Portman revealed at Anderson's "Hotel"

Posted 10 22 2007 1:14PM

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - When Wes Anderson's "TheDarjeeling Limited" expands to some 600-700 screens Friday,moviegoers will get two unexpected treats: his 13-minute "Part1" intro to the film, "Hotel Chevalier," and the firstbig-screen glimpse of star Natalie Portman's bare derriere.

Aside from providing a distraction from publicity over"Darjeeling" star Owen Wilson's late-August suicide attempt,the big-screen "Chevalier" bow also capitalizes on Portman'sdecision to do nude scenes after years spent resisting it.

The actress asked Mike Nichols to remove the nudity fromher Oscar-nominated portrayal of a stripper in 2004's "Closer,"and used a body double in Milos Forman's 2006 release "Goya'sGhosts."

When asked why she agreed to do the brief scenes, Portmansaid, "I don't know why, exactly. Sometimes you make rules foryourself and sometimes those rules are made to be broken. Youhave to test things out and see what works for you, and thisfelt right."

"I begged Wes to work with me and show me a script" sincethey met more than three years ago," she told the HollywoodReporter. "I really loved it. He has the finest tastepossible."

Clearly money wasn't part of Portman's motivation. Unlikethe $12.5 million Demi Moore received for her topless role inthe 1996 bomb "Striptease," she and Schwartzman weren't paidanything for the low-budget, two-day shoot filmed with twocameras donated by Panavision. There's nothing prurient aboutthe two nude shots -- aside from the rear, another shows herlike a statue from the side in a pose that wouldn't be out ofplace in an Annie Leibovitz photo shoot.

Anderson shot "Chevalier" on his own dime a year before thefeature and incorporated it as the backstory for "Darjeeling"star/co-screenwriter Jason Schwartzman's character. He debatedadding the tale of two estranged lovers into the feature,showing it with the film (as it screened during its New YorkFilm Festival premiere) or keeping the two separate. He decidedto release it for free on Apple iTunes Store three days beforethe September 29 "Darjeeling" limited release and slot it as aDVD extra.

"Darjeeling" has taken in nearly $4 million in its limitedrelease. But while critical reaction has been mixed forAnderson's reunion with his "Rushmore" star Schwartzman, theshort has received more widespread acclaim.

Portman's brief, wordless appearance near the end of"Darjeeling" has been as mystifying to many moviegoers as thepromotional intro before showings to date, which suggests theydownload the short to get some background on a film they'rejust about to watch.

At the Apple Store Soho premiere of "Chevalier" in NewYork, Anderson voiced several concerns on how to present it,ideally mirroring the jump in time between Schwartzman'scharacter's Parisian romantic interlude and his train tripacross India. "Ideally I wanted someone to watch the short,take a break, think about it for a week and then watch thefeature," he said.

"That's kind of hard to organize at a multiplex."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter