
Stephen Dorff, showered and everything, at the New York screening of Somewhere. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images
There’s a whole generation of girls that knows Stephen Dorff best, or perhaps only, from his transformative role as…the guy who rescued Britney Spears from a bathtub in “Everytime.” With Somewhere, the latest tender, plotless, irresistible film by Sofia Coppola (in theatres January 7), that should change. The love story of an adolescent father (pill-popping, bed-hopping movie star Johnny Marco) and his preternaturally wise girl-child (played by Elle Fanning), Somewhere is less Stephen Dorff’s comeback than his redemption. It’s a makeover in which he looks a lot like himself: the wild, damaged wonderboy every unreasonable woman wants to fix.
On a Monday morning at Toronto’s Hazelton Hotel, Dorff sat down to a breakfast of sliced fruit, a Diet Coke, and Camel Lights. He wore old jeans and a T-shirt, like in the film, and didn’t seem particularly showered. “I feel like hell,” he growled; sure, but hell looks good on him. And when the tape rolled, he was gold: talking eagerly and untiredly about everything from Johnny Marco’s “classic look” to Sofia Coppola’s un-Hollywood-ness to Elle Fanning’s new favourite bracelet. Guess who bought it? Yep. Don’t pretend you’re not falling. Read more »