HOLLYWOOD -- On first contact, Tim Robbins secretly runs a litmus test on fellow actors, especially the young ones, to gauge the person's fun factor.
"I think you can tell a lot about people when you first meet them by whether they believe their fame or not," Robbins says. "If someone walks into a room with baggage at that age, it's very difficult to deal with a person like that. The baggage being the publicist, the 'this,' the 'that,' the entourage, the attitude, the over-compensation for not believing or not trusting why they're there."
Young heart-throb and rising star Ryan Phillippe passed the test with honours. "Ryan is nothing like that," Robbins says.
"He doesn't come with baggage. He wants to be a good actor and he wants to work on things that challenge him. In that way, I think he is in for the long haul."
Robbins co-stars with the 26-year-old Phillippe in the new computer geek thriller Antitrust, which opens across North America tomorrow. Robbins plays the Bill Gatesian head of a computer empire. Phillippe plays a hot young computer programmer whom Robbins recruits. Things turn ugly in the story -- but they never did between the two actors on set.
There, primarily in the Vancouver area where Antitrust was shot as a stand-in for U.S. locales, the two got along famously. Phillippe was impressed that Robbins showed up without movie star baggage, too, toting an acoustic guitar instead.
"I think that's how he and I connected. We're very low maintenance. It was great. I couldn't believe that he would sign on to be in a movie that I was in. I thought they must have just paid him a lot of money -- and they did, I think. But he really turned out to be such a great guy."
There is something charming and ingenuous about Phillippe, who is best known as the tousled-haired, pouty, young rogue of The Way Of The Gun, Cruel Intentions, I Know What You Did Last Summer, 54, Homegrown, Nowhere and, in his film debut, White Squall.
Raised in both New Castle, Del., and Philadelphia, Phillippe is also the husband of actress Reese Witherspoon. The two have a 15-month-old daughter named Ava. Maturity and fatherhood have transformed Phillippe, he says.
"This is the first PG-13 movie I've done and I do have this following of really young girls. This is the first one I've done where I feel comfortable about them seeing the film, because there isn't a lot of sexual content and there isn't a lot of violence.
"I don't think I'll only do palatable PG movies but, when you have children, they're an extension of you, and your life is affected by the choices you make. So, what I put out in the world in some fashion affects the child. So, you do want to be a little more responsible, be a little more positive in terms of material. I think that is an important thing for me, anyway."
Phillippe sounds genuine. He tells The Sun in a private interview that follows a group session that he sees and hears too much "poison" in movies, music and television. He defines poison as an onslaught of racism, sexism and homophobia. Antitrust, despite some dark themes, is a mainstream entertainment free of those elements.
"In my opinion, it's a teen movie. But it's more positive and teaches kids about ethics. I've done some movieswhere there's heavy sexual content and it's nice to do something less so. Also, it's good not to feel like you're contributing to the poisoning of youthful minds."
That is also why Phillippe, despite his tender years, has started his own production company. He has five projects in development, including a script he wrote himself and another movie, White Boy Shuffle, which he is developing in concert with Will Smith's production house. Eventually, Phillippe will direct, as well as produce, write and act.
"I don't think of myself as just an actor any more," he says. "I think that, over the next few years, other people will see it in the same way. I've even told guys who do run studios: 'I'd like your job!' I think I have an idea on how to do it. We'll see if I do."
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