Showbiz Today

'Survivor' Castaways Attain Celebrity Status; Vincent D'Onofrio Stars as Abbie Hoffman in 'Steal This Movie'

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LAURIN SYDNEY, HOST: Hi, everybody. I'm Laurin Sydney in New York. Jim Moret is on assignment.

Unless you've been living on a deserted island the couple of months, you know that tonight marks the conclusion of the hit CBS adventure game show "Survivor." The 16 original contestants have been whittled down to four finalists. And tonight, an estimated 30 million to 40 million viewers will learn the name of the million-dollar prize winner.

Jodi Ross explores what's next once we know who wins.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN KENNIFF, FORMER "SURVIVOR" CASTMEMBER: Don't condemn me for wanting to be on national TV. Everybody -- a solid 80 percent of people -- would have switched positions with me to be on national TV and get exposure.

JODI ROSS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Exposure? You ain't seen nothing yet. Most of the stars of "Survivor" are hoping to make their 15 minutes of fame last a lot longer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not evil. We just play bad people on TV.

ROSS: Sean Kenniff, the neurologist from New York, will guest star on "Guiding Light" in October. He's been hired as a medical correspondent for the magazine show "Extra."

(on camera): Do you think you might make a million dollars another way?

GERVASE PETERSON, FORMER "SURVIVOR" CASTMEMBER: I hope to. You know, if I can do it through TV endorsements or anything, that would be great.

ROSS (voice-over): What's great for Gervase Peterson is that he's landed a spot on the sitcom "The Hughleys," and he just auditioned for John Travolta's new movie, "Swordfish. "

JENNA LEWIS, FORMER "SURVIVOR" CASTMEMBER: I did not do it for the fame. I did not. ROSS: Jenna Lewis says she wanted to be an actress well before her "Survivor." No acting offers yet, but "Playboy" magazine has asked her to pose, as well as the other women of the island. Reebok has nabbed two of the early rejects, third castoff Stacey Stillman...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, REEBOK AD)

STACEY STILLMAN, FORMER "SURVIVOR" CASTMEMBER: Loser.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSS: And 64-year-old B.B. Andersen, whose ad will debut during the show's finale.

(on camera); So those who survived "Survivor" have put the show behind them and moved on to bigger and better things. But what about the viewers, those of us who have been glued to our television sets every Wednesday night -- no more tribal councils, no more immunity challenges -- what now?

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK SENATE CANDIDATE: Well, I think we should take a vote on who we believe should be the survivor.

ROSS (voice-over): The first lady's caught up in the frenzy and now many will have to find a new way to feed their fascination.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. I'm going to be upset. I'll watch "Big Brother."

DR. STUART FISHOFF, PROFESSOR OF MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY, CAL STATE UNIVERSITY, LOS ANGELES.: What you essentially have is visual gossip. I think that people look in, see the lives of other people, how they're handling it, then talk to their friends and relatives the next day about how they did and how they felt they might have handled it were they in that situation.

ROSS: Fans will miss the conflict and the conniving.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SURVIVOR")

UNIDENTIFIED "SURVIVOR" CASTMEMBER: Whatever it takes to win here is the point. It's a game. Call if Machiavellian, sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSS: But some viewer favorites are ready for a regular life.

COLLEEN HASKELL, FORMER "SURVIVOR" CASTMEMBER: I'm not in it to be on TV. I'm not in it to be on a movie. I went and had a vacation for two months. And now people care. So it's trying to deal with that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN")

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: How does a rat -- what's it taste like?

GRETCHEN CORDY, FORMER "SURVIVOR" CASTMEMBER: I've heard people say it tastes like chicken.

LETTERMAN: Yes, right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSS: Like a lot of the cast, Gretchen Cordy made a brief appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman," but she thinks the fame is fleeting.

CORDY: I don't know. I don't know. And if it changes, I think it will be such a temporary thing that, you know, next year at this time, remember when, remember when I was on that show "Survivor"?

ROSS: Jodi Ross, CNN Entertainment News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYDNEY: UPN says it will air the Source Hip-Hop Awards next Tuesday even though the program was preempted by a melee. Police cleared the hall in Pasadena, California, after a fight broke out in the Civic Auditorium. Dozens of fans rushed the stage and some police who intervened were pelted with bottles and CDs. Before the ruckus inside, there was a disturbance outside involving rapper DJ Quick.

Police put D.J. Quick in a choke-hold apparently after he tried to break up a fight. UPN says most of the awards had been handed out before the show was interrupted. The network deplored the incident, which did not lead to any arrests or injuries. One witness described what happened inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know who was fighting. It was like five guys stomping on one person in the middle -- in a circle -- and then, it kind of stopped. And then some other guys went onto the stage, right behind the stage area and started fighting as well.

