| Jennifer Aniston to play 'Mrs Robinson's granddaughter' Jennifer Aniston is to star in a comedy about a woman who believes her family inspired the characters in The Graduate. She will play a woman who discovers she might be the grandchild of the woman who inspired Mrs Robinson, reports Variety.
The Friends star will play a woman who unlocks the family secret on which the 1967 film, which starred Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman, was based. George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh's company Section Eight are co-producing the movie, which will be the directorial debut of Ocean's 11 writer Ted Griffin. The as-yet-untitled film, which Griffin has also scripted, starts shooting in April.
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| A Whisky business for Clooney Jan 21 2004
Film star George Clooney stepped out in the Scottish rain yesterday to admit he had enjoyed the local hospitality - and the whisky.
The Hollywood heart-throb was greeted by fans, photographers and reporters on the steps of his five-star hotel in Glasgow's West End.
Although he was expected to appear at dawn, Mr Clooney did not emerge until midday, saying he had tried some whisky.
Wearing shades in the rain, he added: "Well, I'm feeling it right now."
Mr Clooney was in Scotland to inspect the set of a £20m movie he is co-producing, The Jacket.
He visited the set for the film at a disused mental hospital in the village Bangour, near Broxburn.
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| HEART-THROB? MORE LIKE A HEAD THROB GEORGE...Clooney feels rough after night on whisky Jan 21 2004
HOLLYWOOD heart-throb George Clooney left Scotland nursing a whisky-fuelled hangover yesterday.
The actor looked the worse for wear as he emerged from his hotel late in the morning after a night on Scotland's national drink.
Sporting a pair of sunglasses to hide his bleary eyes, he told fans he put his condition down to Scots generosity.
He said: ''Scottish hospitality is fantastic. I got to sample the whisky last night and I'm still feeling it.''
Clooney, who had been staying at Glasgow's One Devonshire Gardens, left the wet weather behind and headed for the city's airport, before flying off to his £5 million holiday home in Italy.
Clooney's departure came as a blow to the people of Dechmont, West Lothian, who thought the star would appear at nearby Bangour Village Hospital.
The Hollywood hunk is using it as one of the locations forhis latest film psychological thriller, The Jacket.
Clooney is co-producing but not appearing in the film, which stars Adrian Brody.
A spokeswoman for Clooney said: ''George never planned to visit the hospital.
''But he did pay a visit to the courthouse in Cumbernauld which is also a location for the film.''
However, Clooney still managed to charm fans in Glasgow by signing autographs.
Audrey Dinsmore, 25, of Glasgow, said: ''He gave me a kiss on the cheek. It was great and I thought he was lovely.''
Katie Reid, 26, of Glasgow, added: ''He has got lots of time and seemed quite surprised that we were all here for him. ''He is just exactly how I imagined him and it was worth the wait to meet him.''
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| Clooney enjoys Scots hospitality Hollywood actor George Clooney has left Scotland for sunnier climbs after a short stay to visit the set of his latest movie
The star, who shot to fame in ER, will return to Scotland soon to co-produce psychological thriller, The Jacket
As he left his hotel in Glasgow's west end on Tuesday, he told fans that Scottish hospitality was "fantastic".
Mr Clooney, 42, who was travelling on to Italy, said the drizzle was exactly what he had expected.
Although he was expected to appear at dawn, Mr Clooney did not emerge until midday - to admit he had tried some whisky.
Wearing shades in the rain, he added: "Well, I'm feeling it right now."
On Monday, he visited the set for The Jacket at the former Bangour psychiatric hospital in the village of Dechmont, near Broxburn, which will double as a psychiatric hospital in the US state of Vermont.
The cast is led by Pirates Of The Caribbean actress Keira Knightley and The Pianist's Oscar winner Adrien Brody.
The Ocean's Eleven star pledged to come back to Scotland soon to "work on the show".
Wearing a black polo neck and beige cardigan, Mr Clooney emerged from the hotel, One Devonshire Gardens, where he had stayed in a £500-a-night suite, to make his way through an eager group of fans and photographers.
Fan Katy Reid, 26, from Glasgow, said it was worth waiting in the rain for a glimpse of Mr Clooney, who has been voted the world's sexiest man.
She said: "He's got lots of time. He seems really nice and was pleasantly surprised we were here."
Earlier Mr Clooney's friend - US director Steven Soderbergh - left the hotel, also reportedly going to the airport.
