Burns hits big time with 'She's the One'

Published: Monday, August 26, 1996

Friday, August 25, 1995

Writer-director wants to maintain personal approach in his filmsBy Melissa Altman

Summer Bruin Contributor

So, how does a 26-year-old former coffee boy get a film into Sundance and win top honors, get Robert Redford to executive produce his next script, and go from a measly self-earned $25,000 movie on recycled film to a $3.5 million budget motion picture?

"I have no idea," says Ed Burns, writer, director, producer and star of the new film "She's the One."

And these aren't the only aspects of his success that baffle him. The director recently met Tom Petty, who wrote the score and seven additional songs for Burns' latest work.

"I was shitting in my pants," Burns says. "The coolest part of the whole thing is that I got my face on the cover of a Tom Petty album. That beats any director's crap."

Burns is remembered as the kid (as he likes to call himself) who made "The Brothers McMullen," which won him accolades at Sundance and boosted his career. Robert Redford urged him to "just give me a call," and Tom Petty solicited him to score "She's the One."

The film, featuring Jennifer Aniston ("Friends") and Cameron Diaz ("The Mask") centers on Irish boys again. This time Francis (Mike McGlone) won't have sex with his wife (Aniston) because he claims to be experiencing a "down cycle." She reverts to the household vibrator while Fran secretly embarks on his sex-driven affair with Lauren (Diaz). Meanwhile, the cynical taxi driver Mickey (Burns) elopes with a bartending university student, played by his real-life girlfriend, Maxine Bahns.

Some of the cast Burns, McGlone and Bahns were held over from "McMullen" because Burns drafted "She's the One" with another small budget in mind.

But he got lucky.

"All of a sudden Sundance happened and the movie took off and I was going to be given the opportunity to make the film with a real budget."

For Burns, "a real budget" meant more flexibility, a way to relax and create and concentrate on the honesty of the product. More money allowed him to use different locations rather than use the repetitive walks around Central Park that characterized "McMullen."

"With 'McMullen' we didn't have any lights, we didn't have a dolly, no one was getting paid. Everyone wore their own clothes. We only took locations we knew we could get for free," Burns recalls.

He seems like the kind of guy that is up for anything, but he won't compromise his passion for money.

"(A studio) wanted to do a multi-picture deal, but that isn't for me," Burns says. "I write all my own stuff. I am really passionate about the characters I create. My scripts are my babies."

Burns borrows many of his stories from his Irish New Yorker background.

"I try and tell honest stories. What I am doing is holding up a mirror to the people I know and saying here they are, this is what they look like, how they speak, how they think, and what they do."

But he notes that the parallels end there after the set up he fictionalizes the rest. Perhaps the honest self-disclosure and autobiographical nature of Burns' films is what appealed to Redford. He called Burns to congratulate him on the Sundance Festival and offer the young filmmaker his help in the future. Burns took him up on his offer.

"When I finished the script for 'She's the One,' I sent it to him just to say, 'What do you think of this?'" says Burns. "He liked it enough to get involved as executive producer."

With an ideal cast, a seasoned executive producer and a budget he never expected, Burns definitely has something to be excited about with "She's the One."

"I am convinced I am the luckiest kid in America," he says.

FILM: "She's the One," written and directed by Edward Burns, opened Aug. 23.

Edward Burns directs Cameron Diaz and Mike McGlone.