By LeBeau
The Hotel's Grand Ballroom was the stage for the conference, and
set through out the room were various posters of shows and
programs to be talked about during the conference; one of the
posters was for "The Goodbye Girl", which was very simply done,
meaning, there weren't big graphics added to the poster to take
the 'eye' away from the two stars, Patricia Heaton and Jeff
Daniels.
It's clear, after having seen a promo of "The Goodbye Girl" at
the conference, that the photo was taken on the indoor set in
Vancouver - in fact, all the promo clips used were from the
indoor set.
Description of the poster is as follows (and this is to say that
it is not known if this will be the official poster to be
released):
Heaton and Daniels on a NYC rooftop - he is dipping her
backwards in a dancing motion/pose - both looking to camera.
They are cheek to cheek, with Heaton smiling and Daniels having
a slightly, goofy smile.
Heaton is wearing a
slinky, mid-thigh, spaghetti
strapped, sparkling, gray
dress with strapping, black,
high-heels shoes. Her hair
is pulled back, and she is
wearing very thin, silver,
dangling ear rings.
Daniels, with a bearded
face, is in a tux-type
outfit, black pants and
white coat, and he is
wearing black converse
tennis shoes.
The information of "The
Goodbye Girl" obtained
during the conference was
that the principal
photography had moved to NYC
for outdoor shooting scenes,
and it is about wrap up
shooting.
Three other press clip
photos were shown:
1. Heaton, alone, is
standing at a slightly open
door with a slightly,
forbidding look.
2. Heaton and Daniels
sitting cozy at a breakfast
table, looking to camera.
3. Daniels, alone and
looking adorable (as if to
say, who could resist me).
Finally, at 10 am, the live
satellite feed happens from
the set in the Greenwich
district of NYC. The people
present and sitting in this
order were Hallie Eisenberg,
Patricia Heaton, Neil Simon,
Jeff Daniels and Richard
Benjamin. The whole thing
lasted less than 10 minutes,
and the answers were kept
short and simple.
N.B. The questions began,
and here, I must state that
I don't write in short hand
so some of the questions and
answers are not verbatim,
and others are - they talked
faster than I could write,
so I jotted down notes. Let
me just tell you this,
though - Heaton and Simon
were the stars of the show!
Question #1 was to
Richard Benjamin
Why a remake of "The
Goodbye Girl"?
Benjamin - He stated
that it's a wonderful love
story with interesting and
rich characters, set in NYC
- which is a wonderful and
romantic city that the world
loves. The screenplay of
Simon's is as good as it
gets, and the cast is a
dream come true, the
characters are ones that
people identify with.
Question #2 was to
Richard Benjamin
So what makes it different
from the original story? Are
there different angles,
different scenes or were you
trying to incorporate the
same things as the first
one?
Benjamin - He said
that it's faster, every ones
attention span is short
these days, so the pace of
the film is kept moving, and
so they produced the energy
of today's world.
Question #3 was to Neil
Simon
Was it a sense of coming
home? Did you take it and
just readapt it for TV?
Simon - Stated that he never
thought of it in a sense of
coming home, and as for
writing - he wrote it as a
film that happens to be
going to television. Writing
is writing.
Question #4 was to Patricia
Heaton
When did you first see "The
Goodbye Girl", and what
brought you to the project?
Heaton - I saw it for
the first time in 2nd grade
(this got a laugh from the
crowd). She went on to say,
that considering the
characters and that they
were Neil Simon's, and his
writing is so special, she
jumped at the chance. The
story and the characters are
wonderful, unique and
special.
Same question to Daniels.
Daniels - I agree
with Patricia.
Heaton (interrupts
laughing) - that's why it's
great to work with Jeff, he
always agrees with me. (She
gets another laugh from the
crowd, as well as one from
those on the set).
Question #5 was to Jeff
Daniels
How close are you to this
character?
Daniels - I was this
guy, I was a struggling
actor from Michigan, just
trying for my shot. I know
these places. I know these
characters.
Heaton (laughing) - Jeff has
given us his heartbreak tour
of the neighborhood, and all
he's pains and where they
took place. (She incites
another big laugh from
audience)
Question #6 was to Neil
Simon
The original humor came from
Richard Dreyfus's short
stature - considering Jeff
isn't Dreyfus in height, how
did you compensate?
Simon - I made it all
taller. (this got a huge
laugh)
Question #7 was to Hallie
Eisenberg
Have you had a chance to
view the original picture?
Eisenberg - I did see it,
just to see how my character
was played, but I make my
own adaptation.
Question #8 was to Neil
Simon
Was this a bittersweet
memory for you, considering
Marsha Mason was your wife
at that time?
Simon - I haven't thought
about it that way, though I
did come up with the idea
when we were on our
honeymoon in Italy.
Question #9 was to Neil
Simon
Is the remaking of this film
an odd thing?
Simon - I write to write,
whether it's a play, book,
film - many of my things are
being remade all the time.
Work is work.
But, why remake it, what's
different?
Simon - Not much is
different from the original.
Heaton - The use of a
cell phone is different!
Simon (laughs) -
Yeah, the use of a cell
phone is different -
different age and time.
Question # 10 was to Neil
Simon
What do you think of the
state of comedy on TV today?
Simon - I think its fine, I
don't watch it much though,
only the show that Patricia
is on and maybe Seinfeld,
then I turn off the TV and
go to bed. (He, proudly,
gets a pat on the shoulder
from Heaton).
Question #11 was to Patricia
Heaton
How close are you to this
character?
Heaton - I lived in
NYC for 9 years, and in that
time I moved 8 times. I went
from the Delta Gamma house
to the Chelsea hotel. I had
big ups and big downs, it's
a vibrant city and lots of
things can happen. I had my
heartbreaks like Paula. But
when I was living here, I
had no work as an actor - I
couldn't even get arrested.
(Heaton laughing) And now,
it's different, I get mobbed
by Raymond fans on our set,
everybody recognizes me,
where as poor Jeff gets
recognized as Bill Pullman
or Jeff Bridges. I'm gonna
bring him back to LA and
introduce him to people, get
him some recognition.
(Daniels takes the ribbing
with a smile on his face,
nodding his head, playing to
the crowd's laughter.)
Question # 12 was to
Patricia Heaton
Paula was different - she
was a dancer?
Heaton (laughing) -
Which I am not! Now, she is
a very bad dancer. Listen,
it's a painful and
humiliating experience for
me to have you see me dance,
badly - so I'm gonna pay the
editors to be kind and use
the body double in most of
those shots. All that I ask,
is that you be kind when you
watch the movie and suspend
belief about her dancing
abilities.
Question #13 was to Jeff
Daniels
Daniels playing the
character is a lot older
than Dreyfus when he played
the characterĄ
Heaton (laughingly
interrupts) - You know Jeff
is right in front of you, he
can hear you?
Simon (laughing
interrupts) - I tried to get
Jeff Arnold for the role,
but this Jeff was the
closest I could come to the
character. (Daniels, again,
takes the ribbing, smiling
and nodding silently)
And on that last laugh, the
moderator brought the
satellite conference to an
end, thanking those on the
screen, to which the thanks
was returned.
To those that are
interested, I don't know if
the actors were in costume
or not, but Patricia was
wearing jeans, black boots
and a black shirt, with a
cream color sweater that had
a sort of black piping on
it.
She looked fantastic and
happy, always up for a laugh
- either making the joke or
being the brunt of it. And
of course - always, always
beautiful!
* * *Thanks LeBeau for this
recap. * * * 
