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BY MOLLY WOULFE
Chicago Scene | Monday, September 01, 2008 | (No comments posted.)
Actor Bill Pullman was a Chicago Scene favorite long before he charmed "L" clerk Sandra Bullock here in "While You Were Sleeping" (1995). The New York native, 53, radiates good-guy decency whether playing a space cadet ("Spaceballs") or a U.S. President ("Independence Day").
So we jumped at the chance to gab with our hero about "Bottle Shock," the sparkler about the rise of Napa Valley wines. Directed by Randall Miller, Pullman stars as Jim Barrett, a cranky California vineyard owner coping with a slacker son (Chris Pine) and uptight wine merchant (Alan Rickman). The indie comedy is based on the infamous 1976 blind tasting in Paris where upstart Napa wines beat the French champs.
Like rare vintages, understated performances make one sit up and savor every nuance. In "Bottle Shock," the dry Pullman-Rickman chemistry is irresistible. "Why don't I like you?" Barrett blusters. " 'Cause you think I'm an ass," Rickman's character sighs. "I'm not, really. I'm just British ... and you're not."
He's a Method actor, Pullman said in a phone chat. Rickman ("Harry Potter," "Sense and Sensibility") is classically trained. But they hit it off when they met on Broadway six years ago, and again when they filmed "Nobel Son" (2007).
His friend "is very comfortable in some way, and very definite," said Pullman, who shares Rickman's yen for playing ordinary men in extraordinary situations. "I just love his sense of language, his sense of timing. There's something about doing scenes with him -- his careful way of constructing a mischievous line. Oh, the hooded eyes, the lowered lids, the hovering and quivering at the edge of contempt! I love it."
He also admires Rickman's wine savviness. Pullman doesn't drink -- "I'm an orange juice-and-seltzer guy -- and he lost his sense of smell after a college accident that left him in a coma for two days. So he mimicked Rickman during their swirl, sniff and spit scenes where they "sampled" wines (grape juice).
Rickman can sound "like the most experienced wine taster in the world with just a sigh," Pullman said. "But he admits himself he goes cold with fear when he enters a wine shop and has to make a decision. Yet I've seen him send wine back (in a restaurant). That takes a certain sense of courage and trust in your judgment."
Grapevine
Spotted: The Backstreet Boys celebrating member Howie Dorough's 35th birthday (one day early) with a giant pink cake last Thursday at Enclave. Nick Carter and A.J. McLean joined the fun and Dorough continued the party at Spybar ... Swedish pop star September was seen/heard belting "Satellites" and "Cry for You" at Enclave the same night ... Don't forget, the 30th Chicago Jazz Festival continues through Sunday in Grant Park ... The Lizard King is leaving the building. Faust the Komodo dragon, star of the Shedd's lizards exhibit, ends his reptilian reign Tuesday and will slither home to the Fort Worth Zoo. Everyone puts on weight in Chicago, and Faust is no exception. The rare man-eater has grown three inches (he's 8-feet, 3-inches long now) and packed on 60 pounds (he tips the scale at 180) since he arrived the spring of 2006. No, the big guy hasn't been sucking down pizza. "We feed Faust once a week
-- which is really all he needs -- and he gets either a rat or a rabbit," spokeswoman Melissa Kruth said.
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