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THE
show-business adage that “there’s no such thing as bad
publicity” is probably true. But as the media—and its
consumers—grow obsessively focused on the personal
struggles of
Hollywood stars, there are rare instances when even a little free
exposure can be problematic. Late March
Paramount Pictures released Drillbit Taylor, a
comedy starring
Owen Wilson as a bodyguard hired by several
high-school students looking for bully protection.
The film
has been accompanied by most of the marketing efforts
typically associated with a national theatrical
release—including television promotions and
coming-attractions previews—but you can look far and
wide and not find Wilson conducting the kind of
interviews that stars of his caliber usually do when
they have a big movie to promote.
The
choice not to sit
Wilson down with television reporters, print journalists and
talk-show hosts is understandable. The studio worried
that rather than let
Wilson
plug the movie and its comic pedigree (Drillbit
Taylor was produced by Knocked Up’s Judd
Apatow), his interviewers would steer the conversation
toward the 39-year-old actor’s hospitalization last
summer following an apparent suicide attempt. (The actor
has yet to address the incident in the mainstream
media.)
Paramount had the actor record Drillbit-themed
introductions to Fox’s Sunday-night prime-time lineup,
with Wilson appearing in front of
The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy and
Unhitched.
Paramount said Wilson has done all that the studio has
asked of him, and his publicist said the actor’s
availability was affected by Marley & Me, an
upcoming movie Wilson is currently shooting in
Florida.
In some
ways, the film doesn’t really need Wilson’s publicity
help. Although the actor has a following among older,
well-read filmgoers (Wilson’s credits include Meet
the Parents, The Royal Tenenbaums and Wedding
Crashers), Drillbit Taylor is aimed at
prepubescent boys, many of whom aren’t setting their
TiVos for Late Show With
David Letterman and are not reading any
newspapers. The interviews Wilson didn’t give, in other
words, weren’t really missed.
But that
hasn’t always been the case with Wilson or other actors
who, for personal reasons, either weren’t able to
publicize their films or faced uncomfortable inquiries
when they fielded journalists’ questions.
Fox
Searchlight was on the verge of releasing Wilson’s
The Darjeeling Limited last fall when he was
hospitalized. In an unfortunate coincidence,
Wilson’s
character in the film had attempted suicide. Within a
few days, he had withdrawn from the
DreamWorks film Tropic Thunder and was later
replaced by
Matthew McConaughey. Fox Searchlight initially
considered postponing the opening of Darjeeling Limited,
but felt the actor’s struggles would still be a topic of
media conversation. At the time, Wilson’s publicist
issued a statement: “I respectfully ask that the media
allow me to receive care and heal in private during this
difficult time.”
Wilson,
who appeared opposite Jason Schwartzman and
Adrien Brody in the film, did show up for The
Darjeeling Limited’s Los Angeles premiere, but he
did not appear at its screenings at the
New York Film Festival or the
Venice Film Festival.
When
Wilson, whom studio executives say has never been eager
to do publicity, could not attend the film’s press
junket, Searchlight canceled the media event, worried it
would spend some $250,000 to have Schwartzman and Brody
do little more than field queries about their costar.
During
the late summer press tour for The Darjeeling Limited,
Wilson’s
condition was addressed sparingly. “I can tell you he
has been doing very well; he has been making us laugh,”
the film’s director and cowriter,
Wes Anderson, said at a Venice, Italy, news
conference about the film.
“When he
is ready, he’s going to speak for himself much better
than any of us could.” |
