Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 8, 1994 TAG: 9407070033
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By GLYNIS COSTIN NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
She's talking about the idea of a Penelope Doll. Well, not a doll in her likeness, exactly, but a doll modeled after Margo Lane, the sassy, sophisticated society dame she plays in her latest flick "The Shadow."
Based on the old radio-show and comic-book hero popularized in the late '30s, the film stars Alec Baldwin as Lamont Cranston, billionaire playboy by day and elusive crime fighter by night.
Miller is his smart, sultry companion.
But back to that doll. When Miller went to the toy fair where "Shadow" products were being promoted, there were Baldwin dolls and bad-guy dolls, but to her dismay, nowhere was a plastic likeness of the glamourous satin-clad blonde she played.
"They said they were promoting the action figures in the film," she sniffs. "I told them that my character is as active as the guys."
The glamour factor is one of the elements that drew Miller, a self-described "old fashioned," to the part.
That and the fact that it could finally be her break-out role - the role that will make maitre d's stop asking, "Penelope Ann Who?"
After 15 movies, the 30-year-old actress is understandably tired of not being recognized.
She's paid her dues with acting classes, waitressing, deodorant commercials, soap-opera spots and Broadway stints.
"I have to admit it's getting irritating - that whole issue of `why haven't I arrived?"' she says. "As long as I continue to do good projects with good people, I should be satisfied. For me, that IS making it."
Still, she concedes, it would be nice for more people to know her by name rather than having to be reminded she was the sizzling lawyer who teased Danny De Vito in "Other People's Money" (1991), the Mafia princess who pursued Matthew Broderick in "The Freshman" (1990), the ingenue who woke up Robert De Niro in "Awakenings" (1990), the teacher who smartened up Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Kindergarten Cop" (1990) and the topless dancer who won Al Pacino's heart in "Carlito's Way" (1993).
She seems to have won it offscreen as well. In fact, the peaches-and-cream actress, who's been deemed the "girl next door" so many times she could have her own neighborhood, raised some eyebrows when she told a magazine last year that the 53-year-old Pacino was "a very passionate person" who "brought out a certain womanliness, a sexuality, a passion ... a real fire" in her.
Though known as one of the "nicest" actresses in Hollywood, Miller's the first to admit she's not as innocent as she looks.
"We had a relationship for eight months," she explains of the Pacino liaison. "It wasn't like one of those things that people like to label, like an `on-set affair.' It was a real significant relationship," she laughs a little nervously.
"I just hate categorizing it as `an affair' because that sounds so cliche. It's nothing I'm ashamed of or embarrassed by. I have no regrets."
It wasn't the first time Miller locked hearts with a co-star. There was a romance with Matthew Broderick, ("Biloxi Blues" in 1988, and "The Freshman"), a brief tryst with Woody Harrelson (a "Biloxi" understudy) and there were rumors, which she denies, of a fling with Don Johnson with whom she had a steamy sex scene in the 1988 dud "Dead-Bang" (1989).
Movie sets, in general, she admits, are ripe for romance.
"There's so much temptation out there," the Los Angeles native says. "I mean, you're working with very dynamic, attractive people and you get very close to them and you just have to know what the consequences are. But Sometimes you just can't help it."
Most of Miller's leading men have been significantly older than her, a fact she finds hard to explain.
"Yeah, I guess I'm not in any movies with Brad Pitt," she laughs. "I mean, maybe it's because I'm old-fashioned. I'm definitely not a Generation X-er. I like rhythm and blues, jazz, soul, Ella Fitzgerald and Gershwin."
Miller describes her taste as very "Victoria's Secret" - all potpourri, lingerie, candles and roses.
"I'm a girly girl," she confesses. "I love getting facials, all that stuff, and I'm very into potions and lotions. You should see my bathroom!"
Fashion-wise, she was influenced by her mother, (a disciple of Diana Vreeland's during her reign at Harper's Bazaar) who lectured her on the importance of good shoes, and her grandmother, who modeled in Paris and had suits made at Chanel.
"I like Vera Wang and Richard Tyler, but I really am partial to everything from the '20s to the '50s."
Today she's in a red dress made of vintage fabric, bright red lipstick and black ankle strap heels.
Miller has often been compared to Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy and says she feels very at home in the role of a '30s dame.
"The waif look is so unhealthy," she explains. "I mean, look, if that's the way Kate Moss' body is and she can't gain weight, fine. It's just not what I consider a womanly body.
"Hey, I like Marilyn Monroe's body. She was like, HOT! or Sophia Loren - breasts, hips, voluptuousness. I think that's really sexy.
"I think if we use that femininity it can be much more powerful than trying to be more like men to succeed. Men use what they've got so why can't we?
"That's why doing `The Shadow' was so fun for me," she continues. "It was being a strong woman but getting to be feminine too. It was also like playing dress up - satin gowns, jewels, suits trimmed in fake leopard, hats and gloves.
"I just wasn't into how much time it took to get me ready every morning. Three and half hours, ugh. But it paid off."
Obviously.
by CNB