazine had the pleasure to talk to Hugh recently about the upcoming X-Men film.

DCM: How is X-Men 3 different from the other two films?

Hugh Jackman: The second X-Men was a more intense and darker film. I also thought it was a little bit funnier. It gave even sharper focus to the complexity of the characters and their world and its issues. But I always thought X-Men 2 would be better than X-Men 1. This franchise may be like the James Bond or Star Trek films, where it’s episodic and keeps evolving. In this movie, the kids get a much bigger role to play and the tone is the darkest of the three and focuses on the “Dark Phoenix” storyline that was taken from the comics. That’s the great thing about comic movies is that they already have storylines that have been tried and tested in the comic books and there are still 30 or 40 characters who still haven’t seen the light of day. I don’t see why the films can't maintain that kind of quality and they keep making them.

DCM: Could Wolverine ever find love? He has in the comics.

Jackman: In the comics, he has. The movies have adapted the best parts of him. In this film, he has a go in this one, which is good. I think he takes a step forward. In the first film, you got the idea that he was a guy who was a bit nervous, a commitment-phobe. He manages to cross that line this time, so that’s a big step forward. Because Wolverine’s so broody, grumpy and angry a lot of the time, it’s great he gets to have a relationship with someone. So yes, he could find love - but I think it would have to be someone very patient and, if I know Wolverine’s sexual tastes, someone a little bit racy!

DCM: Is it true you based the character portrayal on Clint Eastwood?

Jackman: Before we started Bryan [Singer] asked me to watch Mel Gibson in Mad Max and the early Dirty Harry films. I also watched the westerns that Clint did with Sergio Leone. And it frightened me because I’d never once heard that I looked like Clint Eastwood, but with this character and the make-up I could see what they were finally talking about. But secretly, what I was most frightened of, was that I might have just copied him because I was watching the damn movies in my trailer all the time! [laughter]

DCM: Did you have to work hard to keep Wolverine’s physique in between films?

Jackman: I had to do a lot of training before. I spent about three months with a guy who trained Angelina Jolie to get her ready for her films. I didn’t ask for her body, I didn’t think that would be appropriate, but still he worked with me. [laughter] And then I worked with the nutritionists who work with the English Rugby Team, who gave me a nutrition routine that was a bit spartan to say the least. I think they were afraid an Australian’s idea of dieting was only having half a dozen beers a day! So all of a sudden it was no alcohol, no bread, no sugar... it was brutal.

DCM: In a film like this do you feel like you’re acting or are you just playing?

Jackman: I feel guilty by saying a lot of it is like playing, but it is. The thing is these characters have their vulnerabilities. You have to make them interesting. People who go and see these movie are gonna be surprised. People think it’s a mutant with claws fighting other mutants; it’s much more adventure and has a message of tolerance to it. There’s things at stake, so you’ve got to pull that off. John Travolta once said to me, “Action movies, no matter what’s at stake or how many people are dying or what’s going on, are the most fun to make.” In fact, romantic comedies are the hardest, because you’re never quite sure if you’re in the right zone. With action movies, you just feel like a little kid.

DCM: Were there any hesitations in doing any of these movies for fear of being in a franchise?

Jackman: I had it in my head that I was gonna do a different kind of movie after X-Men. I was literally on X-Men 2 and then went into Van Helsing. Steve Sommers, who directed it, used to make a living when he was travelling abroad as a busker, telling stories. He used to get on the street and he would take ideas from people and incorporate them and off-the-cuff tell these stories. So picture Steve, for an hour, mesmerizing me with this monster story. I thought If this story is half as good as this pitch, I'm just in. [laughter] I had one moment of nervousness doing back-to-back movies and I knew they wanted Van Helsing to be a franchise and I knew X-Men would have another, so I kind of thought, “Do I want to do this right now?” I called him and told him and he said, “Man, I got to tell you, you’re the only actor in Hollywood who’s afraid of being in two successful franchises.” I had to laugh at myself. You can’t always plan everything. When the right thing comes along, it comes along.

