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TV WEEK - AUSTRALIA MAY 26 - JUNE 1, 2001
In the past few years, Jerry O'Connell has become one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood. With roles in Jerry MacGuire, Missing To Mars, TV's Sliders and most famously Stand By Me, the 27-yer-old has a pretty impressive list of film and television credits to his name. "I'm staying pretty busy," says Jerry, currently in Sydney filming the action/comedy film Down And Under and promoting his latest release, Tomcats. In the film Tomcats, Jerry plays a young bachelor who tries to win a bet by marrying off his best friend. But, In typical Hollywood fashion, Jery's character [Michael] falls for the woman with whom he's trying to set up his mate. "I had so much fun making this movie," laughs Jerry, who admits he can relate to his character in the film. "I'm a guy in his late 20s, and I can't keep a plant alive for more than a week - let alone a relationship," he says.
"She was here, was she? In Sydney?" asks Jerry when told his former flame had been in Australia. "She's an ex, and I don't really talk to my ex-girlfriends that much. I know that osunds bad, but when I break up with somebody I just wipe their names out of my phone book. I thin tha's onoy fair to the new girls." While he says he's not exactly Casanova, Jerry says he doesn't do too badly when it comes to the ladies. "I wouldn't say I'm Don Juan, but I tend to be a lot funnier when I'm around women. I'm a lot more energetic. I'm a performer." Performing since he was a teen, Jery's most famous movie is the coming of age film Stand By Me, in which he played Vern. But it's only recently that Jerry has understood the importance of the 1986 film which starred River Phoenix. While studying at a New York film school, Jerry was surprised to see that Stand By Me was on the course. "It was the first time that I had seen the film without my family crowded around the TV. And it was the first time I'd heard people talking about the film. I realised at that moment what a special film it was if they wee still talking about a movie I made 15 years ago." While Jerry kept quiet about his role, he says he was amused at how serious his co-students were. "They over-anallysed it. Someone talked about the significance of the rain in one scene, and I can remeber the director being upset because it was raining," he laughs. Jerry credits his parent for ensureing the success of Stand By Me didn't go to his head at a young age. He says: "They were pretty smart in the way they handled a kid being in a hit movie." Making his return to the entertaniment world, Jerry won the role of Bailey in Party Of Five, but turned it down to star in Sliders. "I wanted to do an action show. I wanted to run around and fool around!" he says. Story: Erin Craven (Article Provided
by 'Lee Lee')
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