The man in the irony mask
by Sean Macaulay
The Times Newspaper (UK)
February 28, 2002

Star of the week - Kevin Spacey

What would Kevin Spacey, the star of The Shipping News, do without sarcasm?
He says it is “just irony with style”, but it is also the essential ingredient of his appeal. Others can hail his versatility, his fastidious preparation for each role, his physical command of space, but there will always be something missing if he is playing straight drama.

He carved his niche playing sneeringly cunning psychos and his recent move into sadsack territory — dim-witted sadsack territory — is bold and brave and all that. So he can play sluggish dullards and shut off his twinkly menace. So it proves he has discipline. So it shows he can fit into ensemble pieces. But eventually you just wind up waiting for him to spring back to his full range.

It’s not a problem he’s unaware of. “How many times do you say to yourself about someone who you once thought was interesting, whatever happened to them?” Armed with a jowly disdain, Spacey carved a niche in all kinds of cat-and-mouse movies in the early 1990s. His specialty was playing cunning psychos. In Swimming with Sharks, he was the film executive from hell, belittling his assistant with breathtaking sadism. “You . . . Have . . . No . . . Brain . . .”

In Seven he was the most deviously inventive serial killer since Hannibal Lecter. “Detective. Detective. Detective! You’re looking for me.” He got his break as an unconventional leading man in Consenting Adults in 1992, playing the wife-swapping neighbour from hell. The director Alan “Klute” Pakula fought for him, a show of support he never forgot. “Up to that point I was kind of this obscure New York stage actor that the studios had never heard of.” With its manicured suburban setting and neurotic eruptions, Consenting Adults presciently pointed the way to American Beauty. But it is a straight thriller and Spacey is clearly the overconfident, manipulative villain.

What American Beauty offered him was a shift into everyman territory. The trademark sarcasm was still employed to humorous effect, but now it was underscored with a touch of warmth. The man you loved to fear a little could
now be loved a little, too.

In a way, the Best Actor Oscar that went with the role of Lester Burnham offered a full stop to his droll, snide incarnation. Now he could play more regular characters. Spacey, though, has picked gooey, earnest dramas in which he’s extinguished all signs of his old razzle-dazzle. He says of his psycho roles: “Bored. Let’s move on. Can do it with my eyes closed.”

But it is as if the pendulum has swung too far the other way. The virtuous drivel of Pay It Forward (scarred teacher, wounded heart, little kid plays Cupid) is exactly the kind of mush his other, smarter characters would despise. K-PAX is more of the same. He is the soi- disant alien who teaches his fellow patients how to . . . believe in themselves.

Spacey grew up something of a rebel. Expelled from military school in New Jersey, he tried his hand on the comedy circuit in Los Angeles, winding up at Juilliard studying theatre. He dropped out halfway through his degree and made inroads on Broadway before picking up film and television parts in the mid-1980s.

It is instructive to watch these early performances. Many of his quirks are in place, not least the sideways tilt of the head and baleful stare combination.

But the vaunting confidence is only just warming up. He is quick-witted and quirky — in the television series LA Law he played a loopy tycoon who enacts the Kentucky Derby while in his underwear — but he is some way off having a total command of his effects.

It didn’t take that long. Within a few years he was limping to an Oscar in The Usual Suspects. His prowess was most noticeable when he returned to the stage in The Iceman Cometh. The part of Hickey is a tour-de-force with a 25-minute monologue in the closing act. It requires leather lungs, volcanic outpourings and lightning quick changes of mood, all of which Spacey handled seamlessly. But what made him outshine his fellow cast members was his crackling presence. It is a vague thing to define — Voltage? Charisma? Good looks? Spacey does not have striking features in repose. He is not hugely tall. But on stage it is impossible to miss the physical command of space. What it came down to is the way he moved about the stage, the predatory energy he gave off.

Friends talk about the shift upwards he made ten years ago when he became comfortable with himself “as an artist”. He had so much ambition that it seems his early, less successful, years kept crippling him. “It was a nightmare. I never slept. I obsessed about my career non-stop: what I was doing wrong, how everybody was successful but me. You go into an audition with that kind of panic and you can forget it. There’s no deodorant for desperation.”

Other actors can pace around chewing their nails, but these days on set Spacey will sit still, listening to music, or playing to the gallery, cracking jokes, squeezing shoulders, nipping off to pose for pictures with fans. His mimicry is amazing. Johnny Carson, Christopher Walken, Burt Lancaster, Al Pacino, William Hurt. More than a few answerphones in Hollywood have messages with Spacey pretending to be someone else.

When it comes to his private life, though, the electric flow of entertainment dries up completely. He still folds his arms and insists that the less we know, the more convincing his performances will be. “I don’t wish to be fodder for the mill,” he says. “They make up things about me.” Such as what? That he took his mother to the Oscars? If he goes back to delivering a few more wickedly fun performances, he can take whomever he wants.

www.thetimes.co.uk

Thanks, Jaye.

~

The Nando Times 

Entertainment: PROFILE: The sublimely complex Kevin Spacey
By LUAINE LEE, Scripps Howard News Service

NEW YORK (December 25, 2001 10:42 p.m. EST) - Actor Kevin Spacey used to be frenetically impatient. He couldn't figure out why his career wasn't leaping ahead at mach speed.

But he soon got over that, he says, "by watching a lot of people succeed who were impatient and then watching what happened to them after. So I think I just got to the point where I recognized I might blossom later, my ship would come in a little later than scheduled.

"But maybe by the time it did, I might know how to react to it. I might know how to behave beyond that, because ultimately it's not about grabbing the brass ring. Anybody can grab the brass ring. It's what you do with it once it's in your hand."

Spacey, 42, is one of those performers who toiled for years as a journeyman actor, playing supporting roles with such unstudied expertise that important people began to take notice.

His ship came in when he earned the Oscar as best supporting actor for "The Usual Suspects" and the best actor Oscar four years later for "American Beauty."

In his latest role, as the lumpish, taciturn Quoyle in the upcoming "The Shipping News," Spacey moves to a different plane. Though he has aced the fast-thinking cynic in movies like "Hurlyburly," "L.A. Confidential" and "Glengarry Glen Ross," that kind of role is too easy now. No longer in search of discovery, what Spacey craves now is the challenge.

And his role in "The Shipping News," as the overweight cipher who discovers his worth among the icy wastes of his ancestors, is made to order.

Still, he admits he's afraid.

"I'm afraid of failing constantly, and sometimes I do fail. And when I fail, I'm probably a bigger target then maybe someone else who fails because there is certain expectation, that every time out, I'll knock it out of the park," he says, rubbing his temple.

"You know, sometimes jobs you take are transitional, they're bridges to something else, and quite frankly, in the film experience, the actor's not responsible at the end of the day for whether the movie works. The actor is responsible for (his) performance. I do believe that, but only in so much as the director has used the best of that performance."

When he does fail, "It's crushing," he says, lowering his cropped head, "particularly when you're trying to go about doing things for certain reasons and because you thought something was a good idea, but at the end of the day people call it sentimental clap, and you go 'God, we didn't all set out to do sentimental clap, we actually set out to do something else.' But there's almost this feeling that you intended to do this: 'How dare you?' And you're thinking, 'It's more complex than that.'"

That's the thing about Spacey. This level-eyed, easy talking, soft-spoken guy is sublimely complex. It's not his good manners that impress, but the intensity underneath.

He thrives on acting, he says, for two reasons. "One has to do with the process and how the experience is for me directly, how it makes me feel to get up in the morning and try to tackle something I find difficult or that is fraught with peril, because everything you do - and in particular when you're trying to do something you've never done before, in a way you've never done it before - it's always fraught with challenge. So there's that aspect of it which I love very much. ... The other aspect of it is being able to take an audience somewhere."

He has known since he was 9 that he wanted to act. But fate has intervened more than once. He remembers theater impresario Joseph Papp calling him into his office when he saw Spacey - who was working as an assistant at Papp's theater company - in an off-off-off-off-Broadway play.

"I saw an actor on stage last night and you need to leave here and go act, you need to focus on that, and you shouldn't be here working anymore. That's what you should be doing," Papp told him.

"And in this gentle, fatherly way he pushed me out the door, and everything changed after that," says Spacey, shaking his head.

"That's the incredible beauty of life ... that you never know what's coming down the pike. You just never know. And if you embrace the idea that life is a banquet, as I do, than there are many things with which to experience and explore."

Things weren't always so rosy. "I had a number of years of starting out of being broke, living in various apartments and being thrown out of various apartments. Of working as a super in a building, selling subscription television door-to-door, of selling shoes, there's a number of things I did," he says. "Quite frankly, I don't look back on that time - with a few exceptions - as a particularly difficult time.

"I was at least working as an actor most of the time. I was employed - even if it was a dinner theater, it didn't matter ... So I didn't have it as tough as a lot of people."

www.nando.net

~

Spacey plays it 'squashed down' in 'Shipping News'

By TERRY LAWSON
Knight Ridder Newspapers

Last Updated: Dec. 28, 2001

The primary character - to call him a protagonist is missing the point - in E. Annie Proulx's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Shipping News" is Quoyle, a dumpy, passive loser who is extremely overweight and has, says the book, the general appearance of "a walrus."

Kevin Spacey may not be George Clooney, but he is decidedly not walrus-like.

So when Spacey signed on to play Quoyle in director Lasse Hallstrom's gentle and understated adaptation of "The Shipping News," which opened Christmas Day, the first question the notoriously specific actor wanted to answer was how to make himself look like Quoyle.

"Lasse and I had serious, torturous meetings about whether or not to use prosthetics, or padding," says Spacey, who ended up putting on 20 pounds for the picture. "We went round and round, because so many times, when actors transform themselves with makeup or whatever, you spend the movie focused on that instead of the story or the character.

"So finally we decided to go with feeling. In Dickens, when he describes someone as having the "face of a washboard," you couldn't find an actor who has that. He has to suggest that. So what we attempted to do was suggest the feeling of heaviness, of someone who is always uncomfortable in his own skin. He's been squashed down, Quoyle. I play him squashed."

Life happens

"The Shipping News," which won the Pulitzer in 1994, is a book of discovery, as Quoyle, a man whose mundane life simply happens to him, moves to Newfoundland with his daughter and an aunt he never knew after his unfaithful wife, Petal, is killed.

There he stumbles into a job with a local newspaper writing the shipping news, the weekly account of maritime activity, and makes the acquaintance of a widow with a brain-damaged son.

Anyone who reads it instinctively wants to share it with the world, but since its publication it has foiled all attempts to make it into a film. At first, John Travolta was slated to star, with Fred Schepsi directing, and then Billy Bob Thornton was going to direct, with himself starring, but he never came up with a script that satisfied him.

"It was a hard nut to crack," says Thornton, "so I hope Lasse and Kevin have figured it out. I wanted to make it because I wanted to see that story on screen, and I still do."

Spacey, having seen the finished film only a couple of days before this interview, says he believes Hallstrom solved the problems but adds that his own views of the film and his performance are "still percolating."

Circumspect

Of his own performance - which won him a Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a drama - Spacey is more circumspect.

"In most of the films I've made, like most of the films that get made, the character takes a demonstrative journey. Like Les, in 'American Beauty,' he travels miles from who he is at the beginning of the film to who he is at the end. Quoyle, who may be more unlike me than anyone I've ever played, moves about an inch. Whether audiences will appreciate his accomplishment, I don't know, but I think Lasse got the performance out of me he wanted. Every time I would edge out of the box, just the tiniest bit, Lasse would go, 'Oh, no, Kevin, give me less, I want less.'

"I was talking to my friends after the screening, and one of them said he kept waiting for Quoyle to make his transformation and say something sardonic, but of course, he never does. There's not a sardonic or ironic or even cynical bone in his big lumpen body."

Spacey's co-stars in the movie are less restrained in their assessment of his work in the role.

"There are so few actors in the world who are able to just be," says Judi Dench, who plays Agnis, the crusty aunt who takes Quoyle back to Newfoundland to scatter the ashes of his father, her brother, and to live in the dilapidated family home. "Kevin has to hold this movie together while doing very, very little. It's one of the hardest things an actor can do."

"It was very hard to be mean to Kevin," says Cate Blanchett, who plays his wreck of a wife, Petal, who steals his heart, his money, their daughter - and, after her death, his dreams. "But that was why I wanted to be in the movie, to play someone so resolutely unlovable. And Kevin makes you understand why he would love me anyway."

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Dec. 28, 2001.

~

Behind his success is talent - and trust
By Bonnie Churchill | Special to The Christian Science Monitor

HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. - Kevin Spacey couldn't help but smile at the ovation his latest film, "The Shipping News," received at its Los Angeles première in December. The film, based on Annie Proulx's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, opens nationwide this month.

It was the first time Spacey had seen the movie, about a newspaperman's journey from New York to Newfoundland after his wife's death. There, he finds a new life.

Spacey confides, "I don't watch the dailies [the film shot the previous day]. I find it's so much better not to second-guess both myself and the director."

He explains that when he first started acting in films, he thought it would be useful to watch whether his performance was taking shape.

