Sunday, July 21, 1996
Former soap actress hopes ‘Volcano’ will set Hollywood afireBy
Lori Swingle
Summer Bruin Contributor
If the fall release of the newest natural disaster movie,
"Volcano," goes as well as some critics are predicting, the career
of one of its stars just may erupt. Anne Heche, a relatively
unknown yet acclaimed actress, will co-star in the movie opposite
Tommy Lee Jones in her most mainstream feature to date.
The bigger studios are starting to cast Heche in more prominent,
action-filled roles. With "Volcano" filming this summer and a role
in the upcoming "Donnie Brasco" (starring Al Pacino and Johnny
Depp), it’s just a matter of time before Heche becomes well
known.
Before the hype for "Volcano" begins (and it inevitably will),
Heche can be seen in the warm new comedy "Walking and Talking." In
the film she plays Laura, an engaged New Yorker struggling to
maintain and redefine her relationship with lifelong best friend
Amelia (Catherine Keener).
Heche seems to be taking all of this new attention in stride.
The waifish blonde, clearly excited about her upcoming,
high-profile roles, seems far from affected as she discusses
"Walking and Talking" at the Marina Ritz Carlton.
"All the themes in ("Walking and Talking") are about feelings,"
Heche says, but remains reluctant to imply that only women could
relate to the characters.
"Men think feelings exclude them but (I don’t think) that’s
true. The movie is about balancing."
The film is the semi-autobiographical story of first-time
director Nicole Holofcener, who also wrote the screenplay.
Holofcener’s inexperience behind the camera didn’t worry
Heche.
"I love working with first time directors," she says. "They’re
so passionate, and usually have had to fight so hard (to get the
movie made) that by the time it’s actually filming it’s all about
joy."
Heche and Keener each play a side of Holofcener, and though the
story is Nicole’s, Heche says that her portrayal of Laura certainly
draws on many of her own emotions.
"I have a few best friends  five or six women in my life
that are special to me," Heche says.
Like many actors who got their starts on daytime TV, Heche also
began acting at a young age, playing both of the Love twins on the
soap "Another World."
Although she considers her experience on "Another World"
invaluable (she won an Emmy for her role), Heche knew that she
didn’t want to be a career soap actor. She recognizes that some
soap opera actors are less than gracious about their jobs.
"Most actors who are on (soaps) unfortunately get a bad attitude
real fast. I found that awfully funny, seeing that they were
getting paid a lot of money to make a lot of mistakes," she
says.
When Heche was offered a role in "O, Pioneers!" with Jessica
Lange just one week before leaving "Another World," she thought, "I
guess I’m being told something  O.K., I’ll be an
actress!"
So, despite her initial decision to give up acting for design
school, Heche has stuck with this career due to her success.
Since her days playing twins, Heche’s résumé has
slowly grown to include movie roles as well. This has given her the
opportunity to work with some major actors.
"Al Pacino? Drag. Johnny Depp? Drag. Alec Baldwin? Drag," she
says sarcastically.
Now that Hollywood is offering Heche these high profile roles,
she has no hesitations about her career choice.
Heche has, until recently, stuck to safer, more heartfelt roles
("Milk Money", "Adventures of Huck Finn") and admits to having been
reluctant to even audition for the role of the seismologist in
"Volcano."
"When I first got (the script) I thought, ‘a natural disaster
movie? Are you fucking crazy?’ Then I read it and actually kind of
squeaked my way back to the phones to say, ‘can I meet on this
movie? I love it!’"
Heche claims that she would at least consider any role. So far
she has been fearless in her acting pursuits  this may be the
reason she is now enjoying such success.
"I believe fear is joy. Any feeling can be transformed into
joy," she says. "You never know how something’s gonna turn
out."
Film: "Walking and Talking" opened July 17.
Anne Heche strolls into stardom with "Walking and Talking."
Heche … admits to having been reluctant to even audition for
the role of the seismologist in "Volcano."