'Exciting event'
Mr Soderbergh is co-producing the film in which Brody plays a Gulf War veteran who tries to avoid death by using his clairvoyant powers while locked up in prison.
Earlier this month, casting agents for the production auditioned hundreds of wannabe actors at a hotel in Livingston, West Lothian.
Council chiefs were delighted with the high-profile visitor and said they hoped the film would attract more location-hunting movie moguls to the area.
Councillor Willie Dunn said: "This is a most exciting event which has created a great deal of interest locally.
"I hope filming goes well and that this major new production will lead to others coming to West Lothian."
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| Hunt is on but, ER, by George, he's out of sight ARRIVING in the village of Dechmont, in the heart of West Lothian, it feels like just another day. The drizzle-soaked grey streets are virtually deserted aside from a few dog walkers, who, with heads bent, seem determined to get indoors as quickly as possible.
Yet just a few hundred yards down the road at Bangour Village Hospital, a group of outsiders who are clearly used to being noticed are milling about.
They are hanging around outside the psychiatric institution where Hollywood heart-throb George Clooney is shooting his new blockbuster film, The Jacket, over the next few weeks.
Clooney flew in to Scotland economy class on Monday to visit the set of the film on which he is executive producer . . . and rumour had it that he’d left his suite at the plush One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow and was here, in the flesh, in Dechmont, to oversee the start of filming.
Excitement and anticipation levels were high, with crowds of fans waiting outside his hotel to catch a glimpse of Clooney, but over in Dechmont, it seems things are done a little differently.
After months of claiming they would welcome him with open arms, the villagers have been hit by a sudden bout of shyness now that the prospect of actually meeting George face to face has arisen.
The group standing around were merely reporters and photographers desperate to snap the Clooney grin. His legendary following of female fans was noticeably absent
However, gradually it began to become clear that the dog walkers of Dechmont were doing more walking than normal . . . using their pets as a cunning ruse to indulge in some furtive star-spotting.
When Jimmy McKechnie sauntered past with his Labrador, he certainly didn’t look like a Clooney fan, but the 72-year-old says: "I am curious, of course, and I hope the filming goes well for George. But, actually, I am more of a fan of George’s aunt, the singer Rosemary Clooney."
Bona-fide fans of George will know that his new £19 million film, which is about a Gulf War veteran accused of a murder he does not remember committing, is being filmed at the crumbling Bangour Village Hospital over the next seven weeks.
The West Lothian site - where psychiatric patients are still treated - will double for a Vermont lunatic asylum where much of the film is set
While Clooney’s role is behind the scenes, on-screen stars include Oscar-winner Adrien Brody, Hollywood beauty Jennifer Jason Leigh and Love Actually star Keira Knightly. Other famous faces set to make an appearance in the Dechmont neighbourhood include Kris Kristofferson and the singer Fish.
However, none has so far been spotted outside Bangour hospital where the paparazzi has now fallen into a pattern of frenzied action followed by resigned disappointment at the sight of every posh car which drives past without Gorgeous George inside it.
Undaunted, I approach the entrance to the hospital, which seems to be as secure as Fort Knox with security staff and police officers maintaining a vigil.
"So, any stars filming today?" I ask.
Apparently not. One of the two police officers on duty tells me with a wry grin: "I don’t even know who’s here. I haven’t a clue. I don’t know how long we’ll be here, either. We’ll just have to see what happens. We’re not expecting great crowds of fans, though."
Shuffling back disconsolately, suddenly the assembled photographers are suddenly confronted by a man in a van who pulls up in front of them, winds his window down and yells: "I’m George Clooney in disguise! Take my picture!"
If that was George, he does a mean line in disguises.
Finally, after several hours of hanging around, the real fans arrive . . . all two of them. But what they lack in numbers, the mother and daughter combo more than make up for in enthusiasm - and even end up being interviewed for the television.
Sarah Wright, 67, who drove with her daughter to the film set from Slamannan, near Falkirk, says: "We love him to death. We went to Edinburgh Airport yesterday and waited for four hours hoping to see him, but he was not there. Then, we found out he was in Glasgow. We were really disappointed. We decided to come out here because we are sure he will appear. We’ll stay all day if we have to, as long as I’m home by 4pm it doesn’t matter. I really hope we see him!"
Daughter Linda Imrie, who boasts: "I’m the same age as George" (42), is such a big fan that she has Clooney’s face as her mobile phone screensaver.