"As the years have gone on, I find one of the dangers of watching dailies ... is you fall in love with moments," he says. "Then, you see a cut of the movie and that take doesn't exist, because it was out of context; it didn't work for the shape the director was trying to give that character's journey."

The two-time Oscar winner ("The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty") says, "I like to put myself in the hands of the director, and ... trust him - let him guide me instead of second guess my work. If I can ... trust him, I have a much better experience as an actor because I'm giving in my performance all the tools the director needs to make his vision work. At the end of the day, he's going to make the painting, not you."

That's a good reason why Spacey insisted that Lasse Hallström direct "The Shipping News." Hallström's films include "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," "The Cider House Rules," and "Chocolat."

As Spacey says, "This movie was one of the sweetest experiences I've had in an environment in which you felt completely encapsulated by his clarity, humor, warmth - and ability, in my case, to carve me up like steak and get rid of all the fat. I don't think anybody approaches family as a subject in quite the way that Lasse does. His movies have this kind of magic ... where he manages to have that camera burrow into the very center from which a character's life flows.... This particular story required that kind of touch."

Bringing to life "The Shipping News" wasn't an easy project.

Spacey's character, newspaperman Quoyle, was described as a walrus of a man with a chin that jutted out from his face. The actor had five days between finishing the movie "K-Pax" and going to Newfoundland for "The Shipping News."

He gained 20 pounds for the role, but forsook prosthetics. Hallström felt a fake chin would take away from the reality of the film and end up with something an audience could never get over.

Together they decided extra pounds, baggy clothes, and stooped shoulders would satisfy. Mainly they agreed it was the attitude, the mental heaviness, forever being told he was useless and boring, which would weigh Quoyle down.

Filming in Newfoundland offered challenges and rewards. "The Newfoundlanders would kid they have four seasons: fall, winter, misery, and summer," Spacey says.

"We were there for nine weeks during misery. I'll say this: Newfoundland is a beautiful, extraordinary, majestic place. There were days and nights when I was just mesmerized by its vastness, its isolation. Also, it had the most unpredictable weather - you could go through four seasons in one day. That's why the call sheet, which we'd get each night telling what we'd shoot the next day, was dubbed 'The true or false quiz.' It listed four different places we might shoot. We were weather-contingent."

In the story, Spacey has a 7-year-old daughter. Since the number of hours a child can work on a film are very limited, Hallström hired triplets for the one role.

"I got to know them apart," Spacey says, "so ... when Lasse would change them on me between rehearsal and filming, I'd know it."

Even though he was far from Hollywood, the actor kept in touch with his Figure Street Production Company. "We've spent two years developing relationships with writers, directors, young actors.... We start filming 'The United States of Leland' with a young cast Jan. 28 and have scheduled two other movies during the year. I'll not be in them."

He adds, "I feel it's a responsibility for anyone who breaks through a certain ceiling ... to send the elevator back down and give others a helpful lift."

January 4, 2002 - Christian Science Monitor

www.christiansciencemonitor.com

~

After-Globes: A glimpse of the stars First stop is Trader Vic's 'Mind'
party By Susan Wloszczyna USA TODAY

January 22, 2002

LOS ANGELES -- Four awards for one movie plus the evening's best director equals one hot party.

You didn't need to be a math genius like John Forbes Nash, schizophrenic hero of best drama A Beautiful Mind, to figure out why the Universal/DreamWorks/USA Films gathering was the post-Golden Globes place to be Sunday night.

Everyone wants to be where the winners are, and the winners were definitely gathered in the darkened corners of Trader Vic's restaurant at the Beverly Hilton. (After the ceremony, stars had eight parties to choose from at the hotel.)

There was vintage rocker Keith Richards gathering no moss while schmoozing with director Robert Altman, who was toasting his Gosford Park prize with red wine. About the warm standing ovation he received, the 76-year-old said, ''All I know is I felt very comfortable and safe, though I don't remember what I said.''

Meanwhile, a puzzled Bob Balaban, the Gosford actor and producer, expressed relief when told the wrinkled guy with the head scarves and earrings was just a Rolling Stone. ''I knew it was either someone famous or someone scary.''

Russell Crowe, a winner for his intense portrait of Nash, granted the press some precious face time before settling into celebratory mode. Asked about his heartfelt acceptance speech, the Aussie with the rowdy rep replied, ''I took a walk today and had a think about it. I wanted to say something very specific about my respect for Ron (Howard, Mind's director).''

Steven Spielberg, whose HBO miniseries Band of Brothers was saluted with an honor, hobbled in with wife Kate Capshaw at his side and a titanium brace on his right leg, a reminder of his recent scooter mishap. ''It comes off in a couple of weeks.''

Benjamin Bratt proved to be a gentleman as he allowed his Piñero co-star Talisa Soto, whom he introduced as his girlfriend, to wear his Calvin Klein tuxedo jacket at the party, which spilled into an outdoor tent. ''My mama raised me right,'' Bratt said. A live band played at the bash, and Andie MacDowell briefly joined the group and played percussion.

Guests also sang a rousing ''Happy Birthday'' to Mulholland Drive director David Lynch, who turned 56 on Sunday. He received no trophies as a gift, but he did have his cake and ate it, too.

Rouge all over

It looked like either the world's most romantic Valentine's party or at least the perfect setting for public heavy petting. Twentieth Century Fox feted Moulin Rouge's win as best musical or comedy with a tented rooftop party done up in red: red tablecloths, red-hued lights, red tulip centerpieces and red rose petals strewn about.

Stars including Andy Garcia, Kiefer Sutherland, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Tilda Swinton, Ben Kingsley, Jessica Alba, Sean Astin and Moulin Rouge leading man Ewan McGregor mingled in a roped-off area while projected images of a windmill (that's English for moulin) and a moon hovered nearby.

But all eyes were focused on the queen of hearts herself, Globe winner Nicole Kidman, who kept her back toward the throng while glued to her cellphone.

Wacky mix of people

Miramax's post-Globes bash boasted an eclectic guest list, including Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, West Wing star Bradley Whitford, Andy Garcia, Gary Busey and Miramax chairman Harvey Weinstein. Also present: actor nominees Marisa Tomei and Kevin Spacey (not together), Shipping News director Lasse Hallstrom and his actress wife, Lena Olin, and Today co-host Katie Couric, who arrived on the scene with Tracey Ullman.

''We're having fun,'' Couric said. ''She's my date. I got her this corsage.'' Ullman smiled and popped a petal in her mouth: ''It's edible!''

But when the wacky pair approached Spacey for an interview (with a camera crew), the Shipping News star lifted an unwelcoming finger from both hands until the cameraman turned off the camera. Couric, clearly rattled, got up from the table and moved quickly away to mingle with other stars.

HBO to start

The HBO party proved to be the first stop for many celebrities, including Tom Hanks, who accepted the cable channel's award for Band of Brothers.

He hadn't quite decided where to put his latest trophy.

''I'll take it down to the office or bathroom or (put it on the) hood of the car. I'm not sure,'' Hanks said.

Rachel Griffiths of Six Feet Under didn't socialize right away -- she was too busy calling her mother and other relatives in Australia on a cellphone to tell them she had won as best supporting actress in a series, miniseries or motion picture made for television.

Sex and the City's Kim Cattrall stopped by the HBO party but had only one thing on her mind.

''I am so hungry,'' said Cattrall, who had only nibbled on Godiva chocolates before the awards ceremony.

Could she eat whatever she wanted, considering the snug tangerine Erick Gaskins gown she was wearing? ''Oh, yeah, that's why I picked it,'' she cooed.

Family pride

At the InStyle/Warner Bros. bash, proud papa Martin Sheen was crowing about son Charlie's win for Spin City, even though dad didn't win for The West Wing.

''I couldn't be happier for Charlie,'' Sheen said. ''Neither one of us thought we were going to win tonight. When he did, I damn near fainted.''

Life section, page 3D, no picture of Kevin in print edition.

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020122/3791805s.htm

© Copyright 2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Kevin Spacey Makes News New!
Thursday, December 20, 2001

Kevin Spacey plays an emotionally damaged man struggling to find his place in the world in The Shipping News (opening Christmas day). In real life, the two-time Oscar winner faced a long struggle of his own to land the juicy part of Quoyle in Lasse Hallström's big-screen adaptation of the best-selling novel by E. Annie Proulx.

"I read it six years ago and immediately called my agent," he recalls to TV Guide Online. "I said, 'I've got to do this.' When he told me that John Travolta had already committed to the project, I hung up the phone and wept like a small child. But I didn't give up. I kept checking back and I heard things like, 'You'll never play Quoyle. You're not right for it.' But patience is a virtue and I hung in there. When John dropped out, and after Billy Bob Thornton passed, I finally got my chance.

"I was excited to portray Quoyle because it's so different than anything anyone has ever seen me do," adds the star of The Usual Suspects, American Beauty and K-Pax. "But it's not terribly different from anything I've ever felt. I understand a man like Quoyle. There are moments when the audience may say to themselves, 'Come on, what is your problem?' But I think that can be humorous and it also mirrors a lot of people's experiences. I think there are more Quoyles out in the world than there are people like some of the snappy, quick-witted characters I've played."

Spacey — who will spoof himself in the upcoming Austin Powers sequel — says he's made it his mission to keep moviegoers guessing about his future career choices. "It's so easy to allow yourself to get pigeonholed," he concedes. "So, I keep looking for things I haven't done before and stuff that gives me a new place to go. They may not all work, but you don't hit a home run every time you get up to bat."

Incidentally, the 42-year-old thesp confesses that there aren't as many opportunities for him to play ball as some might think. "I'm not getting offers all the time even though I may have gotten accolades," he laments. "Why? On one hand, because everybody assumes I'm working so they don't even offer me stuff. And the other part of it is you have to prove you can do it. If they haven't seen you do it, they don't believe you can. I only got that part in American Beauty because director [Sam Mendes] believed in me." — Jeanne Wolf 
   
http://www.tvguide.com/newsgossip/insider/011220a.asp

~

Out & About

Monday, January 7, 2002

 

The Shipping News helps put The Rock on movie map

 

By Michael MacDonald

The Canadian Press

St. John's, Nfld.

 

Regardless of what critics say, if the first Canadian screening of The Shipping News proved anything, it's that Newfoundland's film industry is on a roll.

 

The release of the big-budget Hollywood film, starring Kevin Spacey and shot mainly in Newfoundland, caps two years of extraordinary growth in the province's motion picture business.

 

The sneak preview in St. John's will be followed by the release next month of two other major productions shot on the Rock: the TV mini-series Random Passage, and the feature film Rare Birds, starring William Hurt.

 

Both films are based on books written by Newfoundlanders.

 

As for The Shipping News, it's slated for wide release this month.

 

Over 300 people jammed a shopping mall theatre for a charity screening of the two-hour film, which featured spectacular performances by Spacey and Dame Judi Dench, as well as jaw-dropping scenes of coastal Newfoundland.

 

None of the stars attended the Canadian premiere, although some crew and minor cast members were in the crowd. The reviews of those leaving the theatre were overwhelmingly positive.

 

"It captured the flavour of this place in a magical way," said Margaret O'Dea of St. John's. "You fall in love with the place through the characters."

 

"I wasn't as fond of the book as I was of the movie."

 

Pat Grattan, also of St. John's, had his doubts going in about spacey in the role of Quoyle, who is described in the book by E. Annie Proulx as an odd lump of a man. They evaporated quickly.

 

"It was great to see him blossom through the film," he said.

 

Production recently wrapped up in St. John's for The Red Door, an independent film starring Keifer Sutherland and Stockard Channing. It's among 40 film projects at various stages of development in Newfoundland.

 

"We have to keep that momentum going," said Barbara Doran, producer of Random Passage, a four-part series about life in a Newfoundland outport in the early 1800s. "We've reached a plateau in Newfoundland."

 

In the past three years, the Newfoundland Film Development Corp. has helped the industry grow from a humble, $2 million business to a thriving, $20 million enterprise.

 

"There's been a lot happening," said executive director Leo Furey. "We're a half-million people on a rock in the middle of the Atlantic... But as far as film, theatre and writing is concerned, it's amazing."

 

The recent spurt of activity stems from the province's 1997 decision to offer producers a 40 per cent rebate on their labour costs. The subsidy is similar to those offered in most other provinces.

 

Paul Pope, a St. John's film producer, said the rebate allowed him to make Rare Birds, which is based on Ed Riche's novel of the same name.

 

"Levelling the playing field made it possible," said Pope. "It stimulated quite a bit of production here."

 

But the growth of Newfoundland's movie business shouldn't be overstated, said Pope, noting that at least a dozen major films are released every week in North America.

 

"It's fantastic that we're getting a cluster of them," he said. "But we're still very, very small."

 

If Newfoundland wants to continue attracting films like The Shipping News, it must invest in its own soundstage and film gear, Pope said.

 

"Quite often, that's a deal breaker."

 

Still, Furey insists Newfoundland has plenty to work with.

 

"We've got the stories. We've got the actors. We've got the musicians. We have the history."

 

He didn't mention the weather.

