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Elizabeth Shue Interview
Elisabeth Shue's Achilles heel turned out to be her Achilles tendon. Six weeks into the filming of Hollow Man, Shue severed her Achilles tendon -- shutting down production on the horror film for 10 weeks. Producer Alan Marshall remembers the moment clearly. "Elisabeth is a fitness fanatic. She had exercise machines and a trampoline that she retreated to whenever she wasn't needed on set," recalls Marshall. "She finished her workout and was talking to someone while she was sitting on the edge of her trampoline. "She jumped down to come back to work and crumpled to the ground. "She'd injured her Achilles tendon so badly it required an operation. The doctors told us we couldn't expect her to be back at work for at least 11 weeks. "We had no choice but to shut down production for 10 weeks." Shue says she was devastated by the accident and what it meant to everyone working on Hollow Man -- now showing in Calgary theatres. "The pain I felt that day had little to do with my foot. I felt so guilty for all my co-stars and for the crew." Shue had jumped at the opportunity to star in Hollow Man because it was her first real action movie. "I was in The Saint, but I didn't get to kick any butt in that one. In Hollow Man, my character becomes really physical. "I was terrified the accident would take all that away from me." Shue followed her doctor's orders and was able to film every scene as written. Last year, Shue not only graduated from dramas to action movies but finished her degree in political science from Harvard University. "I started college before I made Adventures in Babysitting (1987 ) and went back for a semester after I completed Cocktail (1988). "I've been chipping away at it ever since. It feels so good to finally have my degree. I had to attend five classes for one semester and then I did the whole cap-and-gown thing. "I can teach now if I want -- or if I have to." Shue says she wasn't treated as an Oscar-nominated actress at Harvard. "It was never about how well one of my movies did but about what I could contribute to class discussions. "Besides, the real celebrity on campus was Natalie Portman. "Everyone including me was trying to catch sight of her." Shue was grateful to escape the glare of celebrity. She'd had her fill after filming The Saint. The gossip mill linked her with her Saint co-star Val Kilmer. "It was much harder on my husband (director David Guggenheim) than it was on me. "We both knew the rumours weren't true, but people kept trying to commiserate with him, where they just shied away from me." The pressure was so great, Shue and Guggenheim separated briefly. They reconciled and had a son, Miles. "David was so affected by the incident, he directed the movie Gossip to show the power of rumours. "I know I learned a very important lesson. I was always of the mind that there had to be at least a grain of truth when these kind of stories appeared in the gossip magazines. "I know too well that is definitely not the case in many instances." In Hollow Man, Shue plays a scientist whose lover and co-worker, played by Kevin Bacon, develops a serum that makes him invisible. In true mad-scientist fashion, Bacon's character abuses his newfound powers -- and it is up to Shue to stop him from becoming a monster. "It's a story of the dark, seductive nature of evil. "I love how it explores the voyeurism and sexual possibilities of invisibility." |
