Transcript of Yahoo! Chat with Stephen Dorff
July 27, 2000 on YAHOO! CHAT
BigStar_Host: Welcome everyone to BigStar's chat this evening with Stephen Dorff. Stephen will be here to answer your questions at the top of the hour, so get ready and start thinking of some fun questions to send in.
BigStar_Host: This "Blade" star has a new movie coming out called, "Cecil B. Demented" which sounds just as off the beaten path as most of the work Stephen has done.
BigStar_Host: "Cecil B. Demented" goes behind the scenes with a group of obsessed cinema terrorists whose goal in life is to avenge the crass sins of commercial movie culture through acts of brazen filmmaking and vigilante outlaw cinema production.
BigStar_Host: Stephen Dorff plays the title role in this film which begins with him kidnapping Melanie Griffith's character, a Hollywood movie star.
BigStar_Host: You probably recognize Stephen most from his work in "Blade", but did you know that he was in "City of Industry" with Harvey Keitel and "Blood and Wine" with Jack Nicholson?
BigStar_Host: He even worked with Dennis Hopper, another actor who likes to work in some of the more bizarro films. They were in "Space Truckers" together.
BigStar_Host: Stephen played a cross-dresser in "I Shot Andy Warhol", so I'm sure you've got questions for him
about that experience.
BigStar_Host: This handsome, brown-eyed young actor cut his teeth on sitcoms like "Roseanne", "Family Ties" and "Blossom" before he rose to prominence with his award-winning portrayal of a boxing English schoolboy in his feature-film debut, "The Power of One"
BigStar_Host: Stephen Dorff has been acting since age 12, and has been featured in several TV movies beginning with "In Love And War" in 1987 and the teen horror flick, "The Gate"
BigStar_Host: Here we go with our Big Star chat! Welcome Stephen!
slm_star asks: At what age did you start acting?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: The die-hard people that have been following me maybe might have seen this horror movie I did when I was 13, "The Gate" , but my first big feature was with Morgan Freeman in "The Power of One" when I was 17. bigstar_stephen_dorff: I started acting before that when I was about 13 or 14.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: But, I didn't get my first break until I was 17.
kaikarma asks: Do you prefer comedy to drama?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I've mainly been in dramas, so this is one of my first comedy kind of performances in Cecil B. Demented.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I love comedies, but I just started out doing more emotionally heavy and dramatic movies.
lakota_buffalo_gal asks: What was it like on the set of "Cecil B. Demented?"
bigstar_stephen_dorff: It was incredible. John Waters is such a unique character and such an original so everyting from every kind of film crew to his cult of movie making people with him. It was a family atmosphere and very relaxed.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Not as high strung as making a movie in L.A. You're in Baltimore and in his world and so it's just very unique.
nicnut asks: "The Power of One" is my favorite one of your movies, it really makes a powerful statement and really made me think after seeing it.Did it impact your life in any way like it did mine????
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Yeah, I mean that movie changed my whole life. Not only when I was 17 did it take me to Africa for 8 months which was an incredible growing experience for me, but it was my first entry into major motion picture. It was the growthI needed from having grown up in L.A. and a great career transformation.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: It just all fit into place.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I'm glad you feel that way because it was a very important movie to me as well. It's nice to know that people care.
nicnut asks: did you find it hard to learn the south african accent for "The Power of One"?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Yes. Very difficult. I worked with a great coach who worked with me then on "Backbeat" where I did a Liverpolian accent as well. She's an incredible lady and it took a lot of time and effort. Accents can sound so fake in movies and I didn't want it to sound bad so we worked very hard.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: After I did those movies everyone in Hollywood thought I was English or South African and I had to remind them that I was from California.
cecily_77 asks: Who was the one person that inspired you the most to become an actor?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: For me, it was Jack Nicholson. He was my real hero.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: He was just, to me, just awesome and then I got to work with him on "Blood and Wine" and it was just an incredible experience.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Jack is my favorite.
iqedge asks: What is Cecil B Demented about?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: It's about a lunatic film director who I play who kidnaps his favorite mainstream Hollywood movie
starlet, who Melanie Griffith plays. My character is obsessed with making his movie and he'll do anyting to complete it.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: It's basically, to me, like a John Watters epic. It's like an action comedy and has a lot of stuff peole
haven't seen in John's movies before. It's action meets this lunacy comedic humor coming from John.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: John is a very original filmmaker and you'll be in for a wild ride.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: It's one person's vision, but definitely an interesting movie.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: But, basically, he kidnaps this mainstream movie star and puts her in his movie. It's about filmmakers who want to destroy mainstream cinema and make their own movies.
