Hollywood Rolls Out Red Carpet For Red Planet Stars
10 November 2000 Space.Com

Val Kilmer made one small step onto the red carpet at Red Planet’s Hollywood premiere, and made one giant leap for hype kind. But even Kilmer’s star power was eclipsed by the gravitational attraction the press corps had for Red Planet co-star Benjamin Bratt’s stellar companion, Julia Roberts.

For a film about a planet with a thin atmosphere, there was reportedly a lot of friction on the set. First, NASA decided not to cooperate with the film because of the script’s depiction of combative astronauts. Second, press reported Val Kilmer and co-star Tom Sizemore at odds throughout the shooting. Sizemore’s and Kilmer’s people both denied any conflict. Adding fuel to the fire, Sizemore maintained strict radio silence at the premiere.

However, everyone else was feeling talkative, including director Antony Hoffman and co-stars Carrie-Anne Moss and Simon Baker, who was accompanied by lovely wife Rebecca Rigg.

SPACE.com Why should people explore Mars?

SIMON BAKER: I’m hoping people shouldn’t. I was just hoping that we could love the one we’re with as far as planets go.

SPACE.com What was your training like?

SB: Unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to go to NASA. We were planning on going there but then we weren’t able to. I did a lot of physical training just to increase my stamina to able to endure the suits that we had to wear all the time and in the heat we had to wear them. They were intense but fun. My favorite thing was I had a trenching tool with a beer opener built on the end of it. It was quite a nice design, I thought.

Baker’s wife, film actress Rebecca Rigg, doesn’t think she has the right stuff to be an astronaut’s wife. "No, I’m far too controlling."