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I've really grown to respect Greg: instead of cashing in on his instant fame, he went into recluse following the show...
Thursday September 28 06:32 PM EDT
"Survivor" Colleen Heads to Big Screen
Apparently, those Survivor folks will be hanging around a bit longer than we all expected.
Colleen Haskell, the pixie-like castaway dubbed "America's sweetheart" by Bryant Gumbel, has agreed to costar with Saturday Night Live alum Rob Schneider in a comedy called Animal, filmmakers said Thursday.
The 23-year-old University of Miami student, who has said in the past she wasn't interested in acting, is now the first of the castaways to make it to the big screen. (Several have previously lined up various TV gigs.)
Animal is about a man who receives organ transplants from a multitude of animals and slowly finds himself taking on various beastly traits. Schneider, fresh off his surprise hit Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, plays the suffering hero. Haskell, in what's bound to be a difficult acting job, will play Schneider's love interest.
The character, which is the female lead, is described as a nature lover. "One of the producers thought she would be pefect for the show," says Roger Mussenden, Animal's casting director.
In a nod to her Survivor persona, Haskell's character will start out living in a tree (Haskell spent much of the TV show waxing philosophical while perched among the branches).
Haskell auditioned for the part in a standard 15-minute read session with Schneider and Animal's producers. They were wowed by the novice's thespian skills.
"She has that Goldie Hawn glow thing going on about her. She's real natural and the girl is on a roll of a lifetime!" says Mussenden.
Shortly after leaving the island, Haskell, whose lengthy Survivor tenure was marked by a fling with Greg, candid comments about her rival tribe and bug-ravaged legs, turned down a big-bucks offer from Playboy to pose nude.
During an appearance on CBS' Early Show, she said she couldn't wait to return to her normal life as an advertising student, and didn't quite get what all the Survivor fuss is about. "I went camping for 33 days, and now everybody seems to care," she said.
Initially, Mussenden says, Haskell was actually hesitant when approached about the movie, but after reading the script, she decided to try out.
Shooting starts October 17 in Los Angeles. Columbia Pictures has slated Animal for a June 22 release, well after the second edition of the CBS show, Survivor: The Australian Outback, concludes.
First time helmer Luke Greenfield will direct the film from a script written by Tom Brady.
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