 

The Shipping News was shot earlier this year as eastern Newfoundland emerged from one of its worst winters on record.

 

"The joke is that they have four seasons: fall, winter, misery, and summer," Spacey said recently. "We were right in the heart of misery. It snowed on May 24."

 

But director Lasse Hallstrom didn't mind. Despite the added costs and rough weather, he was determined to film in Trinity area.

 

When Furey asked him why he came so far to make a film, Hallstrom said: "Hey, Newfoundland is the main character. Of course we're doing it here."

 

The film chronicles the life of Quoyle, a struggling newspaper reporter who is traumatized by the death of his wife and moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to start anew.

 

The promotional bumf for the movie breathlessly describes Newfoundland as a place "where life is as rough as the weather and secrets are as vast as the ocean."

 

"The scenes of Newfoundland were quite spectacular," said Sheila-Kelly Blackmore, a Sandy Cove, Nfld. resident who took in the premiere. "It showed the rural setting of Newfoundland in a way many of us see it."

 

The $45 million production also features performances by Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett. Hallstrom also directed The Cider House Rules, Chocolate, Something to Talk About and What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

 

The Shipping News is based on Proulx's Pulitzer prize winning novel of the same title. The book was on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 40 weeks.

 

Thanks to Roving Spacey Reporter Lisa of Halifax, NS, who loved the movie.

~

Entertainment Weekly 
Issue #634, January 11, 2002

Stacking the Dock

ON LOCATION
An Oscar-friendly cast, crew, and studio head north to adapt The Shipping News.

By Daniel Fierman

OOP, ME TOSH EST VET!" - JULIANNE Moore is sitting next to Kevin Spacey on a slick, wet picnic bench on top of a cliff in a remote part of Canada. It's midnight, freezing, and wind is whipping up over the rock face, delivering a 50-mph misting as she tries to deliver her lines. Needless to say, things are not going particularly well, mainly because Moore demanded that director Lasse Hallstrom teach her how to say "My ass is wet" in Swedish. Now she can't stop saying it (incorrectly). Or laughing. And this scene, in which she feeds her costar some seal-flipper pie, is taking forever.

Finally, Hallstrom calls "cut," pops out of the rainproof tent where he's watching the action on monitors, and leans in to chat with Moore, who pulls her black quilted coat close. As the director begins to retreat, Spacey pipes up in his best Hallstromian burr. "Ut! Lasse! Ut! What about me?"

"Ah, you're fine," replies the 55-year-old Swede, with a smile.

"Ooooh! Ooooh! I get it," bays Moore in mock outrage. "Just get nominated a couple of times and it's 'change this, do that.' Win a f---ing Oscar and 'you're fine.'"

Spacey pauses a beat, purely for dramatic effect. "Uh, two Oscars, Julie."

The crew members howl with laughter.

YOU CAN FORGIVE MOORE for losing count. Tallying up the Academy kudos already attached to the makers of The Shipping News - the new Miramax drama based on Annie Proulx's 1993 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel - is no simple task. ("Hell, I've got 45 nominations," laughs producer Irwin Winkler.) But it certainly figured into the greenlight calculus for the studio, which budgeted $33 million - plus marketing and distribution costs - for its latest Oscar-baiting Lasse Hallstrom literary adaptation, a film that has been gestating as long as a Stanley Kubrick epic.

The challenge has always been Proulx's novel - a deftly turned, decidedly uncinematic tale about Quoyle, an overweight schmo with a misshapen head and a philandering wife, who moves with his two daughters (the movie gives him only one) and elderly aunt to Newfoundland, their ancestral home. There he uncovers some particularly nasty family history, samples the exotic local grub (like seal-flipper pie), and falls in love with an emotionally damaged local woman named Wavey.

"It took forever to make," says producer Linda Goldstein Knowlton, who optioned the book in 1993, before it was even published. "And Lasse was always my choice to make it. Who else could handle this kind of delicate story?" Ironically enough, she had her man at the start, but lost him when he left to prep the family drama Sebastian's Love with his wife, actress Lena Olin (the film was never made).

"I was taken by the novel," remembers the soft-spoken director of the back-to-back Oscar-nominated dramas The Cider House Rules (two wins) and Chocolat (none). "It mixed the dramatic, comedic, lyrical, mysterious, and trivial with this journalistic report on [Newfoundland] and this portrait of a man. But we couldn't get the script right and I left."

Then the project spun into limbo. Over the next five years, at least four major screenwriters, two directors, one superstar (John Travolta) and his wife (Kelly Preston), and one actor-director (Billy Bob Thornton) would all commit and then drop out before The Shipping News sailed back to Hallstrom again.

Things finally started to come together on Oscar eve, 2000. Sony Pictures (which was then cofinancing the film) and Miramax were desperately courting Spacey to take the lead role of Quoyle, convinced they needed to cinch the deal before he won his second Best Actor statuette. "It was the weekend American Beauty won and we couldn't get it done," remembers Winkler. "We were sure we'd blown it. His price would go up, everyone would want him, and so on. On Tuesday, my phone rang. It was Kevin and he said, 'I'll take the deal you offered on Friday.'"

"I first read The Shipping News six years ago. No one would have cast me as Quoyle then," says spacey, referring to his former predilection for such dark material as The Usual Suspects and Seven. "But I've been gradually, deliberately moving into new directions. And here I am with the role I wanted to play a long time ago."

With Spacey's blessing, Hallstrom finally signed to direct and began assembling the rest of his all-star team. Screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs (Chocolat). Dame Judi Dench. Julianne Moore, whom Hallstrom and Spacey bombarded with phone calls until she signed to play Wavey. Finally, Cate Blanchett - the producer's original choice for Moore's role - announced she'd play the trashy wife, Petal. In the end, the film had a writer, director, and stars with 13 Oscar nominations and three wins between them. (But who's counting?) Even so, Sony dropped out - concerned about the script and the increasing budget, and skittish about plans to shoot in rural Newfoundland.

"It was so remote!" remembers Julianne Moore. "We were in Trinity, this tiny town a full day's travel from New York, and all they had was a convenience store. Flights home would get delayed for stuff like moose on the runway."

Sure enough, filming in Newfoundland-legendary for its fickle, severe weather-wasn't easy. There are no luxe hotels. Cell phones rarely work. The nearest supermarket is almost an hour away. It's so small that going to dinner at the local inn, one might just as likely have run into Spacey uncorking a bottle of white wine as seen Dench floating down in her pajamas for tea. "Being isolated is actually fantastic," says Spacey now. "You're forced to become an ensemble. There's nowhere else to go. It's like going off to summer camp. A cold, wet summer camp."

On the set, things were slightly more tense. Quick chats with Moore and Spacey found them both desperate for news of New York and L.A. And for all the actors telling you everything had been great, a glance at Spacey's director's chair - which bore the name of the legendarily difficult Val Kilmer - pointed, comically at least, to the contrary. Says Spacey now, "That's a private joke."

It will all be work it, of course, if The Shipping News turns out to be an Oscar juggernaut for Miramax. But, says Jacobs, "don't count nominations yet. Those chickens ain't hatched." Sound like good advice. Hallstrom - who was hospitalized for minor heart palpitations in early December - reshot scenes and tinkered with the print up until the eleventh hour (see review on page 48).

"Listen, it's not a obviously cinematic story," says Spacey. "But when [Miramax head] Harvey [Weinstein] gets behind something, look out. And he is fully behind this film." He's right about Weinstein's impact, of course. Just look at last year. (And the year before that, and the year before that, and…) But steering into the Kodak Theatre on March 24 just might not be as easy as seal-flipper pie.

~

December 14, 2001 

Longtime oddsmaker Art Manteris has some safe bets for you.

Manteris, vice president of race and sports book operations at Station Casinos, has issued his best bets for the Academy Awards.

He sees "Vanilla Sky" winning best picture, Will Smith getting best actor for "Ali" and Nicole Kidman as a favorite for either her performance in "Moulin Rouge!" or "The Others."

Don't worry about losing any money; betting on nonsports events is not allowed in Nevada.

"The people I talked to were much in agreement that these were going to be the top pictures and performances," said Manteris. "So many people are interested, we thought, `Why not do it?' "

His odds are based on input from a number of sources.

"I have some friends in the business and contacts with pretty good opinions. I do this the same way as odds to win the Super Bowl: inside expert opinion, public perception and media analysis."

He lists "Vanilla Sky" at 6-1, with "Moulin Rouge!" at 8-1 and "The Shipping News" at 10-1.

Smith is the 5-1 best actor favorite for his portrayal of Muhammad Ali in "Ali." Kevin Spacey is next at 7-1 in "The Shipping News" and Tom Cruise is 8-1 for his role in "Vanilla Sky."

Kidman is 5-2 for best actress. Sissy Spacek in "In the Bedroom" is 6-1 and Judi Dench is a 10-1 choice for "Iris."

Ron Howard has the nod as best director ("A Beautiful Mind") at 4-1 over Cameron Crowe, 5-1, for "Vanilla Sky."

Manteris likes Jim Broadbent as best supporting actor for "Iris" and Dench for best supporting actress for "The Shipping News." But Manteris offers no odds on the latter two categories.

Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Dec-14-Fri-2001/news/17662039.html

Thanks, Vicki.

~

Spacey Doesn't Want to Hear OSCAR Buzz (12/28)
Bruce Westbrook
c. 2001 Houston Chronicle

For a man who respects Academy Awards - and has two of his own - Kevin Spacey is surprisingly reluctant to discuss them at this time of the year.

``That's not why I do what I do,'' he insists.

Yet he knows that studios gear their year-end releases to award campaigns, stamping literary and cinematic pedigrees on what can only be called Oscar bait.

Though Spacey says he doesn't make movies with Oscars in mind, ``The Shipping News'' is awash in Oscar potential.

First, it's based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx. Her dramatic, humor-laced tale concerns a sad, lonely man (Spacey) returning to his ancestral home in Newfoundland and finding new meaning in his life, past and present.

Oscar voters are suckers for such serious soul-searching.

Second, it's directed by Lasse Hallstrom, the gifted Swede whose past two films - ``Chocolat'' and ``The Cider House Rules'' - attracted 14 Oscar nominations.

Oscar voters love to confirm their own shrewd choices.

Third, it's from Miramax, the studio that's perfected the art of award campaigns in winning big in the past decade with ``The English Patient,'' ``Good Will Hunting,'' ``Shakespeare in Love'' and Hallstrom's aforementioned pair.

Oscar voters traditionally agree with Miramax's pick - or at least don't mind rubber-stamping it.

Fourth, the cast is known for Oscar-worthy work.

Spacey won his statuettes as best supporting actor for ``The Usual Suspects'' and best actor for ``American Beauty.'' Judi Dench won as best supporting actress for ``Shakespeare in Love,'' and Julianne Moore has been nominated twice.

But Spacey doesn't want to hear all this Oscar buzz.

``I don't know what else Miramax has,'' he says, calling from his home in New York. ``I just know they believe in it (``The Shipping News''), just as we believe in the story.

``I hope we've done justice to the book. I think the film honors the book but manages to truncate it in ways that are quite graceful.''

Spacey is well aware that if a film is released at Christmas, ``somebody must be trying to get a nomination. But it doesn't matter to me when they get released.''

Yet it mattered at one time.

Before he hit big, Spacey appeared in ``The Ref,'' a movie set during the Christmas season that was, awkwardly, issued in the spring of 1994.

He and Judy Davis played a warring couple who continued their fierce feuding even when taken captive by a jewel thief (Denis Leary) just as annoying family members arrived for Christmas dinner.

``I've always felt, `Gosh, if they hadn't opened it in April, we might have made a movie you'd have heard about,' '' Spacey says. ``I just love that movie. It's an anti-Christmas movie, but it was a great experience.''

 Since then he's become known for darker roles, from the heinous killer of ``Se7en'' to shady characters in ``The Usual Suspects'' and ``Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.'' In such parts, Spacey has been accused of coming off smug and superior on screen. That image is skewered by ``The Shipping News.''

His character, Quoyle, is tentative and shy, a widowed father exploring his family's grim past while grappling with inner demons.

``I'd been attracted to this role for a very long time, so this is not my attempt to answer such criticism,'' Spacey says. ``I'd wanted to do this very badly six years ago, before I played any of those characters.''

The rights were owned first by Sony, with John Travolta set to star and Hallstrom, possibly, to direct. When that fell through, Miramax picked it up. Offered the part, Spacey agreed to sign only if Hallstrom would direct.

``The next thing I knew, I was on the phone with Lasse,'' he says.

 They shot for nine weeks in Newfoundland, where most of the story is set, and for several weeks in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

``It was incredibly miserable weather,'' Spacey says of Newfoundland. ``The locals joke that they have four seasons - fall, winter, misery and summer - and we were there pretty much in misery.

``It made it difficult, since our schedule was completely weather-contingent. But I don't want to make too much of the conditions, because ultimately the location becomes a really important character in the film.''

Besides, there were ``unbelievably beautiful days and nights, and we were treated by the people there with enormous generosity.''

Spacey found his own place - as an actor - while he was quite young.

