A constellation of A-list stars worked for scale on writer/director Paul Haggis' film Crash, just so they could be a part of the socially-charged indie project. It paid off for them as everyone involved with Crash got some acclaim and indie cred. The film plowed on to win three Academy Awards.
The new small-screen version of Crash, which premieres on Starz on October 17, has an impressive legacy to live up to, but only one big name; Screen legend Dennis Hopper plays a record producer in one of many interweaving ensemble stories. All of the characters are original to the series, and yes, Hopper's goes crazy.
"I don't think that I can only play crazy people but maybe that's all I can play," says Hopper, who redefined the Hollywood psycho archetype when he played sociopath Frank Booth in the 1986 David Lynch noir flick Blue Velvet. "I love acting and as long as I can act, I will be doing it. I'm rather a mild mannered, quiet kind of guy, an introvert, so these characters that I play have very little to do with my reality. That's interesting for me, and it's a drag for me also."
Still, when Hopper appears in a movie, you can usually expect him to go nuts on someone. In person, the once wild-living, motorcycle-loving renaissance man is calm and cool, more like one of the mellow characters from Easy Rider, the 1969 ****c American counterculture road movie which Hopper co-wrote, directed and starred in.
After a press conference with the producers of Crash, Hopper hung around to chat about his character and its connection to fellow Easy Rider, Phil Spector.
Question: Were you looking for a TV show to do?Dennis Hopper: No, this all happened on a Sunday. I'd just gotten back from the Cannes Film Festival...I got back on Friday and Sunday they hit me with this and said I had to make a decision by Monday because they wanted me to start shooting on Wed.
For full interview go to: http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Crash+With+Dennis+Hopper+/