DCM: How was it working with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen for the third time now?

Jackman: It was fantastic! When I started to study acting, there were a few things that I remember. One was a play I saw called The Master Builder, which I saw twice and I was mesmerized by it. Another was a series of tapes by John Barton about playing Shakespeare, that every actor should see, and Patrick Stewart’s version of The Merchant of Venice was on it and he was incredible. I also saw Ian in Macbeth with Judi Dench, which was amazing. When I started, it was more a dream, to be honest, of being in the West End rather than Hollywood. So to be working with Ian and Patrick for my first Hollywood picture was just fantastic. To me, these are Pacino and DeNiro. They’re the English version of them to me. On a worldwide scale, they have more of a range of talent. I was in awe.

DCM: Do you think the X-Men movies and other comic book movies have raised the image of comic books in America?

Jackman: I never read comics as a kid growing up. I was slipped the X-Men comics under my trailer door while we made the first film,I was amazed at how helpful they were, the images more than the stories at that point. The images, and how they captured emotion or an action sequence in just, say, three images. I have to say I used them as inspiration for some of the fighting stances and techniques. The way Wolverine stands and how he looks when he’s fighting. I think the stories are epic. Bryan Singer didn’t want us to read them. He was very frightened that we would come out with these 2-D characters, but we didn’t.

Horton Hears a Who! is a 2008 CGI animated film based on the 1954 book by Dr. Seuss. It stars the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell. It’s being produced by Blue Sky Studios and released by 20th Century Fox and is set to be released on March 14. The story goes that one day, Horton the elephant (Jim Carrey) hears a cry for help coming from a speck of dust. Even though he can’t see anyone on the speck, he decides to help it. As it turns out, the speck of dust is home to the Whos, who live in their city of Whoville. Horton agrees to help protect the Whos and their home, but this gives him nothing but torment from his neighbors, who refuse to believe that anything could survive on the speck, and one of them, Sour Kangaroo (Carol Burnett), is determined to destroy it, going to lengths of asking a vulture hitman and The Whickersham Brothers to carry out her dirty work. Still, Horton stands by the motto that, “Even if you can’t hear or see them at all, a person’s a person, no matter how small.”

Asked about this upcoming film, Jim Carrey replied, “It’s going to be beautiful. I love, and have always loved all Dr. Seuss stories and I’m lucky enough to have been the Grinch. Audrey Geisel, Dr. Seuss’ widow, liked what I did with the Grinch and she asked me personally to do the voice of Horton. At the heart of the movies are the characters, and in Horton, Geisel has created a character with an unwavering moral center, a charming innocence, and a selfless willingness to protect others, even at his own expense. Of the all the books that Dr. Seuss wrote, Horton Hears a Who is one of his strongest narratives, with enormous stakes - the entire fate of a world hangs in the balance. Geisel surely had one of the greatest imaginations of the twentieth century.”

Carrey says the idea of playing Horton the elephant really appealed to him, “I love that idea that a person is a person no matter how small and the idea of worlds within worlds within worlds. Because sometimes I sit out in my backyard and I look at the birds, and a hummingbird will come down ‘wap’ goes flying past my head and will threaten me and stuff like that. I realize that he has no respect for my deed to the land, you know? That’s his property as far as he’s concerned. And that’s just the reality… We think that we’re the ones in control. Everybody does.”

Jim Carrey and Steve Carell (The Office TV Series) worked together again for this film and they worked before on Bruce Almighty. Carell took over the lead role for the sequel, Evan Almighty. Although Carrey and Carell are both providing voices in Horton Hears a Who – Carrey as Horton and Carell as the Mayor of Who-Ville – they didn’t do their voice recordings together and probably won’t see each other until it’s time to do full press for that animated family film.