LARRY WINOKUR, BAKER-WINOKUR PR: We are embarrassed and very regretful that this ensued tonight. It is a shame that the actions of a few people ruined an evening of music for many.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SYDNEY: A sorcerer's spell couldn't keep the press from meeting the boy who will playing Harry Potter on the big screen; 11-year-old Daniel Radcliffe, along with co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were introduced at a press conference in London on Wednesday. Radcliffe beat out thousands of actors to win the lead in Warner Brothers' upcoming movie adaptation of "Harry Potter: On the Sorcerer's Stone."

Radcliffe told the audience about the tryouts and winning the role.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DANIEL RADCLIFFE, ACTOR: Even though I have been to auditions before, because this is such a big thing and the books are so successful, it was really scary.

QUESTION: How did you react of getting the role of Harry -- to landing the part of Harry Potter?

RADCLIFFE: I cried.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SYDNEY: Aw. Actor Vincent D'Onofrio is part of the nucleus of "The Cell," the No. 1 movie in the country. He is also at the center of another new film about '60s radical Abbie Hoffman.

Paul Vercammen stole some moments with the cast of "Steal This Movie."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "STEAL THIS MOVIE")

VINCENT D'ONOFRIO, ACTOR: No matter what people think about the '60s, they know that young people were out in the streets taking on the most powerful government in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vincent transforms into legendary, complex, and moody activist, the late Abbie Hoffman, in "Steal this Movie."

D'ONOFRIO: Abbie probably would have liked it today and not liked it the tomorrow and then liked it the next day after.

VERCAMMEN: Janeane Garafolo plays Hoffman's wife, Anita. Kevin Pollak is his attorney, Gerry Lefcourt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "STEAL THIS MOVIE") D'ONOFRIO: Cultural revolutionary. I'm really a defendant full time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: "Steal This Movie" borrows its name from Hoffman's "Steal This Book." It is directed by Robert Greenwald.

ROBERT GREENWALD, DIRECTOR: It is gives us a feeling, a sense of the excitement of that time, the emotion, the drama, the humor, the sex, the drugs, the rock 'n' roll.

VERCAMMEN: Hoffman stood trial as one of the so-called Chicago Seven, accused of inciting a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "STEAL THIS MOVIE")

TROY GARITY, ACTOR: An informant looking for evidence of conspiracy might have found Jesus guilty of urging young people to kill their parents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: Tom Hayden is played in the movie by his son Troy Garity.

GARITY: Fortunately, the movie didn't require any real deep examination of my father. It was...

TOM HAYDEN: Thank God for that.

GARITY: Yes, right.

VERCAMMEN: "Steal this Movie" shows Hoffman and his cohorts battling the establishment armed with and humor.

HAYDEN: The problem with satire today, like Bill Maher and people like that, is it is satire without passion, without purpose. Abbie believed in something. And he used satire to get it across.

VERCAMMEN: Hoffman's close friend, Stew Albert, was a consultant on the film. He's played by Donna Lowe.

STEW ALBERT, CONSULTANT: This poor guy, he's an adequate stuntman getting thrown over the table again and again. And I'm thinking: Well, back in the 60's, we did it right. The cops hit me. I went down. We got it in one shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "STEAL THIS MOVIE")

D'ONOFRIO: We announce we're levitating the Pentagon to end the war and everyone who hates the war shows up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

D'ONOFRIO: That the citizens can take it upon themselves to stand up and say something: I think we need to be reminded of that. And us delivering Abbie Hoffman back to you with "Steal this Movie" hopefully will be a reminder.

VERCAMMEN: A film flashback of Abbie's outrageous activism.

Paul Vercammen, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYDNEY: Up next: Jon Abrahams is one "Scary Movie" star of tomorrow. And find out why K.D. Lang feels "Invincible" this summer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SYDNEY: And bring on Jon Abrahams. He's a very "Scary Movie" star. The young actor helped put the teen horror spoof "Scary Movie" in the record books, and with an ever-growing resume, he's not frightened about his Hollywood future.

Lori Blackman tells us why Jon Abrahams is a SHOWBIZ TODAY "Star of Tomorrow."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LORI BLACKMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We are here with Jon Abraham at Bubby's (ph), his local TriBeCa hangout. You may recognize this young man as the star of Miramax's top all-time money- maker, "Scary Movie."

JON ABRAHAMS, ACTOR: It's far exceeded anything, anything I would have imagined it doing. It's amazing.

BLACKMAN: And just recently surpassed "Good Will Hunting."

ABRAHAMS: Yes, that's right. That's right.

BLACKMAN: Which is unbelievable.

ABRAHAMS: Just in the past couple of days.

BLACKMAN: So do you think we'll be seeing "Scary Movie" get some Oscar nominations?

