| Hollywood Rolls Out Red Carpet For Red Planet Stars
By Don Lipper
posted: 03:56 pm ET
10 November 2000
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Val Kilmer made one small
step onto the red carpet at Red Planet’s Hollywood premiere, and
made one giant leap for hype kind. But even Kilmer’s star power was eclipsed
by the gravitational attraction the press corps had for Red Planet costar
Benjamin
Bratt’s stellar companion, Julia
Roberts.
For a film about a planet
with a thin atmosphere, there was reportedly a lot of friction on the set.
First, NASA decided not to cooperate with film because of the script’s
depiction of combative astronauts. Second, press reported Val
Kilmer and costar Tom
Sizemore at odds throughout the shooting. Sizemore’s and Kilmer’s people
both denied
any conflict. Adding fuel to the fire, Sizemore maintained strict radio
silence at the premiere.
However, everyone else was
feeling talkative, including director Antony
Hoffman and costars Carrie-Anne
Moss and Simon
Baker, who was accompanied by lovely wife Rebecca
Rigg.
Click direct to the gallery
of stars -- photos and interviews:
VAL
KILMER: "I've got a little piece of the Mars rock."
BENJAMIN
BRATT: "I'm an Earth freak."
JULIA
ROBERTS: Being an astronaut's wife would be "horrible."
SIMON
BAKER: "Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to go to NASA."
CARRIE-ANNE
MOSS: "I'm not a gadget woman."
ANTONY
HOFFMAN: "People have to go [to space] and see for ourselves."
TOM
SIZEMORE: "..."
Val Kilmer
SPACE.com: Why should
people go to space?
VAL KILMER: I don’t
think we can help it. We’re too darned creative and imaginative. We figure
out how to do stuff and then we’ve got to go do it.
SPACE.com: Recently
NASA has been on the defensive about the idea of sending people to Mars.
. . .
VK: We’ve always been
curious, interested and fascinated with Mars and the new ideas about how
crews need to get along and what it’s like to survive such a journey.
SPACE.com: What was
your training like?
VK: Fairly intense
in terms of the action of doing it but also [to] really feel normal in
a space suit and all the aspects of the equipment.
SPACE.com: Best and
worst part of the shoot?
VK: I didn’t have
a worst part. I
love Australia. I’ve been there several times. I’ve been to Jordan,
we filmed there. I love the cast. It was a great story. We had something
called a cool suit that was supposed to keep the space suit cool but it
didn’t. That was probably the worst part. But the guys who made it were
so great it kind of made it worthwhile. It was good for a laugh every day.
They always had a new idea how to make it work, but none of them did.
SPACE.com: We heard
you own some Mars real estate.
VK: I’ve got a little
piece of the Mars rock. I have it proudly displayed in my living room in
a little display case. I have a few fossils and meteorites, stuff that’s
small. The Museum of Val Kilmer.
Click direct to the gallery
of stars -- photos and interviews:
BENJAMIN
BRATT: "I'm an Earth freak."
JULIA
ROBERTS: Being an astronaut's wife would be "horrible."
SIMON
BAKER: "Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to go to NASA."
CARRIE-ANNE
MOSS: "I'm not a gadget woman."
ANTONY
HOFFMAN: "People have to go [to space] and see for ourselves."
TOM
SIZEMORE: "..."
Benjamin Bratt with longtime live-in Julia
Roberts
SPACE.com Why should
people go into space?
BENJAMIN BRATT: Outside
[of] the need to explore? Curiosity? I think that’s up to the individual.
Why would you want to go into space?
SPACE.com. I’m a space
freak.
BB: I’m an Earth freak.
I’m an ocean freak.
SPACE.com What do
you think about Val’s Mars meteorite?
BB: How do you know
it’s authentic? How do you know its not toxic, that’s the bigger question.
SPACE.com In the movie,
you look pretty buff, what kind of workout did you do?
JULIA ROBERTS: He’s
all natural, I’m here to tell you.
(continued)
Click direct to the gallery
of stars -- photos and interviews:
VAL
KILMER: "I've got a little piece of the Mars rock."
JULIA
ROBERTS: Being an astronaut's wife would be "horrible."
SIMON
BAKER: "Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to go to NASA."
CARRIE-ANNE
MOSS: "I'm not a gadget woman."
ANTONY
HOFFMAN: "People have to go [to space] and see for ourselves."
TOM
SIZEMORE: "..."
Roberts and Bratt, redux
SPACE.com. What do
you think it takes to be an astronaut’s wife?
JULIA ROBERTS: Oh
my God, I think it would be horrible really. It would be worse than being
a fireman’s wife. Every time you kiss you husband goodbye, that might be
it. You’d have to have a lot of patience and nerves of steel.
SPACE.com. Do you
think you have those?
