Owen Wilson takes life in stride
PUSSSYKATT
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LOS ANGELES - Owen Wilson has a laid-back approach to success, even as
Hollywood embraces him like a runaway come home for Christmas. In fact, the
33-year-old down-home Texan is in as much demand as anyone who doesn't attend
wizardry school.
Wilson has dated a string of celebrity girlfriends, including rock icon Sheryl
Crow and now actress Gina Gershon. He stars in two holiday movies, one of which
he also co-wrote, and he's played a part in the success of college buddy Wes
Anderson, the director, and hunky little brother Luke, who's going out with
Gwyneth Paltrow.
The Wilson brothers and Anderson, who directed them and Paltrow in the new
star-studded black comedy "The Royal Tenenbaums," are like the three musketeers
- inseparable since meeting at the University of Texas in the late 1980s.
Among their other friends is Ben Stiller, who stars in the "Tenenbaums" flick,
too. The group is Hollywood's hottest little clique of comedic writer-actors.
Will the nightmare never end?
Wilson takes it all in stride, a Zen-like approach that differs from Crowe's
outlook, he said.
"One of my favorite things about Sheryl is I think she's a fighter, kind of
scrappy," he said in a recent interview. "But the thing that probably goes
along with that, which can get a bit tricky, is never being satisfied."
Wilson, who co-stars in the highly anticipated "Behind Enemy Lines" (out
Friday) and the "Tenenbaums" (a Dec. 14 release that he co-wrote) - is just
trying to enjoy the ride.
But now, in the midst of Owen's biggest screen exposure, Luke is moving out of
Owen's Los Angeles home. Big Brother said the impending separation represents
another step into adulthood.
"It's my 'Big Chill' moment," Owen said. "He's family, so I just love him and I
feel protective because he's my younger brother. He just makes me laugh."
Is there nothing that bugs him about Little Brother? "He's moody, like I am."
The siblings share the screen in "Tenenbaums," which is about a dysfunctional
family of geniuses. Owen plays a cowboy author who lives in a groovy Manhattan
pad. Luke plays one of the wealthy but eccentric Tenenbaums, a burned-out
tennis champ who moves back into the nest. (Luke's love interest? Paltrow.)
But the bigger picture may turn out to be "Behind Enemy Lines" simply because
Owen finally sheds his clownish image - flying solo as a marooned jet navigator
who tries to elude bloodthirsty Serbs. The script originally called for him to
play a cocky pilot, but Wilson requested the role of the less confident
navigator.
"I don't see myself doing a Bruce Willis or a Schwarzenegger," he said.
But he does do a pretty good ladies' man offscreen. With Gershon, his brother
and Paltrow, Wilson represents one fourth of what could be show business' most
intriguing double date. Do they ever all go out together? What's it like for
them to both be dating stars?
"I don't talk about that," Luke said.
The brothers said they didn't compete for girls growing up. Sometimes there was
overlap, but often it was their oldest brother, Andrew, who walked into the
Dallas sunset with their object of desire.
Though he and Luke performed skits mocking their father while growing up in
Dallas, Wilson never wanted anything to do with show business until he met
Anderson at college.
Wilson acted in a one-night-only play Anderson wrote, then wrote gags for
Anderson in a small movie he was working on, "Bottle Rocket."
Director and producer James L. Brooks saw a 13-minute segment of the unfinished
movie and flew to Dallas to meet the two. He helped shepherd the project and
gave Wilson an associate producer's credit on "As Good As It Gets."
Wilson called Brooks' mentoring the most selfless behavior he has encountered
in Hollywood.
He's also benefited from a working relationship with movie veteran Gene
Hackman, who appears as the patriarch in "Tenenbaums" and Wilson's commanding
officer in "Behind Enemy Lines."
"I think of somebody like Gene Hackman, who's been in lots of stuff, who
doesn't really change his appearance or voice too much, so it's kind of
inspiring," Wilson said.
"Maybe I could do stuff like that, make it believable for myself while still
dealing with my limitations."
Hollywood now wants Owen but isn't sure why, the actor believes. Despite his
burgeoning success as an actor and writer, the industry does not get him.
"It's probably not just Hollywood," Wilson said. "It's everybody."
Little Brother agreed.
"I definitely feel people don't know who he is," Luke said. "A lot of people
say he's a goofball. I don't think of him as a goofy guy.
"When you get outside of L.A. or New York, people are shocked he has written
different movies. I don't think they know what to make of him, but I think
that's a good thing, to keep people guessing."
Part of Wilson's identity problem is that he is a tad askew. His real voice is
like that of Mike Myers' Dr. Evil from "Austin Powers," pronouncing Vancouver,
where he is filming "I Spy" with Eddie Murphy, as Vancoooover.
And while handsome, he has a nose that droops at the end like melted putty
because of a football injury.
The Wilson brothers never set out to be movie stars. Owen believes that's why
he and Luke are not competitive with each other in that arena. And it is also
why the elder Wilson has kept a loose attitude.
Years ago, Stiller sent a note complimenting Owen on "Bottle Rocket." Owen
replied with a thank-you letter that misspelled Stiller's name and wrote that
Stiller's "appreciation was duly noted."
"He still has that note up in his office," said Wilson, who then collaborated
with Anderson on the prep-school comedy "Rushmore" before he grabbed mainstream
attention by appearing in box-office hits "Shanghai Noon," "Meet the Parents"
and "Zoolander."
Wilson has a solution to his Picasso-pieced image: Become more famous.
"Once you turn the corner, then you become something they recognize," he said.
"Then the fact that you're unusual becomes a strength."
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