Elizabeth Hurley: Elizabeth's Reign

Hurley's role in this month's Permanent Midnight would seem to be more like the somber, dramatic fare she feels instinctually drawn to. An independent film based on the autobiography of real-life Hollywood writer Jerry Stahl, who slid into the drug world while scripting episodes of Moonlighting, Midnight is dark and not a little harrowing. Hurley plays a TV producer married to Stahl (played by Ben Stiller) who can't cope with his heroin addiction and finally leaves him. "My jury's a bit out on this one," she admits. "It was a short, sharp shoot and they didn't have a lot of money. But I admire Ben Stiller. He has a very intense, difficult part and I learned a lot from him. When I read the script I thought, 'How is he going to make this part charming?' But he is quite a charming person to begin with."

Hurley has also wrapped Ron Howard's Ed TV, in which she plays a vixen who cozies up to Matthew McConaughey in his one-man version of MTV's The Real World. How did she get the plum part? "I didn't read for it, but I had a great chat with Ron Howard, and 10 minutes later was offered the job. I'm a big fan of Ron's. All of his films have a big Hallmark quality stamp on them. It's not a big role, but it's a good one. We never really know whether my character is just manipulative or genuinely likes Matthew's character. I think it's both." What did she think of McConaughey? "Matthew is really great in this," says Hurley, beaming. "And he looks so gorgeous and sexy, even though he plays this normal guy-next-door who suddenly gets catapulted to massive celebrity status."

Hurley meets regularly with Hollywood casting directors in her search for roles. It's been said, for example, that she was taken seriously for the part of Matt Dillon's fashion-plate girlfriend in In & Out (which Shalom Harlow got), and that she badly wanted to audition for the part Gwyneth Paltrow played in A Perfect Murder. Any of this true? Hurley nods yes to In & Out. About Murder, she says, "I really would have liked to have been seen for A Perfect Murder, but, then, I love the original movie and Grace Kelly in it, so, I mean, 'Nein, danke.'

"I did an audition with Harrison Ford, who I thought was fab, for Six Days, Seven Nights," she continues, unprompted. "I really liked the script and thought there was a good girl's part." What about the rumor that she was up for the part of Emma Peel opposite Ralph Fiennes in The Avengers? "I met with the director [Jeremiah Chechik] and, a year later, he made the film with Uma Thurman. I think they needed a big star. I didn't think the script was that fabulous--I would have preferred it to be sillier, more retro. In fact, I think they should have Austin Powers'd it. Besides, it's very hard for an English person to actually want to step into Diana Rigg's shoes. But I can't tell you the number of people who've come up to me since and said, 'You should have been Emma Peel.'"

If Hurley were to star in an all-out romance, who would she choose as a costar? "I'd love to work with Johnny Depp," she answers quickly, "because obviously, I'm going to choose boys who are pretty, but who also are talented and look quite naughty." Anyone else? "Don't laugh, but I've always thought Warren Beany was fab, too. For other reasons, I'd like to work with Sean Penn."

How does Hurley cope with the rejection that goes along with being a film actress? She looks me dead in the eye and says, "Listen, having sat in twice on the audition process from the producer's side, I've crossed quite a lot of people off my hate list for not giving me parts. When people gave a part to another girl, but said to me, 'Oh, it's no reflection on your ability,' I used to be, like, 'Yeah? Crap!' No more."

When Hurley talks about being a producer, she knows whereof she speaks. She was a very hands-on producer of Extreme Measures, niggling over locations, costumes and script changes. Though deftly made by Michael Apted, the film caused only a few ripples at the box office. Was this because star Grant had been dragged through the tabloids? Hurley laughs at the idea and gives me a playful shove. "I would doubt it," she says, "though we never did an opinion poll. Thrillers that do well tend to be Mr. Evil versus Mr. Good, but it was my passion to make the issues more gray and to have an inadvertent hero, something I love in literature and films. We knew it would be a hard sell from the beginning."

Hurley has now produced Grant's new film Mickey Blue Eyes, which is likely to hit closer to what audiences hope for from the actor--he plays a charming Manhattan art dealer who gets unwittingly embroiled with a Mafia chief (James Caan) when he romances the capo's spoiled daughter (Jeanne Tripple-horn). Did Hurley deliberately choose a romantic comedy to play to Grant's core audience? She shakes her head. "It's just that, of the movies we were developing, this was the one that was ready first. If we'd had a drama ready, we would have done that. [But] Hugh's biggest strength is doing exactly what he does in Mickey Blue Eyes. What he does so very well, and which is very rare in this day and age, is that he's a very skilled comedian who is also extremely good looking. How many of those can you count? It's very difficult to find in an actor and it's very difficult to find writers who can write like that and wittily. Romantic lead roles tend to be for girls--Meg Ryan, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts."

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