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Affleck blasts paparazzi for intrusion

Posted on: Monday, 4 September 2006, 21:49 CDT

By Eric J. Lyman

VENICE, Italy (Hollywood Reporter) - Paparazzi are coming under fire in Venice. Ben Affleck, who stars in "Hollywoodland" -- a film about the mysterious death of Superman actor George Reeves -- took the opportunity to lash out at the photographers eager to snap his shot.

"I think more and more people pay attention to actors' private lives (and that) makes it difficult to suspend disbelief when you are going to watch their movie because really what you are thinking about is whatever you have read about them in a magazine rather than the performance they are giving, and it makes the actor's job harder," Affleck said at a news conference. "The movies become incidental pit-stops and commercial breaks in the soap opera of their life."

Affleck's comments sparked a renewed interest in Venice about paparazzi, who were booed when they appeared on the screen early during the world premiere of "The Queen" on Saturday -- three days after the anniversary of Princess Diana's 1997 death. The docudrama is about the friction between British Premier Tony Blair and the Queen in the wake of the car crash that ended the princess' life.

Both "Hollywoodland" and "The Queen" are among the 21 films in competition at this year's festival.

For their part, festival organizers said that despite Affleck's comments, there appeared to be no increase in paparazzi-related complaints at this year's festival.

"The photographers are doing their job like everyone else at the festival," one official said. "We haven't received any complaints about inappropriate behavior" by photographers.

And photographers covering the festival defended their role.

"The photographers in Venice are doing the same exact thing they do at all festivals," said Geoff Pugh, a three-year Venice veteran with London's Daily Telegraph. "But I guess people have to complain about something."

But it was actor-director Ethan Hawke -- whose directorial sophomore effort, "The Hottest State," premiered out of competition on Saturday -- who tried to put the issue in perspective when he was questioned about attention from photographers at the press conference for his film.

"If the paparazzi are bothering you," Hawke said, "it probably means you are having a pretty wonderful life."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Source: REUTERS

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