Mosier and I go, with script in-hand (which is a first,
because we haven't given any potentially prospective
actors the script yet), to the CBS/Radford Studio Lot, where
Charlie Sheen is shooting Spin City. We're met in the
parking lot by his assistant, who leads us to Ma-Sheen's
dressing room, where the man who was quoted in a 1994
interview in Movieline as warning against sleeping with
any co-star whose "...pussy smells like her butthole..."
watches baseball.
Ma-Sheen smiles at us, and we just
about melt.
We exchange pleasantries, and sit down,
mere feet from a guy who once defined the Hollywood fast lane;
the only person in the world Ben Affleck would rather be than
himself (ask him; he'll tell you). But a few moments into our
convo, it's clear that we're no longer gazing upon that
Charlie Sheen. That Charlie Sheen is gone. Reformed,
some would say. This is the new Charlie Sheen. The
Spin City Charlie Sheen. The on-his-best-behavior
Charlie Sheen. And while that's probably good for the
life-expectancy of Chuck himself, celebrity journalism has
lost one of its bright, shining stars in the
process.
But no man can be a ticking bomb forever.
Sooner or later, we all grow up. And you know what this
grown-up Chuck Sheen says to me?
"You
smoke?"
Indeed, I do. Too much. In fact, I'm smoking
when he says this (which is probably why he said
it)
"I didn't think you were a smoker, because of that
whole anti-smoking tirade in Clerks."
The man,
apparently, knows of my work. Either that or he'd just watched
the first flick, in an effort to familiarize himself with the
guys intruding upon his between-takes down-time (there is a
VCR and DVD player there in the room to support this theory).
Regardless, I'm a tickled Japanese schoolgirl in that
moment.
Scooter and I fill Chuck Sheen in on what
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is (or isn't,
depending on who you're talking to), and hand him a script. He
says he'll read it this weekend, and then excuses himself to
go back to a Spin City rehearsal. We shake the hand of
the Mighty Ma-Sheen, and head to our car, musing about the
odds of him agreeing to do the flick. The role is that of a
buffoon, so it's not a guarantee he'll warm to the material at
all. But we chuckle about meeting Chuckles all the same, and
erect elaborate "What-If?" scenarios in which Sheen does our
movie and winds up falling off whatever wagon he's on because
of the Jason Mewes influence. This carries us for a good two
hours, as Mosier and I are easily amused.
Back at the
hotel, our casting mistress Christine Sheaks fills us in on
Heather Graham: she's in another country, so we're not going
to meet her out here. Bob Weinstein wants to send her the
script and an offer, but I want to hold out until I've met Amy
Smart and Kate Hudson. It looks like Amy's coming to L.A. from
Vegas on Sunday, but the Kate meeting has suddenly taken an
unexpected turn.
It seems she's suddenly switched
representation, leaving her old agency for CAA. The good news
is she's now repped by the same agent who reps Ben and Matt.
The bad news is we've received word from that agent that Kate
will no longer meet with us in NYC. We're to simply make her
an offer.
Making an offer means exactly what it sounds
like: you tell the actor the part is theirs, if they so
desire, and you quote a salary figure. No meet-and-greet or
audition is necessary. You're just that sure the actor
is ideal for the role; so sure, that during the time the offer
is extended, no one else is considered for the
part.
Now this is strange. We were scheduled to
meet Kate in New York the following week, but we're suddenly
being told that the meeting will not happen. Mosier starts
looking into it, as I ready myself for a meet-and-greet with
Selma Blair.
I'm a Selma Blair fan. She was the only
person worth watching in Cruel Intentions, as far as
I'm concerned. I've read a few articles about her, and I've
seen her interviewed on the KTLA Morning News on a prior trip
to L.A., when she was tub-thumping for the WB show
Zoe... (which was formerly Zoe Bean, and then
Zoe, Duncan, Jack, and Jane). She seems interesting, so
I'm way into this meet-and-greet. As it's Friday night around
six, I imagine it'll last a mere half hour, because I'm almost
certain Selma must have something better to do with her Friday
night.
I'm wrong. Selma has nothing to do, so she sits
around with me and Mosier for two hours and change. When my
wife comes downstairs looking for me (as I've been gone far
longer than I said I would be, and she suspects I may have run
off with Selma), she joins us, and we sit around for another
couple of hours. Why?
Because Selma's a true hoot. All
I do is mock her (affectionately, mind you), and all she does
is take it. We hit it off so incredibly well, that I consider
adopting her. She's funny, self-effacing, quick, and honest
(i.e.: gossipy, although, you've gotta drag it out of her). I
want to make a movie with Selma Blair. I want to make a couple
movies with her. She's good people.
During our
multiple-hour gab-session, she talks about just finishing up
on Todd Solondz's new movie, her proclivity to break up with
boyfriends simply by moving to another state, and the actors
and actresses she's worked with. When I bring up the Cruel
Intentions power triumvirate of Sara Michelle Geller, Ryan
Philipe, and (Greasy) Reese Witherspoon, Selma's tight-lipped.
After much cajoling, however, she finally lets a few stories
slip that make this tubby bitch's catty grin spread all the
way to the back of his head. They're dishy tales of young
Hollywood - so dishy I wish I can relate them here. However,
they're not my stories to tell, so I can't go into them.
Suffice it to say that Selma, not me, should be given a
column.
However, the subject of (Greasy) Reese
Witherspoon elicits great interest from me, particulary when
Selma informs us that she's been to where (Greasy) Reese
Witherspoon and Ryan Philipe live. I suddenly seize upon an
idea so delicious, so asinine and juvenile, that it almost
makes the idea of making Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
seem Kissinger-statesman-like in comparison.
With the above closing paragraph, Kevin Smith has just
now robbed Stephen King of the title "Master of Suspense". As
for what else he's done, who the fuck
cares?
Respond to Kevin and his column in the Psycomic
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