THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 23, 1995 TAG: 9510210037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Interview
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
MEASURING A mere 5 feet, Danny DeVito is the little guy to get in ``Get Shorty.''
But there's nothing small about his power on the Hollywood scene these days. He's not just an actor. He's a producer. He's a businessman.
He produced last year's surprise hit ``Pulp Fiction'' and now plans to do it again with John Travolta in ``Get Shorty.''
``Hey, I'm really happy for John,'' DeVito said as he entered the room at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. ``I mean, this guy is a real movie star. I didn't see `Pulp Fiction' as a comeback for him. To me, he was never out of my house. I must have seen `Grease' 400 times - not always by choice. My kids insisted upon seeing it over and over. Once in awhile, I'd dress Rhea up in Spandex pants, and we'd dance.'' (His wife is Rhea Perlman, of TV's ``Cheers.'')
Travolta plays Chili Palmer, a Miami loan shark who comes to Hollywood, and instead of making his collection, becomes a part of the movie industry.
``I had just worked with John and thought, maybe, we should try someone else,'' he admitted. Initially, he was supposed to play the Chili Palmer role himself but other projects got in the way. ``Plus,'' he adds, ``I would have been wrong for it. Chili is a cool cat. Assured. Cool at every moment. John is perfect for it.'' Gene Hackman plays a second-rate director who is intrigued when the gangster gives him a great idea for a movie. ``The characters are very different,'' DeVito said. ``I mean, Chili would say `This is the way you walk into a room,' and he'd demonstrate it. Harry, the character played by Hackman, would say `Now, this is maybe the way you walk into the room. Let's try it.' See the difference. The Chili character had to be self-assured. John got that. He walks like a dancer. He wears cool clothes. He's got it.''
DeVito was a relatively unknown character actor when he was picked for the part of Louie De Palma in the TV series ``Taxi'' in 1978. He had appeared mostly in Off-Broadway plays in the 1960s. His movie debut was in ``One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' in 1975 as the mental patient Martini - a part he also played on stage.
He first got behind the camera in 1987 to direct and star in the hit comedy ``Throw Momma From the Train.'' Subsequently, he directed and co-starred in the critical hit ``The War of the Roses'' with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
He formed his own production company, Jersey Films, three years ago and has had mixed success. ``Hoffa,'' ``Reality Bites'' and ``8 Seconds'' flopped, but he hit critical and box office pay dirt with ``Pulp Fiction,'' currently the top video rental and a major Oscar candidate last year.
``When I read `Pulp Fiction,' I thought it was hysterical,'' he said. ``I turned to Rhea and said `This is the sickest thing I ever read.' ''
``Get Shorty'' was trickier.
``Elmore Leonard's novels are all character-driven. People, at the movies, want to see a plot. We kept most of the dialogue from the book, because it's so funny, but we changed some of the plot. I think we've got the feeling Leonard had in the book. He visited on the set and likes what he's seen.''
He hopes critics and the public won't compare ``Get Shorty'' to ``Pulp Fiction.'' After all, they share the same star, the same producer and are both dark comedies. ``They are totally different,'' the producer said. ``This one is lighter.''
In ``Get Shorty,'' he plays Martin Weir, one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and the one sought for the movie Chili and Zimm (Travolta and Hackman) want to make. It is the first time Danny has ever played ``short.'' In fact, he was so relaxed about it that he created a movie-within-the-movie in which he played one of history's most famous short people - Napoleon.
For one scene, a huge poster was placed above Sunset Boulevard, with Danny's picture and the inscription ``Danny Weir IS Napoleon.'' The billboard puzzled Hollywood and led to rumors that Danny DeVito was going to star as Napoleon in a movie. ``I took the kids down to see it,'' he said. ``Everyone was talking about it. It led me to believe that anyone who wants to be famous could just rent a billboard and go for it.''
As for his new career as a movie businessman, he says, ``I like it. Sure it can be sticky when you get into negotiations, but it gives me a freedom and a creative outlet that I never knew as just an actor.''
Among his upcoming projects will be ``Sunset Park'' in which Perlman stars as a basketball coach who takes a group of losers all the way to Madison Square Garden. Then there will be ``Matilda,'' starring and directed by himself. ``Feeling Minnesota'' will be another project. ``Fierce Creatures'' will reunite the cast from ``A Fish Called Wanda'' in a new non-sequel, comedy. ``Spies and Innkeepers'' will star Ben Stiller and DeVito, under Stiller's direction.
There's small wonder folks are calling him the biggest little guy in Hollywood. ILLUSTRATION: MGM
Clockwise from left, Rene Russo, John Travolta, Gene Hackman and
Danny DeVito star in ``Get Shorty,'' also produced by DeVito.
by CNB