“Everybody pretty much does their voices solo in a studio,” Carrey said, “because everyone has a different schedule, but we’ll be out promoting it together I’m sure in a few weeks.”

Paula Deen, the sassy, brassy down-home dame who cooked her way to fame and fortune after overcoming a bad marriage and panic attacks that kept her prisoner in her own home for years. From the time a bank robber put a gun to her head to the day she took charge of her life and turned it around with only $200 to her name. It’s all on the kitchen table with Paula Deen, the mom who has made millions doing what she loves most: cooking.

Paula Deen is now an Emmy-winning host of Food Network’s “Paula’s Home Cooking” and “Paula’s Party.”

Her New York Times best-selling book, “It ain’t all about the cooking” rose up the charts in record time and Forbes magazine included her on its list of 2007’s most powerful celebrities. DCM sat down with Paula again for a second interview as the holiday season and the end of 2007 approaches.

Delaware County Magazine: Since Forbes said you were one of the most powerful celebrities, has that changed you in any way? Do you feel ‘powerful?’

Paula Deen: No! It was a shock that they said that and put me on a list. I never see myself in that kind of position, or in a class with Oprah. It’s a nice little honor, but life goes on.

DCM: When last we talked you said that doing the book was fun but a real chore to manage, write and get it done while you were doing the TV shows. Now after it made the NY Times “best seller list,” how do you feel about all the work that went into it?

Deen: I did a lot of crying and a lot of laughing while it was being done. Sherry Cohen worked with me on my book, and she’s just my little Yankee sister, you know. She lives in New York, and she came down to Savannah and we got it done. She did such a good job. She actually says “y’all” and thinks she’s a southerner and she had her sons start calling her mama.

DCM: Is the southern lifestyle different? Would you have been different had you grown up in the north instead? Your family had a strong impact on you...

Deen: Well, I think it’s mainly who’s around you when you grow up. The area really doesn’t mean too much though the south seems to be a bit more friendly and laid back than say New York which is more aggressive.
The stronger the parents, the stronger the child. I’ve had two parents that gave me all the security, gave me everything I needed. I actually grew up in my grandparents’ business. They were in the lodging and restaurant business and we lived at River Bend and it was a motel, taverns, skating rink, swimming pool, and restaurant.
My grandma was making always making doughnuts, and then my mother and father owned the service station across the street, and we lived in the filling station, in the service station. I had the swimming pool. I had the skating rink. I had my aunt Trina who was just three years older than me and we were big buddies. I had my playmate and life was good. We had everything that we wanted, and on Saturdays we would take the Trailways bus into town and go to Cresses. Life was good, honey.

DCM: Were you a kid who liked to cook at all even then?

Deen: No. I mean, food was very, very important. Of course, I was in my grandmother’s kitchen, and, of course, my mother’s kitchen, and my Aunt Peggy’s kitchen, but I didn’t start cooking until I married, and that was...I was 18 years old because I had a very busy social life. That’s pretty typical in the South though, isn’t it? You know, back in the ‘60s, yeah, it wasn’t all that unusual. I don’t recommend that anyone do that, but I have two fabulous sons. They’re still the best work I’ve ever done.

DCM: When did things go south for you? Right after your marriage fell apart?

Deen: Well, I knew kind of early on that there was probably going to be some problems, but I was raised, you know, that if you made your bed, you lie in it, and I was constantly trying to fix things, you know, and make things right. I’m a slow learner, you know. I finally figured out at 40-years old that you don’t have the capabilities of changing the other person. The only thing that you can change is yourself, but, like I said, I’m slow. Academically, I was not at the top of my class.

DCM: When did you find out that you had panic attacks?

