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Woody Allen|Debra Messing|Billy Campbell
Woody’s Hollywood Ending Echoes Real Life
Say this for Woody Allen: his movies have always reflected something going on in his real life.
Annie Hallwas about his relationship with Diane Keaton. Husbands and Wivesmimicked his messy domestic life with Mia Farrow. Now, Hollywood Ending has its own parallel story.
In the movie, which premiered in New York last night, Woody plays a director who can’t get along with his cinematographer. The man is fired, which is a problem because the movie they’re shooting is in deep trouble.
In real life, Woody fired famed cinematographer Haskell Wexlerafter less than a week of filming Hollywood Ending. The weird thing is, he couldn’t possibly have known that life would imitate his film when he was writing it.
“There was just a meeting with Woody and Haskell where [Allen] was saying, ‘Let’s shoot something this way,’ and Haskell would say, ‘Let’s not,'” said a source on the film.
In Hollywood Ending, Allen — as a down at the heels director — fires a Chinese cameraman who leaves with his translator. In real life, Allen worked with Zhao Fei,who he’d admired from Raise the Red Lantern, for three films: Sweet and Lowdown, Curse of the Jade Scorpionand Small Time Crooks. The German cinematographer Wedigo von Schultzendorffreplaced Wexler, and gives Hollywood Ending a yellowish tint quite different from Woody’s other recent movies.
But Allen pokes a lot of fun at himself in Hollywood Ending, much as he did in Stardust Memories. I won’t spoil the punch line of the film, but you’ll get a kick out of it when you hear it.
At the after-party I asked Woody whether he would consider any anniversary re-releases of his films, a la recent reissuings of E.T., Apocalypse Nowand Amadeus.
“First of all, it’s up to the distributor. I don’t know who owns them all, so I can’t say,” Allen said.
But when pressed for an answer, he seemed to get a mischievous glint in his eye.
“Shadows and Fog,” he said — one of his least popular, most difficult-to-understand films, which features an amazing performance by Kenneth Marsas a magician. It’s a lost classic.
DreamWorks will release Hollywood Endingon May 3, and Woody will start filming his spring project with Glenn Close, Christina Ricci and Jason Biggsa month later. In between, Hollywood will open the Cannes Film Festival.
Last month, Woody made a breathtaking first-ever appearance at the Academy Awards, during which he performed a little stand-up and showed the country what he and New York are made of. It was a great moment.
For years, Woody made his films with the now-defunct Orion Pictures. He had interludes with Miramax, Tri Star and other distributors, but now he’s settled with DreamWorks. Studio chief Jeffrey Katzenbergcame to the premiere last night, and I have to give him credit. Woody is uniquely gifted, and it’s great that he has a home where he feels comfortable enough to experiment and create.
TV’s Gracious Grace
Many of the stars of Hollywood Endingturned out last night as well, including Will & Grace actress Debra Messing, George Hamilton, Tea Leoni and Treat Williams.
Messing is a doll, and gorgeous in person. She’s in a huge hit sitcom, but its successhasn’t affected her. “I have no assistants, no help, nothing. It’s just me,” she said.
Well, it’s just her and her husband, who she’sbeen with for 11 years. Next month, after Cannes, the couple will take a month off.
“No phones, no faxes, nothing. I turned down the chance to play Viola in Twelfth Nightat Shakespeare in the Park this summer,” she told me. “It broke my heart, but it would have ended on August 18, and I would have had to go right back to Will & Gracethe next day.”
Why do I like Debra Messing so much? She actually volunteered to write this column if I take a few days off this summer. Will she come through? It was just nice of her to volunteer.
Once and for All for Once and Again
Once and Againstar Billy Campbell told me last night that his ABC drama is “dead.”
“That’s it, it’s finally over,” he said. There had been reports last week that ABC told the producers to keep the sets up after the last show was filmed. There was a flurry of activity, and fans thought they had a chance to save the show. But it is over, Campbell says.
So what’s next for Campbell (who, by the way, is a lot taller than you might think)?
“I’m thinking of doing a play on Cape Cod this summer,” he told me while holding a copy of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man. “Why not? It’s not a bad place to go.”
Campbell also told me he’s thrilled for the success of Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly. The two co-starred many eons ago in a failed Disney film called The Rocketeer.
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