Eric Roberts jumps at chance to host ‘Party’
Latest role gives actor chance to break pattern of quantity over
quality
By Emily Forster
Daily Bruin Contributor
People who get offended by films often don’t do anything, but
when the Catholic Church saw one of actor Eric Roberts’ films, they
took action.
"I did this very light, very happy film called ‘The Coca-Cola
Kid’ and there’s this scene where this girl starts to get
undressed," says Roberts. "I say to her, ‘Jesus Christ, put your
clothes back on!’ I got a letter from the Catholic Church that said
how could I play such a nice man and have him say ‘Jesus Christ’
and take his name in vain.
"I wrote back to the Catholic Church and explained that when
they take care of all the priests who’ve been accused and convicted
of pedophilia, then I will take care of my language."
Roberts is at the Four Seasons hotel discussing his newest film,
"It’s My Party," which comes out next week.
As Nick Stark, the star of "It’s My Party," Roberts portrays a
man who has a few days to live because of an AIDS-related illness.
Based on an architect named Harry Stein, the true story revolves
around Stark’s plan to kill himself after throwing a huge farewell
party.
The two-day party is full of turmoil because Stark’s ex-lover,
Brandon Theis, is trying to make amends. Theis is based on the
film’s director Randal Kleiser ("Grease," "Blue Lagoon"). Played by
Gregory Harrison, Theis has to confront his fears of AIDS and
death.
With a mild stutter that he occasionally succumbs to, Roberts
explains that his role as Stark was not one that every actor would
be willing to do.
"The part was offered to another actor first and he turned it
down because of the subject matter," says Roberts. "Then Joel
Thurm, who’s the producer, said ‘Well I know an actor who isn’t
scared of any subject matter and that’s Eric Roberts, so let’s call
him.’"
Before being offered the part, Roberts did some research on both
the film’s script and the real story. What he found made him
determined to get the role.
"There were two things that made me come running after this
project," says Roberts. "One was the script. I’m not a real crier
and I cried reading the script, so I’m thinking, ‘Wow, this is some
movie.’ Then I saw the pictures taken of the actual party. I saw
Harry Stein and his friends, and I saw the joy and the loss in all
their faces. It was just a movie I had to make."
But once Roberts wanted the part, even after Thurm suggested
Roberts for it, Kleiser still had to be convinced.
"(Kleiser) and I got together and (Kleiser) could not see me in
this part because of all the roles I played," recalls Roberts. In
order to give Kleiser an idea of what Roberts is like when he is
relaxed, he played Kleiser an interview where he was not tense or
unnatural. "(Kleiser) was like ‘Why can’t you always be like that?’
I said, ‘I am always like that. It’s just that you know me from my
parts.’ So he goes, ‘Well, if you want the role, it’s yours.’ So
there was a whole lot of luck involved in getting the part."
Once he got the part, Roberts had to come through on his promise
to play the role of a gay man. This included a kissing scene with
co-star Harrison, which was much easier with Kleiser’s directorial
choice to shoot in sequence.
"(Harrison) and I are two terminally heterosexual guys who’re
supposed to be playing these ex-lovers who know everything about
each other," explains Roberts. "What (Kleiser) did that was so
bright was he shot everything in continuity, so by the time
(Harrison) and I got to the kissing scene, we’d already bonded like
brothers. We had a lot in common and we got very close, so when we
got to the scene, the only real problem was who was going to get
the dominant mouth position. Then we settled into who was going to
be where and our tongues went, ‘Oops, excuse me.’ We had a little
moment there."
Most scenes were scripted, but kissing his co-star was not the
only scene where Roberts and his co-stars had a chance to
improvise. One of Roberts’ favorite scenes was a minor one that he
made pivotal to the film through his improvisation.
"We had a great blueprint with the script, but Randal would
allow us to improvise and take off from the script," says Roberts.
"I had a small scene with Lee Grant (who plays Amalia Stark, Nick’s
mother) where she drops some groceries and that whole thing is
improvised except for maybe the first two lines. Those kinds of
moments when a mother’s losing her son … are unwritable."
Scenes like those were important to Roberts at the beginning of
his career, but he lost his determination to act in films that made
him proud. He realized that making good movies would not
necessarily give him popularity or money.
"Out of my first 10 films I’m proud of every one of them and I
hope my grandchildren see them all," says Roberts, "but they were
all box office bombs. That was the early days of video and I had no
way of knowing that out of those then films, I had made six cult
classics. After ‘Runaway Train’ didn’t make me a box office star, I
decided quality doesn’t matter here, so fuck it. I’ll do
quantity."
And Roberts did. Since then he’s made 30 films, including "The
Specialist," "Final Analysis," "Raggedy Man" and "The Pope of
Greenwich Village." His roles in those movies made him wealthy but
not particularly happy.
"I got rich so I was given a kind of freedom," says Roberts,
"but I didn’t get what I was after in this industry. I wanted to be
a great character actor. Then ‘It’s My Party’ came along."
It looks like Roberts has a chance to reinvent himself as an
actor. "It’s My Party" will create a film that Roberts can be happy
with, regardless of how much money it makes.
"I’m suddenly literally back where I started in that I know why
I’m (an) actor and it feels good. I’m back where I started and I’m
glad to be there."
FILM: "It’s My Party" comes out March 22.
Margaret Cho (left) and Eric Roberts comfort each other in "It’s
My Party."
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