She says: "My husband says I’m off my head. I just love George Clooney. We’ve been looking on the internet and reading the papers to find out where he’s going to be. I really want to see him."
Leaving them to their wet vigil, I walk into the centre of Dechmont to see if there’s been any sign of George there. I find that enthusiasm for the film is still strong.
The village’s one shop, Dechmont General Store, has revamped its window display - which normally focuses on far less starry issues such as Burns Night - in homage to the boy George’s visit
The words "Hollywood comes to Dechmont" are written above a collection of film paraphernalia which includes a film projector and a (homemade) clapperboard. There are no cardboard cut-outs or posters of George, however. Instead, a decidedly unsexy waterproof jacket hangs at one side of the window to symbolise his film.
And the display is dominated by a huge lion’s head - which symbolises the MGM lion - although owner and Livingston football fan Mary Boylan, 55, admits it is actually the Livvy Lion.
She says: "We always put up a display on something topical and I decided on Hollywood coming to Dechmont, because of George Clooney.
"I wanted it to be about more than just him, though. His name is not mentioned. The only things that are directly about him are the homemade clapperboard, which has The Jacket written on it and the scheduled date for the start of filming, 19/01/04, and a jacket hanging up.
"I contacted lots of different organisations, including Scottish Screen, for information and archive material about things like locations where films have been shot in Scotland. I also put in Scottish books like Treasure Island which have been made into films. It has gone down a treat."
She insists that the village is still very excited about Hollywood coming to town, adding: "There is such a buzz." Although she herself admits she is not smitten by the Clooney bug. "He’s a handsome-looking guy, but I prefer Richard Gere."
And as far as drumming up extra trade goes, Boylan says it hasn’t happened yet, but she hopes it still might
Next door at the hairdressers, however, manager Elizabeth Duffy says that business has definitely picked up recently, with numerous women booking in "just in case they bump into George Clooney"
Duffy, 40, says: "We have had quite a few phone calls from women who we have not seen for a while wanting to get their hair done in case they bump into George Clooney or another famous person."
So far there is no sign that any of the stars themselves will pop in for a cut and blow dry, although Duffy admits: "There have been a few wind-ups."
It is Duffy who tells me that the villagers are trying to keep their interest in the film a little hush-hush, saying: "It’s interesting the number of dog walkers going up there [near the hospital] who don’t normally go that way! But people don’t want to seem too keen on it all."
One of Duffy’s customers, lollypop lady Margaret Keenan, 69, has just had her hair done, but she is quick to stress that her new "do" is not for George’s benefit, claiming: "I wouldn’t know him if I fell over him!"
Driving out of the village past the hospital, the Royston Cafe on the A89 is pretty busy. Manageress Sheila Redgrave, 63, has "advertised" Clooney as the dish of the day. She is not there when I drop in, and neither is George. However, the staff seem to have been hit by a touch of the prima donnas when I ask to have a quick chat, replying bluntly "no comment".
Meanwhile, as rumours of his whereabouts continue to fly, sightings of George remain fixed at a big fat zero.
Yet it seems he was there at some point. Speaking as he left One Devonshire Gardens late yesterday afternoon to catch a flight out of Glasgow, he told waiting fans: "I’m enjoying the hospitality and have had a great time. Our director wanted to shoot in Scotland and I’ve been to the location. But I will be back at some point."
So for the next seven weeks or so, no-one need know anything about the complexities of Scottish politics to understand the infamous West Lothian Question.
Because, for now at least, it has become, quite simply: "Oh, George, where art thou?"
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Clooney in Scotland for filming George Clooney has flown into Scotland to begin filming his psychological thriller, The Jacket. Holywood star Clooney, 42, waved and chatted to fans outside a hotel in Glasgow's west end.He told the crowds he did not have time to sample the city's nightlife because he would be filming in West Lothian on Tuesday.
Clooney is co-producing but not starring in the £20m film which stars Adrian Brody and Keira Knightley. Brody plays a Gulf War veteran who tries to avoid death by using his clairvoyant powers while being held in prison.
Earlier this month casting agents for the film auditioned hundreds of people hoping to be extras. West Lothian Council said it hoped the film would attract more location-hunting movie moguls to the region.
Councillor Willie Dunn said: "This is a most exciting event which has created a great deal of interest locally. "I hope filming goes well and that this major new production will lead to others coming to West Lothian." A former mental hospital near Broxburn in West Lothian is among the locations earmarked for the film.
