The following is the transcript of the Hollywood
HLHost says "Hello from HOLLYWOOD! It's LADY BUG here coming to you live from BoxTop
Studios where
all the hip kids come together & share their most intimate secrets. Welcome back to
HOLLYWOOD LIVE
on the REAL HOLLYWOOD NETWORK. Joining me in the studio tonight are my screener Lil' miss
Glenda on the one and our fabulous typist Anna Banana."
HLHost says "Well HALLELOO the holidays are OVER! Its great to get that holiday
stress of dealing with family out of the way. The bad part of it is that the holidays are
over, and its back to the daily grind. But least we've all found a great way to end our
days by coming here to HOLLYWOOD LIVE."
HLHost says "If you're a newbie tonight…welcome to the show. If you'd like to
ask a quiestion, there is a question mark icon on the menu bar you can click on, or just
type /ask space and then
type in your question."
HLHost says "I am really excited about the show tonight! We have a special guest
joining us in the
studio: Bill Pullman, movie star. You may recognize Bill from some of his most recent
roles, as the
President in Independence Day, or the slightly troubled musician in Lost Highway. Well,
enough with
my babbling and chatter, let's welcome our friend Bill to the show!"
BillPullman says "Hello Ladybug. I'm glad we've gotten our technical difficulties out
of the
way."
TDietrich asks "what is your latest project?" HLHost says "We have some
questions here from our
chatters..."
BillPullman says "That's a good question to start with. The movie that's coming out
is called "The
Zero Effect." It opens on January 30th, then opens wider in February. It's a
detective story about
a brilliant detective. He may have a little amphetamine problem and never kissed the girl.
In the
story, he encounters all of that. It's a Sherlock Holmes story for the 90's. Ben Stiller
is my
Watson, my lawyer Arlo."
PeterBill asks "Bill what was the first movie you ever appeared in?"
BillPullman says "The first movie was "Ruthless People" which was in '86.
Back in the days... I got
that part because it was one of the first movie auditions I went for. I was doing a play
and my
hair was dyed blonde and it was growing out. The Zucker Bros., the directors, thought it
was
hysterical."
Steve25 asks "What do you like to do to relax?"
BillPullman says "What do I like to do to relax? Well, I tend to do a couple of
different things.
One things is I usually find a corner where I am unavailable to almost anybody, which is
hard to
do. The first wave of defense you have to set up is with the phone. You really don't relax
until
you're a number of hours away from the phone. What I do is go outdoors around my place,
find a
quiet spot. I give myself a little free association time. A little writing."
HLHost says "Screenwriting, maybe?"
BillPullman says "It's usually a little more in line of journal or scraps that I
quasi-write on to
friends. Some friends appreciate them. Some find them a little too oblique. Sometimes I
hate to
write the "let me catch you up" type letters. You have to go outside the dots
and find something
more eccentric."
Devolver asks "Bill, who is your favorite director that you've worked with and why?
And if it's not
the same person, who is the best director you've worked with?"
BillPullman says "Well, it's a surprise to me but one of the best is the director of
"Zero Effect."
The youngest guy I've ever worked with. He was 22. He might be 23 now. His name is Jake
Kasden, and
I've known him since I was 13. He is the son of Larry Kasden, and I did "Accidental
Tourist" with
Lawrence in '88. I met Jake when he was 13 years old. I thought he was cool back then. I
also did
"Wyatt Earp," and Jake was 19 at the time. We hung out. I'm just amazed by
him."
Joanee asks "Bill What was it like to work with Will Smith in Independence Day?"
BillPullman says "Wow! What a curious question. It's very interesting that people are
curious about
Will. He's a funny man. We didn't have a lot of scenes together, but the most time we
spent
together was for a handshake. He comes around, gives a bit of a report, I nod and say
"good job."
And then we handshake. Will found it irresistible to not do the little finger in the
handshake. But
he did a good job. We spent a little time in Venice when we were promoting the movie, and
he's a
guy who keeps to himself on the road as much as anybody. He has a couple of close friends
that
travel with him that the talks to. A little entourage." HLHost says "I need one
of those!"
BillPullman says "They're good guys. Will would come from behind that once in a
while. I imagine he
works hard, and being funny all the time is a little hard."
Joanee asks "Bill, Tell us about your roll in Zero Effect"
BillPullman says "There was one point when somebody said that Jake had written this
part for me,
because he also wrote the script. But it's a strange thing when you're playing an
amphetimine
addict who is afraid to go outside. He's always in disguises, from simple things that are
Zen like
to bold beard and Vietnam war vet work." HLHost says "Kind of a freak."
BillPullman says "I thought it was flattering that he wrote this part for me.
Wow...I've got to go
and do that in about a week. The story is about 2 high school girls who end up in a
Thailand
prison. They get caught with heroine in their bag, and Thailand has a very different
justice system
than we have here. The prisons are uncomfortable, if you can imagine. So they contact me.
I play an
expatriate living in Thailand, married to a Thai. At first, you think he does it for the
money, but
you discover he's a very principled guy. The lawyer taking care of the gals."
