You know what were some good times? Back in Movieline's print days, the editors could just call up Teri Hatcher's people and say, "Yeah, hey, it's Movieline. What do you say to the October cover? OK, great. How about we strip her down, tie her up and throw an inflammatory quote under her name? Fantastic. Let's set it up. Ciao!" And so occurred, 14 years ago this month, arguably the most memorable Movieline cover ever. The candid interview was just gravy.
It's important to remember the context of the moment: Having achieved the then-height of her television powers on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Hatcher had a pair of recent movies to discuss (Heaven's Prisoners and 2 Days in the Valley) and a burgeoning diva reputation. Moreover, she was perhaps most famous at the time for being the "most downloaded image on the Internet," an early distinction that has since been atomized and/or replaced by far more unfathomable objects of affection.
In any event, a ropy, bondage-themed cover seemed like a good idea at the time -- as did a few quotes that today seem quaint, noble, ambitious, arrogant, ill-advised or some fascinating combination of all five. To wit, as relayed by interviewer extraordinaire Stephen Rebello:
I have to tell Hatcher that, from some angles, the new hairdo gives her face a Julia Roberts-ish cast. "I know," she says, laughing. "As Tinkerbell in Hook, right? Great! I have to emulate the worst movie she ever made." [...]
So, I tease, she won't finish her meal with a quick sprint to the ladies' room? "Oh, stop, that's not even funny," she scolds. "People have that disease [bulimia] and I'm really sensitive to it." With that, Hatcher starts to mock-leap out of her seat, saying. "I'll be right back." [...]
"Seriously," she continues, "it's really nice right now between Dean [Cain] and me. He's off doing his first real movie with Drew Barrymore. He called me two nights ago, and we talked for 45 minutes. Drew has been around a lot and I think she can offer a lot of acting experience to him. It was wonderful hearing him tell me how this or that had happened on the set and I found myself going, 'I'm not so bad, am I? You thought I was nutso but I'm not really, am I?' It makes me feel really good that he's come to appreciate me more than maybe he did initially, that now he really thinks I'm cool and a great actress. I don't think that he always thought that." [...]
"The only thing 'movie star' means to me is getting first crack at the few great scripts that come along every year," she says. "I admire Jennifer Jason Leigh for not choosing to be a big movie star--she's having the kind of career I would think of myself as wanting. When I have fantasies about working with great people, it's usually with women. For instance, if Jodie Foster ever knew me, she would find me similar to her in business and creative commitment, passion and drive. There are a lot of women I'd like to be in business with, particularly Goldie Hawn, who I'd love to have produce a romantic comedy starring me. My God, if you print that, they'll think I really am arrogant and horrible." [...]
"On the show, I do go, 'No, it's not supposed to be like that,' rather than just take the resigned attitude. 'It'll be easier if we just do it this way and nobody will notice.' The show means something to me. I'm really proud of my work on it. Sometimes I step back and think, 20 years from now, Lois & Clark will be part of American history like Gilligan's Island, or The A-Team or Charlie's Angels." [...]
"Actually, the tabloid stuff has motivated a lot of good growth, because I've learned I don't like it when people don't like me. I have a really hard time when bad things are said about me. I care what people think. I know I'm a good person. I have a great need to change their minds, even when I know that the whole point of tabloids is not truth. But all of it has made me stronger in terms of knowing myself. In the end, yourself is all you really have--that and great friends and a great family who have really stuck by me." [...]
"I don't watch television," she says, falling silent. After a few moments, she finally remarks, "I have so much baggage about what it takes to make the show, about what it's taken from my life, that it would be skewed for me to say I wouldn't watch it if I weren't on it. Would I watch the show? Dean's really cute, so I guess, if I had nothing -- if I was just hopping through the channels, I'd probably be like every other woman in America and go, 'Wooo, he's cute.'" [...]
"Even if a movie becomes a very big deal and makes a ton of money, it's only in theaters for two or three months," she reasons. "Television is in your face every week, so I think TV people are probably bigger than movie stars. There are probably far more people who want to know what I'm up to than what Meryl Streep's doing."
"All I know is that I'm on that show every week and I'm, like, a big deal on the Internet. What more could I want? Well, I did write my first script this year. It was only for Lois & Clark, but still. And I'm going to direct a 20-minute short. See. I have a goal, not a 'soon' goal or a 'near' goal, but still a goal that I haven't really admitted aloud. I want to produce, direct, write and star in a romantic comedy. Whew! There. I've said it. I'm a firm believer in putting your money where your mouth is."
God, I miss 1996.
ยท The Hunger [The Vault/Movieline]