Boxoffice-July.1995

SNEAK PREVIEW
"LEARNING'S" CURVES
"Leaniing Cwves'" Actress Tia Carrere Has
Learned She Likes To Go Against Expectations
Last
By Shlomo Schwartzberg
Tia Carrere on the "Learning Curves" set
Witt) director Bruce Leddy and co-star Jeffrey Tambor.
summer, Tia Carrere—
the "babealicious" young
"Wayne's
woman of the
World" movies—was in one of
tlie season's big-bang blockbusters,
"Ti-ue Lies, " playing a villainess/archaeological
speculator
This summer, her movie is a
"smaller" one: a romantic comedy.
In Savoy Pictures' "Learning
Curves," Carrere plays a
high-school math tutor who falls
in love with one of her straggling
students (Jason London
from "The Man in the Moon").
Adding some dark textures to
the proceedings is that Carrere's
character is married, unhappily,
to the school's calculus
teacher ("Quiz Show's" Christopher
McDonald). "Learning
Curves" (a tentative title) hits
the genre's customary plot
notes but plays a variation on
the theme. "It's not going to be a
surprise that [tutor and student]
fall in love," Carrere says, but
she adds that her character has
been going through an emorional
ordeal that, for a romantic
comedy, makes her "a little
darker. The; first time they meet,
she looks like a drowned rat. It's
not all fun and games. But,
through this high-school kid,
she learns to laugh again.
24 BOXOFFICE
"Coming-of-age movies, especially
for high-school kids, are
really important. All those John
Hughes movies did really well.
I hope we tap into that," says
Carrere, seeming chipper and
friendly on the Montreal set of
her next film, "Hollow Point," a
spy tlirOler witli Donald Sudierland
and John Lithgow. Wliile
on the "Learning Curves"
shoot in North Carolina,
she also was able to indulge
her passion for antiques.
"We [she and her husband,
club owner Elie Samaha]
had just moved into a new
home in tlie Beverly Hills
90210 area— it's embarrassing
to say that zip code because
of that stupid show—
and I huiiished my home
beautifully because of that
job in North Carolina."
Though she's
worked
pretty steadily since 1992's
"Wayne World" in films as diverse
as "Rising Sun" and "Jury
Duty," the twentysomething
Carrere says it's still hard to find
parts she likes, both because
she's a woman and because
she's been pegged as a certain
type of actress. "Having been in
a zany comedy, I don't want
people to think that's all I can
Carrere says a number of
do."
people (including "Hollow
Point" director Sidney Furie)
didn't realize that it was she who
played the handicapped computer
expert who helps Sean
Conneiy and Wesley Snipes unravel
a murder in "Rising Sun."
"It's very gratifying
doing something
that nobody
expects,"
she says.
Toward that
end, Carrere
formed a production
company,
Phoenician
Films, with her
husband (who is
executive producing
"Hollow
Point"). The company's
first project, Brian
Grant's "The Immortals," was
unveiled this year at Cannes. It's
a caper film with an eclectic
cast: Eric Roberts, Tbny Curtis,
Clarence Williams III, Chris
Rock and William Forsythe. Carrere
plays a dying pregnant
woman who wants to make sure
her baby is provided for "It's a
heavy, dramatic role. I'm the
only female in it." (Carrere also
carries an associate producer
credit on the project.)
She relishes hefty parts like
diat, especially because certain
earlier roles— including her
"Rising Sun" turn- weren't what
she'd hoped. "Tliey could have
'^Coming-of-age movies,
especiallyfor high-school
kids, are really important.
All those John Hughes
movies did really well,
I hope we tap into tlioL "
explored the character more,
but it was a Sean and Wesley
movie," she says. But her breakthrough
film was anolh(>r matter
"'Wayne's World' < ii.uigcd
my life treinendoiisly, opening
up doors that were not then',
before. It allowed us to start up
production company with
the
some oomph. It helped us sell
things better" Interestingly, she
doesn't consider herself a funny
person, despite the comic zing
she displayed alongside Mike
Myers. "I wasn't bom with a fiinny
bone. Comedy is the one thing
fhafs most frightening to me."
Another plus of having her
own company is she can work
on location with
her husband.
That has made
"Hollow Point"
in which she portrays
an FBI
agent tracking an
assassin (Sutherland)
in the hope
that he'll lead her
to a mob boss
(Lithgow) —
gratifying project.
"Knock on
wood, it's been
going great. I 've no complaints.
After "Hollow Point" is another
drama, based on the saga
of gangster "Pretty B03'" Floyd.
Carrere will play his wife. Ruby
Floyd. "She was half Cherokee,
which is fortuitous," says Carrere,
whose mixed heritage—
Chinese, Hawaiian, Spanish,
Filipino— lends her an exceptional
physical range tor edmic parts.
Carrere continues to nurture
her musical career In 1993, she
released "Dream," a Warner
Bros, album of "sly,
cool" pop,
four tracks for which she v\Tote
the music. "I never took any
time [for tlie album]," she says.
"Next time, I will take off to focus
on the music. You do a disservice
to it otherwise."
Carrere isn't likely to forget
film for long, though.
Chosen 1 994 's Female Star of
Ibmon'ow at ShoWest, she
knows tliis is her Holh^\'ood
prime time. "For women, it's
the old double standard.
They start younger because
tiiey have to capitalize on
those years when tiiey're
'gorgeous,' 'lire Gt'wc Hackmans
of die world can start
tiieir careers later."
'Learning Curves' (other working
titles have hxn 'Bad With
Nwnbcrs' and 'My Generation")
Starting Jason London. Tia Carrere,
Chnstopher MeDonaki and
jeffrcij Tiimbor Dirertexl hi) liniee
Lcddy. Written by Seth Grecnhoul
and Bruce Leddy. Prrxbiaul by
Robert N. Frie^l and Richard Zinrrtari.
A Saimj relaise. August U