The University Daily Kansan
Thursday, November 16, 2000
Etc.
Section B · Page 8
Old and New Traditions... KU Basketball and Jefferson's Specials! THURSDAY SPECIALS
Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet
Character actor finds home on TV
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — A woman taking the Paramount Pictures studio tour does a double take as a man walks across the parking lot. She recognizes the actor's face but can't place his name.
"Isn't that the guy from The Green Mile?" she asks.
"In't that the guy from The Green Mile?" she asks. William Sadler, one of the most familiar character actors in Hollywood, says he gets that a lot. Not surprising, considering his resume includes notable performances in The Green Mile, The Shauashank Redemption, Hard to Kill and Die Hard 2.
But his most challenging, if not rewarding role, he said, is that of Sheriff Jim Valenti on *Roswell*, the WB's teen alien-action series, which airs Mondays at 8 p.m. The series is based on the *Roswell High* book series by Melinda Metz about the fabled 1947 spaceship crash in New Mexico.
"There are a lot of firsts for me with this show," the 50-year-old actor said. "I never had an on-screen romantic entanglement until now. I've never worked with these kind of special effects.
"In this town, when somebody writes something good,
it's like a nugget of gold," he said.
"Over the years, people have recognized me when a movie came out and said, 'Aren't you that guy?' Now I get it a lot more, mostly from teenagers. It's kind of funny." Sadler was offered the role by series co-creator David Nutter, who cast him in the 1998 alien-horror film Disturbing Behavior.
"We didn't know whether he would consider doing it," said series co-creator Jason Katims, who also created My So-Called Life. "He had a very successful, steady film career going. But we needed somebody of his caliber because we wanted a three-dimensional character."
sadter said what sold him on his first full time television outing was a well-written script. He appeared previously in *Tales From the Crypt* and had a recurring guest spot on Roseanne.
It's like a magpie in Roswell, a struggling series populated with young unknowns, may seem a strange choice for Sadler, who has held his own with Morgan Freeman and Tom Hanks, and has been called the "actor's actor" by Freeman.
Not so, Sather said.
"I learn from everyone, from every experience," he said.
Crossword
ACROSS
1 Israel's airline
5 Slightly wet
9 Acress Emma
10 Kind of dancer
13 Arab leader
15 Slink
17 Over again
18 Dan divided into chukkers
19 Central Florida city
20 Scandalous
23 Wordless agreement
24 Continental prefix
25 Deep gorge
27 Volcanic rock
28 Stone or Glass
28 Halibutte
33 Making a mess on
38 & on
37 Stoppages
38 To's partner?
39 Rebounding bullets
42 Bullets
43 Canyon comebacks
44 Dawn slot
46 Pincar
48 Dangle
49 Wynn and McMahon
50 Able to act inventively
56 Easy touch
58 Search for
59 Baseball team
60 Cold-blooded
62 Engrave
62 Muttonbush
63 Man and Dogs
64 Palid
65 Discontinue
DOWN
1 I say!
2 Burt's ex
3 Becomes
mellower
4 State of minimum
activity
5 Go away
6 Suncoo rival
7 Distance
© 2000 Tribune Media Services, Inc
All rights reserved
measure
8 Short teacher?
9 Peter of "Bosom Buddies"
10 Circle segment
11 Significant
12 Cantaloupe, e.g.
13 Digging tool
14 Regulation
15 Kazakhstan range
16 Ench. Stroheim
17 Catalaque
18 Con
19 Having a favorable outcome
20 Deposit resepos
21 Embraces
22 Cut and run
23 Yen
24 Work station
25 Task
26 Sept. follower
27 Ladd and Miller
28 Out of
29 Traditional tales
30 Hearty and
Solutions to Wednesday's Crossword
natural
46 "Home Alone" co-
star
47 Sailor
48 Intuition
51 Mets stadium
52 Double plays and
tags
53 Authority
decree
54 Do-others
operator
55 Jump
57 Golf gadget
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