Lob für James

Ain't It Cool News lobt James in einem aktuellen Bericht bis zum Himmel! Ein Artikel über den Set-Besuch von "RULES OF ATTRACTION":  

James als Sean Bateman I’ve got three words for any and all of you out there thinking that right now. Fuck. All. That. This is far and away not the picture the cast list would lead you to believe it is. My fiancé heard all about my set visit, heard me talk about just how disturbed this film is at its core, heard me talk of how this will alter the careers of several of the cast members, and yet when she read the script she looked up at me, eyes so wide they almost fell out of their sockets, mouth agape in shock and simply whispered "This is fucked up." Uh-huh. "And James Van Der Beek is Sean?" Yup. "He is so fired." Maybe. "I thought you said this was a teen comedy, you know, like American Pie. I thought when you said this would destroy the teen movie, you meant that it was so over the top that no one could ever out do it." No, I said it was the Anti-American Pie, the movie that accomplishes everything a dozen American Pies never could. "Oh. And James Van Der Beek is in this?" Yes. "Wow. That is so fucked up."

I’m assuming this conversation will play itself out in various forms and dialects between audience members once the movie is released, but that no matter who has the conversation, the phrase "fucked up" will no doubt appear many times. The other phrase that will pop up will be Van Der Beek. Yes. Van Der Beek.

Now, when I was first making my way to the set, I did so with great trepidation. I simply had no clue as to what I was getting myself into. Here we have a film being directed by someone who hadn’t been behind the camera of a major motion picture in over 7 years and his title character was being played by James Van Der Beek. Of course I had my hopes but at the same time I had not read the script and had no clue what these guys were going to be like.

But I’ve had my eye on Van Der Beek for a while; curious to see where he was going to go. You see, I view teen films and pop teen oriented television a lot like baseball farm clubs. This is where the young, fresh talent makes their first showing if they don’t get drafted right off the bat for having done something really impressive early on. Right before your eyes you can watch the next generation of A-list talent and B-list has beens make their mark. Yes, its in fluff and often it just doesn’t have the staying power that other films might have, but there’s talent out there to be found if you look for it, and James Van Der Beek has had some potential. So while I was nervous about what I was going to see, I was also excited because I’d finally get to find out what this guy was made of.

Ian Somerhalder Now I know many of you out there harbor some kind of demented, unwarranted film geek hatred for the guy because he’s a pretty boy who’s appeared almost exclusively in teen oriented material. But remember for a moment that just over a decade ago, there was a teen geared show on an upstart network featuring young actors that graced the pages of many a Tiger Beat. The show was about young looking cops sent undercover into high schools to make busts and it was called 21 Jump Street. Now there were two actors of note on that show the teetered on the big time. Johnny Depp and Richard Grieco. At the height of the show both were equally popular, but I recall my younger sister having many more pictures up of Grieco than Depp. Grieco went on to "If Looks Could Kill" a teen spy thriller comedy something or other (that I wish I could forget I had ever watched but just can’t forget about that damned French teacher gag) and the successful "Mobsters". Then he dropped into B-movie direct to video hell from which he has yet to ever return with such utter pieces of garbage under his belt as "Point Doom" and "Final Payback." Depp, on the other hand, showed himself to be one of the finest actors in Hollywood. By carefully selecting roles he has moved out of teen adulation and into the realm of the greats, working with the likes of Burton, Jarmusch and Polanski. He has become admired and respected, but most importantly we’ve all but forgotten his stint as a teen star. James Van Der Beek is currently walking that path.

Now it might seem weird now, but lets look at his history. His first major film was Angus, arguably one of the best teen films about adolescence to come out of the 90’s, where he played a detestable villain. Next he did I Love You, I love You Not. Okay, lets skip that. Then came his big break, his hit TV series that put him on the map: Dawson’s Creek. Regardless of what you think of the show, it got him the exposure he needed to take the next step: Starring roles. He did Varsity Blues, which happens to be a film I care for very much. Now I know many folks out there think its silly or downright terrible, but for me, having grown up here in Texas and having attended a high school that worshipped it’s football players and gave them slack above all else (and went to 5A State 4 times in 10 years) I found many elements of that film right on. And I found Van Der Beek’s portrayal of a Texan to be one of the most dead on, inoffensive performances a man who was not born on Texas soil could give (filmmakers more often than not make parodies of Texas when they think they’re making down home films that capture the spirit of what they believe Texas to be.) So okay, then he did Texas Rangers and Harvest (aka Cash Crop, where despite the fact that the distribution company put his face dead center on the box below the large print "And James Van Der Beek", as well as on every production still on the back, he actually only appears for about 2 minutes of the film. But then, if you will notice, there was a noticeable change in his career. Scary Movie, parodying Dawson. Then Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, parodying himself when Freddy Prinze Jr. dropped out because he just didn’t think it was funny to make fun of himself. Well, James did. This was actually the moment I first began to see what James was up to. With lines like "You watch that show?" he began to systematically tear down the image of "James Van Der Beek is Dawson" and showed that he could laugh at himself. A notable trait indeed. Then came his next two projects "Rules of Attraction" and Todd Solondz’ "Storytelling". Now "Storytelling" was to be Van Der Beek’s big gamble. An edgy film by a disturbing filmmaker in which he is on the receiving end of anal sex. Quite a turn from prime time WB. Well, he was cut out. Now, don’t think it was just he who was cut out, but it was his entire segment. You see, as I hear it, Storytelling was two separate movies told as one about the same characters in college that follows up with the characters later in life in the second half of the film. Solendz’ first cut was rumored to be about 4 hours long. Something had to be cut. Well, the movie is now a scant 87 minutes long and gone is the segment of the early years and I assume everything later in the film that revolves around the first segment. Lord only knows how good it’s going to be, but after 187 votes on IMDB, Storytelling has netted a weak 6.6 out of 10. Storytelling is no longer even listed on Van Der Beek's IMDB page, although last I heard two minutes of his footage had remained. It’s entirely possible they’ve been removed completely since I last talked with him.

