Terry Does Vegas

"No one knew who Uma Thurman was until you gave her a break in Baron Munchausen," I say.

"I was very disappointed," he says with mock sincerity. "Munchausen was delayed because of the crap with the studio, and Dangerous Liaisons [in which Thurman starred] came out before us. So the world got to see Uma naked before I got to show Uma naked. I thought that was disgusting. Very unfair."

Gilliam lets out another giggle then continues, "There's a quality to Uma that you don't see too often. And she was up there with people like Ollie Reed, who's a dangerous man at best, and great actors like John Neville. She held her own when she was only 17 1/2 years old. It was quite exciting to see."

"Who else has that kind of quality?"

Gilliam doesn't even have to think about it. "Cameron Diaz, who plays a part in Fear and Loathing. I adore that girl. There's a transparency about her that's wonderful. She reminds me of Johnny [Depp] in that she's technically incredibly good, and it's so natural. It just comes out without any effort. And you don't seem to get any credit these days for being effortless. You have to be seen acting. Because she's an ex-model and incredibly beautiful, some people don't think she can act. Cameron's encumbered, unfortunately, by a beautiful face. Cameron's always good."

Gilliam takes a deep breath. "I've been trying to do this other film with Cameron that never seems to take off. It's called The Defective Detective. I cowrote it with Richard LaGravenese [who wrote The Fisher King]. Cameron's the one I want to play the girl. She's gotta play a medieval virgin princess, a corporate hooker and an earth mother. This would be the chance for her to finally show her stuff. Does that answer your question?"

Question? I can't remember asking one. "How did you decide on Ellen Barkin for Fear and Loathing?"

"Ellen is someone I've wanted to work with for a long time," says Gilliam. "She was up for a part in another film of mine and at the last minute we went with someone else. Then I ran into her at a party last year and we patched things up. When I asked her what she was up to she told me they don't write good roles for women, and if I had anything in this film, she'd love to do it. That's how Ellen Barkin got to play a waitress."

"Before I saw a few scenes from Fear and Loathing," I tell him, "I couldn't really imagine you directing this film. It seemed not to have the visual elements that make most of your films so great. But what you let me see convinced me I was wrong. Who better than you to show Las Vegas as the distorted torture chamber that it really is?"

"Exactly," says Gilliam. "But I still get to meld the elements that I so love. A large part of this film takes place in Vegas while Thompson covers an anti-narcotics convention of cops. All the time he's there he's absolutely stoned out of his gourd, so the way he sees it is truly twisted. As they say, I'm the King of Twisted."

I could talk to Gilliam forever about his love of all things twisted, but instead I want to clear up a rumor. "I heard that Brad Pitt almost lost his role in Twelve Monkeys to Johnny Depp."

"Certainly Johnny's name had come up," says Gilliam, "but Brad actually pestered us for that role. At first I said, 'Come on, Brad's not a fast talker, he's not snappy. You want a young Jack Nicholson, a wild guy who can be quick.' Brad came to London to meet me and I liked his earnestness and his determination. He's a sweet guy. He was putting on a good show for me of talking fast. And, as good actors really can when they want something, he started to become that character. But I still wasn't sure. Then Brad turned up again, this time when I was in L.A., and I'm a real sucker for people who are that keen. If they want it that badly, you know they're gonna work their ass off. So I said, 'OK, we'll do it.'"

Just when I think I've heard a sweet Hollywood story Gilliam sighs and says, "Then I thought, 'Oh, God, I fucked up. Brad can't do it.' I asked a guy named Stephen Bridgewater, an ex-DJ who had worked with Jeff [Bridges] on The Fisher King, to train Brad. Stephen called me after their first meeting, because Brad was resisting all this stuff, and said, Terry, what have I ever done to make you hate me?' because he thought Brad couldn't do it either. He said, 'Brad can't talk, he has a lazy tongue. He's smoking, he has no diaphragm control. After a couple of seconds, he's out of breath.' So I was feeling less than perfect. But then Brad kept working and working, and the months went by. He was supposed to be sending me tapes of his progress, which he wouldn't, because he wanted me to trust him. [But] when Brad turned up to work, he was just fucking great.

"Anyway," Gilliam continues, "by the time the film was over, Brad could barely stand up because he had worked so damn hard. All those great, quirky things about his character, the funny way he moved his eyes and all, that was Brad's stuff, things he thought of. I get the credit for it, but the fact is, those were Brad's ideas."

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