He was 14 when he met Jack Lemmon. ``I sought his advice, and he was incredibly kind to me,'' Spacey says. ``Twelve years later I found myself in a play with him on Broadway (``Long Day's Journey Into Night''), and we ended up doing three films, ending with `Glengarry Glen Ross.' ''

Spacey says he'll be ``forever influenced by the kindness, compassion, professionalism and friendship'' of Lemmon, who died in June.

After winning his second Oscar, Spacey learned he'd joined ``a very small group of actors, including Jack, who have won twice.

``Jack used to kid me: `I won my first one in '56 (for ``Mr. Roberts''), then in '74 (for ``Save the Tiger''), and you did it in four years, you S.O.B.' ''

Spacey so respects Oscars that he recently bought a statuette for $150,000, then donated it back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which bestows the honors. The award had gone to the late composer George Stahl for best musical score for 1945's ``Anchors Aweigh.''

Since scoring his first big success with 1995's ``The Usual Suspects'', after years of hard work in theater, the Juilliard-trained Spacey has worked almost solely in film. He last trod the boards in a New York production of ``The Iceman Cometh'' three years ago. He won't return to the stage until after he makes several more movies.

Spacey recently wrapped ``The Life of David Gale,'' directed by Alan Parker (``Mississippi Burning''). Its shoot was in Austin, where Spacey spent six weeks in the fall.

He plays a college professor who opposes capital punishment and is unjustly convicted of a crime and put on death row. Kate Winslet plays a reporter interviewing him. The tale is told in flashbacks.

``I'm not sure the film will take a position (on capital punishment) one way or the other,'' Spacey says. ``But I know it'll take the issue and turn it on its head. Any time you hand Alan Parker a political center for a film, he's pretty mesmerizing.''

This was Spacey's first filming experience in Texas, and he ``really soaked up the environment.'' The New Jersey native says he loved Austin's music scene, food and filmmaking community.

While visiting Austin's music clubs, Spacey just listened - unlike actor Russell Crowe, who's performed many times there with his rock band. But singing is one of Spacey's passions, and he recently performed ``Mind Games'' in New York for a John Lennon tribute benefiting victims of terrorism.

``It was incredibly nerve-racking,'' he says. ``I was going to sing on national TV and at Radio City Music Hall, which holds about 6,000 people, and I was singing a song I'd learned three days before.''

While Spacey's singing is a surprise for some, ``it's not for my family or friends. They've heard me sing around the house for a long time.''

He'll be at home more now. Spacey is taking a break from acting to produce for the stage and screen via Trigger Street, his film and theater company.

``I'll spend the next five months focusing almost exclusively on that work,'' he says of the projects, which will nurture young talent.

Spacey takes pride in being a good businessman in an industry in which, without such skills, ``it's very easy to get locked into having to do movies you don't believe in.''

But don't ask him to make a movie with an Oscar in mind.

``Sometimes projects are bought because they're impressive packages,'' Spacey says. ``This (``The Shipping News'') certainly had been an impressive book and had won a Pulitzer.

``But that's not why I do a film. I just want to make good movies.''

 The Houston Chronicle web site is at http://www.chron.com

~

New York Daily News Online

Heavy Spacey
For 'Shipping News,' actor
gained 20 pounds, lost wisecracks

By NANCY MILLS
Special to The News

HOLLYWOOD - December 18, 2001

Kevin Spacey is acting against type.

"People presume I have confidence," says the man who has made a career out of playing characters who have all the answers. "It's funny to me when someone says, 'You always look so cool' or 'You know what you're doing.'

"Half the time I'm standing out there thinking, 'Am I going to forget my lines? Did I memorize this thing right? It's going well, isn't it?'"

Spacey as Mr. Humble may be a surprise, but it fits right in with his latest performance in "The Shipping News," opening Christmas Day. This coming-of-age story, set in Newfoundland, required him to leave his smirks and wisecracks, as well as his vanity, in his West Village home.

"Quoyle is the opposite of characters I play," says Spacey, 42, who won Oscars for colorful performances in "American Beauty" and "The Usual Suspects." "He's not expressive. He's not demonstrative."

Nor is he particularly attractive. "I don't think I've ever looked worse in a movie," he says. "In the book, Annie Proulx describes Quoyle as a walrus, with hairy hands and a big chin.

"I gained about 20 pounds because I wanted the audience to feel his heaviness. But he's heavy in himself beyond the weight. He's awkward and bumbling. He's not just not a water person. He's not particularly adept on land. He doesn't even start to begin to get a hint of confidence until very late in the film, when someone finally pays him a compliment."

An Internal Journey

Spacey calls Quoyle a reactive character. "Life keeps falling in front of him, and he has to respond to it," he says. "It's a great discipline after years of playing characters that are [he snaps his fingers rhythmically] so fast and almost like forces of nature.

"I was quite moved by his journey because it's such a quiet and internal one. At its heart it's a story about a man who finally learns about not just the connections and the truths of his family but lets go of the past and starts embracing the future as a father and as a man. To me, that's incredibly important and poignant."

Spacey talks about "The Shipping News" in slow, measured tones. What happened to the hellion who torched his sister's treehouse while growing up in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley?

"Maybe I've made a little too much of that," Spacey says. "There was about a year and a half when I was a little bit of a troublemaker. My father sent me off to military school, which I got thrown out of because I didn't like it. But right after that, I found theater. When I was in my teens I was focusing on directing plays and getting up onstage.

"I didn't understand what my friends were going through. I wasn't smoking pot or drinking. I didn't go through those years till I got to New York."

Spacey's father, Thomas, who died in 1993, was a technical writer who moved his family from New Jersey to California when Kevin was 4. From him, Spacey developed an appreciation of words. "We had reading night," he remembers. "We used to read from great novels, so I was introduced at a very young age to Faulkner and Hemingway. It's held me in very good stead for being able to judge material."

From his mother, Kathleen, a secretary, he got his sense of humor. "She kills me, she's so funny," he says. "I suspect that without the support I got from my parents, I wouldn't have amounted to much."

Spacey went to high school with Mare Winningham and Val Kilmer. "After graduation I was floundering in L.A., doing standup comedy and working in a shoe store," Spacey recalls. "Val was at Juilliard, and he kept writing me letters encouraging me to audition."

Spacey spent two years at Juilliard and then moved on to Broadway.

"I was terrible in my first play," he says. "After that experience I had to face that I wasn't good enough to play with the big boys. I had to go away and learn, so I worked in regional theater for three years."

When he returned to Broadway in 1984, his first job was in "Hurlyburly," directed by Mike Nichols. He gradually moved into TV and films, but again quickly realized he didn't know enough.

"After 'Henry and June' [1990], I decided to make three TV movies that year to learn about myself on film," he says. Since "The Usual Suspects" in 1995, he has barely put a foot wrong.

"I'm pretty observant about where I am and where I think I'm lacking and what I'm going to do in order to learn," Spacey says. "It's so important to be able to look at yourself and go, 'Well, this was okay and that wasn't.'

"I'm not even remotely satisfied with where I am. I want to direct again." (His 1996 effort, "Albino Alligator," got mixed reviews.) "I want to go back onstage and tackle some Shakespeare, some classics, some new plays. And I want to continue to bring opportunities to younger and not-so-young talents who haven't gotten a fair shake."

Trigger Street, Spacey's production company, will start shooting "The United States of Leland" next month. He will not appear in it, but he has just completed an Alan Parker film, "The Life of David Gale," which deals with capital punishment. And he says to expect an announcement soon about his next movie — possibly, he'll play Bobby Darin.

Giving Something Back

"Money is useful," Spacey says, "but I'm not interested in buying lots of jets and other houses. I'm fortunate that I didn't fall into that particular well. I always wonder, what do all those people do with all that money? You don't need that much to live.

"If there's one great lesson that Jack Lemmon [his stage and TV co-star in "Long Day's Journey Into Night"] left me, it would be, 'If you're fortunate enough to break through a certain ceiling in whatever business you're in, it's your obligation to send the elevator back down.'"

http://nydailynews.com/today/New_York_Now/Movies/a-135507.asp

~

Kevin's Big 'News'!

December 17, 2001

The story line may have included some choppy emotional waters, but it was smooth sailing behind-the-scenes of KEVIN SPACEY's newest movie, 'The Shipping News,' co-starring CATE BLANCHETT and JULIANNE MOORE!

The story of a repressed newspaperman who finds redemption by returning to his ancestral home in the Canadian province of Newfoundland, the film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. ANNIE PROULX and is directed by 'Chocolat's' LASSE HALLSTROM. Kevin tells ET about shooting in Newfoundland, his newfound parenting desires and why his character was all wet!

ET: Can you describe this movie in 15 seconds?

KEVIN SPACEY: 'Shipping News' is a man's story of self-discovery and, at its heart, it's a movie about the importance of family.

ET: So what was it like to shoot the movie in Newfoundland, where the story is also set?

Kevin: The place [has] weather that is definitely of its own making. Our call sheet looked like a true or false quiz every day! It would say: "If it's a blizzard ...if it's windy...if it's snowing...if it's sunny, we go inside. You didn't know what you were going to be doing on a daily basis in terms of the work. That meant you had to be prepared for almost any scene going into the day.

We stayed in this fishing community about three hours outside of St. John's [the capitol] and lived in almost-dorm circumstances at a beautiful Bed and Breakfast called The Fisher's Loft. I was on one floor and [co-star] JUDI [DENCH] was upstairs and Lasse was higher. We ate there every night and there was one bar in town -- Judi and I played pool. There wasn't much to do but [it] was quite majestic.

ET: Your character keeps saying, "I'm not a water person." How about Kevin?

KEVIN: I am definitely a water person, but I know a lot of people who aren't. So it was easy for me [while shooting] to think of my friends whom I've seen on boats or jet skis not doing well at all. Plus, Quoyle [my character] isn't just not a water person -- he is not particularly adept on land either! He's just not a person on sturdy ground [in his life].

ET: Your character is always about to drown, too.

KEVIN: He spends a lot of time in the water! There was about six days where I was either in a murky pool or a wave tank or the Atlantic Ocean. So it was pretty water-logged for a lot of the experience.

[For one scene I was] in a wave tank, which is essentially a gigantic Olympic swimming pool except for these huge [devices] that keep moving the water. You're being trounced with waves that are being made. They can speed [the wave] up and slow it down; [for me] they kept speeding it up!

ET: Let's talk about the love scenes. You've got them with both Cate and Julianne in this movie, but one seemed like a lot more work than the other.

KEVIN: You call that work, do you?

ET: Well, in the one scene with Cate, it looks like you were really sweating it!

KEVIN: Well, for Quoyle, I suspect it's the first woman. You get this sense that he hasn't been out dating a lot. Cate also brought out these Twinkies or marshmallows and just started shoving them in my mouth [during the scene]. None of that was scripted, I'll have you know! She was pregnant [at that time] and just had her baby yesterday.

ET: What was it like working with Julianne?

KEVIN: Well, she's luminous and also fragile. She was just beautiful to work with. And it felt very romantic and real for what these characters were experiencing.

ET: Your character is also a father, and a great one at that.

KEVIN: I think he learns to be a father. That's the journey, that Quoyle really doesn't know what's out there for him. I think, like a lot of people, he suddenly finds himself a father and doesn't quite know how to go about doing that. Through the course of the film, he learns that maybe he is equipped to be a father.

ET: You've said that you want to have a family of your own some day. What kind of a dad do you think you'd be?

KEVIN: I would hope I'd be as open to learning as Quoyle is. I think we base our notions of relationships on what we observed as kids. I was quite fortunate to have parents who were incredibly supportive and really taught me how important it is to be encouraging and supportive, and be disciplined and strong.

So, I would like to believe that I would be good at [parenthood]. Like anything else, if you do it long enough you probably get good at it!

ET: Looking back to earlier in your career, did you ever worry that you wouldn't make it as an actor?

KEVIN: Sure. I think every actor goes through a time where it's bleak and desolate and you can't get a job. You're working some other job to try and pay your rent. I never let it defeat me and I never took my eye off what I hoped my future would be.

But I don't think I've had it as tough as some people. I mean, I didn't go through 15 years of not working -- I [did] theater. I was fortunate to be working, to learning and growing [during that time].

© 2001 Paramount Pictures

~

San Francisco Chronicle

Spacey as lovable lummox
For 'Shipping News,' actor was asked to be 'like a loaf'

Carla Meyer, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, December 16, 2001

Beverly Hills -- In "The Shipping News," Kevin Spacey defies the W.C. Fields adage by working with kids and animals. The animals in question are fish in various states of flop and/or gutting, but potential scene-stealers nonetheless. The kids are the actresses playing Spacey's daughter -- all three of them. Nine- year-old triplets Alyssa, Kaitlyn and Lauren Gainer share the substantial role in director Lasse  Hallstrom's movie version of E. Annie Proulx's beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The limits on kids' working hours, coupled with long shooting days caused by unpredictable Newfoundland weather, meant each sister got plenty of screen time opposite Spacey in "News," which opens Christmas Day.