Brody won an Oscar for his lead role in the acclaimed film The Pianist, while Knightley starred in Bend it Like Beckham and Pirates of the Caribbean.
The film will be produced by Clooney and Steven Soderbergh's Section Eight company in conjunction with Mandalay Pictures and German company VIP Meidenfonds.
Culture Minister Frank McAveety said the production team had looked at locations in London, Wales and Romania but had opted for Scotland. Clooney, who shot to stardom in the US hospital series ER, has since won acclaim for roles in movies including Oh Brother where Art Thou and Ocean's Eleven.
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Hollywood star George Clooney in Scotland
Hollywood superstar George Clooney has given his first television interview since arriving in Scotland for the filming of his latest movie The Jacket .
 Speaking to Scotland Today, the actor denied reports that he will buying a house here - and it appears Scotland's weather may have played a part, although the whisky helps. Clooney is executive producer on the film which is being shot in a disused mental hospital in the village of Bangour, near Broxburn.Asked about the rumours that he was looking for a house
in Glasgow, he said: "No, I've actually got a house in Italy, so I go there now, which I am going to go to right now."
Asked if he will be coming back to Scotland soon, he replied "Yeah, we're coming back, we are working on the show here so..."
He described the Scottish hospitality as "Fantastic", and added that the Scottish weather was "Exactly what I thought it would be."
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ONE day he's Gorgeous George, the next he's Swoony Clooney
– eager to plant a kiss on the cheek of a female fan in Glasgow.
 Despite nursing a hangover, Hollywood heart-throb George Clooney today made sure he didn't disappoint fans waiting outside his west end hotel, One Devonshire Gardens.He chatted to them, signed autographs and kissed one fan, Audrey Dinsmore, on her cheek.
Audrey, a 25-year-old nanny from Newton Mearns, said: "I knew he was in town so I decided to have a look. He was lovely and I got a kiss from him."
Another fan, student nurse Katie Reid, 26, from Glasgow, said: "He seemed to have lots of time for everyone and it was lovely to meet him. I'm delighted I've got his autograph."
As he left the hotel after a one-night stay, Clooney, 42, admitted he was suffering after enjoying a dram last night.
He left to catch a US flight from Glasgow Airport, following a visit yesterday to the set of his £20million new film in West Lothian.
Clooney said he had enjoyed Glasgow's hospitality and had sampled a glass of whisky.
"I'm feeling it in the head today," the star added.
Dressed in coat, woolly hat and wearing sunglasses, he added: "I'm enjoying the hospitality, I've had a great time.
"Our director wanted to shoot in Scotland and I've been to the location. But I'll be back at some point."
He jetted into the city yesterday and fans caught a glimpse of him when he left his £500-a-night suite for dinner.
Clooney is co-producing The Jacket, a psychological thriller starring Pirates Of The Caribbean actress Kiera Knightley and Oscar winner Adrien Brody.
The movie shoot was under way today at a disused psychiatric hospital in Broxburn.
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I'M LIVIN' IT HERE
Jan 2004
Heart-throb Clooney jets in for movie and eyes up Scots home
Beverley Lyons And Lee-Ann Fullerton
 IT'S the news every woman in Scotland has been waiting to hear George Clooney wants to buy a home here.George was eyeing up houses in Glasgow hours after jetting in to oversee filming of his latest blockbuster, The Jacket.
After checking in to the city's plush One Devonshire Gardens, Clooney held talks with his co-producer Steven Soderbergh.
And the Hollywood hunk was later spotted dining with stars Keira Knightley and Kris Kristofferson But Clooney, 42, still found time to talk about his love of Scotland and reveal he was hoping to explore more of his new surroundings.
He said: ''I'm hoping to see around the place. Glasgow is a beautiful city and I love the brickwork on the buildings.''
An insider said: ''He has just arrived but he was talking about the architecture and says he would love to buy a house here.
''He was admiring the houses and flats around the hotel.''
If George does decide to buy, it wouldn't be his first European bolthole.
He bought a £5 million Italian house in 2002. The 25-room Villa Oleandra, in the village of Laglio on the shores of Lake Como, was bought on the recommendation of Brad Pitt. Meanwhile, security was tight yesterday at Bangour Village Hospital, near Bathgate, West Lothian, one of the locations where The Jacket will be filmed over the next 10 weeks.
Although former ER star George, as producer, does not have to be on set, it did not deter keen fans from trying to get a closer look.
