Jodie Foster Helped 'Dead' Come Alive

<P><A HREF="/sh/entertainment/atthemovies/tims-bio.html"><IMG SRC="/sh/images/editorial/tim_lammers.jpg" ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="90" BORDER="0"></A>The timing couldn't be any more perfect for the video release of the film "Waking the Dead." But with a title like that, it's not for the reason you think. <P> <IMG SRC="http://images.ibsys.com/2000/0928/92408.jpg" WIDTH="150" HEIGHT="200" ALT="Director Keith Gordon on the set with Billy Crudup" ALIGN="right" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="5" BORDER="0">Sure, we're coming up on Halloween, but the chilling movie, oddly enough, is more in sync with the November election: It's a movie about love and politics, albeit with a haunting spin.<p /><P>"Waking the Dead" stars Billy Crudup as Fielding Pierce, an enterprising young attorney handpicked by the governor to run for a congressional seat. Life is seemingly perfect for Pierce, with the exception of his haunting memories of his lost love, Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly). As he becomes more and more consumed by his visions of Sarah, his life begins to fall apart at the most crucial time of his life.<p /><P>Crudup, of course, is now starring in the Cameron Crowe rock opus, "Almost Famous." But according to his "Waking the Dead" director, Keith Gordon, becoming "Famous" is hardly a concern for Crudup. The main goal is to do great work.<p /><P>"Traditionally, our biggest stars have been personalities," Gordon told me in a recent interview. "They're people who have personas you can link on to. There have been exceptions, like Dustin Hoffman, but most of our stars are brand name.<p /><P> <IMG SRC="http://images.ibsys.com/2000/0929/93277.jpg" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="90" ALT="Waking the Dead" BORDER="0"> <div align="center" class="Header"><b>@ The Movies</b></div> <div class="Links"> <LI><A HREF="/sh/entertainment/atthemovies/stories/atthemovies-20000928-190325.html">Edward Burns Shares 'Long Island' Stories</A> <LI><A HREF="/sh/entertainment/atthemovies/stories/ent-atthemovies-19991212-235534.html">Jodie Foster Crowns New Perspective</A> </div> <div align="center" class="Header"><b>More Movies</b></div> <div class="Links"> <LI><A HREF="/entertainment/nowshowing/">This Week's Movies</A> <LI><A HREF="/sh/entertainment/videovault/articles/natlphae-vidvault--990607-094650.html">Video Vault Reviews</A> </div> <P>"But people like Billy are more interested in characters and being different in every role and lost in the part that they are playing, which, to me, is more exciting as a director. But then it's harder to market them and turn them into a household name. People like Billy are character actors in leading men's bodies. Those are our best actors -- DeNiro's that way, Jon Voight is that way, and so is Jeff Bridges. He's never quite made that leap to superstardom."<p /><P>Gordon has acted himself, with such memorable roles in big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's "Christine" and Brian DePalma's "Dressed to Kill." <P> But it's directing and producing that charges his batteries now, and for "Waking the Dead," he attracted the help from another actor-turned-filmmaker, Jodie Foster. In these days where producer credits run wild on films, Gordon assured me that Foster's title of executive producer was not a vanity credit.<p /><P>"The single biggest thing she did was she got the movie made. That's what the executive producer's job is," Gordon said. "I was running around with this thing for about seven years before she got involved. I was getting nowhere, except (hearing comments like), 'Can you put it in chronological order, put a happy ending on it, cast Tom Cruise and take the politics out and set it in the present day? Other than that, we love it.' So it was really Jodie reading the script and saying 'I love this movie' which got the movie made. It made all the difference. "<p /><P><IMG SRC="http://images.ibsys.com/2000/0928/92410.jpg" WIDTH="123" HEIGHT="200" ALT="Waking The Dead video cover" ALIGN="right" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="5" BORDER="0">Gordon says Foster also offered suggestions from time to time, but for the most part, she tried to stay out of the way and let the filmmaker do his own thing.<p /><P>"She's very respectful of the creative process, but almost to a fault because she's a director herself," Gordon said. "She's against the idea of intruding on anybody else's artistic vision. So I found myself having to call her and asking, 'Jodie, I want to know what you think.' She's very smart -- I had to pull notes out of her. She was wonderful. What a great boss to have. Better than 'Hi, I'm Jodie Foster, and this is how you're going to do it.'"