ABRAHAMS: Well, I don't know about that. Maybe a "Silver Screw" aware.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "KIDS")

ABRAHAMS: No, man, they didn't kill him, because when we were through he was all twitching.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Word!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKMAN: Your first movie role, was that "Kids"?

ABRAHAMS: Yes. I knew the director. I met him a couple of times, and I kept asking him to be like his assistant on the film. And they didn't really -- there were kind of just like, yes, whatever, you know, this kid.

There was a guy who a part was written for who had to go away, and they asked me to fill in for that role. And so I was in it, and it showed at Sundance.

Yes, it just kept on going well. One of the first things I went on was "Dead Man Walking" and I got cast in that, and that was such a great experience. You know, I think that really kind of sold the job for me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "DEAD MAN WALKING") SEAN PENN, ACTOR: She sounds like a great little gal.

ABRAHAMS: She ain't so little now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKMAN: You're 22 years old. Do you know how many films you've made so far?

ABRAHAMS: I think this is 14, 15.

BLACKMAN: And you have two big ones coming out, one very soon, "Meet the Parents"...

ABRAHAMS: "Meet the Parents."

BLACKMAN: ... with Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller.

ABRAHAMS: That's correct.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MEET THE PARENTS")

ROBERT DE NIRO, ACTOR: We're getting creamed people.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Well, if Florence Nightingale over here would play a little defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABRAHAMS: When I first found out that I got the part in "Meet the Parents," I kind of went like "Ooh!" You know, I was kind of retarded after I had to meet everybody, because it was like, you know, "ooohh" thing, you know, like my head would explode or something.

BLACKMAN: Post-"Meet the Parents" we have now coming out in early 2001...

ABRAHAMS: "Texas Rangers."

BLACKMAN: Opposite James Van Der Beek. Did you know how to ride horses going into...

ABRAHAMS: I had no idea. I'm allergic to horses. I'm allergic to everything. I'd never been on a horse in my life. I had to take a big cocktail of medicine to be able to do it.

My agent is going to kill me for saying this, but I prefer, you know, I like character work. I think it's more interesting and it's more eclectic. And sometimes, it seems to me with leading men it can get redundant.

BLACKMAN (voice-over): Lori Blackman, CNN Entertainment News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYDNEY: And to see more of our interview with Jon Abrahams, please go to our Web site, cnn.com/showbiz.

Now, in a summer of blockbuster movies, a small independent film has become an odds-on favorite with critics. "Croupier" peers into the dark side of the London gambling scene.

Michael Okwu reports on the film that takes a new look at the art of the deal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty minutes into "Croupier," you will feel compelled to ask star Clive Owen one thing.

(on camera): Did you blink in that movie?

CLIVE OWEN, ACTOR: You know, I needed to be focused at all times. If you blink a lot, it's deflective, isn't it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "CROUPIER")

OWEN: Money down.

Speed is volume, volume is profit for the casino. Aim at 40 spins an hour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "CROUPIER")

OWEN: Place your bets, please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKWU: You see, Clive needs to concentrate because he's a croupier, or a casino dealer. In this case, he's Jack Manfred, a master observer in the smoky netherworld of London's gamblers. A struggling writer, he returns to his croupier roots to make ends meet and to feed his need to see gamblers, or punters, lose.

OWEN: In casinos, you're (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with people with cash, you know, large amounts crossing over tables, people gambling -- literally sometimes -- gambling their lives away, you know, and other high-rollers coming in and spending obscene amounts of money on, you know, the flick of a card or the roll of a dice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "CROUPIER")

OWEN: Fifteen.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Too many.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OWEN: Your average dealer looks at a punter in a very particular way, I think. I think they're very -- they know the way, you know, that the dice rolls, and they know that ultimately the house wins. You know, they look at the average gambler and think of him as a pretty sad individual, deep down.

OKWU: A stylish thriller with its share of twists, "Croupier" is narrated in the tradition of a Raymond Chandler novel. Much of the action takes place in Jack's head.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "CROUPIER")

OWEN: He knew the scam. Coming with three-grand cash, no questions asked, launder it by getting a casino check when you cash in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OWEN: Voice-over's usually used as a narrative bridge, you know, if you need to fill things in. This is the completely the other way. Sort of the whole style of the film sits on the voice-over, and the strongest relationship in the movie really is the voice-over and the audience.

OKWU: The film was produced with a low budget in England and seemed destined to die without a distributor until The Shooting Gallery brought it to the U.S. as part of a film series it had launched with Loews Theaters.

LARRY MEISTRICH, CHAIRMAN/CEO, THE SHOOTING GALLERY: And we sort of scour the world looking for the films that just don't fit perfectly into sort of the American demographic marketplace, but the things that are very well review-driven, very credible in the storytelling front, or thematically something that you haven't seen in a long time.

OKWU: In its limited release, "Croupier" has won rave reviews and made more than $4 million. A pretty good gamble.

