Another Trip To The Dark, Strange Side For Nick Stahl
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
Jun 12, 2008
Nick Stahl gained a whole new understanding of life as a disabled person while prepping for his role in "Quid Pro Quo," opening tomorrow (6/13), in which he plays a partially paralyzed investigative reporter for public radio. "I went around the city in a wheelchair to see what it was like," he tells us, referring to New York.
Another Trip To The Dark, Strange Side For Nick Stahl (Image: Wenn)
"My first impression was how hard it was, how physically taxing it was. You don't really realize, the city is kind of on a slant. The sidewalks, you consider them flat, and they're really not … I got to gauge people's reactions as well. There were two kind of main reactions. One was just avoidance -- not making eye contact … The other was people who were overly helpful."
The actor known as savior-of-the-world John Connor from the "Terminator" series, and as the star of HBO's eerie "Carnivale" series of a few years ago, found that the chair made him suddenly incognito. He was only recognized twice, he says.
"Quid Pro Quo" marks another trip to the dark and strange side for Stahl, whose character gets lured by a mysterious beauty (Vera Farmiga) into investigating the story of a subculture of people afflicted with a perverse desire to be disabled.
"I really didn't (know) anything about this," he says. "I read the script and thought it was so well written, and the character was so complex and interesting, and the twists in the script were so genuinely surprising and weird I was really caught off guard by it. These types of roles, complex roles like this, I'm always attracted to as well."
However, "I've never shied away from the mainstream -- ever," says Stahl, who plays a telepath in the forthcoming thriller "Speed of Thought." "If people see you in a certain light, they're going to want you for other movies like that. The fact is that I tend to have done more independent, experimental, darker, edgy kinds of things since I was younger. But I'm open to any kind of story."
PERSONALLY SPEAKING: Ed Westwick may be the bad boy of "Gossip Girl," but unlike many of his young, famous counterparts, he tells us he has no desire to be Hollywood's newest party guy. "I'm not of the nature where I'm going to be the most ideal person for Page Six. I'm not a crazy kind of person who goes nuts," claims Westwick. "I'm a young guy, so of course I'm going to go out, and there will probably be times in my life where there are things that happen that people are going to raise an eyebrow to because that's life. I'm growing up," notes the British actor. "It's the same with everyone else on the show or with anyone who's been in our situation. It comes with the territory. As long as you've got a brain, it can work to people's advantage."
CELEB SCENE: Adding to that strange feeling that all celebrities know each other -- Paula Abdul bonded with Jill Zarin from "The Real Housewives of NYC" at Nick & Toni's in East Hampton the other night. Abdul shared that it was her first time in the Hamptons and that she was having a great time. We're so pleased.
With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.
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