pixiestyyx asks: What do you consider when deciding whether or not to do a film?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I guess I'm just trying to do different things. I like to try new things and work with differnt kinds of
filmmakers every time. If you do the same thing every time as an actor it gets boring and so I try to challenge myself and do not what's normal.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I don't want to just be in the normal kind of teen movie. I've worked with Jack and all these great
people so I feel my destiny is to choose my movies carefully and hopefully they reach the audiences they shoud. Be it "Blade" where it reaches action fans, or this movie, which might be more limited in its audience, but hopefully it gets to everyone's town.
mrcrazymalkavian asks: what was your most memorable moment in the making of "blade"
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I like the whole end sequence and doing the fighting and stunts I hadn't done before. I'm usually
physical in the movies I've done, but I hadn't done the kinds of things like swords that we did at the end of that.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I've become friends with the director and I'm going to do another movie with him in the future
pixiestyyx asks: Do you think you get cast-type as a "bad boy"?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: No. I think that's maybe what I've been playing recently. But, I started out playing a lot of good guys, but since "Blade" I think everyone wants me to play a bad guy. In the Watters movie I'm sort of his hero because his heroes are often demented. Be it, Johnny Depp in "Cry Baby" or Kathleen Turner in "Serial Mom"
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I play a good guy again in my next movie.
jhamm_21901 asks: Steven, I am from Baltimore. What did you like best about the city?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: The crabs were pretty good. What I liked best was actually meeting all the interesting people that I
met through John and through working on the film.
bushieye asks: Have you thought about doing any work behind the camera?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Yes, I definitely plan to direct at some point. I think acting is only one part of the piece of the movie. I'ts an important piece, but I'd like to be involved in all the other aspects of making movies.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I don't know when, but I'm definitely getting involved in trying to find something I want to do.
lakota_buffalo_gal asks: What do you like to do in your time off?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I travel a lot and disappear. I play a lot of music with my friends.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I have a studio at my house and we play a lot of music. So, whenever I'm not working and dealing with Hollywood, I'm usually writing music and stuff.
lakota_buffalo_gal asks: How difficult was it for you to dress in drag for I Shot Andy Warhol? I thought you did a great job...
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Thank you. It was pretty difficult. I mean, I just thought it was so strange and it felt strange doing it.
But, it was interesting because it just kind of happened. Once all the makeup and everything was on I found it hard to be, so I got to act.
way2cxe asks: What did you like best about making the movie Backbeat?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: That's one of my favorite movies I've made because I just love the character and I love the Beatles
anyway. I love the period and the relationship betweeen Stu Sutcliffe and John Lennon and what was going on and kind of telling a story in the beginning of something that became very huge and changed the world.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I think it's nice to tell a story before all that happened. The friendship between John Lennon and Stu Sutcliffe was really interesting. Stu Sutcliffe is someone that the world should know about because he's a big influence on John Lennon.
RockabillyBettie asks: It seems to me that you choose to play a variety of "eccentric" roles, have you been influenced by any modern literature or authors?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I've read some scripts, but I don't read as many books as I should. So, if you have any good authors you think I should check out, let me know here.
padme_naberrie_juice asks: How did winning the Best Villain award at the MTV Movie Awards affect you?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: It was cool. Those things, to me, are kind of funny, but it was nice and I liked it.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I liked getting the best villain award. I thought that was funny.
mrcrazymalkavian asks: what was it like working with Wesley Snipes
bigstar_stephen_dorff: He was cool. He's a good guy. We didn't really work too much together in that movie because my
character's kind of in his world and he's in his and we come together at the end.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: It was a long shoot and a lot of work was involved in that movie , but it seemed to pay off and I had a great time with him.
theukdirector asks: IS IT DIFFICULT WORKING WITH BIZZARE SPECIAL EFFECTS?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Yeah, it's always different because you're working with stuff that's not there. I tend to like to work
with people more.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I wouldn't want to do a whole movie with effects. What was cool about "Blade" there was a lot of
effects, but not many that involved faking things. It was shot pretty real life.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I would have a problem, I think, doing a movie with all effects because it just gets boring and it's
painful.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: But, who knows? I mean, if it's something interesting. It depends. I like working with people better,
though.
