- Title: USA: STRIKING ACTORS PICKET PREMIERE OF LIZ HURLEY'S NEW MOVIE, "BEDAZZLED".
- Date: 17th October 2000
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 6) (REUTERS) MV: (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) ELIZABETH HURLEY SAYING OF HER TWENTY FOUR COSTUME CHANGES, "It is a lot, it's quite nice actually, to do a movie where you really have artistic license to do anything you like, because nobody can say to you, I don't think the Devil would wear those shoes. You're like, oh really? Intere
- Embargoed: 1st November 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, US & FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA5AGLWA1QCK20J9S1IQD1ZJ7UN
- Story Text: There was plenty of screaming as usual at a premiere of Elizabeth Hurley's new comedy "Bedazzled," but it wasn't coming from fans. About fifty striking commercial actors showed up to protest at Hurley's decision to film an advertisement during their five and a half month long strike.
The 'devilishley' beautiful Miss Hurley, formerly Hugh Grant's girlfriend and famous for her Versace wardrobe, says she didn't know there was a strike.
English actress Liz Hurley is drawing the ire of American commercial actors who are members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).
The two unions have been on strike since May 1 in order to force cable advertisers to pay residuals to actors in commercials, rather than utilizing a flat-rate pay scale.
Hurley stumbled into the middle of the conflict earlier this summer when she crossed picket lines to film an advertisement for Estee Lauder, the cosmetics company she represents.
The actress has repeatedly apologized for shooting the advertisement saying she didn't realize there was a strike on when she did the work.
As further apology, she has made a contribution to the union's strike fund used to support the unemployed actors.
The uproar over Hurley's union activities eclipsed the usual glitz and glamour at the premiere of "Bedazzled," which is actually a remake of a 1967 British cult hit of the same name starring the legendary comedy team of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
Both old and new versions are re-telling of the classic Faustian tale of the Devil offering an unsuspecting mortal seven wishes in exchange for his soul.
In the original film, Peter Cook was the Devil and Moore was the poor human soul.
In this new version, the Devil is a woman, played by Elizabeth Hurley, who underwent 24 costume changes, all some shade of red, for the sake of the role.
The film's director Harold Ramis says the idea to make the Devil a woman came from his wife.
Playing the lucky, or unlucky human this time around is "The Mummy" star Brendan Fraser, who recently achieved superstar status when that adventure film became a worldwide sensation.
He's currently at work on a sequel in London.
Also in the cast is the Australian star of the recent Jane Austen film adaptation "Mansfield Park," Frances O'Connor. She plays the object of Fraser's affection and the subject of many of his seven mis-guided wishes.
Throughout the course of the film, Fraser appears in many guises, according to the various wishes he makes.
He starts out as a mild-mannered but socially-inept computer geek, turns into a ruthless, and Spanish speaking Colombian drug lord and then winds up as a seven foot tall basketball superstar.
In the end, he learns a lesson about the true meaning of love and finding yourself, but then he has to get out of that nasty contract with the Devil which relegates his soul to eternal damnation.
For the Colombian drug lord scenes, Fraser had to learn all of his lines in Spanish, and a few in Russian.
Although he never spoke either language before, he fared well enough to fool the experts.
In addition to the opportunity to update a beloved British comedy, Hurley jumped at the opportunity to design and coordinate the look and wardrobe of her character. The one rule was, the more outlandish and outrageous, the better.
"Bedazzled" opens in theatres throughout the US this week.
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