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©
2000 Dreamworks SKG
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They're
Gonna Put Me
in the Movies
by Ben Fong-Torres
AsianConnections
is proud to present the adventures of Ben Fong-Torres, our Renaissance
man: author, broadcaster, and former senior editor and writer at
Rolling Stone Magazine. This guy's our hero!
Ben
was a featured character in "Almost Famous," the Oscar and Golden
Globe-winning film by Cameron Crowe.
- AC Team
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A friend of mine saw me in the trailer for "Almost Famous,"
the new Cameron Crowe movie, on Entertainment Tonight. It wasn't
me, actually, but actor Terry Chen portraying me, circa 1973, when
I was an editor at Rolling Stone. Crowe, back then, was a
rock and roll boy wonder, a 15 year-old who lived in San Diego and
wanted to write about rock. I gave him his first assignments, and
edited his first articles in Rolling Stone. Now, he'd turned
those early experiences into a gem of a movie, his first since "Jerry
Maguire."
Anyway, my friend made note of the likely impact of my being
a character in "Almost Famous." "It's an Asian face in an entirely
surprising context," he said. I hadn't really thought of it that
way. These days, Asian faces are no longer a novelty in films or
on television.
But, with "Almost Famous," we're talking about a film set
in the world of rock, almost 30 years ago. This Asian face pops
up in the offices of a national rock magazine - the best known of
them all, Rolling Stone. I am the only person of color in
those scenes, and that happens to be an accurate portrayal of how
it was back then.
Soon after my friend's observation, I went to a screening
of the film (It opens nationally on September 29th; earlier in some
cities). I'd met Terry, who'd won the role over dozens of
other actors, and watched him on the set. (You can find an article
I did for the San Francisco Chronicle about Terry and me
on my home page, www.benfongtorres.com.
Go to "What's
News" and look for the Chronicle reference and link.)
Still, it was a shock when he first came on. He looked younger and
more handsome than I could ever hope for - even back in '73. He
sounded authoritative and forceful. That's a tone I learned to adopt,
although, in real life, I leavened it with lots o'laffs.
Terry
Chen, Ben, Rainn Wilson, and David Felton
But here's the strange thing: Because Cameron had me slotted,
in the film, as his boss - from this feared and famous rock magazine
- he underscored my four or five appearances with my name. "This
is Ben Fong-Torres�from Rolling Stone," Terry would announce.
And a character would repeat: "Oh! It's Ben Fong-Torres! Of Rolling
Stone!"
Crazy.
Now, truth be told, I'm a behind-the-scenes character, with
only a line or two per scene. But I can see how the Asian image,
and the name - odd as it may be, and the result of my father's machinations
to get into America in spite of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1888
- could snake into the subconscious; to plant into moviegoers' minds
the idea that, yes, 'way back in those days of Jimi Hendrix and
Led Zep; of Simon & Garfunkel and Joni Mitchell, there was this
Chinese guy in the hierarchy at Rolling Stone.
"Almost Famous" is about a kid and his passion; about initial
encounters with two of life's greatest phenomena, love and rock
and roll. But if, while recalling how a teenager could make it into
the major leagues of rock journalism, it also hints that an Asian-American
was among the players, I'm a happy minor character.
Related:
Jim Ferguson
Interviews "Almost Famous" Writer/Director Cameron Crowe
More
on Terry Chen Playing Ben Fong-Torres
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Rotten
to the Core
by Ben Fong-Torres
When I was on Wheel of Fortune, one of the first puzzles
I solved, on my way to almost $99,000 in cash and fabulous prizes,
was:
TURNABOUT
IS FAIR PLAY.
I suppose. For a guy whose entire career is based on interviewing,
quizzing, and probing other people - most of them celebrities -
it seems only fair to agree to the occasional request for an interview.
When the producer of Johnny Rotten's Internet radio talk
show called, however, I was stunned. What could Rotten, the former
leader of the Sex Pistols, a lightning-rod character in the history
of punk rock, one of the most caustic critics of�well, of everything
- want with me?
It turns out that he'd read Not Fade Away, my compilation
of past articles, and wanted to have me on for an hour or so.
And, when we began talking, it was apparent that he'd really
read Not Fade Away. Years ago, when I sat with Larry King
to talk about Hickory Wind, my biography of Gram Parsons,
I learned quickly that King deserved his rep, for not reading
the books of his guests. On the air, he read part of the dustjacket
aloud, then came up with questions based on what he'd just read.
Johnny (real name John Lydon) was the flip side to Larry
King. Rotten not only read most of the 30-plus pieces in the book,
but had specific insights on everyone from Neil Diamond and Elton
John to Marvin Gaye and Tina Turner. He astounded me with what he'd
gleaned from these profiles, and he sparked fresh illuminations,
discoveries we made together, on the air, in cyberspace. Yes, he
was acidic as ever - he is truly a man who, unlike Will Rogers,
has never met a man he's liked - but we had a blast.
Check it out. Due to some technical problems in the studio, he - we
- didn't get going for maybe five minutes, but hang in there and you'll
get a really Rotten experience. Our interview is archived on www.eyada.com.
Either click the Rotten icon or go to "Entertainment" and the "Rotten
Radio" show, and, after going to "Archive," choose August 5.
------------------------------
Ben Fong-Torres,
long-time writer and editor at Rolling Stone magazine, is the author
of four books, including his memoirs, The Rice Room: Growing Up
Chinese-American, and his latest, Not Fade Away: A Backstage Pass
to 20 Years of Rock & Roll. He is Editorial Director of myplay.com,
an Internet music site that offers free Web space, where users can
grab, store, mix, play, and share music of all kinds.
Click to Ben
Fong-Torres Articles Index
Visit Ben's official site: www.BenFongTorres.com
Related:
Ben
Fong-Torres Article: Terry Chen on Becoming 'Chen Fong-Torres'
Jim Ferguson
Interviews Writer/Director Cameron Crowe
Almost Famous Official Website
Stillwater 'Fan Site'
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