cecily_77 asks: Is there any one person that you haven't acted with that you would if you got the chance?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Oh yeah, I'd love to work with Dinero and Clint Eastwood. I always wanted to work with Stanley
Kubrick, but it's too late for that now.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I would say those three are pretty big people for me.
addem asks: what would you say to those who have high dreams and aspirations?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I would say to go for it. At least try. Basically, just go for it and be strong and try your hardest to
achieve something that you want and not hold back because regret is kind of a lame thing.
cobainess asks: Have you ever thought about being a professional musician?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Yeah. Basically, at some point, one day maybe you can expect to hear some of my music. I haven't
really done that yet because my younger brother is a musician and really talented and I want him to come out with his music first.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: And, I've been making movies, but it's something that I definitely would like to do in the future.
RAVEN_WOLF_RIP_99 asks: Dude I'm a big fan of yours, Is there gonna be a Blade 2? and if so will you be staring in it as Deacon Frost, cuz as we all know, Blade could'nt kick Frosts ass!
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Most likely they are doing "Blade 2" but I don't think I'm going to be in it. And, the director who did the first one isn't doing it and I would only want to work with him.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: But, also I died in the first one. There was talk of bringing me back, but I don't know what's happening with that movie.
UFTexgal asks: What type of music? Favorite instrument?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I play guitar and I love the Beatles and melodic music. All kinds of music. I love Reggae, bands like
Nirvana and the Beatles. But, I also like hip-hop, Dr. Dre. I've got a different variety taste in music.
RAVEN_WOLF_RIP_99 asks: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I have no idea. Hopefully in a good place.
allhailgirl asks: Do you chat on the net ever?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: No. I did once with my WebTV. I got into a chat room about film actors and my friend is a good typer and he was typing that I was there and we wanted to hang out in this chat room and nobody really believed us and so we went on and on for about an hour. I think one guy emails that address every day still to my friend's house.
lakota_buffalo_gal asks: What's in your CD player right now?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Moby, The Beatles, some of my brother's new music, and Bob Marley, I think.
theukdirector asks: WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE EVER MOVIES?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Scarface, The Shining, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Battlefield Earth (Just kidding LOL)
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I want to know if you guys want to see my new movie, "Cecil B. Demented"
bigstar_stephen_dorff: So, send in your thoughts on that.
whatsthefreak asks: what do you feel is the premiere political issue of our time?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I would say nuclear arms and China and what's going on over there because there's so many people over there. It's like China and Cuba - Cuba's pretty interesting to me as well - just seeing what's going to happen after Castro
passes.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Nuclear arms is pretty scary because that could end the world. I'm more interested in that stuff than I am Bill Clinton. I mean, I think Bill Clinton is a good president.
slm_star asks: Does fame sometimes get to you?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Sometimes, yeah.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I mean, I don't really have the problem that Tom Cruise has, but it's becoming more of an issue.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: But, it's not that bad.
eviljanet asks: Have you ever been to Texas? And yes, I want to see your new movie. :)
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Oh yeah. All over. My good friend, Owen Wilson, is from Texas who was just in Shanghai Noon.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: All those guys that did those movies in Dallas, "Bottle Rocket" Owen and Luke are all my friends so I go and hang out there. But, I've never made a movie in Texas.
BigStar_Host: What location, if you had a choice, would you like to make a movie in?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I'd like to make a movie in the South of France. I'd like to make a movie in London again. And, I'm going to make a movie in Amsterdam.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I'm writing that movie right now. So, I don't know when I'll be in it, but I think we'll do it some day.
BigStar_Host: What do you reccommend to people who want to get into acting or to be a musician?
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I guess just being true to what you want to do, be it music or acting or filmmaking. The first thing
would be to get into a good school where you can show people your stuff. I probably would have gone to NYU film school if I hadn't been given the chance to get right in. A place where you can start working on your stuff and see if you really want to do it.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Another choice is to get to the cities where this stuff goes down the most, be it L.A. or New York,
where they're trying to get into productions and get smaller parts.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I started out in smaller parts and then they got bigger.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: I already finished one called, "Deuces Wild", a movie taking place in 1958 in Brooklyn about brothers. It's me, Brad Renfro, Matt Dillon, Debbie Harry and Feruzza Balk and a lot of people from the Sopranos.
bigstar_stephen_dorff: But, that won't come out probably until the new year,, like January or February in America.
BigStar_Host: Thanks so much Stephen for being with us!
bigstar_stephen_dorff: Thanks. I had a great time.
