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Los Angeles Daily News
4/15/99
Louis Gossett Jr. is a man with a mission - to bring the true story of the late Stepin
Fetchit to screen.
He says of the African-American actor of the '30s, known for playing dim- witted,
foot-shuffling characters degrading to blacks: "His name has the onus of Uncle
Tom-ism, but that's not who he was." Insists the Oscar winner, "He was
a man of many dimensions. ... I can change people's perceptions of him with a performance.
I must play that man."
Gossett has become increasingly fascinated by the actor the deeper he's gone into
research - that has included seeking out some of Fetchit's former cronies "at
the Hotel Watkins at Adams and Crenshaw, at a barbecue place off Adams .." and
at other South L.A. haunts near what used to be Fetchit's vast land holdings.
"Charlie Chaplin was once his tenant," says Gossett, who will be seen in
Showtime's April 25 "Love Songs" trilogy, part of which he also directed.
He adds that Fetchit was so wealthy and powerful at one point, "he had six Duesenbergs
and direct lines to every studio."
And as for Fetchit's characterizations, "all he did was `Mask of the Minstrel'-type
stuff. Walter Brennan and Eddie Cantor used to go see him in vaudeville. They watched
his stuff and took it. ... And yet, the onus against him was so strong it even cast
a shadow on his family. He had a son who went crazy. He'd been in Korea, and he came
out with his M-1 in Chicago's Watkins Park one day and shot 15 people. He spent the
rest of his life in an insane asylum."
Fetchit became a Muslim in the '60s and sued CBS for defamation in 1970, claiming
the network showed clips of his work "out of context." He died 15 years
later. Gossett already has his title in mind for the Fetchit story - "Absolution."
All in his head
Hot young film actor Freddie Prinze Jr. makes it sound like his soon-to- begin-shooting
Miramax film, "Down to You," will leave a lot of people scratching their
heads. "It's going to make for an extremely weird film," he says. "It's
a very strange, surreal comedy that takes place in my character's mind. He kind of
changes events as he sees fit. The audience is only privy to my private thoughts,
so they're all seeing what I'm seeing. ... It's kind of interactive."
Freddie says Miramax was negotiating with Gene Wilder to play Prinze's father in
the film that also features Julia Stiles (`10 Things I Hate About You") and
Zack Orth ("In and Out"). Wilder won't be doing it - and at this point,
no one is set for the part in the film that begins this month.
The next step
"Dream Dancer," the long-planned debut film of Lord of the Dance founder
Michael Flatley, remains a dream. He expected the feature to go into production in
July of last year, but at this point there's no telling when it will be out of development.
His reps expect to have an announcement to make about a Michael Flatley business
project within the next few weeks. But he has no film projects pending - we're told
that reports of his making a movie in London at this time are untrue.
A new mission
Jonathan Frakes is hoping UPN's upcoming "Dying to Live" telepic is the
vehicle that will return him to episodic television.
"It's a really classic, back-door pilot opportunity," says the former "Star
Trek: The Next Generation" star/director. Frakes executive-produced and headlines
the April 22 TV movie about a guardian angel who helps a young girl avenge her death
before she moves on to eternal life.
"It's a cross between `Heaven Can Wait' and `Ghost,' " he says. "And
I'm playing an angel somewhere between the James Mason and Whoopi Goldberg roles
- an angel with a black comedy streak. I'd be happy to do this character for a while.
... And I miss being on TV. I like the pace of television."
Head above water
Kate Winslet, on the promotion trail for her forthcoming movie, "Hideous Kinky,"
is talking about the dreamiest event of her life. No, not being in "Titanic"
- meeting her husband, assistant director Jim Threapleton, when she shot the "Kinky"
feature in Morocco.
"There was this beautiful person, and I was like, `Something's going to happen.
I know it!' And sure enough, it did," gushes Winslet on tonight's edition of
"Access Hollywood."
She credits Threapleton with helping her during her "Titanic" tidal wave
of fame. "I was grounded, 'cause I'd met my boy!' " Ain't love grand?
With reports by Stephanie DuBois.
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