Andie MacDowell on As Good as Dead, Remaking Footloose and What You Missed on Lone Star

Indeed. Can I ask you about this remake of Footloose you're doing? Craig Brewer is directing. What can you tell me about your participation?

Well, I can tell you that I was there watching, and from what I saw, it's going to be a genius piece of work. Craig is a great director. He has an enormous amount of energy. I've worked with a lot of good directors, and he really knows... I mean, I just think it's the perfect genre for him. The kids are wonderful, enthusiastic, giving 200 percent. I loved watching them work. My daughter is a dancer, and she's taken lessons from Kenny [Wormald, the film's lead]. He's the nicest person you could possibly meet. And Julianne is gorgeous, and they're both just incredible. They're both great dancers; that's the fun part. These kids can really dance. I think it's going to be a wonderful updated version of a great movie.

Were you a fan of the original?

I loved the original film. And I watched it recently, and it's still beautiful. But there are some things in it that are very obviously not up to date. It's not present. And I think there's an opportunity here to make a fun, contemporary movie. It's a great genre -- the dance, the music, the kids. I know you'd stop and think, "Well, does this really work today? In our society?" And it does. It does work today in our society. There are a lot of people with a lot of fear out there, and [some people] can all of the sudden turn one little thing into something and use it to make people scared -- afraid of living. Anyway, I think it's going to be great. Really, it's great for the kids. They're having the time of their life.

It's funny, because Footloose is one of the first films I vividly remember seeing, and Vi Moore -- the Dianne Wiest character you play this time around -- always stuck with me. Everyone else was so keyed up, and then there's the patient preacher's wife who sees all.

It's a small character, but it's a great character. [Brewer] didn't want me to be quite as quiet, and you know... She had her hair pulled back super, super tight. I'm a little bit more believable in this modernized way. But there was also this strength to the character that I really loved, in that she is the one who really sees what's going on and believes in the kids. So that was great.

You also were said to be closing in on a role on Lone Star, weren't you?

I shot a few episodes; I'm not even sure how many I shot. But that was so sad! So sad. Not so much for me; I was just a co-star, and I was brought in later. I hadn't been in the pilot or anything. But the kids did such a good job. They worked so hard, and this was their Big Deal. It was slated to be such a big hit! Everybody was so excited about it -- and I think they were shocked when it fell apart so quickly like that. I was enjoying working with a great cast, and they were getting really great directors. But my heart goes out mostly to the crew, because there were a lot of people who were really depending on it. And that must have been devastating. They were so sure it was going to do well! Everybody had such high hopes. Everyone will go on and find more jobs, but that's a pretty hard hit for a lot of people's lives.

There were also a lot of fans -- obviously not enough, but still -- who wanted to see the series continue. From what you shot, can you tell them what they would have seen?

Well, I can tell you what I was getting to do that was so much fun: There were two different sides that you saw of me. You would see me with Jon Voight's character; I was an art dealer, very sweet, very kind and soft and female. Just the right person for him to fall in love with, because his wife is dead. Appropriate, and all those things. But then you would see another complete side of me with John -- the boy's father... who... [thinking] I'm telling you: I didn't sleep last night. What's the guy's name from Tennessee?

David Keith?

Oh, I'm so damn tired. Anyway, you would see this really dark person. You know, the con artist. The great thing was that I got to play sweet, kind, soft, and I got to play this completely hard, cold con artist -- in the same episode.

Where was the series headed? Was it going darker? More of a thriller?

All I know is from what little bit I did. I kept asking the writers, but I don't know. I don't know what their final intention was going to be. But one of the sons... I was staying at Jon Voight's house while he's out of town. I'm housesitting, and his son kind of hits on me. That was a beautiful scene. And the kid [Bryce Johnson] that did that scene was phenomenal. He was a little drunk, just really good. I'd have to look at all the names right now, though. I'm telling you: I woke up in the middle of the night and read.

[Top photo: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images]

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