(...)

So with that risk gone, James’ career hinges on the reception of "Rules of Attraction." But what I saw really, really impressed me. James proved to be not just a great a guy, but also a fantastic actor hungry to stretch his chops. This role is unlike anything you’ve ever seen him in. Imagine if you will his character from Angus, all grown up and bitter about having an asshole older brother, a father incapacitated in the hospital and having lost his fine chica to the fat kid in High School. He’s now a raging asshole, junky, womanizer bent on exacting his revenge one woman at a time. Sean Bateman is not a nice guy, and Van Der Beek gives Sean his all.

On the third day of my set visit all the scenes were of James, so I got to spend a considerable amount of time with him. What I found is what absolutely convinced me that he was on the right path. First of all, what Quint said in his report about James is entirely true. He’s really as nice a guy as you can imagine. He was a little guarded at first, because, well, we’re members of the press, but by the third day he was relaxed and at ease with my presence. He was also amazingly candid about himself, his career and his reputation. I remember asking a few questions, solely out of personal curiosity to which he replied at one point "Oh boy, you see this is where I get myself into trouble." But then he answered my questions as bluntly and honestly as possible.

He’s really comfortable with who he is and where he’s going, and it shows. There’s just no ego to the man like you’d think there would be. Here’s a perfect example. He and I were watching the set up of a shot to take place at a bus station, when off in the distance we spied a group of young kids waving at us. James looked at me, smiled and said, "I guess I better go over." I wasn’t going to miss this for the world, so I trotted behind to see how this played out. Now these kids had snuck past security to get onto the set. They weren’t supposed to be there. Many actors would simply motion to security or duck out of sight. I wasn’t sure how James was going to handle this, but I just had to know. He sauntered up and the kids’ eyes grew to little orphan Annie proportions. "Hey, you’re Dawson!" One of them bellowed. James smiled and stuck out his hand to the kid, who couldn’t have been older than 12, and said "Hey, man. James." "Wow!" the kid exclaimed, "Hey, no one will believe we met you. We’ve got a camera. Can we film you?" James didn’t falter for a moment. "Sure." He said with a nod. Then the kids pulled out a DV camera and started shooting a video of them chatting with "Dawson". They were ecstatic. To them, they were meeting royalty, an honest to God TV star. For James it was an obvious joy to interact with some young fans. This is the attitude he brought with him to the set every day I was there. He was obviously glad to be there.

Roger Avary Then there came his performances. James is one of those actors that knows what he’s doing, walks right up to a scene with a smile on his face, then the minute he stops his visage melts away into whatever he’s doing. It’s as if that last step he took was right into Sean Bateman himself. There seemed to be no preparation for the scene. It just happened and happened wonderfully. I recall we were having a conversation about the wonders of Red Bull and Vodka when he was called into a shot. We’d been joking, having a grand time, then he strutted up to a pay phone for a scene and proceeded to have a conversation that ended with a fit of rage beating the hell out of the phone. This was frightening rage, not just upset, but Martin Sheen in his hotel room in "Apocalypse Now" rage. It was that moment exactly that I knew just what kind of actor James could become. Roger called cut and James coolly walked back over to continue our conversation.

I asked him about his seemingly absent preparation. He just smiled and shook his head. "It’s all bubbling under the surface," He replied. I was reminded of that line from "The Replacements". Like a duck on the pond. On the surface everything looks cool and calm, but beneath the water those little legs are churning away. That’s the kind of actor Van Der Beek is. That’s the kind of actor capable of great things.

This film will change your opinion of James Van Der Beek, no matter what you think of him. Love him or hate him, you will see a dimension to his acting ability he just hasn’t had the chance to show you before. After reading this you may not be surprised, but you’re very likely to be impressed. James will not cripple this movie; he will MAKE it. And if this film turns out as good as it promises to be, expect greater things in the future from this fine young man.   Der ganze Artikel: http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com Trailer zum Film:

Rules of Attraction

"Rules of Attraction" kommt im April 2002 in die US-Kinos. Quellen: www.aint-it-cool.com, IMDB, www.avary.com