Deen: They started the night my daddy died when I was 19. Some people have heard of them but don’t know what they are. It sounds like you’re telling people that you’ve just stepped in from Mars. It sounds so bizarre, but all of a sudden a fear overtakes you. Your heart is beating so fast and so hard you know you’re going to have a heart attack. In my case, my arms would go numb. If I was in situations that I was real frightened, I could get them fairly often, but as long as I was at home in my little safety zone I was ok. I could usually get them under control in a few minutes, but I never went anywhere without a brown paper bag because when you breathe in the bag, it circulates whatever it is that calls you down, and my children remember especially one day I had taken them to J.C. Penney and they said all of a sudden they looked around and their momma was crouched down behind a rack of clothes breathing in my bag, you know. I never knew when they were going to hit me, but it’s the most terrifying, uncontrollable feeling. I was able to get it under control though. I treated myself, and it took me 20 years to do it.

DCM: I know that you smoke as well, which seems weird to me for a chef to be a smoker. Doesn’t that kill the food palette in terms of taste and smell? Don’t foods taste different through the nicotine and make them harder to prepare in the course of making new recipes?

Deen: Yes, I do still smoke, but I'm still trying to quit...

DCM: Are you a heavy smoker?

Deen: A pack and a half a day...I don’t think it affects my cooking or food prep. I say that if food tasted any better I'd weigh 500 pounds. [laughter]

DCM: So when did cooking become a profession?

Deen: I started cooking when I was 18 years old, but I turned professional when I was 42 years old.

DCM: Did you ever work in a restaurant or as a short order cook?

Deen: Nope, I worked for myself. When I was 42 years old, I took responsibility for myself, you know. I knew that I needed to make changes in my life, and over the years off and on I had been a bank teller. I think my check every two weeks was like $379.16, and I could not take care of myself on that kind of money, so I said, ‘Paula, what can you do? You were not listening in school. You have no talent. You can't sing or dance. What are you going to do, girl?’ And I had become a pretty good cook, so I turned to the one thing that I knew to make me a living, and that was my stove, and I would lay in bed at night and think about how I could turn that into a living, and so I decided that I was going to open this business called the Bag Lady made wonderful little lunches and I sold them to businesses.
My two sons helped deliver them. I kind of pimped them out to work for me. I knew the girls in the offices I delivered to would like it. I knew they will love the food and they will love the boys dropping in on them every day so, much to my boys dislike, I drug ‘em in, and I had them going all over Savannah selling the food that I was preparing. It paid the mortgage and we got by fine.

DCM: How did you get the Food Channel show?

Deen: It’s another miraculous story. I met a girl in a restaurant that had moved to Savannah that had worked and lived in New York. Her name is Carol Perkins. She moved to Savannah to start a new business called Harry Barker’s. And she was a Victoria’s Secret model in New York so she kind of traveled in the business circle. And she used to come in the restaurant all the time and one day she said, “Paula, do you know Gordon Elliot.” And I said, “No, I don’t know him.” I said, “Of course I know of him.” She said, “Well, he’s one of my closest friends, and he’s coming to Charleston to do a door-knock dinner show.” And she said, “I just think the two of you all need to meet.” So Carol told Gordon to come to Savannah. He did, and two years later they finally bought it.

DCM: Now you do the show out of your own home?

Deen: Yes. “The Paula’s Party” show is shot out of our seafood restaurant, Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House, mine and my brother’s restaurant. But “Paula’s Home Cooking” is definitely in our own home.

Rachael Ray is perky, original, fun, and always ready to try something new and exciting. She can cook you a meal in 30 minutes and travel the world on $40 a day, and host her new talk show on the ABC Network, but what does Rachael Ray listen to when she wants to rock out?

The Food Network's diva took time out of her super busy schedule to give Delaware County Magazine some snacking tips, challenging an Iron Chef, and talks about her new show!

Delaware County Magazine: What’s your number one splurge food?

Rachael Ray: I eat all the time. I don’t consider it splurging or not. I mean, I eat pasta when I want pasta; risotto when I want risotto; pizza when I want pizza.

Delaware County Magazine: What about sweet things - do you eat cookies?

