Meet A Real 'Blair Witch' Survivor

-- By Timothy J. Lammers

Note: Tim's column appears every Thursday in our Entertainment section. Have suggestions for topics? Questions you'd like to ask movie makers? E-mail away!

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With its cast members finally starting to surface on big time talk shows and covers of national magazines, you would think that word of mouth would have made it pretty clear by now: The blockbuster indie scare fest "The Blair Witch Project" is just a movie.

Or is it?

"It's been kind of funny. People are still coming up to me and asking me if its real," says Michael Williams, the sound man of the "Blair Witch" onscreen film crew, which is taken to the road to meet the fans (including a recent stop at General Cinema's Mall of America and Har Mar Mall Theaters).

"I say to them, 'Hey, if it was real, I wouldn't be sitting here in front of you.'"

Now that's scary.

To say that "The Blair Witch Project" has executed one of the most innovative plans of film marketing in years this summer is an understatement. Thanks to the savvy of the film's web site, and cooperation of Williams and his co-stars Heather Donahue and Joshua Leonard to lay low until the film was released nationwide, filmgoers found (and somehow continue to find) themselves second-guessing the reality of the project. And though Williams has known the truth all along, adjusting to the stir and blur caused by this cultural phenomenon has been somewhat difficult.

"It is very surreal. I'm kind of waiting to take a break so I can digest it all," says Williams. "I've been on the move and taking it day by day -- and strange things happen every day. It's just getting more and more wild. I think it's going to start to coming down now, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what I really think of it because right now, I don't know. It's been like a whirlwind."

It's all but a forgone conclusion that "The Blair Witch Project" will inspire a couple of knock-offs. But on the positive side, it may inspire a new sort of film genre (Shockumentary, anyone?), and most definitely, give a new hope to the myriad of indie filmmakers struggling to make it in the business.

Humbled by the surprise success, however, actor Williams doesn't think" Blair Witch" should take the sole credit for this new wave of filmmaking.

"It's just reaffirming what 'Sex, Lies and Videotape' did, and what 'Clerks' did -- it's just a little bit different of a medium because now you're adding the video element," says Williams. "We wouldn't be around if those films weren't around. It just reaffirms that you can make good art on low budgets."

And now that this low-budget wonder has done big budget business ($120 million at the box office and counting), the inevitable question now is whether co-writer/directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez will do a follow up to the film. If it were up to Williams, there would be no sequel. "(What would it be) -- a film about three student filmmakers who go in searching for three college filmmakers? That just doesn't make sense," he says.

He does however, back a prequel.

"They are already talking about doing it, because they have the backstory about the Blair Witch," says Williams. "If you go on the Web site, that gives a 500-year detailed history of the Blair Witch. My personal take is that if they do anything else with the Blair Witch, it shouldn't be a sequel. It should definitely be a story about the killer, Rustin Parr or the actual witch, or the witch trials they had in Maryland. This is all fiction that they've created, and they've created such detailed stories that they might as well go ahead and shoot a story about that."

Trivia: Famous Fright Flicks

Leelee Sobieski: Eyes Wide Open

"You follow your heart, you follow yourself, you follow your instinct as you always have," Sobieski says.

Sobieski's heart has most recently led her to Minnesota, where she just wrapped filming her roles as a terminally ill girl who finds a new kind of love in the romantic drama, "Here on Earth." The tragic turn shouldn't come as a big surprise to those who know Sobieski's work; because while she's undoubtedly had the opportunity to play roles in teen comedies, she's instead chosen to take a path of thinking-women's roles that would make Jodie Foster proud. It all comes down to the fact that these roles provide Sobieski with some great learning opportunities. And she's has a pretty keen sense off screen, too.

"You can't just put it down into a sentence," says Sobieski. "I think through the years, through the days you learn so many things that you don't even know you're learning them. You're always learning, even if you're walking down the street and you notice and pick up something, or observe people. You're learning every minute of the day, hopefully."

And while Sobieski remains studious of life on screen and off, it doesn't prevent her from having any fun. In fact, one of her hobbies consists of collecting locks of hair from her famous film companions. That would include the late Stanley Kubrick, who slipped her a clip on the set of "Eyes Wide Shut," and Tom Cruise -- well, almost. "I didn't get his hair because it was short in the film, and he was going to cut it off and send it to me at the end -- a big chunk of it," recalls Sobieski. "But then two and a half years went by. I think he forgot. That's okay, I love him -- he's a great guy."

The next heir to Sobieski's clipper will be Albert Brooks, who will star with her in "My First Mister," a romantic comedy directed by "Chicago Hope" star Christine Lahti.

Minnesotan Leads 'Dog Of Flanders' Cast

"They had three dogs -- one for acting, one a running dog and the other a barking dog," says Kissner, a Twin Cities native. "I had to train with the running dog. I got slobber all over my shirts and everything the first day."

Based on Ouida's (Marie Louise de la Ramée) classic children's tale about the value of life and appreciation of art, "Dog of Flanders" co-stars Jack Warden, Cheryl Ladd and Jon Voight. Kissner, whose only previous role came as the young Ethan Hawke in "Great Expectations," took every bit of advice he could get between shots. "Jack Warden said it is best to act if you are well disciplined," recalls Kissner. "And he said you should be nice to everybody on the set, and they'll treat you the best ever."

If he keeps following that advice, there's no doubt that Kissner will be around a long time.

Bill Carlson's Interviews On WCCO-TV
Catch Bill Carlson's interviews with star actors and filmmakers each weekday on WCCO-TV's morning and noon news broadcasts, at 6:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. (Schedule subject to change.)

• Thursday, Aug. 26: Sharon Stone, "The Muse" (6:55 a.m. only)
• Friday, Aug. 27: Jeremy James Kissner, "A Dog of Flanders" (6:55 a.m. only)

-- Additional reporting by Bill Carlson

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