Workmen were still building on the set yesterday. But shooting has not yet started at the hospital.
Scenes in the film, about a Vietnam veteran, played by Oscar winner Adrien Brody, accused of murder and sent to a prison for the criminally insane, are also to be shot in and around Glasgow.
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Glasgow belongs to Gorgeous George
Alison Chiesa
January 2004
 George Clooney, the American film star, had the west end of Glasgow buzzing yesterday as he arrived in Scotland to begin filming The Jacket, a psychological thriller that he is producing. The Hollywood heart-throb looked tanned and relaxed as he emerged from his five-star hotel accompanied by minders.The Perfect Storm star chatted to photographers outside One Devonshire Gardens, where he is staying in a £500-a-night suite. Clooney told fans he would not be sampling Glasgow's night life because filming was to resume early this morning in West Lothian.
The movie shoot begins at a disused mental hospital in Broxburn, which will double as a lunatic asylum in the US state of Vermont. Clooney, known as Gorgeous George, is co-producing the £20m film with his friend Steven Soderbergh but will not appear in it himself. The cast is led by Keira Knightley, who starred in Pirates of the Caribbean, and Adrien Brody, who won an Oscar for The Pianist.
Brody plays a Gulf war veteran who tries to avoid death by using his clairvoyant powers while locked up in prison. Earlier this month casting agents for the film auditioned hundreds of wannabe actors at a hotel in Livingston, West Lothian.
West Lothian Council was delighted with their high-profile visitor and said they hoped the film would attract more location-hunting movie moguls to the area.
Councillor Willie Dunn said: "This is a most exciting event which has created a great deal of interest locally. I hope filming goes well and that this production will lead to others coming to West Lothian."
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Clooney's flying visit takes West Lothian by surprise
Tim Cornwell
 GEORGE Clooney made a surprise visit to the set of his film The Jacket near Bathgate yesterday, after flying in unannounced to Glasgow in economy class. Only a day earlier, both Scottish Screen and a spokesman for the production, which is backed by Clooney’s company, Section 8, had said there was little chance of him paying a call.
Clooney is listed only as executive producer, with no day-to-day role in the making of the film. He had come to show his support for the director, Sam Mayberry, who is making his first film in four years.
He spoke only briefly to fans outside One Devonshire Gardens, where he is staying in a £500-a-night suite, but spoke of his love for Scotland.
The £20 million production, which stars the Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody as well as Keira Knightly, who starred in Love Actually, is being shot at Bangour Village Hospital, near Bathgate, West Lothian.
Security was tight yesterday as guards tried to keep star-spotters away from the set. The psychiatric hospital is set in large grounds and most of its wards are boarded up.
But while much of the hospital is disused, two wards close to the film set are still occupied by about 40 elderly patients. Both are due to close within the next two weeks.
Workmen were building on the Bangour set yesterday, with large floodlights standing ready for use outside one building.
But while the cameras did roll, the exact location was kept secret and no shooting took place at the hospital itself.
Scenes in the film, which is about a Vietnam veteran who is accused of murder and sent to a prison for the criminally insane, are also planned to be shot in and around Glasgow.
Thousands of hopefuls turned out two weeks ago to audition for bit-parts in the film, with more than 700 people viewed in the first hour of casting alone.
Local businesses in West Lothian have been capitalising on the Hollywood presence, displaying signs and memorabilia in support of the film.
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| Hopefuls try for a shot at Clooney film FROM a Black Watch soldier to a retired psychiatric nurse, the lure of a part in Hollywood heart-throb George Clooney’s new movie brought thousands of hopefuls to a Livingston hotel yesterday.
They were bidding to land extras roles in the star’s £19 million blockbuster, The Jacket, which is due to start filming in West Lothian and Ayr this month.
And while Clooney himself may not have made an appearance, the prospect of appearing alongside a galaxy of Hollywood stars saw the Ramada Jarvis Hotel swamped with budding Ewan McGregors and Kelly Macdonalds.
Queues started forming before 7am and by the time the doors opened at midday, there were more than 1000 people waiting.
Some hopefuls had even booked themselves into the hotel for the night to avoid disappointment.
Casting agents for the film, which is being produced by Clooney’s Section 8 film company, auditioned 700 people in the first hour alone. The film, which is set in North America and tells the story of a Gulf War veteran who is accused of a murder he does not remember committing, will be shot at Bangour Village Hospital between Bathgate and Dechmont.