Ray: I don’t like cookies. I don’t bake cookies. I don’t like to bake anything. I don’t eat sweets that much. I guess peanut butter cookies are good. I like any kind of spice cake, gingerbread, that kind of thing.

Delaware County Magazine: Are there one or two hints you can give for cooking a quick meal?

Ray: Set the bar low. Don’t try to make the cover of Gourmet magazine the first time out. Cook with meats that are off the bone; they are always quick-cooking. Start with things that are readily available to everybody - anybody can make pastas, and the ingredients are very simple.

Delaware County Magazine: Do you have particular cravings?

Ray: I cook and eat all the time, so it doesn’t really enter into my life. I don’t deny myself.

Delaware County Magazine: You own a dog but have said you don’t have time for children. Will that always be the case?

Ray: Yeah, I love working with children and they’re going to be a big part of the show, but I have no immediate plans to slow down my workload. It would be a hugely selfish thing and a bad idea to try to have a kid anytime soon. I feel like a bad mom to my dog!

Delaware County Magazine: How does your husband feel about being part of the show?

Ray: He’s good. He’s an easy guy. We don’t watch the show. It’s easy to be on TV when you don’t watch. You know, it freaks the dog out to hear me on TV. She doesn’t like my voice coming from somewhere when she can’t find me.

Delaware County Magazine: What would you eat if you only had $5 a day?

Ray: I would buy a bloody mary at happy hour -- gazpacho with a kick.

Delaware County Magazine: What would you buy if your food budget were unlimited?

Ray: I'd take 50 homeless people to dinner at Ducasse for a $500.00 a head meal.

Delaware County Magazine: Do you prefer eating out to cooking a meal when you're off the clock?

Ray: No. John and I make dinner at home. I like to cook so I don’t get tired of it.

Delaware County Magazine: Do you like to listen to music while you cook? What do you listen to?

Ray: Always. Music makes good food rock! I like a new band, MUSE, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, U2 and my husband's band The Cringe. I also like Pavarotti and jazz/swing...Chet Baker, Bud Powell, Louis Prima and Keeley Smith. Eclectic mix, I guess.

Delaware County Magazine: When you go on a road trip, eating is always tricky. You get fast food at rest stops and no exercise. What's the best diet for a road trip?

Ray: I like raw nuts, fruit, and baby carrots for crunchy car snacks. Gum keeps my jaws busy as well. I drive into town off exits that look promising, rather than eating at rest areas. Restaurants in town will have healthier choices too.

Delaware County Magazine: Have you ever thought about challenging an Iron Chef? And if so, which one?

Ray: I like to buy my ingredients at the market, rather than making fresh-kills in my kitchen. I don't have Marimoto's stomach -- I can't chop the head off an eel to make my dinner. These guys are amazing and well beyond my area of cook-spertise. I have no beef or eel with them and I will not be challenging any Iron Chefs any time soon. On the other hand, they say never say never...

Delaware County Magazine: Do you have a favorite junk food for when you're depressed?

Ray: I eat everything in any mood. If I am depressed, I just eat more of it all.

Delaware County Magazine: Now that being cheap has made you a superstar do people think you're cheap?

Ray: They think I am a lousy tipper. I am not. I grossly over-tip. I was a waitress for a long time. P.S. I do not think I qualify as a superstar. Please check the guidelines and official handbook.

Delaware County Magazine: Do you really eat at Burger King, and if so, how often? And whose fries are better, BK's or McDonald's?

Ray: Fries are very tasty at both, but I prefer BK. Yes, I do grab an occasional sandwich there if I am out and about and it's there. The chicken sandwich with mustard is good. Also, I like a Whopper Jr., no mayo and add mustard.

Delaware County Magazine: What advice do you have for aspiring television personalities?

Ray: None. I got my job by a series of accidents. I guess, don't plan out your life too much and take any and every opportunity that comes your way, no matter how surprising the idea may be to you...with the exception of the XXX industry, that is.

