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In the classic horror movies of the past,
part of the fun arises from the “who’s going
musical level at first Then the director
saw a couple of his films and cast him as
toge t-it-next ?” effect When it came time for
veteran action director Renny Harlin and
his producers to cast their taut horror film,
“Deep Blue Sea,” they knew that the tim e
honored tradition of “big name star equals
hero” was a concept to be played with.
Harlin offers, “We wanted to cast ac
tons who were solid actorsbutnot necessar
ily movie stars, as in the first ‘Alien movie,
where nobody could have expected that
S h erm an
Sigourney Weaver was going to survive.
We really wanted to twist the story and put
the audience in the position where they,
have no idea who is who, or what’s going
to happen to these people.”
Harlin knew, though, that he wanted
to use the star of his film. The Long Kiss
Goodnight,” Samuel Jackson. Andjack-
son was eager to join the story of agroup of
scientists and offshore laboratory workers
beingmenacedbv the ge-netically enhanced
sharks they themselves created.
Jackson comments, “I looked forward
to doing this picture, and it’s something
different for me. I grew up watching
monster movies. Even though this has a
different kind of monster, it has all of the
elements of films like Frankenstien,
The Wolfman’ and of course ‘Jaws.’ But
‘Deep Blue Sea’ takes a lot of the conven
tions from previous films and turns them
into something new. Inside it is a great
monster movie plus a big chase movie,
and I like being chased by things.”
Jackson also adds, “You know, we’re
the smartest thing on the planet theoreti
cally, but when we get in the ocean, we’re
out of our element, other things become
a lot brighter and stronger and faster
and more adept at dealing than we are.
So we are put in a position of having to
out-think the sharks, and that's one of
the appealing elements of this film.
Harlin was as good as his word when
it came time to fill the other roles, includ
ing the laboratory’s resident (and unin
tentionally heroic) chef. Preacher, the
director looked to the world of urban
music for his actor.
As he had with millions of his fans, LL
Cool J had connected with Harlin on a
July 28, 1999
--------------------------------- < J o c u s >
“P re a c h e r”
Dudley, whom Cool J de
scribes as “a cook who is a
man of God, kind of like
R o b ert D uvall’s ‘T h e
A p o stle’ m eets C hef
Boyardee- then he has to
run from underwater aliens
It’s great. They should put
on the movie posters ‘Come
on in... Keep your clothes
on... Go home soaking.”
T h e actor sees “Deep
Blue Sea” as a personal
“opportunity to grow. I’ve
achieved a lot in music,
but it’s tim e for a change,
first came to national attention as
a hiphop sensation in 1985 and
has since sold more than 20 mil
lion albums. The artist has made
the successful transition to act
ing, most recently including a
starring role in “Halloween H20”
(oppositeJamie LeeCurtis) Cool
J recently guest-starred on the critically
acclaimed HBO series “Oz.” Addition
ally, the two-time Grammy Award-winner
had a long-running starring role in the hit
NBC/UPN comedy series “In the House.”
His upcoming projects include Oliver
Stone’s “Any Given Sunday” (opposite A1
Pacino, Cameron Diaz and Den nis Quaid)
and the Miramax film “In Too Deep,”
Page 3
opposite Omar Epps.
His other feature credits include
“Toys,” “The H ard Way” and “Krush
Groove.” Cool J recently authored this
best-selling autobiography 1 Make My (kin
Rules, he is also the recipient of M T V s
1997 Video Vanguard Award and is at
the center of two international advertis
ing campaigns - for CocaCola and Gap.
BIGGER. SMARTER. EASTER. MEANER
tim e to grow.”
Samuel L. Jackson re
ceived Academy Award and
Golden Globe Award nomi
nations as Best Supporting
Actor for his performance
in Q u en tin T aran tin o ’s
“Pulp Fiction,” as well as
Best S u p p o rtin g A ctor
Award from the British
Academy of Film and Tele
vision Arts. Earlier in his
career Jackson made movie
history with his portrayal of
a crack addict in Spike Lee s
“Jungle Fever,” when he was
awarded the only Best Sup
p o rtin g
P erform an ce
Award ever given by the
Cannes Film Festival He
also won the New York Film
Critics Award for Best Sup
porting Actor for that per
formance.
More recently, Jackson
appeared in “Star Wars: Epi
sode I- The Phantom Men
ace” and starred in “The
Negotiator,” the award-win
ning “Eve’s Bayou” (which
he also produced), the
Q u en tin T aran tin o - di
rected “Jackie Brown” and
Barry Levinson’s “Sphere.”
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