Hopefuls had travelled from all over Scotland for a chance to appear in the film, which will star Love Actually star Keira Knightley, Oscar winner Adrien Brody and Hollywood beauty Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Kathleen McGuigan, 56, a retired psychiatric nurse from Bathgate,
said: "I used to work in Bangour Village Hospital where the film is being shot so meeting George Clooney in a hospital environment is too good an opportunity to miss.
"The casting people were saying there are two locations and they are looking for lots of different people, so fingers crossed. Maybe this will be a chance for a new career."
Brian McCaig, 25, is a salesman for Sky in Livingston, but the opportunity to see himself on the silver screen proved too much of an attraction to turn down.
Brian, from Whitburn, said: "Just seeing myself in a film, even for a few seconds, would be absolutely fantastic."
But some hopefuls had to shelve their chance at stardom because the queue was just too big.
Private Colin McColl, who serves with the Black Watch in Edinburgh, had to head back to the barracks because there was no time to wait.
He said: "I didn’t think there would be so many people here so I guess I’ll just need to wait until the next film to hit Scotland."
Casting assistant Fiona McMillan said they had been delighted with the response.
"We are looking for a range of walk-on parts for the film so everyone here has a chance of getting into the film," she said.
Ramada Jarvis operations manager Kevin Logan said some keen potential movie stars had stayed in the hotel to make sure they were at the front of the queue.
He said: "It’s been a lot busier than I think anyone thought and there was a steady stream of people turning up to be auditioned throughout the morning and the afternoon. This must be the George Clooney effect."
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GEORGE QUEUNEY...2000 join in the movie mania as Hollywood comes to Scotland
Maureen Culley
STARSTRUCK George Clooney fans besieged a hotel yesterday.
More than 2000 hopefuls turned up as film bosses staged a Hollywood-style casting call in Livingston.
They wanted to recruit extras for the psychological thriller The Jacket, which starts filming in West Lothian this month.
But by 4.30 pm they started turning people away as it was clear they could not see everyone.
Clooney is co-producing the movie but the Perfect Storm and Intolerable Cruelty heart-throb will not appear in it himself.
Yesterday, many of the applicants queueing at the Ramada Jarvis hotel admitted they had been disappointed gorgeous George,42, was not at the auditions. Christine Young, 41, a Barlinnie prison officer, said: ``I'm here for George. It would be amazing just to haveachance to meet him.''
Margaret MacDonald, 45, who runs an electrical business in Livingston, said: ``I heard George isn't here today, but we have to go through this process to have a hope of getting to see him eventually. '' Edinburgh drama students Mairi Fraser, 18, and Erin Daly, 21, said: ``We're big fans and were crossing our fingers he would behere. Working with him would make up for it, though.
``They took our measurements and photos. Now we have to wait and see.''
In the village of Bangour, cafe manager Sheila Redgrave, 63, is hopeful of playing a big part in the movie with a daily bacon roll run.
The film will be partly shot a mile away at Bangour Village Hospital.
It stars half-Scots Pirates Of The Caribbean actress Keira Knightley, 18, and Adrien Brody, 30, who won an Oscar for The Pianist.
A hotel spokesman said: ``The response has been amazing.''
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| ACHILLES STAR BRAD HEELS UP QUICKLY BRAD PITT was left on crutches after he damaged his Achilles tendon while playing Greek hero Achilles.
Pal George Clooney, who was due to begin filming Oceans Twelve with the Hollywood hunk, said: ''Because Brad suffered an Achilles injury playing Achilles, filming has been set back.''
But the injury is good news for Clooney because the delay means his new Scottish thriller, The Jacket, will get a kickstart. George said: ''We won't begin shooting Ocean's Twelve until April now, so I'm on my way to Scotland soon.''
Jacket, a £20 million blockbuster, is being shot around Bathgate and Broxburn, West Lothian.
It stars Adrien Brody, who won an Oscar for his role in The Pianist, and Pirates Of The Caribbean beauty Keira Knightley.
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| Film extras are wanted on new Clooney movie Dec 30
Marjorie Kerr
BUDDING actors are being given the chance to make their mark on Hollywood in a special talent search next month.
Extras are being sought for the George Clooney-produced movie, The Jacket', which is set to be filmed at Bangour Village Hospital outside Bathgate, in early spring.
And the film-makers are holding auditions in Livingston on Wednesday, January 7, to find people to act in the background of the action.