Maria Bello was born on 18 April, 1967 in Norristown, Pennsylvania. She went to Villanova University, majoring in political science.She had every intention of becoming a lawyer, but she took an acting class during her senior year, just for fun. She discovered she was very good at it, and she was soon cast in small off-Broadway plays, such as The Killer Inside Me, Small Town Gals With Big Problems and Urban Planning.

She later guest-starred on episodes of The Commish, Nowhere Man, Misery Loves Company and Due South. She got her big break when producers Kenny Lenhart and John J. Sakmar cast her in the spy show Mr. & Mrs. Smith as "Mrs. Smith" (they remembered her from her performance in a failed pilot that was a remake of the classic TV series 77 Sunset Strip. The show was canceled after eight weeks on the air. Then came a spot on ER as "Dr. Anna Del Amico", in which she guest-starred on the final three episodes of the third season. The show's producers were so impressed with her that they asked her back as a regular on the series.

She was also a part of the cult hit film Coyote Ugly and last year’s hit film, A History of Violence for which she received a Golden Globe nomination and won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for her performance.

She was in Philadelphia recently to promote her new film, World Trade Center, which was directed by controversial filmmaker Oliver Stone, and Delaware County Magazine interviewed her at The Four Seasons Hotel. Bello plays “Donna McLoughlin”, the wife of NYC Port Authority Police officer John McLoughlin who was trapped with his partner under the fallen rubble of the World Trade Center on 9/11 and survived until they were rescued the next day after being buried for 22 hours. This powerful story focuses on the day that made heroes of the men and women who gave their all as the world changed forever.



Delaware County Magazine: You were in New York City on 9/11, weren’t you? Is this film kind of like deja vu for you?

Maria Bello: I was there on 9/11. I was there for a movie premiere and I was with my 6-month old baby and his dad and my two parents who live in Norristown, Pa. I went down to the newsstand on the Upper West Side that morning to get a pack of cigarettes and this woman turned to me and said “I haven’t smoked in 11 years. Can I have a cigarette?” and I asked why and she said a plane just flew through the World Trade Center building. So I ran back upstairs just in time to see the second plane hit the other tower on TV and they came on and asked that all first responders, doctors and nurses, come downtown if you can and my Mom’s a nurse in Philly and she’s so brave and so positive and she said, “I’ve got to get down there!” So we hacked a ride down to St. Vincent’s and she stayed at the hospital all day working and waiting for thousands of people to come in. I ended up walking back up 6th Avenue and I witnessed the most beautiful sights of man’s humanity to man. People were helping each other, walking with each other, grieving with each other, and it crossed all economic and racial boundaries that day because everyone was in a state of shock. I kept it together because the women in my family are really strong, but I broke down at the end of the day.

DCM: When you were approaced to be in this film were you apprehensive about doing it?

Bello: I think we had a choice to make this film out of fear or out of love and Oliver decided to make it out of love. A very personal story. I think our film is much less about the tradgedy of that day than the humanity that came out of it. And I think that’s a political statement in itself.

DCM: I think one of the best scences in the film is the scene where you go into the John’s work room and start touching the tools that are laying around and trying to reconnect with someone who isn’t there now.

Bello: A lot of people have said that! That was all Oliver and we took a full day shooting that whole scene. Oliver walked around with me on the set for an hour touching the tools and explaining to me what he thought my character should be feeling and how he wanted me to hold the saw and such. It’s all about those tiny moments that accumulate and that add up to a life.

DCM: How was it like playing a character in a movie that is based on a real person? Were you intimidated by playing Donna McLoughlin?

