p>Tommy Chong doesn't harbour grudges. He turns them into opportunities.
In 2003, when Chong was starring on TV's That '70s Show as aging stoner Leo, U.S. authorities raided his L.A. home.
It was the culmination of a sting called Operation Pipe Dreams, which targeted people and businesses selling drug paraphernalia from their homes.
Of the more than 50 people arrested, only Chong was incarcerated. He was sentenced to nine months in jail and fined $103,000 US.
Chong's brush with the law is the subject of the documentary A/K/A Tommy Chong that opens the Calgary Underground Film Festival with its 6:30 p.m. screening tonight at the Hi Fi Club (219 10 Ave., S.W.).
Chong and director Josh Gilbert will be in attendance.
"I went to jail to protect my family. They were actually after my son Paris. There was no way I was going to let him go to jail," says Chong, who insists he "thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There is no way to describe the elation you feel when you are finally released."
Chong says he treated the whole arrest and jail time as if he "was researching a role for a film. I was playing the tragic hero and I think I gave one of the better performances of my life."
Chong, 67, who was born in Edmonton and schooled in Calgary, became a counter-culture hero in 1978 when he teamed up with L.A. comedian Cheech Marin for Up in Smoke, its sequel and spin-off films.
He is currently enjoying a new wave of popularity because of That '70s Show.
"I loved the whole set up for my character on That '70s Show. It's the reason I signed on. I'd turned down the father role on Dharma and Greg and a role as Cheech's partner on Nash Bridges."
Chong eagerly embraced That '70s Show because it perpetuates his image as the supreme stoner but that's not who he is.
"It's a character I play and I love fooling with people's heads, letting them think that's really me."
Chong is working on a script for a musical called Up In Smoke which he hopes will be produced in 2007.
"Cheech and I won't be in it except in spirit. It will feature two young actors doing some of our best routines."
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