"Sometimes Lasse would try to get something out of one of them that he wasn't getting from another, so he would switch them within a scene," Spacey says with a chuckle. "(The crew) would take 10 minutes to relight, and I would come back and say, 'Hey, wait, this is new. Are you still Alyssa?' I don't think you can tell in the movie. It was quite remarkable."

Spacey, 42, appears unremarkable in person, dressed down in jeans and running shoes that he plops on a hotel room coffee table. But with his lively wit and velvety, authoritative voice, he commands the room the way he can the screen.

The actor was attracted to Quoyle, his "Shipping News" character, precisely because he's not the smartest guy in the room. Instead, Spacey's Quoyle is hapless, lumbering and sweet -- the antithesis of his droll characters in everything from "The Ref" to "K-Pax." "Shipping" couldn't be better timed for Spacey, whose smarty-pants screen persona drew some critical yawns when "K- Pax" came out in October.

"I wanted to sort of shed anything people thought or expected I might do because of what I've done previously," he says. "I think there are more Quoyles out there, people just getting through the day, than there are snappy, ironic-talking characters in movies -- though those are fun to play."

In the novel, Quoyle is described as a "walrus" with hairy hands, but Spacey and Hallstrom decided to go smaller. He gained 20 pounds and adopted a lumbering, arms-out gait to convey the character's heaviness of body and spirit. He still looks awkward but is appealing enough to romance Julianne Moore's character.

"Lasse would say, 'I want you to be like a loaf,' " Spacey says, mimicking Hallstrom's Swedish accent. "I asked him, 'What kind of loaf?' And he said, 'Just a loaf.' "

Author Proulx, who weathered several false starts on the screen adaptation - - John Travolta and Billy Bob Thornton were attached at different points -- is pleased with Spacey's portrayal. "He was big and clumsy, whether it was sweaters or the weight," she says. "He wasn't the Kevin Spacey of other films, slender and clever."

Playing a guy lacking in confidence isn't the departure it seems, says Spacey, claiming his own cool-customer rap is exaggerated.

"I hear it a lot, from the press, and from friends: 'You look so confident, ' " Spacey says. "And I think, 'You haven't a clue that I'm p -- in my pants.' " He cites his well-received performance of the song "Mind Games" at the John Lennon-New York City tribute in October: "I was absolutely terrified. It was heart-attack time. I feel that every time I walk onto a stage."

There was one aspect of Quoyle that Spacey simply couldn't relate to -- his morbid fear of water. "I adore the water; I can't get enough of it," says Spacey, who based that part of the character on people he knew with the same fears.

"I have a memory of a day on a boat with this girl who just hated the water so much and kept falling," he says with a smile. "It was very serious and very funny." The actor, who's guarded about his personal life, won't elaborate. But he will allow that it was on a lake.

Spacey next will star as an anti-death penalty activist accused of murder in "The Life of David Gale." His dream project, a biopic of doomed singer Bobby Darin, also is finally a go, he says. In the meantime, Spacey, already a two-time Oscar winner ("American Beauty," "The Usual Suspects"), is skirting talk of another nomination.

"There are times when I feel like I could do a Campbell's soup commercial and they would be saying, 'Well, now, everyone's talking about you being nominated,' " he says. When he adds that nobody has even seen "The Shipping News" yet, he's reminded that a few people, including his interviewer, have seen it.

Spacey pauses, then clears his throat theatrically. "And I'm hoping, of course, to get your vote."

'The Shipping News' The movie opens Christmas Day at Bay Area theaters.

E-mail Carla Meyer at cmeyer@sfchronicle.com.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/
2001/12/16/PK220322.DTL&type=movies

©2001 San Francisco Chronicle 

~

The Halifax Daily News
Tuesday, December 11, 2001

Shipping News keepsake warms

Newfoundland company knits 412 sweaters

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP)--A Newfoundland company has knitted 412 sweaters for the entire cast and crew of The Shipping News, a Hollywood movie that was
partly filmed in the province.

Woof Designs of St. John's has been rushing to have the sweaters ready for the cast party of the film tomorrow. The film is scheduled to open in theatres on Christmas Day. It was also filmed in Halifax.

The fisherman-style sweaters with slightly rolled necks will be similar to the one used to outfit star Kevin Spacey in the lead role of Quoyle.

The Shipping News is based on Annie Proulx's best-selling book, an endearing story of 36-year-old Quoyle, a born loser who gives up on life in the U.S. and returns with his two young children Bunny and Sunshine to his ancestral homeland of Newfoundland seeking redemption and a better life.

Started with a few

Directed by Lasse Halstrom, the movie includes stars Spacey, Julianne Moore, Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett.

Woof Designs' connection to the movie began with an order for a few woollen
watch caps, said Cheryl Kelly, spokeswoman for the knitting company.

Earlier this year the company was approached by the film's wardrobe department as preparations to begin shooting got under way.

First, the costume designers just wanted a few caps to keep the crew warm during outdoor shots.

"The next step then was them inquiring whether we could do sweaters to their specifications," said Kelly.

After consultations on the design, Woof came up with the sweater, sending several to the Trinity, Nfld., location for Spacey and his stunt double to wear.

That could have been the end of the relationship.

But the sweaters proved to be a bigger hit than anticipated and the film's producers decided to order 350.

It was a tricky job for a small company.

"We were working on a very tight time frame, about five weeks I suppose from the time we got the yarn until completion of the order," Kelly said.

The sweaters for the crew were a big hit, so the producers have just ordered 60 more for people involved in the final post-production work on the film.

~

The Halifax Daily News
Friday, September 7, 2001
By Sandy MacDonald

Do as I say, not as I did, says American actor Kevin Spacey. The Academy
Award-winning actor, who spent several weeks in Nova Scotia earlier this year shooting The Shipping News, is now warning members of the Screen Actors Guild not to work in Canada unless they get full union rights and benefits.

SAG, the largest actors union in the United States, is mounting a crusade against productions filmed outside the United States. Spacey and actor Richard Dreyfuss sit on a committee that is driving the stay-at-home initiative.

SAG spokeswoman Ilyane Kichaven acknowledged the campaign is linked to
concerns among its members about so-called run-away productions - movies and television shows produced outside the U.S.

Last year, "guest movie productions" brought about $35 million to the Nova
Scotia film industry.

Several large Hollywood productions were filmed in Nova Scotia in the past six months. K-19: The Widowmaker starring Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson dropped about $7 million in the local economy. Gabriel Byrne and Joanne Whalley settled into Shelburne to shoot the $9 million production, Virginia's Run. Other major U.S. productions included Wise Girls starring Mariah Carey and Mira Sorvino, The Pilot's Wife with Christine Lahti, and Town Without Christmas without Peter Falk.

Though the regional film and television industry is keeping local crews working over-time, it remains just a blip on the Hollywood radar.

The $167 million generated in '99-00 represented just four per cent of the total Canadian industry of $4.4 billion. "The issue of runaway productions is a big bee in everybody's bonnet down there right now - even though it amounts to three per cent of Hollywood's total production," says Gary Vermier, local representative for ACTRA, (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists). "I think (the SAG campaign) is a bit of political grandstanding."

Pension plan at risk

The American guild is warning its 98,000 members that actors who work without a proper contract risk losing contributions to their pension plan, residual payments, and union support "when things go wrong."

Kichaven said the latest campaign focuses on what the guild calls Rule One, but added that runaway production is part of the same issue. The guild's Rule One states that a member may not agree to work for any producer who is not a signatory to the applicable guild contract.

However, Vermier says SAG is not the "applicable contract" when shooting outside the United States.

"Canada is ACTRA's jurisdiction," says Vermier. But he says any SAG actor working in Canada would be protected under ACTRA collective agreements.

"We have a reciprocal agreement with SAG, and frequently have SAG members who are engaged up here on ACTRA contracts," says Vermier.

"In those instances, ACTRA provides all those protections which would fall to a Canadian performer under our collective agreement."

ACTRA is supporting SAG's initiative to extend the reach of Rule One. "We've had instances of major US stars working on non-union projects in Canada, and SAG hasn't been able to discipline its members," says Stephen Waddell, national executive director of ACTRA.

Last year, U.S. actor Michael Parre came to New Brunswick to star in the made-for-television series Star Hunter. SAG could not discipline the actor because Rule One did not extend outside the U.S., says Waddell. "The other benefit is that U.S. stars who continue to be on SAG contracts increases the costs of bringing those actors into Canada - that might encourage producers to engage Canadian performers."

~

TUESDAY JULY 10 2001

Memorial services

Mr Michael Williams A service of thanksgiving for the life of Michael Williams, actor, was held yesterday at St Paul’s, Covent Garden. The Rev Mark Oakley officiated, assisted by Canon John McDonald. Mr Richard Henders read Sonnet No 116 by William Shakespeare and Mr Kenneth Branagh gave a reading. Mr Trevor Nunn gave an address and Mr John Moffatt and Mr Ned Sherrin paid tribute. Music by Patrick Doyle was played during the service. Among others present were: Dame Judi Dench (widow), Miss Finty Williams (daughter), Mr and Mrs Paul Williams (brother and sister-in-law), Dr and Mrs Peter Dench (brother-in-law and sister-in-law), Mr and Mrs Paul Latham, Tom Latham, Matthew Latham, Mr and Mrs Declan Williams, Mr James Williams, Mr and Mrs Bernard Williams and other members of the family. Sir Richard Eyre, Dame Maggie Smith, Sir Michael Parker, Sir Nigel Hawthorne, Sir Ian Holm, Sir Donald Sinden, Sir Peter and Lady Marychurch, Sir Brian Smedley, Lady Hall, Miss Celia Imrie, Miss Sue Jennings, Miss Geraldine James, Mr Charles Kay, Mr Jack Rosenthal and Miss Maureen Lipman, Mr Kevin Spacey, Mr Derek Gibney, Mr Sheridan Morley, Mr Richard E. Grant, Miss Elizabeth Bell. Miss June Whitfield, Miss Samantha Bond, Mr Hugh Wooldridge, the Rev Phil Tate, Mr Timothy West, Mr Bryan Pringle, Miss Wendy Toye, Mrs Babs Powell, Mr and Mrs Patrick Allen, the Rev Patrick Moloney, Mrs Gordon Jackson, Miss Julia Mackenzie, Mr Bernard Cribbins, Mr Alan Plater, Mr David Rymer, Mr Keith Jeffery, Mr Alan Bennett. The Rev Mr Jeremy Goossens, Miss Wanda Ventham, Mrs Jane Rodway, Mrs Louise Smale, Miss Mary Lloyd-Owen, Miss Anna Wing, Mr Frederick Treves, Mr Patrick Garland, Mr Marc Sinden, Ms Ruth Lidyard, Miss Virginia Denham, the Rev Robin Buchanan-Smith, Dr Robin and Dr Barbara Bonner-Morgan, Mr Christopher Biggins, Miss Polly Adams, Miss Anna Massey, Miss Jenny Funnell, Mr Keith Waterhouse, Miss Charlotte Bishop, Mrs Carmel Kinnear, Mr Rupert Belfridge, Mr Harry Towb, Mr and Mrs Tony Meehan, Mr Moray Watson. Mr Robert Spooner (chairman, The Story of Christmas Appeal) with Mr Nicholas Hall (deputy chairman), Mr Nicholas Maclean (vice-chairman) and the Hon Deon Steyn (vice-chairman); Mr Adrian Noble (Royal Shakespeare Company), Miss Barbara Broccoli and Miss Ann Bennett (Eon Productions), Mr Charles Pemberton (vice-president of the Catholic Stage Guild) with Mrs Molly Steele and Mr Michael Slater; Mr Ian McGarry (General Secretary, Equity) with Mr Freddie Pyne (president); Mr Richard Price (chairman, Home Farm Trust) with other members; Mr Terence Duffy (St Edward’s College, Liverpool), Mr Ken Sephton (Gallery First Nighters Club). Mr Paul Gane, Mr Henry McGee, Mr Eric Shorter, Ms Roslyn Foster and Ms Sharon Lomas (Royal Theatrical Fund), Mr Rodney West (director, London Arts Discovery), Mr James Penstone (vice-president, The Vic-Wells Association), Monsignor Vladimir Felzman (Chaplain, Knights of St Gregory). Mr David Chivers with Mr John de Lannoy (Actors Church Union), Miss Enyd Williams (BBC), Mr Gordon House with Ms Janet Whitaker (BBC Radio Drama), Mr John Stirling (Michael Elliott Trust), Mr John Slocombe with Mr Kevin Dicker (Bournemouth Shakespeare Players), Mr Leo Simmonds (Association of Papal Knights), Mr John Bartlett, Mr Richard Porter with Mr Keith Murray (Theatre of Comedy and DLT Entertainment), Ms Sylvia Armstrong (Kidsactive), Mr Graham Desmond (Christians in Entertainment), Mr Clive Graham (The Duck), Mr James Simpson (Movie Memories magazine), Mrs Pat Baron (Help the Aged), representatives of the Royal Naval Reserves and many other friends and former colleagues. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,61-2001233161,00.html

~

Laughter fills the air at Michael Williams memorial
By Hugh Davies, Entertainment Correspondent
10/07/2001

DAYS of laughter, red wine and roses were fondly recalled by the theatre world yesterday as Dame Judi Dench led a suitably eccentric celebration of the life of Michael Williams, her late husband.

