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The actor, concerned that a "lunatic
liberal" Hollywood would vilify Giuliani or present him as
overly conservative, says he insisted on approving the
script for "Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story," before
agreeing to play the part.
"Our business is notorious for being
almost lunatic liberal," Woods told The New York Times in
Sunday editions. "There's sort of a loony fringe that's
way over the top and out of step with mainstream America."
Woods said had no insight into whether
or not Giuliani would like the movie or his portrayal,
"But he can rest assured of this: I fought tooth and nail
to play him as the genuine hero that I unequivocally
believe him to be."
"But if they were interested in
presenting the liberal jihad against Rudy, then I wasn't
really interested in participating," he added.
Woods says he agrees with every action
Giuliani took as mayor, citing Giuliani's public scorning
in 1999 of "The Holy Virgin Mary," a portrait of the
religious figure decorated with a daub of elephant dung,
at Brooklyn Museum of Art.
"He, as a Catholic, was genuinely and
rightfully offended that someone should have a sacred icon
of his religion created out of excrement," Woods said.
"Can you imagine the reaction in this town if the artist
had created a Star of David out of excrement?"
In addition to chronicling Giuliani's
response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, the movie
depicts his bout with prostate cancer, his failed marriage
to Donna Hanover and his romantic relationship with
current fiance Judith Nathan.
Earlier this month, the film's director,
Robert Dornhelm, defended his decision to include graphic
news footage of the attacks on the World Trade Center in
the movie.
Giuliani's spokeswoman, Sunny Mindel,
told the Times that the former mayor "hasn't seen the
movie and had nothing to do with it."
The film will be broadcast March 30 on
the USA Network. |
James Woods: