6B • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THIS & THAT
FRIDAY,AUGUST 23,2002
'Simone' actress revealed
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — The movie's credits don't include her name, but Rachel Roberts, who plays the title character in Simone, can finally tell the world she's a flesh-and-blood star, not a pixel performer stitched together by some cyber-Frankenstein.
New Line Cinema kept Roberts under wraps for almost two years in hopes of building buzz that Simone was purely a computer concoction.
The film, opening Friday, stars Al Pacino as a washed-up director who creates a virtual actress that the public believes is real.
The truth is, Simone is both real and computer-simulated, but most of the character is Roberts, a Canadian model who has been on the covers of Vogue and Elle and appeared in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. This is her film debut.
For months, Internet movie sites have named Roberts as the
actress playing Simone, but the film's production notes exclude her and describe the character largely as a computer amalgam of voices and body parts from other Hollywood leading ladies.
Simone's voice and body were augmented by computer with elements of other actresses, but Roberts is the principal source, said writer-director Andrew Niccol.
"Simone is 98.6 percent Rachel Roberts, and I use that percentage just because that's the temperature of the human body," said writer-director Andrew Niccol.
During filming last year Roberts was unable to tell even family and friends what she was up to. Roberts sneaked onto the set in wigs and other disguises and was known as "the stand-in" for Simone to much of the film crew.
The end credits list "Simone as Herself," with no mention of Roberts. While Pacino and other Simone co-stars did publicity
interviews in person, Roberts — in character still — prerecorded responses that were played for reporters on a TV monitor.
Concealing Roberts' identity as a marketing gimmick fit the themes of the movie, which satirizes Americans' obsession with celebrities, Niccol said.
It also brought home the point that Hollywood often fools audiences by tweaking images and performers with digital wizardry, he said.
"I alter real actors all the time," Niccol said. "You stretch them to make them look thinner or do face replacement on stunts. There's a lot of manipulation that goes on."
The secretiveness surrounding her first role may end up a blessing.
"I think it gets more press for me in the long run. Introducing a new actress is pretty commonly seen in the press, but you don't often see such mystery behind who the character really is," Roberts said.
Crossword
ACROSS
1 Drug cop
5 Best friends
9 Spring lock
14 Track shape
15 Motel room
16 Wed on the run
17 Slimy stuff
18 Stereo precursor
19 Spread on
20 Mt. Whitney's range
23 Albert or Murphy
24 Treat with a drug
28 Homer's enchantress
31 Whine
32 Morning hrs.
35 Rawboned
37 Patricia of "Hud"
38 Shoe ties
40 Countersign
43 College pad
44 Working model?
46 X on a sundial
47 Breaks out
50 Iron type
52 Beef entree
54 Oater group
58 Among the stars
61 Old hat
64 Odometer unit
65 Overdo the mothering
66 Loathe
67 Religious figure
68 Heroic saga
69 High school years
70 Molt
71 Monthly payment
DOWN
DOWN
1 Hangman's loop
2 Skirt
3 Leveled
4 Man of the cloth
5 Catamount
6 In due time
7 Centers, ends,
et al.
8 Kitchen
appliance
08/23/02
$ \textcircled{c} $ 2002 Tribune Media Services, Inc All rights reserved.
9 Straight man's line
10 "Scent of a Woman" star
11 Lid
12 Sgt.'s underling
13 Yo!
12 Hold the throne
22 Want ___
25 Turn away
26 Play tricks on
27 DeGeneres series
29 Joplin piano piece
30 Crescent end
32 Rot-resistant wood
33 New Zealand native
34 Use Brillo
36 Exam
39 Send up the river
41 Born in Nice
42 Heavy curtain
45 Bird with plumes
Solutions
48 Skin creams
49 Took a chair
51 Crumble to dust
53 Finalists determiner
55 Skiing site
56 Smooth fabric
57 Build
59 Blackthorn
60 Care for
61 Tap gently
62 Fortas or
Vigoda
63 Haggard nove
Sprint
22 Bands for the price of 1
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