Bello: I was. I like to say I got to know Donna by doing the dishes with her. We went to their house in Long Island and they opened up their hearts and their home to us. We walked in and John had a full spread of the famous steak he makes on the barbeque grill, and Donna and I wound up doing dishes and she was like “You can’t do dishes. You’re a movie star!” But it reminded me of my house in Norristown and we put out the desserts and do the dishes and talk while the men are over in their little corner. So we got to share our stories of our lives and our hopes and dreams and what happened on that day of 9/11 and it really bonded us in such a way that I feel that we’ll be friends forever. She wasn’t on the set at all, but she’s in the last scene of the movie at the picnic with John. It was probably the most challenging role I’ve ever done because I was so moved by her and what she had gone through that I tried to do her justice. It was really inspiring to play someone who’s real and not a fictional one that I can create from scratch. I also think it’s the perfect time for this movie to come out now with all that’s happening on the world’s stage.

With the release of Spider-Man 3 coming up in May, fans are already chomping at the bit for more cinematic adventures from their friendly neighborhood wallcrawler. The issue is whether or not director Sam Raimi and the cast want to come back for more.

“I’m sure they’ll keep making Spider-Man pictures,” Raimi is quoted as saying in the January/February issue of Premiere Magazine. The helmer inked contracts for each individual Spidey flick so he would have to be re-signed for a fourth installment. “Amy [Pascal, Sony co-chairman] told me that she would keep making Spidey movies. I love Spider-Man. And I love working with Kirsten [Dunst], Tobey [Maguire], and James [Franco],” the director said. “I don’t know if Thomas [Haden Church] and Topher [Grace] will be around in the next one, but probably Bryce [Dallas Howard] will be.”

Bryce Dallas Howard might be back for Spidey 4? Pretty interesting slip there, Sam. It seems the big-screen Gwen Stacy doesn’t share her comic book counterpart’s fate.

Raimi continued, “But I have to make sure that when I’m done with this picture I’m really still fascinated with the character. At this moment I’m fascinated with him. Whether or not I will be in six months when the movie’s done I couldn’t say. And I absolutely would not have anything to do with the picture unless I was hungry to tell the story.”

Maguire recently reminded fans that he’s not obligated to do any more Spider-Man films after the three he was contracted for. Would Raimi be up for doing a sequel with a different actor in the title role? “I’d rather not,” Raimi said. “No, I couldn’t imagine it.” Spidey fans can only hope that everyone returns for more!

San Diego Comic-Con Interview with the stars of Spider-Man 3!

There was a roundtable interview at 2006 Comic-Con International in San Diego that Delaware County Magazine was at that featured Spider-Man 3 director Sam Raimi and cast members Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard and Thomas Haden Church.

The interviews took place prior to Sony’s presentation of exclusive new footage from the highly anticipated film. Here’s what Raimi and his stars had to say about Spider-Man 3 and their characters.

Question: We’ve always heard you were more interested in the classic villains. What made you bring Venom into this movie?

Sam Raimi: Well, Avi Arad - who really has the pulse of the Marvel fans, better than the head of any corporation has understood those people interested in the corporation’s product - really knows what those kids want. And he said, you’ve had two Spider-Man pictures and there’s so many kids, so many fans of Spider-Man, that want to see Venom. Even though you didn’t grow up with him, they want to see him. You’ve got the Sandman, he’s one of your favorite villains, so why don’t you bring Venom in also and make those kids, the fans of Venom, happy. So I thought that’s what we should do.

Question: But do you like him now?

Raimi: Now that I’ve seen Topher Grace perform him, and saw what Alvin Sargent did with the script - he created a great character, really filled out Eddie Brock into a very meaningful character. And Tobey has a great energy with him in the few scenes they play together as competitors and I really like him now.

Question: So which version of Venom will yours be based on?

Raimi: We studied all the different looks. So many different artists created different looks for Venom and we tried to take the ones that worked best for us but also the ones Avi felt were the most classic elements and base it on that. There’s a lot of fantastic elements about Venom that you could say are in conflict with the realism that we wanted to have in the picture. But we just said to ourselves, ‘Kirsten and Tobey, you’ll just have to do the heavy-lifting here to bring it back down to earth because there’s this wild goof from outer space and you’ll just have to connect us to the characters.” [laughter] Question: So Venom is from outer space?

