September 16, 2002

Vartan OK With Nude Scene in 'Photo'

SPOILERS!

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Michael Vartan's experience as a hockey player came in handy when it came time to film his first nude scene in "One Hour Photo."

Vartan said he's used to being naked in front of his hockey buddies in the locker room, so he had no trouble taking off his clothes for his sex scene.

"Also, more specifically in terms of way the scene was shot, it's not like I'm standing there for 20 minutes and talking in my birthday suit," Vartan told reporters. "And when I saw the film, by the time you realize I was naked, it's gone."

Vartan felt bad for Erin Daniels, who plays the woman he's having an affair with in the movie. Vartan says it's always tougher for an actress to be naked because the crew is mostly men.

"I felt bad for Erin," he said. "Because it's not the easiest thing in the world to do. It's a very specific thing, a very personal thing. You're either comfortable with it or not. I know that if the scene called for me being naked and walking around, I probably wouldn't have done it. There's just no need to see a guy's ... for 15 minutes. There's just no need for it."

In "One Hour Photo," Robin Williams plays a lonely photo clerk who becomes psychotically obsessed with a family whose pictures he develops. Vartan, who plays the family's father, said he was glad Williams was joking between takes of the scene where the comedian terrorizes him and Daniels.

"It was very emotionally draining," Vartan said. "And to have him between takes kind of do his thing, was needed, at least for me. It was like a return to, 'OK, this isn't real, this isn't weird.'

"There were times I thought literally I was going to pass out. Half of it's physical, because you know when you breath too much. But I thought, 'Whoa, whoa, I'm acting. What's going on? My head.' It's just a weird experience and I didn't like it much."

Vartan said he can't worry about the possibility that someone's obsessed with him like Williams was in the film.

"I couldn't care less," Vartan said. "There are wackos every day that you deal with whether you're in this business or not. I really don't care. I don't think I'm famous enough for it really to affect me."

© AP 2002

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