Actors arrived in London from all parts to remember a man whose smile, according to Trevor Nunn, "turned the edge of the wind".

Kevin Spacey, who has been filming E Annie Proulx's The Shipping News in Newfoundland with Dame Judi, arrived from New York, while Sir Ian Holm travelled from Dublin where he is playing Max in Pinter's The Homecoming at the Gate.

They gathered at St Paul's, Covent Garden, where stars including Boris Karloff and Vivien Leigh have memorials, to sing hymns, tell anecdotes and attempt impersonations of Williams impersonating Robb Wilton, his favourite northern comedian.

Nunn, the departing director of the National Theatre, had a go at Wilton - "so I took the wife to the Chamber of Horrors and the feller said would you mind walking her up and down a bit, only we're stocktaking" - but confessed that Williams told it better.

It was Dame Judi's first major appearance since Williams's death from cancer in January. She has sought solace in a frenetic work schedule.

Dressed in white, she sat before an altar on which a silver baptismal bowl was crammed with dozens of red roses. Every Friday during their marriage, Dame Judi was given a single rose from "my spoony old thing".

Nunn said: "When they got married, Mike said to me he was in the grip of feelings beyond any happiness he had ever dreamt. A Fine Romance indeed."

Sir Nigel Hawthorne, who is recovering from illness, said: "I have enormous affection for both of them. Theirs was a wonderful relationship."

Ned Sherrin played a tape of the voice of Williams in a send-up of his Radio 4 role as Dr Watson in Sherlock Holmes that he called: "Would you call me a cab - well I would call you handsome." Sherrin recalled working with the couple, with Williams spending hours in the evening learning his lines "while Jude appeared to absorb hers by osmosis".

On the first night of Keith Waterhouse's Mr and Mrs Nobody at The Garrick in 1986 "Jude made a tiny stumble over a cue and Michael leapt in." Sherrin said: "I complimented him afterwards. He said, so proudly, `If Jude goes, I turn to steel'."

Sherrin said that while filming Henry V, Williams suggested to Kenneth Branagh that he should carry a slaughtered boy, played by Christian Slater. Branagh told him: "It's a wonderful idea, but it'd be better if I do it." Branagh, sitting in the congregation, smiled broadly.

The producer also recalled the RSC's Marat Sade's frosty reception in New York "because the American audience had yet to be told by their critics the play was a masterpiece".

Williams and another actor "drowned their sorrows" in a bar. "Their voices got louder and louder until a gent in a fedora down the end of the bar said, `Get those Shakespearean cats a drink.' The bartender said, `Yes, of course, Mr Sinatra'."

Dame Maggie Smith said her best memories were of "when we were in Scotland, where we go for holidays". She added: "I just remember going up there and painting with him. That was really lovely. Very quiet. We'll all think of him when we're there next time."

Pam Cundall, Mrs Fox in Dad's Army, appeared with Williams in Out Of Order. "We were at the Shaftesbury. We'd go into the dressing room afterwards and have a small glass of red wine together. I adored him."

http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/07/
10/nwil10.xml&sSheet=/news/2001/07/10/ixhome.html

~

June. 27, 2001

Pinsent gives Spacey the royal tour

Martin Knelman ENTERTAINMENT COLUMNIST

The most exciting movies will be next Christmas, when potential award winners tend to be released. But I can't wait to see The Shipping News, from Miramax. Directing the screen version of the E. Annie Proulx novel is that gifted Swede, Lasse Hallstrom, who scored back-to-back best-picture Oscar nominations for Miramax with The Cider House Rules (1999) and Chocolat (2000). This is not a Canadian movie, but it's set in Newfoundland and boasts a cast including Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench and Kevin Spacey. Carrying the flag for Canada is Gordon Pinsent, the actor/writer from Newfoundland whose career high points include two movies about Newfoundland heroes: The Rowdyman (1972) and John And The Missus (1987). This time Pinsent plays a journalist named Billy Pretty who writes a newspaper column called The Shipping News. Spacey plays the American visitor Quoyle who turns up at the local newspaper looking for work after being challenged by his aunt (Dench) to explore his Newfoundland roots. While filming on location, Pinsent not only volunteered to tutor the two leading ladies on their Newfie accents, he also became a buddy of Spacey, who even after two Academy Awards remains at heart a man of the theatre. After the film wrapped earlier this month, Spacey decided to make a visit to Toronto, where he booked himself into the Four Seasons Hotel late last week. He called Pinsent and they wound up spending a whirlwind weekend together - starting with dinner at Truffles (where they were joined by Pinsent's wife, actress Charmion King, and two other couples) and a trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario to examine what may or may not be a portrait of William Shakespeare. "Kevin has been to Toronto many times for the film festival, and he likes coming back," explains Pinsent, still looking distinguished in his Shipping News goatee. "Kevin is the kind of actor's actor who enjoys collecting memories and acquaintances." Spacey's appetite for Shakespeare did not stop with the portrait. He was determined to make his first visit to the Stratford Festival. On Saturday, Spacey was behind the wheel of a Lincoln Continental with Pinsent and four other friends. Of the three possibilities, Spacey booked tickets for the one Shakespeare play on that night - the final preview of Falstaff (a.k.a. Henry IV, Part 2) at the Tom Patterson Theatre. In Stratford, Spacey and friends took a walk along the river, feeding the swans, and Pinsent introduced his special visitor to local celebrities, including author Timothy Findley. The group dined at Rundles (one of only six restaurants in Ontario that gets a rating of 28 or more in the Zagat guide), then headed for the theatre, where Spacey, sitting in the front row, blended into the crowd looking like scores of other casually attired tourists. At intermission, one woman asked him to sign her program, and he replied: "Thanks for asking, but I'm not going to, because then I might have to sign 500 others." (Actually, the Patterson has fewer than 500 seats.) Pinsent took Spacey backstage to congratulate Douglas Campbell, who played Falstaff in two different plays the same day, and other members of the company. They also paid a visit to the Festival Theatre, and in the lobby Pinsent pointed out the photo of his deceased friend and mentor, John Hirsch (the festival's artistic director from 1981 to 1985). "We wound up having late-night libations at Down the Street, where all the actors hang out," Pinsent reports. "A lot of people dropped by, including Diane D'Aquila, Ben Campbell and even Richard Monette." Then around 2:30 a.m., Spacey decided it was time to drive back to Toronto. "I was his map," says Pinsent, who sat in the passenger seat of the Lincoln. Being a bit concerned about whether Spacey was wide enough wake to drive, Pinsent kept asking how he was. "Excellent," Spacey kept saying. Finally he added: "Go to sleep, Gordon." There wasn't a whole lot of traffic on the 401, and Spacey completed the journey from Stratford to the Four Seasons Hotel in a record 1 hour and 15 minutes. "It was just a great old time," says Pinsent, sounding like the character he played in The Rowdyman. Hours after getting back from Stratford, Spacey got into the Lincoln again and set out for Boston - but this time, someone else was behind the wheel. On the way he was planning to visit Julie Harris, one of the theatre's most revered veterans, who recently suffered a stroke. Meanwhile, Pinsent rode off in another direction, to the Blyth Festival, where a new play he wrote, Corner Green, opens next month with Michael and Susan Hogan.

 

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=
thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=993593212068

~

June 20, 2001

 

After the glitz is gone

A pool-playing Judi Dench was among the Hollywood types who endeared themselves to the residents of a Newfoundland hamlet where The Shipping News was filmed this spring

 

Rebecca Eckler

National Post

The 200 residents of Trinity grew accustomed in recent weeks to hearing a single phrase uttered over and over, no matter where they went. It was this: "Imagine finding this! In the middle of nowhere!"

Trinity is the 17th-century fishing village, a three-hour drive northeast of St. John's, that for five weeks this spring was home to the cast and crew of The Shipping News, the US$29-million film based on E. Annie Proulx's Pulitzer prize-winning novel.

For a brief while, such stars as Kevin Spacey, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore called Trinity and environs home.

Mr. Spacey immediately sent four of his five bodyguards home. This was, after all, an obscure outport community and drew something less than the usual media hordes.

But now this influx of Hollywood, which doubled the population from 200 to 400, has left, and life is returning to normal.

And the people of Trinity? They are at once happy and sad. Happy, because the production pulled in $1.5-million for the local community. Sad, because for a few short weeks the community -- which has neither a movie theatre nor a Blockbuster -- brushed up against movie stardom. It would be an exaggeration to say the town of Trinity is in mourning. But there is a palpable sense of loss, of grieving.

So this is the story of what happens when the cameras leave, after the glitz is gone.

What's left in Trinity and its surrounding towns? Residual excitement, certainly. A few more dollars in the community coffers. But mostly, fond memories to last a lifetime. Meet just a few of the folks who are missing Kevin and Judi and Cate and Julianne.

THE FISHERS' LOFT INN

In the nearby community of Port Rexton (five minutes outside Trinity), there are two side-by-side saltbox-style mustard-yellow houses, part of the Fishers' Loft Inn.

Mr. Spacey and his mutt, Mini, took up two of the yellow and white suites on the first floor, Dame Judi took the second floor and director Lasse Hallstrom was on the third. Ms. Blanchett stayed for just a couple of nights. (Ms. Moore -- and her treadmill -- stayed at Campbell House in Trinity.)

John and Peggy Fisher will always remember the time the stars came to stay -- though Ms. Fisher says she was not thrilled with the idea when they were approached last October.

"We were terribly uncertain. But the anticipation was worse than the reality. We just worried that they would not be happy here. By the time they left, we felt very protective of them."

Mr. Fisher agrees it worked out fine: "You got the sense they liked the idea they were living plainly and simply. They live in a world where 1,000 people take advantage of them a day."

The Fishers' Loft kitchen staff talk fondly of their experience while they work, and proudly show off photos of themselves and the stars.

Helen Fowlow, the wild-haired cook, shows off a snap of Mr. Spacey, wearing a black Puma T-shirt and jeans, his arm slung around her. There's another showing a beaming Ms. Dench in a white sweatshirt.

The recollections are domestic and affectionate: "Oh, Judi Dench just loved to fill the dishwasher," says Ms. Fowlow. "For some reason, she knew about Hobart dishwashers and kept calling it 'Mr. Hobart.'

"She spent the whole evening in the kitchen with me one night. I taught her how to make French bread. She was having a dinner party that night and I brought out the bread she had made and she sliced it. She shucked shrimp with me, too." After, says Ms. Fowlow, Ms. Dench told her she felt she had a "really productive day.

"They became part of the furniture. They'd come in and ask how your day was," she says.

Roxanne, who helps around the inn, adds, "Kevin Spacey came into the kitchen and wanted a sandwich. He went to the fridge and I said, 'No, I can do that for you.' And he said, 'No, no, you don't have to.' So I handed him the bread and knife and he went at it. Ham and cheese I think he made. He would just go to the fridge and get his own dessert, too."

Yes, says Ms. Fowlow, "When Kevin came in the kitchen, it was no different than if my mother came in."

Now they're gone. "It's very lonely now. But I tell you, when Judi was leaving and she gave a hug, I was about to cry. I had to run and go have a cigarette to stop myself."

ROCKY JOHNSON

Rocky Johnson is the owner of Rocky's, the most popular bar in the area. He's a real character.

The first time Mr. Spacey came to Rocky's, Mr. Johnson asked him for his ID: "Kevin just looked at me and said, 'You must be Rocky. I was warned about you.' "

Shuttle buses would run the cast and crew back and forth to Rocky's: "They were so nice they even drove all the locals home, whenever they wanted," he says. "And we would party here on weekends until 7 or 8 a.m. when the sun rose."

In the entire 18-year existence of Rocky's, he says there has never been a busier month. Ms. Dench played pool every Friday night. Mr. Spacey said he "took the best shot in his entire life here," says Mr. Johnson. When Mr. Spacey went to pay for his drinks, Mr. Johnson refused to take his money. "That way his name's in my book. He has a running tab here forever."

Mr. Spacey has a memento of Mr. Johnson, too: a baseball hat with the word "Rocky" across the front, just like Mr. Johnson's. Ms. Dench wanted one, too. "She was scared to ask me for one, so she got her assistant to ask me," he says.

What has changed most since the cast and crew packed up and left, thereby chopping the population in half?

"Well, it cut back my sex life in half."

Of course, Mr. Johnson is just joking. Probably.

RICK AND MATTHEW JONES

"Jeepers, it was different. I was always on call," says Rick Jones, a fisherman who owns the green longhorn fishing boat the film crew used to carry out the fog machine.

"It's all about 'hurry up and wait,' " he says, repeating a popular phrase often used to describe television and film work.

Wearing overalls and green rubber boots, Mr. Jones, like most fishermen, is a reserved man. He remembers The Shipping News crowd with fondness: "When they left after so many weeks, it was almost like my best friend left."

It was a good time for him financially, too, because he was paid about $500 a day for his boat. "I couldn't believe it. We'd go out and there would be so much fog, and they'd want more fog. But that's what they wanted, so that's what we gave him."

