USA: WOODY HARRELSON PUTS HIS ENVIRONMENTAL BELIEFS INTO PRACTICE ON THE SET OF HIS LATEST FILM "PALMETTO"

Record ID: 387458

  • Title: USA: WOODY HARRELSON PUTS HIS ENVIRONMENTAL BELIEFS INTO PRACTICE ON THE SET OF HIS LATEST FILM "PALMETTO"
  • Date: 17th February 1998
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 17) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) ELISABETH SHUE SAYING, "ACTORS LOVE TO BE EXTREME AND YOU DON'T GET THAT MANY CHANCES TO BE THAT EXTREME, OR THE LICENCE TO BE THAT EXTREME, SO, IT WAS REALLY, REALLY FUN PLAYING SOMEONE WHO WAS JUST INSANE, YOU KNOW, THE SKY WAS THE LIMIT, THERE WAS REALLY NO LIMIT TO WHAT I COULD DO AND GET AWAY WITH IT." (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) GINA GERSHON SAYING, "I LOVE WOODY. IF I DIDN'T LOVE WOODY SO MUCH I PROBABLY WOULD'VE KILLED HIM AT CERTAIN MOMENTS WHEN HE WANTED TO TURN OFF THE AIR CONDITIONING. LISTEN, I MEAN, HE'S RIGHT IN A WAY, IT'S CERTAINLY NOT THE HEALTHIEST THING FOR YOU AND ACTUALLY, SINCE THEN, HE KIND OF PLANTED THE SEED IN MY HEAD. I REALLY TRY TO AVOID AIR CONDITIONING AT ALL COSTS, BUT IT WAS SUPER HOT SO, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD COOL IT OFF AND AS SOON AS WOODY WOULD COME IN, WE WOULD SHUT IT DOWN AND LUCKY FOR ME, YOU KNOW, I COULD BE A LITTLE BIT SWEATY AND A LITTLE BIT DIRTY AND ELISABETH CERTAINLY LOOKS GREAT HAVING A LITTLE BIT OF SHEEN AND UH, SO, IT WAS HOT, IT WAS DEFINITELY HOT IN FLORIDA." (SOUNDBITE GERMAN) VOLKER SCHLONDORFF SAYING, "I LOVE SO MUCH THE CLASSICS, LIKE "DOUBLE INDEMNITY" FROM THERE UNTIL "BODY HEAT" AND SO ON. THOSE ARE HARD ACTS TO FOLLOW. I DIDN'T WANT TO COMPETE ON THAT LEVEL. I SAID, IF WE DO IT, WE DO IT WITH A SENSE OF HUMOUR, WE TAKE THE AUDIENCE IN ON IT, WE GO FOR THE LAUGHS."
  • Embargoed: 4th March 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA4G4O4Q9GXHUM0NG1H0V57UQ02
  • Story Text: - Woody Harrelson put his well-publicised environmental beliefs into practice on the set of his latest film "Palmetto" and at the film's world premiere in Los Angeles last week (on February 17).

    On the set, the actor refused to allow ozone-depleting air conditioning, while at the premiere, he gave up the traditional gas-guzzling limousine and arrived in an electric-powered car -- out of sight of cameras.

    Harrelson stars in "Palmetto" opposite Elisabeth Shue, Gina Gershon, Michael Rapaport and Chloe Sevigny.He plays former newspaper reporter Harry Barber, a man who has just been released from two years in prison after being framed for a crime he didn't commit.

    Following his release, he comes home to the sleepy seaside Florida town of Palmetto, a chronically-corrupt hamlet sweltering under a muggy heat wave.

    Harry gets back with his artist girlfriend (Gershon) but soon is distracted when he meets the voluptuous and mysterious Rhea Malroux, played by Shue.

    Malroux wants Harry to help her execute a "simple" plan involving kidnapping and extortion.All Harry has to do is make a phone call to her rich husband saying he has kidnapped his daughter Odette, (played by Sevigny) who will be safely hiding in Miami, then collect a 500,000 dollar ransom.His reward is 10 percent of the ransom...50,000 dollars.

    The plan gets complicated when Malroux's brutal bodyguard Donnelly gets involved."Copland" co-star Michael Rapaport plays Donnelly.

    "Palmetto" is directed by German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff.The director won an Academy Award for his earlier film "The Tin Drum," which also won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.

    His other credits include "The Ogre" with John Malkovich and the television version of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salemsman" starring Dustin Hoffman.

    "Palmetto" is based on a novel by British author Rene Raymond, who, in the 1930's, wrote a series of crime novels under the pseudonym of James Hadley Chase.He became one of England's leading pulp novelists and although relatively unknown in America, is still a favourite among readers across Europe.

    "Palmetto" has the feel and look of classic film noir thrillers like "The Big Sleep" and "Double Indemnity," but updates the genre by setting the story in the 90's and adding a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humour.

    The film was shot throughout the palm-lined resort towns of the Gulf Coast of Florida in towns including Sarasota, Fort Myers, Arcadia and Venice.Although there is a Florida town called Palmetto, the filmmakers specifically avoided that touch of reality.

    But they did heighten the reality by shooting the film in the early summer, when the Florida temperatures and notorious humidity started to take a toll on the cast and crew.To make matters worse, Harrelson's objection to any air conditioning meant the crew and his co-stars had to suffer sweaty days and sticky nights on the set.

    Both Shue and Gershon agree, though, that the humidity added to the mood of the film, especially during the love scenes between old friends Shue and Harrelson.

    "Palmetto" is now playing in theatres throughout the United States.
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