I Blame Dennis Hopper (36 page)

Me photographing the billboard of
Goodfellas
outside Warner Bros. for Marty.

Robert De Niro, Marty, and me on the set of
Cape Fear.
Marty is staging what took two days to shoot.

Typical day on the set of a mountain. Frank Marshall said
Alive
would be a great adventure, if I lived through it! Tough conditions brought the cast and crew together.

This picture makes me hungry. Ethan Hawke and me on the set of
Alive.
Wonderful actor, and his singing and guitar playing are pretty good too.

A last-minute costume change from director Gus Van Sant made this scene even more chilling.
To Die For
is one of my favorite films. Photo by screenwriter Buck Henry.

What can I say? I played Matt's sister in
To Die For
and his wife in
Grace of My Heart,
and playing his wife here in Grace was more fun. Just a brilliant and intense actor.

Didn't get to talk about
Happy, Texas,
but I love this picture, and I love the movie. Miss Schaefer, y'all!

Favorite picture from a set ever. Director Glenn Gordon Caron and me shooting
Picture Perfect
(starring Jennifer Aniston … hmmm, whatever happened to her?) laughing about how lucky we are.

I should have married Uncle Roddy. My best-best man, Roddy McDowall.

I interviewed Jerry Lewis for the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival. I'm getting some last-minute direction from The King of Comedy backstage at the El Capitan and enjoying every moment.

Meeting Joseph L. Mankiewicz got me in trouble with another director, Martin Scorsese. The caption reads, “Twenty years ago this pose would have been blurred.”

Clockwise from top: Well, I blame him for everything. Dennis Hopper, Griffin Dunne, and me on the set of
Search and Destroy.
Finally I would learn, “That's what it's all about, man”; Always sing in the key of Liza. Meeting my idol Liza Minnelli at the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival opening-night screening of
Cabaret;
Shooting a “Friday Night Spotlight” for TCM in Atlanta. I got some dress advice from Jerry Lewis; Shooting a sex video with Tom Arnold on the floor of IKEA for my branded web series
Easy to Assemble.
The only mandate from IKEA was to “keep the aisles clear.”
ETA
lasted four seasons; Now it gets weird. A last-minute casting change brought Peter Fonda / Captain America / the other half of
Easy Rider
into
Grace of My Heart
as my guru “Dave.”

 

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, thank you to my family, especially my mom for her help with the photos, quotes, and stories. And see, I got Alan Bates in there! A special thank you to my dear friend Danny Ferrington. And a separate and equally deep thank you to John Carroll and to Michael Irpino. Thank you to my wonderful team at Flatiron. Take yourselves out to lunch! This entire experience has not only been fun; it's been a privilege. I will forever be grateful to Flatiron editorial director Colin Dickerman, whom I met over the phone, and it was love at first hearing. Thank you so much for listening and laughing. Thank you for shaping all these stories in such a cohesive way, for being an amazing cheerleader, and for always making it seem easy. Ha! I say to that. Mostly, thank you so much for believing in me. Whitney Frick, you came in at the finishing line with thoughtful and supportive comments that also happened to be great! Thank you also to James Melia, Diana Frost, Bob Ickes, publisher Bob Miller, associate publisher Liz Keenan, and publicity director Marlena Bittner.