BENJAMIN BRATT: I’m
here to tell you she’s got nerves of steel.
Click direct to the gallery
of stars -- photos and interviews:
VAL
KILMER: "I've got a little piece of the Mars rock."
BENJAMIN
BRATT: "I'm an Earth freak."
SIMON
BAKER: "Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to go to NASA."
CARRIE-ANNE
MOSS: "I'm not a gadget woman."
ANTONY
HOFFMAN: "People have to go [to space] and see for ourselves."
TOM
SIZEMORE: "..."
Simon Baker and Rebecca Rigg
SPACE.com Why should
people explore Mars?
SIMON BAKER: I’m hoping
people shouldn’t. I was just hoping that we could love the one we’re with
as far as planets go.
SPACE.com What was
your training like?
SB: Unfortunately
we didn’t have a chance to go to NASA. We were planning on going there
but then we weren’t able to. I did a lot of physical training just to increase
my stamina to able to endure the suits that we had to wear all the time
and in the heat we had to wear them. They were intense but fun. My favorite
thing was I had a trenching tool with a beer opener built on the end of
it. It was quite a nice design, I thought.
Baker’s wife, film actress
Rebecca Rigg, doesn’t think she has the right stuff to be an astronaut’s
wife. "No, I’m far too controlling."
Click direct to the gallery
of stars -- photos and interviews:
VAL
KILMER: "I've got a little piece of the Mars rock."
BENJAMIN
BRATT: "I'm an Earth freak."
JULIA
ROBERTS: Being an astronaut's wife would be "horrible."
CARRIE-ANNE
MOSS: "I'm not a gadget woman."
ANTONY
HOFFMAN: "People have to go [to space] and see for ourselves."
TOM
SIZEMORE: "..."
Carrie-Anne Moss (click here
to see her shoulders)
SPACE.com Why should
people go to Mars?
CARRIE-ANNE MOSS:
I’m not someone who comes from a scientific point of view. I’m much more
of an emotional person. There’s so much exploration that scientists are
impassioned to do. I think we definitely reap the benefits of a lot of
that. Because I’m not scientific-minded I don’t spend a lot of time thinking
about it.
SPACE.com What kind
of training did you do?
CAM: I trained for
a couple of months before, to get in shape; because they wanted me thinner
and leaner. Then I did wire training so that I could simulate zero G.
SPACE.com What was
the best and worst part of the shoot?
CAM: The best part
of the shoot was the crew. I worked with a lot of the same people I worked
with on The Matrix. The worst part was being so far away from home.
SPACE.com Could you
be an astronaut in real life?
CAM: Definitely not,
I don’t like small confined spaces. I like room.
SPACE.com Are you
technically adept?
CAM: No, I’m not a
gadget woman, I can’t even turn my own computer on.
Click direct to the gallery
of stars -- photos and interviews:
VAL
KILMER: "I've got a little piece of the Mars rock."
BENJAMIN
BRATT: "I'm an Earth freak."
JULIA
ROBERTS: Being an astronaut's wife would be "horrible."
SIMON
BAKER: "Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to go to NASA."
ANTONY
HOFFMAN: "People have to go [to space] and see for ourselves."
TOM
SIZEMORE: "..."
Director Antony Hoffman, at far left,
with his stars
SPACE.com What was
it like shooting this movie?
ANTONY HOFFMAN: We
shot in Jordan, which is an incredible location. David Lean shot Lawrence
of Arbaia there. To bring a crew there to the same exact terrain, it’s
just incredible.
SPACE.com A tough
shoot?
AH: Yeah. The hardest
thing was just the logistics of jumping from Jordan to Australia with a
crew of 800 in different countries with different languages.
SPACE.com Why should
people explore space?
AH: It’s the human
condition. People have to go and see it for themselves. Isn’t that what
it’s all about?
Click direct to the gallery of stars -- photos and interviews:
VAL
KILMER: "I've got a little piece of the Mars rock."
BENJAMIN
BRATT: "I'm an Earth freak."
JULIA
ROBERTS: Being an astronaut's wife would be "horrible."
SIMON
BAKER: "Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to go to NASA."
CARRIE-ANNE
MOSS: "I'm not a gadget woman."
TOM
SIZEMORE: "..."
Tom Sizemore plays it cool
Click direct to the gallery
of stars -- photos and interviews:
VAL
KILMER: "I've got a little piece of the Mars rock."
BENJAMIN
BRATT: "I'm an Earth freak."
JULIA
ROBERTS: Being an astronaut's wife would be "horrible."
SIMON
BAKER: "Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to go to NASA."
CARRIE-ANNE
MOSS: "I'm not a gadget woman."
ANTONY
HOFFMAN: "People have to go [to space] and see for ourselves."
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