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Michael Vartan Web is an unofficial, non-profit fansite. The maintainer of this website does not know Mr. Vartan personally and does not have any official affiliation with him or his representatives. All © is to the respective owners. No infringement is ever intended.Interview with UGO.com
Posted on 09.04.2008 in Interviews | 0 CommentsI am never, ever going swimming in Australia. Ever. Sharks, snakes and giant crocodiles. Alias star Michael Vartan’s film Rogue, about a man-eating giant croc has been released to DVD and it has pretty much cured me of any desire to hang around the Northern Territories, lovely as they look on film. I spoke to Vartan, who told me about shooting in 115 degree weather, working with CGI (and an animatronic croc named “George”) and being a big Star Wars fan. The DVD, which is released in America today, features a commentary by director Greg McLean (Wolf Creek), features on the filming of the movie and the use of CGI, and a gag reel. Vartan also lets us in on his favorite Alias moments. Yeah, I know. I miss Alias too. The film also stars Radha Mitchell and Sam Worthington.
UGO: So how did you get involved in the film?
Michael Vartan: Well, kind of in a very normal way. My agent had me read the script and I thought it was very good, and they had me go see one of (director) Greg McLean’s first films, which was called Wolf Creek. It was really, really scary and I just loved the way he shot that. And after hearing all of that, because the thought of going to the Northern Territories for four months wasn’t necessarily number one on my agenda. But it turned out to be a great adventure, and it’s probably one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. So it worked out.
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The Joy of Sets: Alias Alum Battles a New Beast!
Posted on 08.14.2008 in Interviews and Rogue | 0 CommentsHe’s one of the nicest guys in Hollywood and it’s been biting him on the butt. But now, Alias alum Michael Vartan is getting his grit on in the ferociously entertaining Rogue as a travel writer terrorized by a monster crocodile while stranded with an Australian tour group. And trust me, this one is sharper than your average when-animals-attack flick. —Damian Holbrook
TVGuide.com: Based on the DVD’s cover, with the giant crocodile jaws, you think we’re looking at another Anaconda. But this has a very Hitchcockian feel to it.
Michael Vartan: Yeah, that’s Greg Mclean, the director, who’s such an interesting guy, such a talented, fun guy to work with. You know, something as simple as the fact that my character and Radha Mitchell [playing river tour guide Kate Ryan] never make out seconds before impending doom—which happens in every Hollywood horror film—we’re about to be eaten by a 15-foot crocodile and you still have time to make out? What is wrong with you?
TVGuide.com: I know. Or you make some sort of last-second soliloquy.
Vartan: Exactly! [Laughs] So it’s a very different kind of movie and I’m kind of sad that they didn’t sort of give it a chance, to distribute it a little bit more widely and with more publicity. But hey, those things are completely out of my control.
TVGuide.com: Now, I hear that it did pretty well in Australia.
Vartan: It did. Obviously, their market is much smaller than ours and whenever you have an Australian director and an almost all-Australian cast do a big movie, you’re gonna get people into the seats. Most of the people who have seen it have enjoyed it. That’s the only thing that’s sad for me…there are so many bad movies out there that get wider release, why not give this one a chance?
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‘Rogue’ star Michael Vartan answers back
Posted on 11.16.2007 in Interviews | 0 CommentsROGUE star Michael Vartan is no Robert de Niro, just ask him. But he’s getting better at his job, and he loves Australia.
It seems it’s not a Spring Racing Carnival unless Michael Vartan is here.
Obviously the races are great and so much fun, but I’m here this time solely to promote Rogue and it just happens to coincide with the races. I love Australia and I would come here for the opening of an envelope. As you can see (showing his tattoo), the little Southern Cross action. I got it the week I got back from shooting Rogue.
I’ve truly fallen in love with this country. I want to move here one day if they’ll have me. I love everything about it: the people, the atmosphere, the mentality, the difference of culture in the north and south, the landscape. Everything about this country is fascinating to me. I feel at home here, I feel free, I feel happy. No one cares what you drive, what you do. It’s a very, very honest way to live and it suits me. It’s pretty much the antithesis of Los Angeles.
I got off the plane two years ago to shoot Rogue and it was a weird feeling. I felt tingly and thought, wow, I love it here. I hadn’t even been through Customs. And it took me about two months to realise you really weren’t full of s—, that you really are that nice. I thought, come on, this can’t be real, no one’s this nice. It’s a wonderful place and I love it dearly.
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Michael Vartan shocked on croc flick ‘Rogue’
Posted on 11.12.2007 in Interviews and Rogue | 2 CommentsHe is best known for playing a cool, composed CIA agent, but Hollywood star Michael Vartan was anything but calm when shooting his new film in the Outback.
The actor was the only foreigner in the cast of crocodile thriller Rogue, the follow-up to director Greg McLean’s 2005 debut Wolf Creek.
Vartan, who found fame playing agent Michael Vaughn on hit television series Alias, says the month-long shoot in the Northern Territory was the most physically challenging thing he has ever experienced.
“I’ve been in hot places, but Darwin is a tropical heat that makes you want to put a bullet in your head,” he says with a smile. “Especially the first few weeks where we were shooting all the landscape shots and not really doing anything.
