Hollywood Hotshots
What does it take to make it in Tinseltown: Raw talent or just a big schlong?

by Gitte Meldgaard

In Hollywood no-one is ashamed of ambition. Why worry about being pushy, if it gets you what you want? Networking and schmoozing are part of everyday life in Tinseltown: a sense of irony is more of a handicap than an asset out here. These boys have to believe they have what it takes. They all have great hopes, but the prize of fame and wealth is a great seducer of high-minded ideals. In a business run by accountants who like films made to formula, and publicists who want stars with perfect teeth, how much chance is there of one of these boys making the sort of movie they'd like to star in-let alone one worth watching? Yet, for all that, every so often a great director with a good script finds an actor with unmistakable presence. Who knows, one of these boys might be a star in the making?

JASON WILES
"Every young actor in this town wants to be James Dean, but things are different now." As one of the most experienced of young hopefuls, Jason might know something the others don't. He's been in five movies--a bit-part in Mr. & Mrs. Bridge and bigger roles such as in the cult hit El Mariachi and Cannes contender Kicking and Screaming. Despite his cynicism, the 23-year-old's dream role is not a million miles from the outsiders Dean played. "I'm up for Coppola's On The Road. I met him to read for Sal Paradise. Sal's a thoughtful poet, but Dean Moriarty is a manipulating, cunning extrovert. Frank said I looked like a Dean Moriarty."

Other actors included in this article: Stan Kirsch, John Enos, Dave Puck, Nick Keriasis, Dylan Neal, Nathaniel Marston, Louis Mandylor, and Cassidy Chytraus.