Stoltz Shares His 'Horrible Year'

Thu, Jul 5, 2001 04:59 PM PDT

by Vanessa Sibbald

Zap2it, TV News

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) -

One wonders if after appearing in 70 movies there's anything you can do in film you haven't done before. For Eric Stoltz, the answer is yes -- direct. Stoltz makes his directorial debut Sunday (July 8) with Showtime's sweet coming-of-age story "My Horrible Year!"

The actor, sounding very relaxed, compares his new job to other milestones in life. "It's something I've been approached to do on occasion, but I never thought I was ready. The fact is you're never ready. I think it's liking having a kid or getting married; there's just some things you've got to jump in with both feet and hope you don't drown." The film, which took only 22 days to shoot, was brought to Stoltz by actress and executive producer Mimi Rogers ("The Geena Davis Show") and her Millbrook Farms Prods. partner, Chris Ciaffa ("Harlan County War" ).

"This fell into my lap," says Stoltz. "A pair of terrific producers called me up and sent me the script, and I responded to it, and we got together and felt each other up -- like a first date -- and thought we'd go ahead and get in bed together."

"My Horrible Year!" follows a few days in the life of Nik Faulkner (Alison Mack), who just before her 16th birthday becomes convinced that her parents (Karen Allen and Brian D. Heighton) are getting a divorce. Adding to the confusion is the removal of her braces and a cute new transfer student. With the help of her best friends, Babyface (Caterina Scorsone) and Mouse (Daniel Petronijevic), Nik devises a plan to keep her parents together. Written by P.J. McIlvaine, the story reminds Stoltz of the teen films he got his start in, like "Some Kind of Wonderful" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." "I got my start playing teenagers in high school, so it wasn't unfamiliar ground for me. What I loved about the old John Hughes, Cameron Crowe films, that I tried to incorporate into my film, was the respect for the characters. These kids are smart and funny and they have friends and problems and real life -- they're not just sexualized objects looking to rebel."

"The lead girl actually loves her family and is willing to fight to keep them together. I like that about her -- she actually cares about something other than herself."

Although some may see the film as too sweet, or perhaps innocent, what Stoltz likes about the characters is that they're not cynical, an element which he says is lacking in films for teenagers today.

"I have relatives that live in the Midwest and when you get out of New York and LA, which is something I try to do occasionally, you find a great deal of kids that have hope and vitality, and that often carries them through different situations." Stoltz and Rogers also both appear in the film as Nik's uncle and aunt. While Stoltz is very nonchalant about his own role, ("I only worked as an actor, maybe 2 days" ), he's more serious about Rogers.

"I was a lot more sensitive around Mimi than I was with the kids because she hired me, for God's sake. So I was bossing around the boss, which is always a dicey proposition."

But in the end, he made the film for himself.

"It's filled with little things that I find amusing and fun, and touching and goofy. I guess the target audience would be 14-year-old girls."

"We have a similar sense of humor apparently."