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Cat-fights, back-stabbing make their mark in 'Drop Dead Gorgeous'
July 21, 1999
Web posted at: 10:33 a.m. EDT (1433 GMT)
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From Janine Sharell
CNN Entertainment News Correspondent
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- The fictitious documentary "Drop Dead Gorgeous" is showing the ugly side of beauty pageants. The story takes place in Mount Rose, Minnesota, where competition among the "Miss Teen Princess America" contestants is so heated, the girls wind up dead or maimed.
Some critics are questioning whether the kind of dark humor portrayed in "Drop Dead Gorgeous" is appropriate to release at this time, considering the fatal shooting at Columbine High School in April. The stars say they don't think so.
"We definitely push the envelope on certain things, but I think that's where it's funny," says Denise Richards, who plays contestant frontrunner Rebecca Leeman.
Kirsten Dunst, who stars as Leeman's rival, Amber Atkins, agrees.
"It's so over the top -- certain things -- that it's OK to laugh."
Cat fight!
Set and filmed in Minnesota, the New Line Cinema movie was written by someone with real-life experience in that state's beauty-pageant circuit: former contestant Lona Williams, a onetime "Drew Carey Show" writer and "Simpsons" voice. She originally wanted to call the film "Dairy Queens," but the ice cream chain put the freeze on that.
Williams claims that everything in her script actually happened in some beauty pageant, somewhere. And the movie has a genuine Midwestern flavor, thanks to local teens who gave Richards a few pageant tips.
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| Dunst |
"The local girls were, like, trying to show me how to perfect my wave," Richards says.
Dunst jokes that she caught on fast.
"You totally can tell what you have to do: stick out your chest, smile big, stand up straight -- the little side pose. It's so easy to be that cheesy."
The 'mockumentary' goes behind the scenes, where there are overbearing stage moms (Ellen Barkin and Kirstie Alley) and even a cat fight. Dunst says that was one of her favorite scenes.
"I elbowed her weird, and I think she pulled out some of my hair. I don't know how it went, but we definitely hurt each other a little," she recalls. "But we were laughing after. We gave each other hugs."
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| Richards |
As cutthroat as Hollywood?
Asked if the entertainment business could be as cutthroat as the beauty pageant world, both laughed as if the answer were obvious.
"Oh, I'm sure Hollywood can be cutthroat," Richards says.
"I definitely think so," Dunst says. "I haven't heard of any stories of actors killing each other but ... "
Both actresses have upcoming roles to die for though. Richards is the next "Bond Girl" and Dunst plays an intern during the Nixon presidency in "Dick."
And writer Williams is scheduled to begin filming another dark teen comedy this month. "Sugar and Spice" tells the story of a popular high school cheerleader, who becomes pregnant with the star quarterback's child and finds herself turning to crime to support the lifestyle she wants to live. The movie is slated for release next year.
"Drop Dead Gorgeous" is a production of New Line Cinema, a Time Warner Inc. property. The film is slated for nationwide release July 23.
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RELATED SITE:
'Drop Dead Gorgeous' official site
New Line Cinema
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