The film, which is to star Oscar winner Adrian Brody and Pirates of the Caribbean' star, Keira Knightly, is set in a mental hospital where a brutal form of torture, known as the jacket is used to control patients.
It's not known if the background artists will be used solely for the hospital scenes, but production company Section Eight , said the day of auditions will give would-be stars the chance to experience the limelight.
A spokeswoman for the company said: "When people come along they will be met by the casting person or an assistant and will be asked to fill in a form with details like height and weight.
"We will then take a photo of them and ask when they are available over the next couple of months.
"Then all their details will be sent off to our headquarters and we will choose people from there."
The team is looking for 50 to 60 people to fill all the extras' roles but they stress there is no previous acting experience needed for the project.
The spokeswoman added: "We will ask all the applicants if they have any acting experience, but it's not a problem if they haven't done this before."
The auditions will be held at the Ramada Jarvis Hotel in Livingston on January 7 between noon and 7pm.
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| Summit dons Maybury's Jacket Summit Entertainment has added The Jacket, a new film from Mandalay Pictures to its sales slate. Mark Wahlberg is attached to star in the lead role of the drama which is the first US film from the UK’s John Maybury (Love Is The Devil).
A co-production between Mandalay and Section Eight, the Warner-based production outfit of Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, the film will be distributed domestically by Warner Bros, although it is unclear as yet whether it will go through Warner’s main distribution organisation or a
specialised division should the studio opt to create one this year.
Wahlberg, who has become associated with blockbusters such as The Italian Job, Planet Of The Apes and The Perfect Storm, stars in the intimate drama about a clairvoyant man wrongly convicted of murder who must use his abilities to discover who has framed him by shifting in and out of different
realities, time and frames of mind to solve the mystery and prevent his own execution.
The film was originally written by Marc Rocco (Murder In The First) and had at various times Rocco and Antoine Fuqua attached to direct, although it has now been recrafted as a smaller film. A new draft of the screenplay has been written by Massy Tadjedin (Leo).
Soderbergh, Clooney and Peter Guber will produce the film which will start once Wahlberg has finished his stint in David O Russell’s ensemble comedy I Love Huckabees opposite Jude Law, Dustin Hoffman and Catherine Deneuve.
Thanks to Libby
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| When actors produce the goods The Age
5/4/03
Over the past few years I've noticed that quite often, when the opening credits are rolling on a movie for which I have higher than normal expectations, I'll suddenly see an odd coupling of names: a star who's the personification of American masculinity and sophistication, alongside a director who could be the poster-boy for speccy geekhood. They're not listed in their usual capacities, but as producers or executive producers, and the movies to which they grant their collective imprimatur - Insomnia, Ocean's Eleven, Rock Star, Solaris, Far From Heaven, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and now the rather uneven Welcome to Collinwood - are, by and large, interesting and different projects. They are modestly budgeted, intelligent, informed by a love of cinema and usually underpinned by well-written scripts.
All of the films above were backed by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh through their production company, Section Eight Films, named - I'm guessing - for the psycho-medical discharge that cross-dressing Corporal Klinger kept bucking for on MASH. Perhaps it's also a sly reference to the level of insanity required to embark on such a quixotic venture, one notorious for hobbling and occasionally impoverishing even the proudest, toughest egos Hollywood has to offer.
Their output sometimes recalls the great actor-agent or actor-producer partnerships of the past - Kirk Douglas's Bryna Productions, Burt Lancaster's Hecht-Lancaster Films, Humphrey Bogart's Santana Productions, Clint Eastwood's Malpaso - and of the fact that when an intelligent actor takes control of his own career, as these all did, some magical things can happen onscreen.
But unlike many of the actor-bozos who start their own production outfits, Clooney and Soderbergh have taste and brains in their corner, not just the more frequent mixture of ego, vanity and greed. It certainly helps that one's a sex symbol and the other's an Oscar-winning director. That guarantees a steady supply of financial and distributive muscle from their studio partners, and help with the marketing push come release day. Most importantly, the involvement of Section Eight often guarantees that a movie - usually a pretty good movie - actually gets made.
This is power of a sort, even if it mainly involves the elevation of indie and medium-budget projects, and they use it well. They adhere in their choice of projects to what Soderbergh calls "the jumping up and down rule". "If we're not both jumping up and down about a project, we don't do it. We both have to absolutely love it." That their shared tastes are smart, quirky and catholic was demonstrated late last year when, within two months, Section Eight backed Soderbergh's fascinating Solaris remake, Clooney's ecstatically received directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Welcome To Collinwood, and the year's success, Far from Heaven.