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Outback tests Michael Vartan
Posted on 11.11.2007 in Interviews and Rogue | 0 CommentsHe’s best known for playing a never-ruffled CIA agent, but Hollywood star Michael Vartan was anything but cool, calm and collected when it came to shooting his new film Rogue in the Outback.
Vartan, 39, is the only non-Australian in the cast of the crocodile thriller, which is the follow-up to director Greg McLean’s 2005 debut, Wolf Creek.
The heart-throb actor sprang to fame playing agent Michael Vaughn in the hit television series Alias, and says the month-long shoot in the Northern Territory was the most physically challenging experience of his life.
“It was horrific – you get off the plane in Darwin and you get slapped in the face and grabbed by the throat,” he says with a smile.
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Snap decisions in ‘Rogue’
Posted on 11.08.2007 in Film News & Reviews, Interviews and Rogue | 0 CommentsBeing thrown from a boat into crocodile-infested waters in the Northern Territory was the nightmarish scenario Australian actor Sam Worthington endured while making Greg McLean’s horror film Rogue.
“We thought that scene was going to be fine because there were only saltwater crocs in the river and they don’t really attack humans,” McLean, 36, explains.
“But a rumour had started just before Sam had to be thrown in the water that a man-eating crocodile was in there and he wouldn’t do it. The only way to make it happen was for me to swim across the river first. The weird part is that two months later they pulled a 3m croc out of there.
It’s scary, but the reality is, no one got hurt. We took the punt and it came off.”
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Fall TV schedule will show the softer side of … guys
Posted on 08.22.2007 in Big Shots, Interviews and Television | 0 CommentsMichael Vartan considers himself a guy’s guy — just as much as the next guy’s guy. He swears like a sailor, likes fast cars and enjoys a good high-testosterone action flick. “I can’t wait to see the next Jet Li movie!” he says.
And yet, says Vartan, “I’m a lot more sensitive than anyone would really know, and it’s definitely interesting to portray that in a character.”
As the star of ABC’s hourlong fall dramedy, “Big Shots,” the former “Alias” secret agent is just one of a number of actors playing complex, emotionally evolved, heterosexual alpha males putting their softer side on display in prime time.
In the late 1990s, “Sex and the City” ushered in a new portrait of single women with their frank discussions of their sexual exploits, desires, fantasies and beliefs about men. Of late, however, it’s the less-fair sex going sensitive.
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TheChat with Michael Vartan
Posted on 06.05.2006 in Interviews | 0 CommentsActor Michael Vartan grew up in France playing soccer, but he embraced ice hockey after moving to the United States as a teenager. He played agent Michael Vaughn in the recently concluded ABC series “Alias” and has appeared in several films, including “Monster-in-Law,” “One Hour Photo” and “Never Been Kissed.” Vartan also will appear in the upcoming thriller “Rogue.”
You play in an adult ice hockey league?
I play in a regular pickup league run by this French-Canadian guy. He’s about 75, and he’s been running this league for about 30 years. It’s basically just a bunch of Canadian transplants who — if they’re not working — find a way to get off at lunch and go skate. It’s a pretty good level of hockey. What I love about it is that there are actually no actors. I’m the only one. We don’t talk about acting. We just talk about hockey.
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Michael Vartan on “Monster in Law”
Posted on 05.27.2005 in Interviews and Monster-in-Law | 0 CommentsI saw Michael Vartan onscreen for the first time in “The Myth of Fingerprints,” a tiny indie with a big time cast (Roy Schneider, Blythe Danner, Julianne Moore, and Noah Wyle, just to name a few). In an impressive performance as Wyle’s brother, Vartan made a major impression on my 16-year-old self. When I spotted him on TV’s “Alias” six years later, I was hooked.
Chatting with press about his appealing turn in the Jane Fonda-Jennifer Lopez vehicle “Monster-in-Law” (Vartan plays Fonda’s son and the dreamboat object of Lopez’s affection), Vartan was unsurprisingly inundated with pointed Jennifer Garner-Ben Affleck questions. I probably cringed more than he did. Completely poised and endearingly self-deprecating, Vartan steered the conversation towards juicier details, including working with the hilarious Wanda Sykes and watching Jane Fonda slam Jennifer Lopez’s face into a cake.
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Michael Vartan Talks About “Monster-in-Law” and “Alias”
Posted on 05.11.2005 in Interviews and Monster-in-Law | 0 CommentsMichael Vartan (“Alias,” “Never Been Kissed”) stars as the doctor Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda fight over in the romantic comedy, “Monster-in-Law.” Fonda plays Vartan’s wicked mom while Lopez co-stars as the temp worker who steals his heart.
Jennifer Lopez describes her co-star as the perfect onscreen boyfriend and says he’s the real thing. Lopez added to her praise of Vartan by labeling him sweet, very genuine, and an actor without any ‘phony airs.’ In Hollywood it’s the norm to hear co-stars describing each other in such glowing terms. It’s just part of the job of selling a movie. But in the case of Michael Vartan, it’s super easy to believe Lopez is telling the truth.
One of the most unassuming, self-deprecating actors I’ve had the chance to interview, Vartan comes across as totally down-to-earth guy you can easily envision fitting in in almost any type of environment.
Check out what he had to say about working with Jane Fonda, Jennifer Lopez, the next season of “Alias,” and how he handles rumors:
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