Keliah asks "Mr. Pullman, of all the movies you've worked in, which one was your
favorite?"
BillPullman says "That's always hard because they're like children. You hate to
disown any one of
them or favor one over the others."
HLHost says "But there's got to be one."
BillPullman says "There are those that reached a lot of people, and the ones that are
obscure. Like
"Lost Highway." And I happened to like that movie. That's on Gene Siskel's
"Ten Best List"...#5.
Wait...I GOT THAT WRONG. It was another movie called "The End of Violence" by
Wim Wenders, and Gene
Siskel gave THAT the #5 best of the year. I like "Mr Wrong" a lot. It had a
marginal kind of
release in the theaters, but it had a great video life."
Warrior_Poet asks "What was it like to work on a surreal picture like Lost Highway,
as opposed to a
movie like Independance Day?"
BillPullman says "It was a quite a bit more like working on what I imagined doing
while I was
training. You work on stuff that is adventurous and challenging, and you get a chance to
do a lot
more and risk a lot more. Whereas "ID4" was a fantastic experience, and it
requires a lot of
technical skill to do that for performers. You don't get a lot of behavorial
moments."
The-Teddybear asks "What is the hardest, most challenging part you've ever
played?"
BillPullman says "Haaa...well...Oddly enough, the most physically demanding -- not
psychological --
but physical in terms of being in good shape was "Casper." I had a lot of farce
scenes and I had a
big sword fight with 3 ghosts. When you shoot that, the ghosts aren't there. In this kind
of
circumstance, the ghosts are CGI so they get put in the environment. You have to be very
physical." acidgoat asks "Mr. Pullman: Have you had the opportunity to do any
stage work
recently?"
BillPullman says "Well, kind of. In a quick version, we did a stage reading of
"It's a Wonderful
Life" over the holidays."
HLHost says "It's the best. It always gives me tears."
BillPullman says "You'll be able to catch it. We did a reading of it, like old radio.
I played
George Bailey. Nathan Lane played the Angel. Martin Landau was Mr. Potter. Penelope Ann
Miller was
Mary, the wife. It had a lot of great actors. Christian Slater was my brother. It aired on
PBS on
Christmas Day. I think they might bring it out again for this year's Christmas."
Jeressa asks "I thought you were great in Independence Day. I also want to tell you
that you were
great in While You Were Sleepng.. Just to ask, what was it like to work with Sandra
Bullock?"
BillPullman says "Ahh...well..."While You Were Sleeping" was a movie that
was a Cinderella story.
It wasn't expected to do as well as it did. It was before Sandy became huge. She was kind
of
swelling up at the time. The director, John Turtletaub, is the best at that kind of
romantic
comedy. He had previously done "Cool Runnings." We had a great experience making
it. An added
treat."
exciting asks "(from c_o_w): How did you get started acting?"
BillPullman says "I was in a school for building instruction. I thought I was going
to be a
contractor, but I was in revolt from doing what my other brother's had done. They went to
small Ivy
league colleges. So while I was taking courses trying to figure out how many toilets a 9
story
buliding should have, I went to a play. I got a better deal. I had a very great coach who
is still
one of my great friends. He said, "No, Pullman...don't be learning how many bricks it
takes to wall
up the front of a bank.""
bridie asks "You have covered a wide variety of genres in your career...which is your
favorite and
why?"
BillPullman says "Why...I like the way you add that little voice quality there. I
think probably...
I don't really like to be in a comedy if it's called a comedy because I never laugh at
comedies
much. I always never go for it. I'm being told to laugh. So I like a movie like "The
Last
Seduction," which was really funny but also like a thriller. The humor was
secondary."
HLHost says "What do you laugh at?"
BillPullman says ""Goodfellas." I think it's one of the funniest movies.
And "Boogie Nights" I
thought was incredibly funny. You wouldn't call it a comedy."
HLHost says "A lot of people were depressed by it." BillPullman says "It's
just amazing. Things
have to be a little painful before you can laugh a good solid laugh. Great comics are
always such
sad people."
The-Teddybear asks "Whats an actor or actress you would really like to work with?..
and if you have
worked with them before... who do you want to work with again?"
BillPullman says "Wow.....I've worked with a lot of great actors that I wouldn't want
to work again
with. One of the great female actresses I've worked with was Holly Hunter, who I like
working with.
It's a great treat to work with her. She's very eccentric and very strong. She has a lot
of
integrity about how she approaches her work. We did "The Gift of the Magi" to
raise money for an
organization. It was a homeless kids/teenagers in Venice."
HLHost says "Good for you and Holly!"
BillPullman says "I want to call you the Bugmeister..."
CrimsonIvy asks "What tips would you give to those who dream and really want to
become an actress
or actor?"
BillPullman says "Wow, I like the first part of that. For people who want to
dream...that's really
great. That's the most important thing. What tips can you get to dream? And then the
acting part
just brings it down."
HLHost says "Encourage them!"
Bill