Raimi: I never said that, sir. I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Question: How do you deal with juggling so many characters?

Raimi: Well, Spider-Man comic books had all these characters and successfully interwove their stories. A lot of what we’re doing is not introducing elements, like if Harry Osborn does decide to seek vengeance upon Peter Parker for the death of his father, it’s certainly something that’s been set up in the first and then second picture. This is more the conclusion of that. So we have less work to do in that sense of not just introducing all of these new people. One of the other villains we’ve tried to weave the story into Peter Parker’s personal life in as important of a way as we could, and in a way that will hopefully make more of the first two pictures and give us insights into what we’ve seen before. Probably only with the character of Brock is there a complete new introduction of elements into Peter’s life. But that’s okay because he can meet new people, too.

Question: So what’s new for your characters this time? How have they grown?

Kirsten Dunst: Well, for Mary Jane...Basically, she’s still an actress and you could see where it was heading towards in the last film with Peter. Emotionally it’s much more adult and mature. There’s a lot more at stake because of their relationship. They’re together. Emotionally, there’s a lot more at stake for all the characters, and I think that we’ve gone more into their relationship because they’re older and it’s become more complicated. Emotionally, it’s a much heavier film to me.

Question: And Tobey?

Tobey Maguire: Obviously, there’s a continuity of character that we have to keep up. Peter Parker is Peter Parker, so it’s important to not just try to create new things for Peter just for the sake of that, but I don’t necessarily want to see the same scenes played out and see Peter go through the same kinds of things that he’s gone through. So I think that Alvin and the other people who had input into Peter’s story and what Peter’s going through in this movie did a fantastic job because as an actor for me there was nothing stale about it. I got to approach it and got to do brand new, really fun, interesting things for myself. And in terms of what the specifics of that are, you’ll see them when you check out the movie.

Question: Tobey, you seem to delve into the darker aspects of Peter Parker, at least judging by the trailer. Was it more rewarding for you as an actor to sink your teeth into the dark side of who this guy is or who he could become?

Maguire: We’ve gone into some new and different areas, it was fun for me without losing touch with who Peter is and so I really enjoyed the things I got to do in the movie.

Question: Whether there’s another movie or not, does this movie bring the whole story to some closure?

Dunst: This is definitely a culmination but you’d have to have seen the first and second movies. This definitely ties up some storylines but if there are more stories to tell, if things are unresolved, then we will tell them. But I think it depends on if everyone’s game and there’s a story to tell. Because if there’s a good story, I’ll be there.

Question: What about the casting of Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy?

Raimi: We just cast the best actress for the part. Tobey, our producer Laura Ziskin, myself, Grant Curtis. We just wanted to find the best actress for the role. Not someone who looked like Gwen Stacy of the comics, although once the actress would have been cast that would have been our immediate job. How do we make her look like the image that the kids have grown up with? But nevertheless in casting, we’re just trying to find the right person who can make it real, who can take the dialogue and bring it to life. Read it in the most unexpected way, bring some life to it. Make it interesting, exciting for me who is watching it, for Tobey who is acting it, for Laura who was watching it with us. That’s really what the casting is about. The moment came when Bryce read the scene, one particular scene, and it came to life for us suddenly, and we all looked to each other and felt energized. It was a different thing than with Kirsten and Tobey because we were after a different relationship there. But here we were looking for a great actress and that’s what seemed to jump out at us.

Question: Sam, can you talk about filming in L.A. and Cleveland? Was that just for economics?

Raimi: Cleveland was wonderful to us. They really put the red carpet out for us and allowed us to do a tremendous amount of shooting there so we’re very thankful to that city. What happened was that the soundstages were in Los Angeles...all the stage work was done there or 90% of it. And New York has always been the city of Spider