|
FEBRUARY 4, 2002 | NO.4
Lone Star Rising
Who's the guy with the nose? Owen
Wilson-hot screenwriter, gifted comic and now, action hero
By JESS CAGLE
The only thing in Hollywood more interesting than Owen Wilson's
career may be Owen Wilson's nose. It's a wonder to behold:
a twisting, swollen ski slope; a special effect that seems
to expand and change angles with the light. He broke it first
in ninth grade, then again playing football at the University
of Texas. Has he considered having it fixed? "I get bombarded
with those questions," he says. "I must look like a freak,
but if I were to change it I would get so much grief from
my brothers."
He has suffered for the nose, but not because of it. Five
years ago, Wilson, 33, became known as one of the most original
young writers in movies. The film was Bottle Rocket, a sharp-as-a-tack
crime comedy he co-wrote with director Wes Anderson. Their
low-budget breakthrough, starring Wilson and his two brothers,
Luke, 30, and Andrew, 37, earned some devoted fans and critics,
but it didn't set any fires at the box office. Since then,
however, Owen has established his unique profile with supporting
roles in big popcorn hits like 1998's Armageddon and last
year's double-header Meet the Parents and Shanghai Noon.
With a high-pitched drawl that makes him seem at once sleepy,
surprised and seductive, he is becoming a most unlikely movie
star, doing his part for the growing Wilson dynasty. Andrew
is an aspiring director, and Luke has gone on to appear in
Charlie's Angels and Legally Blonde. "We're extremely competitive,"
says Owen, "but not with business. I'm always excited when
I see them doing stuff because it's so amazing that we're
even working in movies."
Now the overachieving middle brother is getting his first
shot at a showy leading role in Behind Enemy Lines, a rah-rah
war movie co-starring Gene Hackman which opens in Australia
this week. Wilson again appears with Hackman in the upcoming
The Royal Tenenbaums. The whip-smart comedy about a family
of geniuses, the third collaboration between Anderson and
Wilson, co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller and brother
Luke as Hackman's dysfunctional brood.
Hackman describes Wilson as "a good young actor with original
looks." It's an understatement, but true enough. Born and
bred in the affluent environs of north Dallas, Wilson was
a rambunctious kid (he was expelled from school in 10th grade
for cheating in geometry) who found redemption in his sly
sense of humor and knack for writing quirky dialogue. Majoring
in English at the University of Texas, he discovered a kindred
spirit in Anderson, his senior-year roommate. In 1992, they
wrote Bottle Rocket as a short film. After it played at the
Sundance Film Festival, producer-director James L. Brooks
(As Good as It Gets) helped them turn it into a feature.
Despite his talent for writing, Wilson, who's shooting I
Spy with Eddie Murphy, says, "it's more fun to go act than
to hole up for a couple of months and try to write something.
That's a lot scarier." But the writer in Wilson never stays
dormant for long. Before shooting Behind Enemy Lines, Wilson
transformed his character on the page from a swaggering pilot
to a misguided navigator who has to outwit some Serbian bad
guys after being shot down. "It kinda helped me make it more
believable for myself," says Wilson. "I don't see myself being
a straight-out action hero."
First-time feature director John Moore and the studio initially
questioned Wilson's ability to carry the film, but Hackman-a
fan since seeing him in Shanghai Noon-lobbied on Wilson's
behalf. "I thought he could bring something unconventional
to our scenes working off each other," says Hackman, who plays
a tough-love naval commander.
While shooting Wilson's close-ups, Moore asked Hackman to
scream his lines loudly at the younger actor. "It was to get
a reaction from me," says Wilson, "but I almost started to
smile because I was like, ÔWow, that's the voice Hackman uses
when he gets mad that I've heard so much.' So it didn't get
the intended effect." In the end, though, Wilson acquits himself
nicely, making good use of his ability to wink at the audience
without appearing self-conscious. "You have got to be s_____ing
me!" he hollers after an elaborate, aborted rescue attempt.
It's a cry of agony, but with Wilson's expertly put-upon delivery,
it's also funny. In that moment he admits the movie's implausibility
and captures the heart of the audience. Forget the nose, if
you can. He's got legs.
|