Like the best actor-producer units before it, Section Eight gives control and power to the artists themselves, forcing the cautious studio suits into the deep background. Actor and director both like hands-on control: Soderbergh writes, edits and shoots most of his own movies and Clooney's directorial career stretches back to early episodes of ER, so it's natural for them to seek control of the pursestrings as well. "We don't have to be wildly successful," Soderbergh has said, "we just have to be successful enough to keep the train moving." He and Clooney estimate that every fourth or fifth production needs to be a moneyspiner for Section Eight to maintain liquidity.
Actor-producer is a common Hollywood hyphenate these days, with stars as diverse as Drew Barrymore (Flower Productions), Jodie Foster (Egg Films), Tom Cruise (Cruise-Wagner) and Robert De Niro (Tribeca) handling their own projects. Barrymore, co-star of Dangerous Mind, is again in bed with Section Eight: she's co-producing and possibly starring in a mooted adaptation of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces, from a script co-written by Soderbergh. With big hits like Charlie's Angels and Driving in Cars With Boys already under her belt, Hollywood's child of chaos has proved herself one tough, shrewd little number.
It took a long time for actors to achieve this level of independence. Producer-director was a common enough job title from Hollywood's earliest beginnings, but actor-producers didn't really start showing up until the early 1950s. Olivia De Havilland might be credited with starting the trend, though she never produced her own movies. She spent most of the 1940s embroiled in a lawsuit with Warner Bros over the wage-slavery of the seven-year contract. She won in the end, though her career was badly damaged, but her victory coincided with the first broad assault on the might of the studios. By the end of the decade, the US Justice Department. had broken the monopoly the studios held on the means of production, distribution and exhibition. Then TV began its long-term siege of movie audiences, and suddenly the old moguls looked vulnerable.
Actors took note. The studios were now limited to one seven-year contract, with one-year renewals, and young actors back from the war figured that seven years made for a useful, well-paid apprenticeship - but after that, you should be ready to go out on your own. Jimmy Stewart laid the foundations by demanding percentages of profits through his formidable MCA agent Leland Hayward, and secured greater creative input and a wider choice of projects.
Burt Lancaster, a smart, cussed, demanding, independent-minded son of a bitch, took inspiration from De Havilland's case and Stewart's hot deal and in 1948 founded one of the first actor-controlled production companies with his hard-driving agent Harold Hecht. Besides a string of sterling Lancaster movies lasting well into the 1960s, like Sweet Smell of Success and Birdman of Alcatraz, Hecht-Hill also produced the Oscar-winning Marty. A liberal, and one fortunate enough to be both huge and imposingly athletic, Lancaster consistently backed politically-charged projects like Seven Days in May, whose director John Frankenheimer's career would never have got off the ground without him.
Naturally, if Lancaster was going independent, then his egotistical friend and rival Kirk Douglas wasn't about to get left behind. Also a liberal, Douglas promoted and hired smart directors like Stanley Kubrick. As a rule, the smartest, most interesting movies Douglas made in the 1950s were the ones he produced himself. Likewise Bogart, who had excellent taste in director-drinking partners: Santana produced both Nicholas Ray's near-perfect In a Lonely Place and John Huston's picaresque oddity Beat the Devil. And bringing us down to the present day is Clint Eastwood, whose remarkable 35-year association with Warner Bros has been conducted from behind the cordon sanitaire provided by his Malpaso deal.
It was only fair that actors should be granted a greater say in the creation of the movies they starred in, as well as a greater percentage of their takings. After all, in economic terms at least, a movie star is the most important person on the set. Tragically however, he or she is also often the most venal and stupid person. And they - the mega-stars - are the ones really in charge in Hollywood today. Their rise is intimately intertwined with Hollywood's long decline. Think about it: Angelina Jolie is in charge of stuff. So is Sly Stallone.
The people I've talked about are, unfortunately, exceptions to the rule. Most stars move into production to get the most money or the most close-ups. Whatever Robert De Niro thinks he's doing with Tribeca, he's certainly not making good movies any more - he's just making good deals. As Clooney and Soderbergh's association proves, financial and creative independence are worthless without an equivalent degree of independent-mindedness and good taste.
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