Michael Okwu, CNN Entertainment News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYDNEY: TV's dreamy genie, Barbara Eden, gets wishes on her 66th birthday. Singer Rick Springfield wishes he had Jesse's girl on his 51st, and cheers to Shelley Long, who's celebrating her 51st.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SYDNEY: Here's a little recipe: Take one part sex and one part humiliation, and you have the formula for the latest reality TV show. "Lover or Loser" debuts in syndication Wednesday just as that other reality show -- What's it? -- "Survivor" is wrapping up.

Lauren Hunter reports it's a dating game, modern style.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAUREN HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The odds are pretty good. Take two guys, 100 single women. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LOVER OR LOSER")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you consider yourself a tiger in bed?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTER: Throw in a free trip for a just-introduced couple, and you've got...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LOVER OR LOSER")

ANNOUNCER: Who is a lover and who is a...

AUDIENCE: Loser!

NARRATOR: It's part dating show, it's part talk show, and it's totally outrageous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTER: The show airs daily on USA Cable and in syndication, but that probably means more to the suits in the back office than the contestants on the set.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the favorite thing to do to a woman in the bedroom?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTER: They seem focused on more immediate concerns.

SEAN SEGAL, CONTESTANT: An audience full of women just clapping for you -- like, what else can you ask for, you know what I mean, come on?

MARC CADERA, CONTESTANT: The best thing? Well, I get to go on a trip with a beautiful girl.

HUNTER: Executive producer Scott Sternburg best describes the show.

SCOTT STERNBURG, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: The way "Lover or Loser" works is that we have 100 single women in our audience. These 100 single women get to meet 2 single guys. They vote right there who they would choose as a lover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gentlemen, the votes are in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STERNBURG: Then after we find out a little bit about them, we bring out their ex-lovers or their ex-girlfriends. They dish the dirt on the guys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sex drive was in overdrive, whereas Ian's was in kind of in neutral.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STERNBURG: Now the "lover" has a chance to pick a date. He'll choose three. They've already voted, and he does not know whether they voted him a lover or a loser. If she actually picks him as a loser, he goes home with no one. As a lover, they go on the trip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For a trip to Jamaica, did you think Mark was a lover or a loser?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STERNBURG: The ringmaster of the proceedings is host Meredyth Hunt.

MEREDYTH HUNT, HOST: My job, basically, is to play in the audience with these women and ask these guys everything we want to.

HUNTER: And she does pretty much anything she wants to.

HUNT: The guys are up there, some of them are taking off their shirts, some of them are dancing. It's fun. It's a circus. Why not?

HUNTER: "Lover or Loser" hits TV's center ring this week.

Lauren Hunter, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYDNEY: Tomorrow, who survived "Survivor"? And Hollywood gets dressed. Check out these winning fashions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SYDNEY: If you long for K.D. Lang music, you're in luck. The singer has a new album out and a tour in the works, both featuring a summery sound. Sherri Sylvester talked with Lang before she hit the road.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERRI SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sporting an ankle tattoo and a dog named Saylor, K.D. Lang almost seems nautical by nature. But the "Summer Fling" of her new single refers to a recent love affair.

K.D. LANG, MUSICIAN: Yes, this record is definitely a snapshot of where I am emotionally and also physically. You know, it's a real love letter to California, in essence.

SYLVESTER: After 15 years on the road, Lang wanted what most take for granted: to sleep in her own bed, make her own coffee, and spend some lazy days at the beach. She moved from Canada to Southern California, took four years off, and fell in love with musician Leisha Hailey.

LANG: We bought a house, and got a new dog, and I'm happily in love, and you know, it's the combination of a lot of things, really directed me toward the newfound inspiration to my music, hence the title, "Invincible Summer."

SYLVESTER: She wrote the album on the beach. Its title comes from a Camus quote: "In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." But Lang's zen came from Home Depot. She made daily trips there while renovating her beach house.

(on camera): What lessons were learned from Home Depot?

LANG: Connecting with people. You know, I mean, it's as simple as that. I mean, that sounds like almost overly patronizing, but really, to connect with people. You do get a bit isolated when you're on a bus, or on a plane, or backstage or in a hotel room.

My new thing is work hard when I'm working, but incorporate day- to-day life in whatever you're doing, whether it's bare feet or working at the beach.

SYLVESTER: On this day, it is bare feet and working near the beach. Lang brings Saylor and her scooter to a soundstage for a tour warm-up. She's back on the road into the new year.

LANG: Your inspired spirit is a choice, and it's, you know, you choosing whether or not you're going to be cynical.

SYLVESTER: Call this the summer of her content.

Sherri Sylvester, CNN, Los Angeles. .

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYDNEY: And if you're not content with that, we're going to leave you with more from K.D. Lang. I'm Laurin Sydney in New York, and I'll be content if I see you next time. So long.

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