[ Printed Articles ] [ Television Interviews ] [ Internet Chats ] [ Bits & Pieces ] [ Personal Appearances ] [ Miscellaneous ]
	Printed Articles & Interviews Winnipeg Free Press September 24, 1999

Greenwood attracts some tough women by Kevin Prokosh Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES - Bruce Greenwood is becoming a pushover with the women.

Last March, the handsome Canadian actor was in Winnipeg where he got roughed up by Jennifer Tilly during the shooting of the high camp independent movie Cord, also starring Daryl Hannah. In his new big-budget action thriller Double Jeopardy, he fares even worse at the hands of his avenging wife Ashley Judd.

"With Cord, they rolled me up in a carpet and beat me," says Greenwood, during a recent interview with journalists at a Beverly Hills hotel. "I was the good husband who got into some trouble and tried to solve things his own way and ends up getting rolled into a carpet and pounded by Jennifer Tilly. It could be worse."

In Double Jeopardy, a woman (Judd) is wrongly imprisoned for murdering her husband, played by Greenwood. While doing time, she accidentally discovers her deceitful hubby is still alive and living happily ever after with her son and best friend. The Paramount Pictures release, opening today, is helmed by Bruce Beresford and also stars Tommy Lee Jones.

Two roles Greenwood pursued the part for months, auditioning more times than he can remember. He was anxious to play what amounted to two roles, as the loving husband and double-crossing spouse.

"It's generally more fun to play bad guys because that's where the conflict is," says the Quebec-born, Los Angeles- based actor who grew up in Vancouver. "I was pulled into this project by Beresford, Tommy Lee Jones, Ashley Judd and two roles."

When he arrived on the Vancouver set of Double Jeopardy, the 31-year-old Judd reminded him that he had played her step-father in the 1995 NBC mini-series Naomi and Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge.

"So I'm there to play her lover and she tells me, 'You've played my dad," says Greenwood, 43, laughing at the recollection of the deflating moment. "Arrrrrgh."

Greenwood, who grew with dreams of being a skiing star until he blew out his knee, drifted into acting during the mid-'70s at the University of British Columbia where he registered in theatre for the easy credits. He was hooked. One of his early stage gigs was performing in a national tour of the "mother truckin' musical" Cruel Tears which played Winnipeg in late 1977.

He is one of those actors whose face is more familiar than their name. Greenwood has fashioned a solid, eventful career which has placed him in the media glare several times. Best known as the manipulative Dr. Seth Griffin on TV's St. Elsewhere, he also impressed for his work in Atom Egoyan's haunting films Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter. His next role might gain him his most attention when he plays U.S. president John F. Kennedy in a major movie about the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis called 13 Days, starring Kevin Costner.

As a Canadian he was happy to return home to film Double Jeopardy but is of two minds about the furour about the number of American productions heading north to take advantage of the enticing exchange rate and economic inducements.

"It's tricky," he says. "I have mixed emotions about it. I understand people's anger about all the production work being siphoned away but you can't blame a country for trying to be as attractive as possible to generate income."

Greenwood is concerned that once that exchange rate levels out, Canada will have no film industry.

"Canada has made this huge, huge mistake by not creating a viable indigenous film industry. It will be a rude awakening. There is a lack of a studio system. When it comes to getting a film made in Canada, not many people get through the eye of that needle."