One of his sons, Matthew, 21, was hired on as a security guard. "They basically gave anyone who wanted a job something to do," he says. "I was paid $14 to basically watch grass grow."

It was an easy gig because Trinity just has no obsessive fans. Young Mr. Jones, for one, had never heard of Kevin Spacey: "I've never seen him before. I had no idea. But he won a big award or something."

His father will never forget the sheer size of the production: "They arrived in such a huge way. They rented all these black trucks, about 25 of them. And then they left just as suddenly. I don't think we'll forget this for five or 10 years. It's pretty dull again."

POP

There are eight tables in Nan & Pops restaurant. Frank Bartlett -- Pop -- sits at a table eating a club sandwich, a framed picture of a moose on the wall above him. He lives across the road. There are cows out front. In addition to being a restaurant proprietor, Pop is a farmer.

Two or three times a week, he says, a member of the crew would drop in and order 150 pieces of chicken or fish -- to go.

"You have a pretty good day when that happens," says Mr. Bartlett. "Real good."

He reveals Mr. Spacey had a fondness for Nan & Pops strawberry milkshakes, just like an ordinary mortal. "Oh, yeah," he says, "all those people are like everyday people. They are really easy to deal with. We don't really know how many times the stars ate here, because many of our girls wouldn't know them if they walked in.

"We'll definitely miss their pocket books. Not only their money, but their company." he said. "And they tip very well." Once, two crew men came in and left $40 on a $15 bill.

"They would come in for takeout and they'd always say to the girls, 'How you doing m'dear?' They really got a kick out of learning how to speak like us."

THERESA PRINCE

"Julianne Moore came in here all the time," says Theresa Prince, manager of Dock Marina Restaurant, Art Gallery and Craft Shop. "She was so friendly you'd think she was an ordinary Newfoundlander."

Ms. Moore bought a hand-knit sweater decorated with puffins (for her son) and sealskin slippers. Mr. Spacey and Ms. Dench, too, bought sweaters, quilts and a particular favourite, pens made out of moose antlers.

"Kevin Spacey's hairdresser was our best customer. She cleaned up with the quilts," says Ms. Prince. "If we didn't have their size, we'd get it made for them. So we have a lot of orders still going out."

The year 2001 will be remembered in Trinity as an amazing year. Before The Shipping News came to town, Random Passages, an eight-part CBC miniseries starring Colm Meaney, and directed by John N. Smith, was shot in Trinity.

"Newfoundland deserves this," says John Fisher, of the Fishers' Loft Inn. "Everyone around the world will get to see how wonderful this place is."

Now it is over. Ms. Dench is back in England. Mr. Spacey will be in Newfoundland for special-effects recording at a wave tank at Memorial University's Institute for Marine Dynamics next week, then he, too, will return home. Everyone is gone (save, perhaps, the two crew members who bought houses in the area).

"We hope they come back," says Rocky Johnson. "All of them Hollywood people were good enough people."

In Trinity, that is the highest accolade possible.

www.thestar.com

http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f
=/stories/20010620/596194.html&qs=Kevin%20Spacey

~

Friday, June 8, 2001
The Chronicle-Herald
By Susan LeBlanc, Staff Reporter

Shipping News to dive into Centennial Pool

The Shipping News is moving into Halifax's Centennial Pool for the next 12
days.

"We're entirely shut down" and off limits to the public through June 19, a
pool employee said Thursday.

"They have all of their own personnel. They even have their own (water)
safety team."

Producers of the Hollywood feature film have rented out the Olympic-sized
pool to shoot unspecified segments.

The employee said he's heard it may involve a car accident or drowning scene.

If so, that means Australian actress Cate Blanchett will likely get wet.

Blanchett plays Petal, whose character in the acclaimed novel being adapted
into film dies in a car accident.

Blanchett was scheduled to join the shoot this month.

"The carpenters are here now, as well as some of the grips," said the staff
member. "It's probably going to be pretty packed here."

When makers of the movie Deeply shot in Centennial Pool last year, they
added large quantities of milk to the water for a murky ocean look, said
the staff member.

The Shipping News, which also stars Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore and Dame
Judi Dench, returned to Nova Scotia this week after a number of weeks of
production in Newfoundland.

Work here wraps up later this month.

~

June 7, 2001

Newfoundlanders Treat Movie Stars As Ordinary Folk
by Roger Bill


ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland (Reuters) - When actor Kevin Spacey arrived in
Trinity, Newfoundland, to film ``The Shipping News,´´ he was accompanied by five security guards, but within a few days four of them were sent back to the United States.

The Oscar-winning Hollywood star discovered that he could walk the quiet
streets of the 17th century eastern Canadian village without being pursued by the tabloid press or obsessive fans, and even enjoy a game of pool in the village's only bar without being hounded for an autograph.

When Trinity, population 200, was selected as a location for the $29 million Hollywood movie, director Lasse Hallstrom said: ''It feels like the last untouched part of the world.'' The fact that the people of Trinity were also unaffected by the presence of Hollywood stars turned out to be a bonus.

``The Shipping News,´´ based on E. Annie Proulx´s Pulitzer prize-winning novel, is the second movie shot in Trinity in the past year. John Fisher, who owns Fisher´s Loft inn, estimated that the production will leave more than $6.5 million in Newfoundland, the poorest of Canada´s 10 provinces.

``They took every hotel, motel, and B-and-B room within 50 miles. Seventy people were employed to shovel snow. ... A fisherman was on the payroll to make fog, of all things,´´ said Fisher, who kept the chef at his inn on call 24 hours a day.

But he said his guests were ``extraordinarily good at being ordinary people.´´ Spacey would sometimes eat dinner in his suite and in the morning ``he would bring his dishes to the kitchen,´´ while British actress Dame Judy Dench went one step further and ´´put her dishes in the dishwasher,´´ Fisher said.

Trinity, a former fishing community that hosts a summer theater, seems to take the stars in its stride. Rocky Johnson, owner of Rocky's, the only bar, talks matter-of-factly about shooting pool with Spacey. 

Fisher, who protects the privacy of his famous guests, had only one thing to say about pregnant Australian star Cate Blanchett -- that she was ``gorgeous.´´


SPACEY 'JUST AN AVERAGE JOE'

A Newfoundlander on the crew told Reuters his favorite moment was when a fisherman ``walked past Spacey to shake (veteran Canadian actor) Gordon Pinsent´s hand, then turned around and walked by Spacey again and never made eye contact.´´

He said Spacey ``smiled ... he is just an average Joe.´´

Other Newfoundland members of the crew were impressed by the scale of
the production.

``There were 75 vehicles, 30 drivers and departments that we've never seen before,´´ one technician said. ``There were trailers and trailers of equipment,´´ said another who worked on the shoot with crews from Los Angeles, Vancouver and Toronto.

Shooting on ``The Shipping News´´ has now moved back to Halifax, Nova Scotia, for two weeks, before the stars return to Newfoundland for some special effects recording at a wave tank at Memorial University's Institute for Marine Dynamics.

``The Shipping News´´ production team seems to have appreciated their reception in Trinity.

Production designer David Gropman told a tourist industry meeting that working in Newfoundland has been ``the most fabulous, wonderful and enriching experience for all of us. Everyone has been incredibly wonderful and accommodating. I have been so impressed with everyone's wit, wisdom and grace.´´

``Random Passage,´´ an eight-part miniseries shot in Trinity, is showing on Irish television and is scheduled for release in Canada by CBC-TV this fall.

Between them, the two productions are largely responsible for an estimated $13 million boost to Newfoundland's economy this year. ``There is no question it's been an economic boom to the local area,´´ said Donna Butt, artistic director of the Rising Tide Theater Company.

``The Shipping News´´ used her theater as an operations center and as a studio for a publicity photo shoot. Butt, who lives in Trinity and runs the summer theater, confirmed that residents were not star-struck.

``They talked less about the stars and more about if they made any money off of the movie. I didn't hear any profound discussions about the script among my neighbors,´´ she said.

``I don't think people really knew who they were,´´ she said of Spacey and his fellow cast members.

For actors who live in the spotlight, Butt said, a visit to the small, peaceful village was a welcome change. ``I think they were quite relieved to be in a place where they felt safe.´´


http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20010607/en/mdf12602.html

http://rd.yahoo.com/alerts/email/news/*http://dailynews.yahoo.com/
h/nm/20010607/re/leisure_canada_spacey_dc_1.html

Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

~

The Daily News
Sunday, June 3, 2001
By Kim Moar

Everyone - Out of the Pool

Movie filming to close Centennial for 11 days

Centennial Pool will close its doors and turn up the heated pool for Hollywood actors who are shooting a scene for The Shipping News.

Members were notified a week ago the facility would close for 11 days between June 8 and 19 while a pool scene is filmed. The lost time will be added to the end of everyone's membership.

David Duncan, president of the volunteer board that runs the city-owned complex, said Friday this is a one-shot deal that's in the best interest of the facility.

"A little bit of pain for long-term gain, is the way we're looking at it," Duncan said.

The film will pay $2,800 a day, nearly three times the normal pool-rental rate, for the 11 days. If shooting takes longer, the rate will go up.

Halifax Trojan Aquatic Club head coach Gary MacDonald says the timing of the closing couldn't be worse.

"I don't like the whole idea of somebody coming in with the big bucks and taking away our space," MacDonald said. "It's fine that they're making a movie, but there would have been a better time for us to be bumped."

MacDonald said the team needs access to Centennial's Olympic-size pool. Dalplex has a 50-metre pool, too, he said, but it's often cut in half with a bulkhead.

Dave Collins, who pays $4 every day to swim laps there, says it's a great idea.

"We'll sell out the pool and get some revenue to keep it going for awhile."

Bob Nauss, regional co-ordinator for the city's recreation department, said the lure of extra money was hard to say no to.

He said the city now provides a $140,000 operating grant to the board to manage Centennial Pool. Taxpayers were forking out $350,000 a year when the city operated it, and the municipality threatened to close it two years ago.

Duncan said the money will be used to pay of a $25,000 deficit and help fund new programs they've been unable to afford. The $70-million flick stars Kevin Spacey, Judi Dench, Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett.

~

THE TELEGRAM
(St. John's, Canada)
May 25, 2001

The Shipping News is big news in Trinity
by LINDA LOU GOODYEAR, Special to The Telegram

The tiny town of Trinity and surrounding communities are still abuzz after a month of filming The Shipping News, a high-budget Hollywood film starring acting icons Kevin Spacey and Judy Dench.

With economic spinoffs expected in the millions, the hype and the cash flow are palpable.

One business, the Dock Marina Restaurant, Art Gallery and Craft Shop, has become a mecca for the American visitors.

Owner Art Andrews displays various items from 150 New-foundland artists and crafts people and — courtesy of a U.S. dollar which buys $1.56 Canadian — the American crew members are buying up woolen goods, quilts and wooden bowls in droves.

The bowls, which are exclusive to the shop, retail for $200 to $600 Cdn.

Andrews expects the restaurant portion of his business to pick up this week when the film crew moves its filming site to the wharf in front of his establishment.

Ron and Freda Coleman negotiated the use of their land known as Coleman's Point.

The entire peninsula was used for several important scenes near the community of Dunfield.

The couple also wanted to handle security for the Newfoundland portion of the film.

They were successful and a security contract was included as part of their deal with the production company.

Ron Coleman described his business with the company as straightforward and "yes, very worthwhile."

Ray Bailey says he, too, is doing well with his gas bar, where the film's 40 rented SUVs are filling up before they head out each day to destinations as far away as Port Union, some 35 km away.

He estimates sales have increased 150 per cent. Bailey is working much longer hours — some days from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. — to accommodate the rigorous schedules of the film crews.

Mayor David White said the biggest effect of the film has been on local unemployment.

With a tourism industry that doesn't generally kick in until mid-June and a fishing industry that's waiting for quotas, the movie has taken a huge bite out of the local unemployment rate.

Word on the street is anyone who wants a job can get one, and some people are taking full advantage.

One local resident, John Peddle, was only too delighted to move his satellite dish for $200, a task which he said took him five minutes.

He was paid $12 an hour to shovel snow and he presently works security for $16 an hour on one of the sets in New Bonaventure.

Eyebrows were raised around town when scene sequences required that people who had been paid to remove snow from the set were paid to put it back again.

Rocky Johnson, proprietor of Rocky's Bar — the most popular lounge in the area — has noticed an increase in the sales of gin and tonic.

But his biggest sellers with the film types are the local beers as sales of Black Horse and Dominion have never been better.

And Rocky's is the spot to be. On any given night the eclectic crowd includes hairdressers from Los Angeles, writers from New York, set designers from Toronto, prop masters from Nova Scotia and the locals, all blending in for a little fun.

Rocky readily admits it's in his best interests for all patrons to appreciate that people who work on the film don't want to be hassled on their time off. Anyone acting otherwise is quickly shown the door.

Given that Spacey has been known to frequent Rocky's Bar to play pool, privacy issues are paramount.

These men set the tone for what seems like a protective, almost nurturing climate that has permeated the entire community.

Helen Peters had nothing but good things to say when her house was meticulously returned to its previous state after she and her partner, Henry Prembley, vacated it for three weeks for use in the film.

However, not everything is idealic.

This week an innocent bystander who took a picture of the Beaumont Hamel, the Bell Island ferry transported to Port Union for use in the movie, had his film confiscated after it was discovered he had snapped the shot during a shoot.

None of this seems to apply to Newfoundland's own Gordon Pinsent, who insists on being called by his first name whereever he goes.

Pinsent has poked his nose in the kitchen to be friendly many times according to Rachael Earl, cook for the Village Inn B & B.

The film people all love figgy duff, she reports, but she did have to order a special type of lettuce called mesclun mix when she learned that iceberg lettuce had fallen out of fashion with most of her guests.

During any spare time crew members have been venturing to St-Pierre, Gros Morne or St. John's, hastily trying to take in the Newfoundland hot spots during their six-week stay.

Amazingly most visitors say they don't mind the weather. As one crew member from Los Angeles put it, he can always get sun.


PHOTO in online story: This is a newspaper prop of The Gammy Bird used in the film The Shipping News now being filmed in Newfoundland. Actor Kevin Spacey's character Quoyle is a reporter at the fictional newspaper. (Photo: Linda
Lou Goodyear/Special to The Telegram) 

http://www.thetelegram.com    Click on link, Top Stories, News

~

THE PACKET
(Canada)
May 14-20, 2001

No Brainer
by Barbara Dean-Simmons

I made a big mistake two weeks ago.

I brought a man along with me when I went down to New Bonaventure to try
to get a story about the Shipping News, the Hollywood production that's being filmed in the Trinity Bight area.

Not just any man, mind you. But a young man barely out of his 20's who's done nothing but talk about the movie and Julianne Moore ever since we heard they would be shooting in these parts.

I usually prefer to do these assignments solo. But my decision to have him tag along was purely logical.

I wouldn't know Kevin Spacey or Julianne Moore if I tripped over them. I haven't been to a movie in 10 years and the last time I had control over the VCR at my place, I watched A Fish Called Wanda.

Since 1992 my video rentals have been limited to animated Disney films which, I have come to realize, are psychologically disturbing. In every one of them the kid character - whether it be a fox, a hunchback, a deer or a lion -- becomes an orphan when a parent meets a gruesome end at the hands of a) a pack of hounds; b) the evil manager of a cathedral; c) red-necked, gun-toting humans or d) the parent's evil twin.

Among the list of the Hollywood elite, there are not a lot of actors and actresses that I would instantly recognize if I met them in the street.

I thought it best to bring along a friend who goes to movies, reads about movies, and who would be able to spot the prop guy from the lead actor among a crowd.

Besides, I can't stand to hear a man whine. And if I hadn't dragged him along to allow him to at least get a glimpse of Julianne Moore, I'm pretty sure I would have had to listen to him sniveling for the rest of the week.

He constantly laments the fact that he didn't get to the Random Passage site last summer to get a close-up look at the flame-haired Irish actress Aoife McMahon. Seems he has a fantasy about redheads.

I couldn't help but notice he grew more animated the closer we got to New Bonaventure.

He was helpful, all right. Spotted Julianne Moore and Kevin Spacey at a distance of about 500 yards . . . with the sun in his eyes, no less.

I squinted.

All I could see were cameras, and big white screens, and a bunch of people milling around who all looked pretty ordinary.

Except for the tall, distinguished, gentleman, head and shoulders above the rest and looking quite at home in outport Newfoundland. It was, unmistakably, Newfoundland's own icon, Gordon Pinsent.

My friend wandered over for a closer look, his face taking on that kid-in-a-candy-store expression, while I scanned the scenery wondering the best angle to get a photo of the show business that had descended on this little village.

I soon discovered that cameras were not welcomed. Closed set and all that stuff.

Soon my friend and I were heading back the road, leaving behind New Bonaventure, minus the photo I had hoped to get.

But in my friend's mind, the trip wasn't entirely wasted.

"I was this close to Julianne Moore," he said, holding his fingers apart in a Maxwell-Smart-like expression.

"My God, she's stunning!" he exclaimed.

He should have stopped right there.

He didn't.

"I can't believe she's nearly 40 years old!"

It wasn't so much what he said, but the way he said it. He made it sound as though good looking 40-year-old women were a rarity.

I checked to see if he was wearing his seat belt.

He was.

Pity.

The act of slamming on the brakes didn't have quite the same appeal knowing he wouldn't catapult forward and slam his head against my windshield.

I guess the look I gave him must have said it all.

"Oops," he said, a little sheepishly, realizing he had committed a deadly male sin.

I was almost ready to forgive him. Being just a young man he is incredibly, stupidly, naive. After all, a well-educated, worldly-wise man would know better than to mention age in the company of a woman, or dare to comment on the beauty of a Hollywood actress while in the closely confined space of a car driven by a woman of similar age who was not wearing makeup.

Then, he managed to find space for his other foot.

"That's right. You're nearly 40, aren't you?" he mentioned, in mock surprise.

The gloves were off.

My Minolta sat on the front seat, sporting a hefty 400 mm lens.

I remembered reading somewhere that people who suffer damage to their right frontal lobe can undergo drastic personality changes - like going from shy to sexy, or devout Protestant to casual Catholic.

A little devil whispered in my left ear.

"Just a little tap, not too hard, above the right eye," the sly voice suggested. "Who knows, perhaps he'll go from crassly stupid to politely courteous in one blow. C' mon, give it a shot."

I decided against it.

If I tapped him too hard, there'd be blood everywhere. DNA evidence would link his ditched body to the scene of the crime, my car. My fingerprints would be all over the weapon. And I can't get rid of the Minolta. I need that for work.

OK, OK, I exaggerate.

Of course I wouldn't do anyone bodily harm.

But it did put me in a vengeful mood.

And in the spirit of "the pen is mightier than the sword" I remind my friend that I may be nearly 40, and I may be discovering the odd strand of grey on the old noggin, but I still have all my teeth and -- unlike some younger men I know -- pretty much all the hair I was born with.


* * *
Barbara Dean-Simmons would like to thank Bernie Weinheber for pointing out last week, within earshot of my aforementioned friend, that I look young enough to be my own daughter. I didn't protest. At my age, you don't argue those things. 

~

THE PACKET
(Newfoundland, Canada)

May 7-13, 2001

Filming begins on The Shipping News
Arrival of crew means early start to summer business season

by BARBARA DEAN-SIMMONS, the Packet

The usually quiet community of New Bonaventure looks like base camp of a
military operation.

The narrow roads are clogged with vehicles. Thick cables snake their way through the winding lanes, large backdrops and lights stand conspicuously among houses nearly a century old. There are even large fans to produce wind on cue.

Among the equipment, there are dozens of people. The actors stand and recite their lines and go through scenes. Off to the side, being quiet when told, are extras, cameramen, runners, caters and security.

People wearing head sets and carrying two-way radios keep a close eye on strangers and curious onlookers. Security is tight and anyone wearing a camera becomes an instant target of suspicion. Media are informed that it is a closed set and are asked to leave.

This is a Hollywood production and they're taking no chances. That means controlling all aspects of the production - everything from catering right down to what is being photographed.

That's because there are high expections surrouding The Shipping News, the Pulitzer prize winning novel created by E. Anne Proulx. With this calibre of director and cast, it is expected to be an Oscar contender. Both the director and the stars have numerous Oscars and nominations among them.

Directed by Lasse Hallstroem and starring Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore and Dame Judy Denche, the movie is about a beaten newspaper reporter who moves to Newfoundland from the United States to start a new life after a family tragedy.

Last Thursday, all activity was centred around a two-story house -- obviously given a fresh coat of paint for the movie - where lead actors Mr. Spacey and Ms. Moore were going through a scene.

Well-known Newfoundland actor Gordon Pinsent was also present, easily recognizable with his shock of thick, wavy white hair. 

However, international movie stars were not the only ones working in New Bonaventure that day. Some local people are also getting a chance to appear in a Hollywood production. Several have been hired as extras.


Spin-offs

They're not the only ones reaping some financial rewards from the movie.

People who run bed and breakfast accommodations in the Trinity Bight area, and as far away as Bonavista and Lethbridge, have gotten an early start to the summer tourist season, thanks to the arrival of the Hollywood production.

The big yellow signs, stating simply "SN" - indicating the direction to follow to get to various locations - are not the only noticeable signage in the Trinity Bight area.

"No vacancy" signs are equally prominent.

John Fisher, who operates two bed and breakfasts in Port Rexton, says every operator in the Trinity Bight area is at 100 per cent capacity. 

That works out to about 150 rooms -- from Lethbridge to Bonavista.

Most of them have been occupied since mid-April, and will remain occupied by the film cast and crew until the end of this month. Some are booked until June 13.

"If you take 150 rooms, at an average of $65 to $70 a night, you can get an idea of just what the room revenues are alone."

In addition, some people in the area have rented their homes to members of the crew.

Normally, bed and breakfast operators in this area don't start fluffing up the pillows, hiring staff or start doing business until the May 24 weekend.

Thanks to the influx of people associated with The Shipping News however, they are getting an early start, and a good boost, to this year's season.

Meanwhile, many local people are getting work on the set. They've helped construct some of the sets, helped cleared snow in preparation for filming, are chauffeuring personnel from base camp at New Bonaventure to the various locations around the Bight, and are working as security.

Future growth

Aside from the boost for local accommodations providers this season, Mr. Fisher points out that once The Shipping News hits the big screen, the potential impact on tourism in this area could be "phenomenal."

"A movie like this is expected to gross in excess of $100 million. If you divide that by six bucks per movie ticket, you get an idea of how many people will see it.

"This thing is going to be seen by millions of people." 

What that may mean to the future of tourism in the Trinity Bight area and all of Newfoundland, Mr. Fisher can only imagine.

But he is excited about the images that are being presented to the world, thanks to the arrival of the film industry.

"And then, if you combine this with Random Passage - filmed in New Bonaventure and Ireland last year - and Rare Birds - shot last fall in St. John's - I think this is what's really going to build a boom here, more so than a lot of these prefabricated events like Marconi and Vikings and stuff like that."

In any event, he said, the over 100 cast and crew members who have arrived in the area to work on the production, may provide enough word of mouth advertising to entice others to seek out this undiscovered tourist destination.

"I can tell you that one of the chief painters who arrived last week immediately - within 24 hours of his arrival - started looking for a house to buy for the summer. So that's one manifestation," said Mr.Fisher. "Other people we know are talking about bringing friends back in the fall this year."

Random Passage producer Barbara Doran agrees that once these three films hit the screen, the tourism spin-off could be immense.

"I think this is a stunningly beautiful part of Newfoundland. There is a raw, unspoiled beauty in Newfoundland that is quickly disappearing in the rest of Canada and the world, for that matter.

"Those three films, when they hit the screens around the world, I think we will see a real rise in interest in this place.

"In terms of tourism, I think we should brace ourselves," she said, noting that at a screening of Random Passage in Dublin on April 24, "people were just blown away by the landscape."

Christine Whalen, who also operates two bed and breakfasts as well as a cafe in Trinity, says it's difficult to comprehend just how much of an impact The Shipping News could have on the area.

She says every year more people appear to be coming aware of Newfoundland and the Trinity area as a tourist destination.

"Naturally, this will make it even more so. "But I haven't even had time to dwell on that. I'm just trying to keep my businesses going."

Ms. Whalen said she just hopes that in spite of the arrival of Hollywood to the Trinity Bight area that people won't get overwhelmed by it all.

For her part, she plans to take things in stride, to continue to focus on her business.

She admits, however, that while she always dreamed that her home town could become a popular tourist destination, she never imagined it would bring Hollywood to their doorstep.

~

PLAYBACK magazine (Canada)

January 1, 2001
Marketplace Film

Location, location, location: Canada from Atlantic to Pacific
by Kathy Barthel


If it's all about location, then foreign filmmakers are going to love what Canada is bringing to market. This year, contingents from east to west will attend.

The Canada West Pavilion at this year's American Film Market includes British Columbia Film, Manitoba Film & Sound, Saskfilm and Video Development Corporation, and the Alberta Film Commission. Horizon Quebec will represent Quebec filmmakers. And out east, New Brunswick Film, Technology pei, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation will be represented through the Atlantic Canada Film Partners. Here's a sampling of what some of Canada's provinces have to offer:

•NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

Trinity Bay is one of the hottest places in Newfoundland right now, according to Leo Furey, executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Film Commission. It is an old fishing community that goes back hundreds of years. Random Passage was shot here, and upcoming features include The Shipping News. The southern shore or Irish Loop is the most easterly point in North America. "It's spectacular," says Furey. "You can drive on the edge of the world." The loop is a couple hundred miles long, full of bays, fjords and inlets. Because the area is so isolated, you'll probably come across dialects and accents that you wouldn't hear in Ireland.

http://www.newfilm.nf.net

PAGE: page 31

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The Shipping News news

Driving Mr. Spacey!: The positively untrue life and times of Kevin Spacey,
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